9500 mod ????

[mboy]

Ok, my new to me ti4200 gainward I bought in Fs/FT is dead, (lasted a whole 2 weeks if that, one of the capicitors or resistors fell off the top. Stuck my old g3ti200 and wont post, so now I am using an OLD Riva TNT I had lying around (yup 917 is 3dmark2001

I cant afford a 9700 pro, but since I am a glutton for punishment, I was looking at everyone modding the 9500s

Where do I begin? What is the best 9500 to try this on, regular? pro? IS a straight up 9500 the way to go regardless compared to a 4200ti?

Only games here, no video out or anything else like that needed really.

THANKS>

 

[EdipisReks]

the search button is your friend.

 

[hovenas]

I did a Connect3d 9500np and it works flawlessly. Ihear Sapphire is great too but I'd try to get it from a local vendor and try the softmod. If it doesnt work, change it... There has been no damage and not too unjust.

 

[AnAndAustin]

It's a BIG gamble trying to get a Rad9500 (non-PRO) and mod it to a Rad9700. Firstly you need a Rad9500 with 128MB built on the 9700PCB (now very rare, avoid the cards with the 4 RAM chips lines up in a row) as this will have 256bit RAM enabled. However only having 4 pipes instead of the 8 offered by Rad9500PRO and 9700 will really kill your card and the chances of successfully enabling all 8 pipes is about 25% ... that's if you've been lucky enough to get a 9500_128MB based on the 9700PCB in the first place. If you are stuck with 4 pipes (75%ish chance) even o/c'ing to 400/310 (9700PRO=325/310) will leave you about 40% short of stock 9700PRO perf. Considering how much cheaper 4200 are, and how liitle more a 9500PRO costs to a 9500 it makes sense not to gamble.

At stock speeds...

9500 is slower than a 4200 and you need to enable FULL AA & AF to slightly get ahead of a stock 4200, the GF4TI were never designed to use FULL AA & AF (medium AA & AF is best).
9500PRO is significantly faster than a 9500 and you're at GF4TI4400 speeds, but enabling full AA & AF you'll be a lot faster than a GF4TI4600/4800. Expect this to o/c to 9700 (non-PRO) perf.
9700 & 9700PRO is the only sure way to 256bit RAM and you're firmly ahead of the other cards, both should o/c well.

 

[mboy]

Originally posted by: AnAndAustin
It's a BIG gamble trying to get a Rad9500 (non-PRO) and mod it to a Rad9700. Firstly you need a Rad9500 with 128MB built on the 9700PCB (now very rare, avoid the cards with the 4 RAM chips lines up in a row) as this will have 256bit RAM enabled. However only having 4 pipes instead of the 8 offered by Rad9500PRO and 9700 will really kill your card and the chances of successfully enabling all 8 pipes is about 25% ... that's if you've been lucky enough to get a 9500_128MB based on the 9700PCB in the first place. If you are stuck with 4 pipes (75%ish chance) even o/c'ing to 400/310 (9700PRO=325/310) will leave you about 40% short of stock 9700PRO perf. Considering how much cheaper 4200 are, and how liitle more a 9500PRO costs to a 9500 it makes sense not to gamble.

At stock speeds...

9500 is slower than a 4200 and you need to enable FULL AA & AF to slightly get ahead of a stock 4200, the GF4TI were never designed to use FULL AA & AF (medium AA & AF is best).
9500PRO is significantly faster than a 9500 and you're at GF4TI4400 speeds, but enabling full AA & AF you'll be a lot faster than a GF4TI4600/4800. Expect this to o/c to 9700 (non-PRO) perf.
9700 & 9700PRO is the only sure way to 256bit RAM and you're firmly ahead of the other cards, both should o/c well.

Thanks, I guess I may wait to see how much the price drops over the next omnth on the geforce cards as I am going to build a new rig anyway in Mid march. Doesnt seem to be worth the gamble now on a 950np.

