Manufacturers roll out firmware updates for GeForce GTX 1070 due to memory Issue
If you own a GeForce GTX 1070, you might want to pay attention to this news-item as you could be effected. There have been some problems reported with certain GeForce GTX 1070 cards.
After further investigation it became apparant that the issues like flickering and poor memory overclocking results on the memory sub-system are graphics memory related. GeForce GTX 1070 cards fitted with Samsung memory do not have any issues, however some manufacturers have or switched towards Micron chips, and these are the culprit of the reported issues. Especially during overclocking of the graphics memory problems will appear fast with bad results like checkerboard patterns. The problem is was found in the the speed of the voltage adjustment from the low power idle P-States to support the memory voltage requirements under load. If you can keep the idle voltage above 0.800V before you apply the overclock you never see the issue.
Some users also have reported that at default configuration they noticed the occasional odd issue like flickering or experiencing graphical artifacts. Multiple brands are and could be effected. Right now most of them are working on (or already issuing) a BIOS firmware update for the graphics cards, these BIOS updates likely increase the voltage level of the GDDR5 memory. Mind you that this only effects GeForce GTX 1070 graphics cards fitted with Micron based GDDR5 memory.
I've been doing some rounds at the manufacturers with the following info (we'll update as feedback gets in). A number of manufacturers is or have been working on VBIOS updates:
- EVGA: updates download here
- Gainward: updates download here (select card -> BIOS download)
- Palit: updates download here (select card -> download)
- MSI : Updates downloads available (check for proper card model!)
- Gigabyte: F11_Beta Update downloads available (check for proper card model!)
- ASUS downloads available (check for proper card model!)
- Inno3D: did not reply
- KFA2/Galaxy: did not reply
- PNY: did not reply
- Zotac: no info available on website - update should be out
The most easy way to check what brand of memory your GeForce GTX 1070 is using is to download GPU-Z and read out the memory type (click thumbnail below for an example). The reality is that Micron’s GDDR5 memory chips shouldn’t really be any weaker opposed to what the Samsung ICs are doing. All cards we tested here ate Guru3D.com got Samsung memory. It however is not uncommon for manufacturers to switch to another brand of memory, as they purchase them in SMT batches and yes, a selection in price is made but should not effect performance. Due to the fact that our samples have Samsung memory we have not been able to verify any instability.
Have you noticed any issues with your GTX 1070? If so, let us know in the comments of this news-itsem.
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Junior Member
Posts: 4
Joined: 2016-11-05
OK, so the new Gigabyte BIOS was a huge success for me as well. Before overclocking the memory much past the factory Xtreme Gaming "OC Mode" setting was incredibly dodgy and frustrating. Now I'm able to reproduce the values above, and even a little beyond, with complete reliability.
I'm very pleased with Gigabyte's fix even though it was a rocky road getting there.
EDIT: I want to add one thing and ask others to please check. Since the BIOS update the LED GIGABYTE logo on the side of the card has ceased to function, it's completely off regardless of what settings I choose in the control software. Previously it functioned as intended. Do others see similar results? I don't care about LED's, I have no case window and, to me, the darker the better. No gripes from me on the change but I was curious if anybody else noticed this after the BIOS update.
EDIT #2: Strike that, after another reboot the branding LED is now functioning as it did before the BIOS update.
Nice! I was also able to push the memory up to +900 ...were you able to go beyond that?
Junior Member
Posts: 7
Joined: 2016-10-29
880 seems to be my stable cap currently.
Junior Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 2016-11-16
HI! im new here. I read the comments and I have some questions. i have a Gigabyte G1 (micron) with factory VBIOS F10 86.04.26.00.56, this is my OC:
+105 core (2050-2080 effective. didn't push to max limit)
+730 mem (748 effective. max limit, artifact/crash beyond that)
100% voltage
+11% power limit
+9 Temp limit
i've test and use this OC for more than a month.
according to the overclocks that I've seen here, mine is not so bad, having the factory-outdated bios, although +748 MHz on the memory seems short considering some people push it to 9200 MHz...
Do you think this is all we will have from gigabyte? I'm still not confident to take the risk updating the BIOS if it doesn't really fix much. however, if I decided to do it, can you please tell me what method do you use? I never update GPU BIOS, gigabyte website gives warnings all over the place about the procedure XD
Gigabyte recommend Easy Boost utility or VGA@BIOS utility, but if I'm correct, all the necessary files to flash are in the zip folder of the F11 bios download, right? is just run N1070G18.F11.exe?
TY
Member
Posts: 23
Joined: 2014-06-25
HI! im new here. I read the comments and I have some questions. i have a Gigabyte G1 (micron) with factory VBIOS F10 86.04.26.00.56, this is my OC:
+105 core (2050-2080 effective. didn't push to max limit)
+730 mem (748 effective. max limit, artifact/crash beyond that)
100% voltage
+11% power limit
+9 Temp limit
i've test and use this OC for more than a month.
according to the overclocks that I've seen here, mine is not so bad, having the factory-outdated bios, although +748 MHz on the memory seems short considering some people push it to 9200 MHz...
Do you think this is all we will have from gigabyte? I'm still not confident to take the risk updating the BIOS if it doesn't really fix much. however, if I decided to do it, can you please tell me what method do you use? I never update GPU BIOS, gigabyte website gives warnings all over the place about the procedure XD
Gigabyte recommend Easy Boost utility or VGA@BIOS utility, but if I'm correct, all the necessary files to flash are in the zip folder of the F11 bios download, right? is just run N1070G18.F11.exe?
TY
Yes, just execute the .exe and the card will flash automatically.
Your OC is pretty decent imo, but it seems that this is the only fix we can get from Gigabyte.
Junior Member
Posts: 7
Joined: 2016-10-29
(Using the Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming overclock app from Gigabyte) NOT AFTERBURNER
+110 GPU clock
+850 Memory
100% GPU voltage
+11% power limit
+9 Temp limit
OK, so the new Gigabyte BIOS was a huge success for me as well. Before overclocking the memory much past the factory Xtreme Gaming "OC Mode" setting was incredibly dodgy and frustrating. Now I'm able to reproduce the values above, and even a little beyond, with complete reliability.
I'm very pleased with Gigabyte's fix even though it was a rocky road getting there.
EDIT: I want to add one thing and ask others to please check. Since the BIOS update the LED GIGABYTE logo on the side of the card has ceased to function, it's completely off regardless of what settings I choose in the control software. Previously it functioned as intended. Do others see similar results? I don't care about LED's, I have no case window and, to me, the darker the better. No gripes from me on the change but I was curious if anybody else noticed this after the BIOS update.
EDIT #2: Strike that, after another reboot the branding LED is now functioning as it did before the BIOS update.