Graphics turn your ATI Radeon 9500 to a Radeon 9700

A bit more info...

To do this the card must
1) be the 128m 9500 non-pro
2) be on the 9700 PCB.

Aparently the only manufacturer who has these early-model 9500's is saphire. After the 9500 pro's were released, all 9500's switched to the 9500 board which ONLY allows the 128m bus (4 bit pipeline)

Edit:
Q: How can you tell if you're getting the 9700 or 9500 pcb?

A: The 9700 pcb has the memory in 2 sets of 2, the 9500 has the memory in 1 set of 4

 

So this is the card which can have this mod done on it
http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=14-102-252-08.JPG/14-102-252-09.jpg/14-102-252-02.jpg

and this is the one which it will not work on:
http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=14-102-258-02.jpg/14-102-258-03.jpg/14-102-258-04.jpg

These aren't the saphire brand, so they must just be older ones which didnt sell out?

 

right. right.

They might have been. Any company who could make 9500's before the 9500 pro was released built them on the 9700 board, so there may be someone other than saphire who has them. Although if you're buying from newegg, they may not actually have the 9500 on the 9700 anymore. They may have sold out of those and refused to update the pictures...

 

Hmm i doubt it, because the ones which can be converted cost like 50$ less and i assume its because they are the old(er) ones

 

I have just found one of these cards at my local computer store, and only paid £145.00 for it. I am going to do the mod to it, but i am in need of the bios and a place where i can get the tools to flash the bios and save the original. Just in case it all goes pear shaped.

Can anybody email me the file or post a link?

The site listed for the bios has run out of bandwidth for the month and i would like to get on and do the mod.

I will also try and make a photo doc of the mod itself and post back my findings and results.

Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome to the forums! Best of luck with the transformation!

Btw, how long have you been playing w/ a soldering iron?

 

I have a 9500 in the post as I've sold my 9000Pro due to power issues.

I'll post some pictures soon to check if it is the right model.

This is the one >> http://www.overclock.co.uk/moreinfo.php?id=1005

I believe they have sold out due to this post

Shame the guide is a little unclear.

 

You can now do this mod with a software patch thingy so you dont even need to use a soldering iron

One word of warning tho doing this mod up the ram speed typically making the card unstable as 9500 use crappy slow ram.

 

Bit of a down side now, the card i bought today was DOA and they do not have another one. So i am looking to find another.

On a plus side now you do not have to move the component first said..

Have a Look here....

So its back to searching for another card and then we will try again.

Oh and as to my use of a soldering iron, I have worked in the PCB manufacture and population world for a few years so I have no problems with it. Saying that I would not use a soldering iron i would use a heat gun, it makes life so much eaiser.

 

gr8!

Only problem: I already have an 9700 PRO

Anyway: ATI ROXX!!!

 

Would this card work?

It looks like the 9700 board. 2x2 memory, power thingy... cept its black not red. which would go better with my blue/black themed clear pc

 

yeah morphine, that's one. Now to find one for sale somewhere

 

Well mine is nothing like the picture!

It has a red board and a black HSF?

I'll post some images soon, if anyone is interested.

I ran 3DMark2001SE and got 9313 default 1024 x 768 32bit.

That's a difference of 400 marks compared to my GF4 Ti4400 128Mb. Is it worth the effort?

 

The colour of the board and things like heatsinks shouldn't matter; it's the LAYOUT that's key. It needs to have the 9700 traces.

 

i found LOTS of them in the US (good for me, not you ) on www.pricewatch.com

 

I KNEW SOMETHING WAS TELLING ME TO GET A 9500 INSTEAD OF A 9500 PRO!!!! WAAAH!!!

anyhow, good luck to anyone who tries.

 

That was your wallet speaking mate

 

since all you really ahve to do is bridge pins 1 and 2 would a dab of solder work? when it says conductive glue, what should i use. ive heard of car defogger repair paint being used to unlock CPUs. what should i use.


I am DEFFINATELY doing this! I'm cashing about $1,500 worth of paychecks in a couple weeks. so Ive got plenty of money for mods

I've already got:

Monitor - 19"
HDD - WD 120GB SE
CDRW -Samsung fast x fast x faster
RAM - 256 & 128 PC 2100
Speakers - 4.1 CA


So that leaves 1,500 bucks for the case, mobo, CPU, and graphics!


Oh, and im prolly gonna watercool the CPU and radeon I want some nice overclocks!

 

hmmm the site for the hacked up BIOS seems to be down. anyone have it or know where to get it and wanna link it or send it to me?


I'm thinking about going the conductive glue path. that way some rubbing alcohol will save my ass if I need to send it back in.

 

Solder would work for sure, but be careful with the heat. I know that GPUs etc get hot, but a soldering iron gets a lot hotter, and if the heat is transferred through a connection in the chip (which it very well may be) then you could cause some damage.

That said, as long as you're careful and used a low-wattage iron it should be okay.