 

[gregor7777]

Originally posted by: AnAndAustin
It's a BIG gamble trying to get a Rad9500 (non-PRO) and mod it to a Rad9700. Firstly you need a Rad9500 with 128MB built on the 9700PCB (now very rare, avoid the cards with the 4 RAM chips lines up in a row) as this will have 256bit RAM enabled. However only having 4 pipes instead of the 8 offered by Rad9500PRO and 9700 will really kill your card and the chances of successfully enabling all 8 pipes is about 25% ... that's if you've been lucky enough to get a 9500_128MB based on the 9700PCB in the first place. If you are stuck with 4 pipes (75%ish chance) even o/c'ing to 400/310 (9700PRO=325/310) will leave you about 40% short of stock 9700PRO perf. Considering how much cheaper 4200 are, and how liitle more a 9500PRO costs to a 9500 it makes sense not to gamble.

At stock speeds...

9500 is slower than a 4200 and you need to enable FULL AA & AF to slightly get ahead of a stock 4200, the GF4TI were never designed to use FULL AA & AF (medium AA & AF is best).
9500PRO is significantly faster than a 9500 and you're at GF4TI4400 speeds, but enabling full AA & AF you'll be a lot faster than a GF4TI4600/4800. Expect this to o/c to 9700 (non-PRO) perf.
9700 & 9700PRO is the only sure way to 256bit RAM and you're firmly ahead of the other cards, both should o/c well.

You have the percentages messed up I believe. It's like a 30% chance it WONT work out, 70 that it WILL.

I may be incorrect here but I don't think so.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Early estimates (and we are only dealing with estimates here) suggested that there was roughly a 50% chance of successfully modding a 9500 nonPRO with 128MB on the 9700PCB. However it seems many people who thought the mod worked often found that some of the pipes hadn't actually enabled, as such it seems they ended up with 4-7 pipes instead of 8 which still impacted perf and wasn't truly a successful mod. Another factor was that many of the nonPRO 9500's used cheaper RAM which didn't o/c too well, they were aimed at a low budget. So it would seem even if you are lucky enough to find a 9500 nonPRO with 128MB on the 9700PCB you still have less than a 50% chance of enabling all 8 pipes. You can test this by running 3Dmark and paying close attention to the single-texturing score (IIRC). I'd strongly suggest paying the little bit more for a 9500PRO or a fair bit less for a 4200.

9500 unmodded:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=5614766

9500 modded to 9700:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=5626199

 

[hdeck]

i think success rates have been falling quite a bit. i know my attempts failed.

 

[kwan888]

Hey there...Two things...Your Gainward Ti4200 is probably part of the defective batch...There's was a lot of coverage on it on various websites...you can probably, and SHOULD get it RMA'ed...Gainward offers 3 year-warranty, so definitely check that out...Next, I got myself a Sapphire 9500 128MB card and did the softmod on it...I picked it up off eGay for $160 shipped...I check with the seller to make sure there was no artifacting, etc...So far I've gotten it to 350/295 with no checkerboards or artifacts...However, if you are looking for a hardware modded one, you can pick one up here...If you need a review, it's here...Not too bad at $200, IMO...Includes the hardware modding and 8 BGA heatsinks for your RAM...Good luck!

 

[EXman]

200 for a the hardmodded card with ramsinks is not bad at all. thanks for the linky. Did you buy your 9500 on ebay hardmodded already?

 

[EXman]

get a LOAD of this Beast WoW but lil expensive and also would be cooler if the heatsink matched the card kinda patriotic looking

 

[kwan888]

Originally posted by: EXman
200 for a the hardmodded card with ramsinks is not bad at all. thanks for the linky. Did you buy your 9500 on ebay hardmodded already?

Mine is not hardware modded, unfortunately...I wish I had waited, because I definitely would have picked up a hardmodded one from BulletPC so it'd work even if ATI changed their drivers...And there's no way I am gonna try the hardmod myself...Have you SEEN that transistor?!? =P But all in all, $199 is a good deal...Even that Zalman modded beast is a good deal at $230...Still way cheaper than a R9700 Pro with the same performance...=)

 

[EdipisReks]

i'd rather have a real 9700 for $230.