First Overclock: 9800Pro (not quite to XT?)

neokenzo · 21-04-2004 1:30pm

Originally posted by El_MUERkO
I'm using a 9800 non-pro so I'm limited by the memory and I wouldnt really want to push the GPU to 425 which is +100 on its stock but... could I flash the bios to 9800XT then clock back the ram and GPU?

XT's core speed is 412 and not 425 and yes you can downclock if you want to. If you dont want to really push your card then why flash it at all? Just overclock it. You will still get the gain you want.

Anyone know where I can get memory heatsink?

El_MUERkO · 21-04-2004 2:42pm

From previous posts people suggest the XTs bios gives a +5% increase in benchmarks at the same clock speed as a card running on a pro bios, I'm running on a non-pro bios so i'm pretty curious about the possible extra power I could ween out of the card

neokenzo · 21-04-2004 3:14pm

I'm not sure whether you can flash from a non-pro to XT. That would be quite a jump. What you can do is flash your BIOS to 9800 pro. Try the Gigacube if you have a samsung memory. It will give you almost XT speeds anyways. Then you can overclock it XT speed if you're not satisfied with default speed. Also, you need a better fan and probably some ram heatsink as your card will get hotter.

Beware on flashing though. Not all flashing works. I've heard stories about flashing going really bad. Make sure you read a lot before even attempting. I tried using the XT BIOS but it didnt work becuase I have a R350 core and Hynix memory. Due to that, now my system takes longer to boot. Probably corrupt my boot.ini file.

El_MUERkO · 21-04-2004 3:47pm

Ah bugger it then I'll leave my card as is, my memory is hynix 3.0ns, I notcie your GPU is OC'd to 400, I've also got an arctic silencer and I'm running at 411 now without issues so I wouldnt be suprised if you can clock higher.

BadCharlie · 21-04-2004 4:51pm

How can i find out what mem is on my video card ?
Do i have to open up my computer to take a look ?

El_MUERkO · 21-04-2004 5:01pm

Yep, it should be printed very faintly on the memory of the card.

neokenzo · 21-04-2004 5:23pm

Originally posted by El_MUERkO
Ah bugger it then I'll leave my card as is, my memory is hynix 3.0ns, I notcie your GPU is OC'd to 400, I've also got an arctic silencer and I'm running at 411 now without issues so I wouldnt be suprised if you can clock higher.

I used to have it up to 420 or so without artifacts but then moment I play Far Cry for about 1 hour or so I start to get graphic corruption. Thus why its at 400. It does its job at 400 so I rather not push it.

El_MUERkO · 21-04-2004 7:18pm

I got those same issues with Far Cry, I think thats far cry's fault though cause I've played Joint Ops and Painkiller with high detail settings for hours at a time without issues.

Just bumped my memory to 324 and it held stady for 20 minutes on ati tool and a few aquamarks, got 42044

neokenzo · 21-04-2004 9:54pm

I think its because Far Cry uses a higher graphic engine and thats why the graphics corruption happens.

I was reading some forum where it says if you can overclock your graphic card (SE/AIW/NP/P) to 412/370 stable, ie aquamark and 3DMark03 runs fine and Far Cry runs fine for a couple of hours, there are BIOS's that have been overclocked to XT that you can use.

neokenzo · 21-04-2004 9:55pm

Originally posted by Big Chief
is there anyway to find if the core is a R350 or R360 without removing the zalman heat pipe... was a bitch to get on as it is without having to remove it all again ;(

my 9800 pro is currently oc to 400/359 at the minute (if i goto 360 i seem to get small artifacts?) i can push the core further up but as i cant monitor temperature i was a bit dubious to do so? or could i go ahead

currently have zalman heat pipe + fan at the moment on it (the comp has been changed a fair bit since then, but the gfx setup is still the same)

I'm afraid to really know what core you are running, you would need to remove the Zalman heat pipe.

Big Chief · 22-04-2004 10:04am

Originally posted by neokenzo
I'm afraid to really know what core you are running, you would need to remove the Zalman heat pipe.

ill leave as is so.. thanks

managed to get the oc upto 412 core and still 359 memory, no artifacts in 3dmark03, quite happy with that..

wish i could see the temp of the core though

could probably push the core higher but as i say about temps.. i dont want an expensive doorstop personally

neokenzo · 23-04-2004 8:46pm

Originally posted by Big Chief
managed to get the oc upto 412 core and still 359 memory, no artifacts in 3dmark03, quite happy with that..

Thats already good overclocking. As they say, the most important tool of overclocking is your brain

As long as your happy with it, shouldnt need to push it further.

Besides, if you can run your card stable on 412/365, then only its advisable to flash to XT. Otherwise, just overclock it.

