Unlocking Hidden Potential: How a Simple BIOS Flash Boosts RX 9070 Performance by 25%
Enthusiasts have discovered that flashing an RX 9070 XT BIOS onto the standard RX 9070 graphics card can unlock significant performance gains—up to 25% in synthetic benchmarks and 8-12% in actual games—without any physical modifications to the hardware. This process, while technically simple for experienced users, comes with substantial risks including voided warranties, potential hardware damage, and system instability.
The modification works by bypassing the factory-imposed power limits on the non-XT variant. While it doesn’t unlock additional compute units (both cards share the same core configuration), it increases the board power allowance from approximately 220W to over 300W. This additional power headroom allows the GPU to sustain much higher boost clocks, effectively narrowing—and in some cases eliminating—the performance gap between the non-XT and XT variants.
Documented Performance Gains
A Reddit user’s detailed testing demonstrated concrete improvements:
- 3DMark Steel Nomad: Scores jumped from 5,821 points (stock) to 7,277 points (modified)—a 25% increase
- Cyberpunk 2077 (1440p with ray tracing): Average framerates improved from 70 FPS to 78 FPS, with better stability in 1% and 0.1% lows
- General gaming: Consistent 8-12% improvements across multiple titles
The most significant gains required not just the BIOS flash but additional tuning including voltage adjustments and memory optimizations, suggesting that the modified BIOS primarily enables rather than automatically delivers these performance improvements.
Substantial Risks and Considerations
This modification comes with several important caveats:
- Warranty voidance: Any BIOS modification immediately invalidates the manufacturer’s warranty
- Brick risk: Flashing incorrect BIOS versions can permanently damage the card
- Increased power consumption: Power draw increases significantly, requiring robust cooling
- Idle instability: Some users report stability issues during low-power states
- Heat output: The card generates substantially more heat under load
Users with dual-BIOS cards (which feature a physical switch between two BIOS chips) can experiment more safely, as they can always revert to the backup BIOS if the modification fails.
Historical Context and AMD’s Approach
This practice continues a long tradition of GPU BIOS modifications that dates back to the RX 480→580 conversions and Vega 56 to 64 upgrades. AMD’s apparent decision to not actively block these modifications—despite having the technical capability to do so—has been appreciated by the enthusiast community, though the company obviously doesn’t endorse or support the practice.
Also, Read
- AMD Launches Radeon RX 7700 with 16GB Memory, Filling Gap in RDNA 3 Lineup
- AMD Extends AM4 Platform to 9 Years with New Ryzen 5 5600F CPU Launch
- AMD FSR4 Leak Enables Modded Support for Older GPUs, Despite Official Limitations
The Bottom Line
While flashing an XT BIOS onto a non-XT RX 9070 can deliver impressive performance gains for technically confident users, the risks are substantial enough that most consumers should avoid attempting it. For those determined to proceed, thorough research, appropriate cooling solutions, and understanding of the potential consequences are essential prerequisites.
Source: radeon