Can you convert an RTX 2060 Super to an RTX 2070 and an RTX 2070 Super to an RTX 2080?

Robert Sole August 1, 2019

0 3.792 2 reading minutes

Could it be possible, through a modified BIOS, to convert an NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super into an RTX 2070 and an RTX 2070 Super into an RTX 2080?

Recently NVIDIA has launched Super graphics cards. These new graphics cards arrive simply to put more land in between with the new AMD Navi. Basically NVIDIA has taken superior silicon, trimmed it somewhat, and created this new family of graphics. Now 'W1zzard', creator of GPU-Z, has discovered that there are three versions of the RTX 2060 Super and RTX 2070 Super.

Turing is an excellent silicon manufactured in 12nm and that seeks to innovate in the hardware market. Despite many users complaining about the price, these graphics introduce RayTracing to the gaming world. For this technology to work properly, Turing implements RT Cores and Tensor Cores.

Three versions of the RTX 2060 Super and RTX 2070 Super discovered

Graphics cards have their own ID or identifier. This allows the operating system and drivers to know precisely which graphics card is installed. The NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super and RTX 2070 Super have three different IDs, for unknown reasons.

Currently the RTX 2070 and RTX 2080, that are known, only have two versions. One of the aforementioned GPU silicones was factory limited for assemblers. NVIDIA prevented the assemblers from being able to overclock this silicon from the factory. Of course, the user at home could overclock them without major problems.

'W1zzard' has realized that the models with IDs 1EC7 and 1F47 match the IDs of the new RTX 2070 Super and RTX 2060 Super. The subject of IDs is an enigma, but 'W1zzard' has an idea of what they might indicate. What he thinks NVIDIA is doing is converting regular GeForce RTX models to Super models.

According to him, the silicon from the RTX 2080 would be used to get the RTX 2070 Super and the silicon from the RTX 2070 to get the RTX 2060 Super. Although it seems like a great revelation, this information was already considered before the launch of these charts. This is because they increase the amount of CUDA Cores and because of the name of the silicon.

By modifying the BIOS we can get a Super model?

Although it has been pointed in several times towards the reconversion of the silicones, NVIDIA has not confirmed it. If it was a forced conversion, it could be at the silicon level or at the BIOS level. In the event that it was at the BIOS level without modifications of the PCB, there is the possibility of modifying these graphics.

The problem is that NVIDIA introduces various protection elements to prevent BIOS editing. The company does not want anyone to modify the firmware of the graphics and that prevents upgrades as happens with AMD.

NVIDIA logically would not inform us of this, since many would choose to buy the RTX 2060 Super and upgrade it to an RTX 2070 or an RTX 2070 Super and upgrade to an RTX 2080. This would allow the user to save money and have more power.

We suppose that there are already many who are beginning to fiddle with the BIOS to see that they scratch. Although it is difficult to bypass the protections, it is not impossible and there are very good engineers who like this piece of equipment. This is one of the good things about AMD, that its BIOS can be modified very easily. We have already converted a RX 570 Mining into a RX 580 Gaming without major problems.