LegacyUser · 23-04-2004 11:40pm

Just flashed my 9800 pro to XT just there. Thanks Sir Random for the zip file and the readme. very easy to follow. Nice one.

So is my card now a 9800 xt minus the extra memory? How badly is it missing the extra 128mb compared to the 9800 xt 256mb?

Sir Random · 24-04-2004 12:46pm

Originally posted by cheesedude
Just flashed my 9800 pro to XT just there. Thanks Sir Random for the zip file and the readme. very easy to follow. Nice one.

So is my card now a 9800 xt minus the extra memory? How badly is it missing the extra 128mb compared to the 9800 xt 256mb?

Welcome to the club, cheesedude

The extra 128Mb only really makes a difference at 1600x1200 with highest texture detail, so expect the same performance as a 256Mb card from current games at 1280x1024.

LegacyUser · 24-04-2004 1:42pm

Excellent stuff. Jumped from 5245 to 6545 in 3d mark. Still looking for ways to increase it.

Seriously, this thread helped loads. Thanks everyone.

tuxy · 25-04-2004 9:35pm

Originally posted by El_MUERkO
Ah bugger it then I'll leave my card as is, my memory is hynix 3.0ns, I notcie your GPU is OC'd to 400, I've also got an arctic silencer and I'm running at 411 now without issues so I wouldnt be suprised if you can clock higher.

my card also has Hynix memory and i managed to flash it to a xt
i just used the bios that was designed for Hynix memory
HIS.9800XT.128MB.Hynix to be exact
http://mbnet.fi/elixir/Radeon/XT/R360-128/index.html

neokenzo · 25-04-2004 9:40pm

Originally posted by tuxx
my card also has Hynix memory and i managed to flash it to a xt
i just used the bios that was designed for Hynix memory
HIS.9800XT.128MB.Hynix to be exact
http://mbnet.fi/elixir/Radeon/XT/R360-128/index.html

How does that work for you? Whats the speed your running your card?

[edit] Also, just a thought. For those of you that have flashed your card to XT and made a backup of your original BIOS, does you original BIOS says that its R350 or R360, assuming that you have the R360 BIOS. Just thought of trying to figure the core out without having to look at the core. [/edit]

tuxy · 25-04-2004 9:55pm

Originally posted by neokenzo
How does that work for you? Whats the speed your running your card?

seems to be working good im running at default xt speed (412 core 730 memory) atm untill i get a new cooler for the card

neokenzo · 25-04-2004 9:57pm

I might try that. I've tried the one with samsung ram and was getting squiggly lines when running 3DMark03 and not able to play games with it.

Sir Random · 26-04-2004 2:44am

Originally posted by neokenzo
How does that work for you? Whats the speed your running your card?

[edit] Also, just a thought. For those of you that have flashed your card to XT and made a backup of your original BIOS, does you original BIOS says that its R350 or R360, assuming that you have the R360 BIOS. Just thought of trying to figure the core out without having to look at the core. [/edit]

The 9800Pro BIOSes list the core as R350. There's no way to tell the core without actually looking at it.

neokenzo · 26-04-2004 4:50am

Originally posted by Sir Random
The 9800Pro BIOSes list the core as R350. There's no way to tell the core without actually looking at it.

The reason I mentioned this was because I downloaded a new Sapphire 9800 Pro BIOS after a XT flash didnt work and I the original BIOS went blank after loading windows. Looking at it I suddently realised that the BIOS say its R360.

Look at this compared to this. Noticed that they both have different core.

El_MUERkO · 26-04-2004 10:40am

My radeon is a Grandmars 9800 non-pro, could i use the radeon bios for hynix or would i have to find a grandmars specific bios?

Sir Random · 26-04-2004 4:09pm

Originally posted by neokenzo
The reason I mentioned this was because I downloaded a new Sapphire 9800 Pro BIOS after a XT flash didnt work and I the original BIOS went blank after loading windows. Looking at it I suddently realised that the BIOS say its R360.

Look at this compared to this. Noticed that they both have different core.

Ah, I didn't know there was an R360 9800Pro BIOS, it would be interesting to know if it takes advantage of the XT optimisations (doubtful).
My original BIOS was for R350. Have you checked your core yet?

neokenzo · 26-04-2004 9:35pm

Originally posted by El_MUERkO
My radeon is a Grandmars 9800 non-pro, could i use the radeon bios for hynix or would i have to find a grandmars specific bios?

You can use any bios. You dont need to use your card's specific bios. Be sure to back up your original bios though before you flash your card.

Originally posted by Sir Random
Have you checked your core yet?

Nope. I dont have AS5 yet. All I have is that goo I got with the Artic cooling. Once I get it, I'll check my core.

First Overclock: 9800Pro (not quite to XT?)

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