Graphics Some advise please on my 9800Pro - XT FLASH SUCCESS

Ok I'm all new to the whole 'VGA BIOS Flashing' and also Overclocking of GPU's...

To start...

I've got myself a Radeon 9800 Pro (128Mb). It has the R360 Core (I've looked), and also has 2.86ns Samsung Memory (K4D263238E-GC2A).

Now, I have a copy of ATITool, but when I searched through here, the memory clocks were 2:1 compared to what ATITool is displaying, so when someone says Memory to 700, in reality they mean 350 yeah?

It's still on its stock cooling as of yet, but I dabbed a wee bit of Arctic Silver 5 on the HSF when I re-fitted it after checking the core, so it 'might' help...

Ok, few questions then.

ATITool I notice has adjustments for all memory settings (CAS, Clock, etc...) but no voltage. Do I only worry with the Clock speed, or does tweaking the timings help a bit?

Core speed only increment in values of 5mhz? Or is it like the case of an Athlon XP-M where just bang it up to a nice round figure (400-ish)

Flashing the Bios... What is the worst that can happen. Also best sources for 'stable' BIOS files. when I searched I found a few links, but can't remember them exactly (forgot to bookmark )



I did get a few artifacts when I first installed the card, but after a reboot they went & its been ok since, even running Doom3 on the highest setting in the System options, I was getting around 40-60FPS... WOW compared to my old Ti4200! Also 3dMark 03 gave me just shy of 6200 marks.

I hgave pics of the core & the card if anyone wants to see, the core is a bit blurry & card are angle shots with & without HSF.


Ooooh another thing, some places recommend upgrading cooling when flashing to XT, others say stock 9800Pro cooling should suffice... Whats the 'Real' issue here. For now its all gona be stock cooling, but I will be WC'ing it with a DD Maze-4 GPU Block (which I thought wouldnt fit but then I noticed there were other mounting holes in the block )

All in though for £120 I'm well impressed

 

Digging an old topic... but hopefully you can help!

I'm having a dable at soft-modding it to 9800XT

I downloaded the modified XT Bios (128MB SAMSUNG - ASUS - BIOS 1.02) from http://downloads.rojakpot.com/files.php?cat=48

Now... system posts, windows boots (sort of) but when it gets to the Login display, ir used to work ok, then go blank screen and hang...

So I re-flashed the original BIOS, booted into windows & removed all traces of ATI Drivers from the system, and re-flashed

Now the PC boots, but there is a white screen displayed now instead of the login screen, but the PC is still responsive... I can access shares, ping it, type on the keyboard, and so-on, but the display just doesnt want to know!

Now, could this be an issue with the BIOS chosen?? I have tested the card for the past 2 days running loop after loop of 3dmark03 and 05 to test the XT speeds, and not once did it fall over!

Now I'm guessing its because the XT BIOS I used does the memory at 2.5ns, whereas the card is 2.8ns... BUT the only other BIOS listed at 2.8ns is the one with OVERDRIVE which I know my card will NOT do as there is no LM63 chip... so I'd be wanting one already at 412/365 withought the need to overclock it each time windows starts... but none of the other bios images say there speeds??

I'm shtumped...

 

Its ok I've sorted it now!

 

It seems there was something in the XT BIOS that your PRO didn't like and either reflashing hasn't changed it back or some damage has been done. You're unlucky if this is the case as you'd tested the card at XT speeds and all was fine. Can you try your card in another PC? What happens if you select 'Standard VGA' from the 'F8' menu (directly after POST)? Can you see the desktop in Safe Mode? You could try leaving the card unlplugged for a few days, in the past this can help components but it is a long shot. If nothing else you can upgrade to a 6600, X700 or simply grab another 9700/9800 without breaking the bank.

EDIT: Seen your post. That's cool, what was the problem?

 

Was it something with the core? (flashing to XT with R350 core maybe?)

 

No the core was R360, and the XT GeCube BIOS I used only enabled 4 pipelines, going back to the original PRO bios enables all 8 again... weirdness!!

Anyways, the ATI RADEON BIOS (1.0 E-DIE) bios sorted that, now a fully fledged XT card with all 8 pipelines restored and operational!

3dmark 03 results...

9800PRO BIOS
Default Speeds (378/337.5) - 5902
XT Speeds (Overclocked) (412/365) - 6333

9800XT BIOS
Default Speeds (412/365) - 6611


Quite chuffed really!