{
 "schema_version": 1,
 "generated": "2026-10-26",
 "id": "justaresearcher-gpu-unlock-ada--unlock-full-rate-fp16-bf16-on-rtx-4090",
 "repo": "JustAResearcher/gpu-unlock-ada",
 "repo_url": "https://github.com/JustAResearcher/gpu-unlock-ada",
 "repo_slug": "justaresearcher-gpu-unlock-ada",
 "title": "Unlock full-rate FP16 and BF16 tensor math on an RTX 4090",
 "page_title": "How to unlock full-rate FP16 and BF16 tensor math on an RTX 4090 with GPU Unlock Ada",
 "summary": "Build the kernel module, add one boot option, cold boot, and check the kernel log for the unlock.",
 "who": "An ML engineer with an RTX 4090 Linux box who wants more FP16 or BF16 throughput for training or inference.",
 "problem": "GeForce cards run FP16 and BF16 tensor math with FP32 accumulation at half rate.",
 "outcome": "A card that reports full-rate tensor math after boot, with the stock NVIDIA driver loaded on top.",
 "steps": [
  "Run `git clone https://github.com/JustAResearcher/gpu-unlock-ada.git` and `cd gpu-unlock-ada`",
  "Run `make install` to build the package locally, which downloads and verifies the pinned NVIDIA inputs and generates the firmware on your machine",
  "Find the card's full PCI address with `lspci -D` and add `gpu_unlock.targets=` with that exact address to the kernel command line",
  "Power the machine off and start it again for the first attempt, since a warm reboot may not give the card a fresh state",
  "Run `journalctl -k -b | grep gpu_unlock` and look for that card's `gpu_unlock: unlocked` line; a loaded module alone does not prove it worked"
 ],
 "agent_prompt": "On my Linux machine, build and install JustAResearcher/gpu-unlock-ada with `make install`, add gpu_unlock.targets=<my RTX 4090 PCI address> to the kernel command line, keep a stock boot entry, and tell me when to cold boot. After boot, report the gpu_unlock lines from the kernel log and whether `gpu_unlock: unlocked` appears for that card.",
 "agents": [
  "any"
 ],
 "difficulty": "Advanced",
 "time": "1 hour",
 "basis": "readme",
 "caveat": "The 2x figure is a register-level instruction rate; one matched run found real cuBLAS GEMM gains of 12 to 34 percent for FP16, so measure your own workload before trusting any headline number.",
 "category": "Software and DevOps",
 "tags": [
  "Software and DevOps"
 ],
 "lang": "c",
 "requirements": [
  "A Linux machine you fully control, with a spare stock boot entry to fall back to",
  "RTX 4090 (10de:2684); RTX 4070 Ti SUPER (10de:2705) and RTX 4060 Ti 16GB (10de:2805) are experimental and validated on one card each",
  "Kernel headers and a working DKMS toolchain, with CONFIG_CRYPTO_LIB_SHA256 in the kernel",
  "The stock NVIDIA driver",
  "Secure Boot turned off, or the out-of-tree module signed with your own key",
  "Your own stock benchmark numbers taken before you enable it"
 ],
 "risk": "sensitive",
 "seen_in_the_wild": false,
 "mentioned_publicly": false,
 "risks": [
  {
   "tag": "reverse-engineering",
   "notice": "The unlock runs a payload derived from published analysis of NVIDIA's debug booter and changes GPU register state from a kernel module before the driver loads. It is unofficial, unsupported by NVIDIA, may void your warranty, and has been validated on very few cards."
  }
 ],
 "best": true,
 "score": 1.0,
 "evidence": [],
 "url": "https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/justaresearcher-gpu-unlock-ada/unlock-full-rate-fp16-bf16-on-rtx-4090/",
 "md": "https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/justaresearcher-gpu-unlock-ada/unlock-full-rate-fp16-bf16-on-rtx-4090/index.md",
 "disclaimer": "Deduped lists open-source repositories that belong to other people. We do not own, maintain, audit, or vouch for any of them, and a repo appearing here is not an endorsement or a safety check. The use cases, steps, and prompts are written by AI and may be incomplete, outdated, or just wrong. Where a use case is marked \"Seen in the wild\", we link to public posts where someone described something similar, but we have not verified those posts and the use case itself is still our AI's own write-up. Use all of this at your own risk. Only run code, commands, or agents on systems and accounts you are authorized to use, and read the code and every command before you run it, especially anything that touches credentials, files, or the network. Nothing here is professional, security, legal, or financial advice. All trademarks and project names belong to their respective owners, and their use here does not imply affiliation. Content is provided as is, without warranties of any kind. Found a mistake, a safety problem, or something you want removed? Email hello@dedupedai.com and we will look at it promptly.",
 "api": "https://dedupedai.com/api/v1/usecases/justaresearcher-gpu-unlock-ada--unlock-full-rate-fp16-bf16-on-rtx-4090.json",
 "api_version": "v1"
}