Considering I'm somewhat of a PC Luddite, and avoid updating my BIOS, Windows, or drivers unless it's critical, flashing my GPU BIOS was certainly out of the ordinary. I've known about custom vBIOS for a while, and how it can increase performance by tweaking the stock power limits or clock speeds, but I decided to actually do it only recently. My existing graphics card is starting to show its age, and I wanted some extra performance.
Choosing the right BIOS to flash was the most time-consuming part of the process, not the flashing itself. The process went smoothly, but the results made me realize that this isn't for everyone. If you want more performance out of your GPU, stick to traditional overclocking with MSI Afterburner, or upgrade your GPU.
Updating my BIOS after 4 years reminded me why I hate doing it
I know BIOS updates are important, but I just can't take the anxiety
I wanted more performance out of my old GPU
The RTX 3080 isn't high-end anymore
My RTX 3080 Founders Edition has been no slouch in gaming, but it's showing its age after almost 3 years of usage. Whether it's Cyberpunk 2077, Alan Wake 2, or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, calling the RTX 3080 a "high-end GPU" isn't true anymore. Overclocking it with MSI Afterburner didn't yield any significant gains, so I decided to resort to a custom vBIOS. A bit of Googling led me to the TechPowerUp website and the NVFlash tool.
The trickiest part of this process was choosing which RTX 3080 vBIOS to flash. The website lists dozens of BIOS versions for every GPU vendor, and selecting the best option comes down to reading Reddit accounts, matching your card's power connectors with the card whose BIOS you want to flash, and trusting that the person who created a particular vBIOS knew what they were doing. Anyway, I decided to try my luck with the BIOS for the Asus TUF Gaming V2 OC variant for its slightly higher power limit.
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I was prepared for a bricked graphics card
I needed a good reason for a GPU upgrade
Flashing your GPU BIOS to an unofficial version (one not meant for your specific model) is inherently risky. I was prepared for the worst since I've mentally moved on from my existing card. However, you only need to visit Reddit to read user accounts of bricked GPUs as a result of flashing custom BIOS. Many users are unable to revert to their default BIOS either because they never created a backup or because the card is too far gone.
If you're satisfied with the performance you're getting out of your graphics card, and not ready to discard it in case things go wrong, then don't bother with BIOS flashing. I wanted to do this as an experiment, so I used NVFlash to create a backup of my stock BIOS, and proceeded to flash the Asus TUF Gaming V2 OC BIOS. The flashing went smoothly for my card, but that might not happen in your case. Unstable operation and overvoltage are genuine concerns even if you don't brick the card completely.
The performance gains aren't worth it
At least not in my case
After going through a risky modification of my GPU's firmware, I was hoping for at least a noticeable performance improvement. My gaming experience, however, didn't feel any different. I was still struggling to break 60 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 at high ray tracing settings, so I wondered what it was all for. Your leverage might vary, but I'm almost certain I'll revert to the stock BIOS soon.
Considering custom BIOS flashing isn't risk-free, and you need to spend a considerable amount of time choosing the right BIOS file for not a lot of gains (in most cases), the process isn't worth it for most people. You should tweak your GPU's power limits in MSI Afterburner, and experiment with higher core clocks and memory clocks if you want some extra performance. For most people, the gains from simple overclocking will be nearly the same as those from flashing a custom BIOS.
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Most users should stop at official BIOS updates
If you're worried about outdated firmware on your GPU, you can easily do that with tools from Nvidia and AMD. BIOS updates for GPUs are rare, however, and if things are going smoothly, I'd advise against it. Flashing a custom BIOS is a whole different ball game. It can brick your card if you choose the wrong BIOS file, or at least lead to overvoltage and instability. The gains might not even be worth the hassle, which leaves custom BIOS flashing in a weird place — most people should only do it on a secondary GPU that they're not attached to.