Flashing vBIOS is a common practice, but it is not without risk. The goal? Depending on the firmware, to gain more leeway for overclocking. Of course, to do this, you need to flash the BIOS that uses more permissive limits, such as that of the RTX 5090 Astral, which has a power limit of 800W compared to 575/600W for more traditional models. One modder even managed to flash an RTX 5090 Astral with a Matrix vBIOS !
Increase the power limit of an RTX 5090 Astral with an RTX 5090 Matrix vBIOS!Â
The RTX 5090 Astral is a high-end graphics card equipped with a large four-fan heatsink. However, the way the fans are wired, with the rear fan connected to the front center fan, requires modifying the PCB by changing a resistor on an input signal line of the card’s EEPROM. This is obviously very small, so you need the right equipment to do the soldering. But without this modification, flashing the vBIOS is clearly impossible. It should also be noted that the Astral White does not have this problem, as its fans have separate headers.
With this new firmware installed on the card, it is recognized as a Matrix by the ASUS GPU Tweak III software. This gives the card additional leeway in terms of its power consumption limit, allowing it to reach higher frequencies… And therefore, gain in performance.
Now, it should be kept in mind that this type of modification voids the warranty since it involves altering the card’s firmware as well as modifying the hardware. In the event of a problem, ASUS will not provide after-sales service for this hardware. On the other hand, with a higher power consumption limit, you can expect more pronounced heating, which can generate additional noise. And what about the power connector, which will have to operate outside its originally intended specifications? The Matrix allows for a power consumption limit of 800W because it has two power connectors: a 12V-2×6 and a GC-HPWR.