ATI says Modded X800 wont last long

[nvfx]

Well.. some days back i was reading articles on some website(dont remember). The guy had modded X800 Pro into and XT. He then confirmed ATI that he modded the Card.

In response ATI only tell that the Modded X800 Pro wont last very long.

What do they mean by that, the cooling system of both XT PE and the Pro are identical, Rams can be underclocked for stability.

I am recieving my Zalman ZM-HP80D tommorow, plzz tell me what should i do. Should i mod my X800 Pro or not!!!!.

I am more concerned towards reliability, either way, installing a zalman is vioding my warranty nonetheless.

Secondly, i need to know WHAT HAPPENS IF THE MOD GOES WRONG, OR IF THE BRIDGE BECOMES LOSSE OR SOMETHING, IF THATS GOING TO HAPPEN, CAN I SWITCH BACK TO THE X800 PRO specifications.

 

[neop]

What do you expect them to say? Go out and buy the x800Pro for less $$$ and overclock it? NO company will ever say that. It's a business, they are in it to make money. Just look at Nvidia with the GT's overclocking to Ultra's. Maybe you should call them up and ask about it.

Even with what Carmack said about overclocking hurting your card in Doom because of advanced features. Here's a guy that I'm SURE is getting plenty of cash/help from Nvidia so he's being a good sales rep for them. It's like Tiger Woods saying yea if you don't use Nike Golf gear you may not play as well as me but it's up to you.

As for success rates, I don't know. Right now it's probably not 100%. I would just play with it and if you need the performance then go for it, that way even if you make your card a paperweight it won't matter because you NEED more performance.

 

[JBT]

I havn't heard any cards that were pipeline modded have died yet but maybe? Hold off a couple of months and see what happens and when you actually need the extra power give it a go if all the cards are still churning away. I would check out the rage3d forums for a more indepth perspective as they are specifically about ATI cards.

 

[Axon]

That means "Oh dear God, please don't mod the card, we want you to buy the one with the extra pipeline for $100 more."

 

[Genx87]

Possibly they are making X800s on a different mask? Meaning they will not have 4 pipes disabled to reenable?

It sounds to me like the X800 LE is on its way with 8 pipes. Possible what they will do is create a mask for the X800Pro and disable 4 pipes for the X800 LE. It wouldnt make much sense to fab a 16 pipe chip and disable 8 pipes. This way they can concentrate on getting higher end R420 parts out and keep margins higher for the lower ends LEs and Pros.

 

[nvfx]

The reason why i asked this question is also because installing a Zalman HP Cooler is a mess of a stuff and if i am not mod the card later, its going to take even longer to reinstall.

However, i believe its better off leaving the mod alone until we all get a confirmation that its not shortning the life of the Card.

There is still something weird you know, if ATI were to disable 4 Pipelines, why on earth did they use a solution which is easily Modable. They could have done some other internal methods.

As far as i realize, ATI new they will fall behind somehow with the 6800 Ultra and GT. They might have then thought to enable End-Users to Mod it into XT PE and Kick some Geforce Ass. As it seems, i am so bitterly dissappointed to see the X800 XT PE falling behind the 6800GT.

To me, there better not any LE versions. Cause i doubt the X800's will fall in prices rapidly, may even come close to $ 300.

Than ofcourse the XT PE at $400 would make sense. If that happens and i am sure the GT's or Ultra's wont come down that rapidly, ATI might have planned a superb strategy, they may win in the End.

May be the upcoming Radeon be released later this year, almost 8 months earlier than NVIDIA and ATI will also likely to add DX 9.0C.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Sounds like a typical reply from a graphics card company... Why the heck would anyone tell ATI that they hardmodded their card, anyway?

 

[darkswordsman17]

Yeah, ATi also confirmed that X800 Pros with VIVO capabilities can be turned into XT PEs with a BIOS flash (it enables the extra piplines), but they also said that the cards won't last long if this is done to them.

 

[MangoTBG]

My 9800NP ===> 9800 Pro and my 9800 Pro ===> 9800XT are both chugging away like its their birthday.

You decide who to believe.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Yeah, I think its just ATi covering their @$$. Like was already said, what company would tell people that they can just modify their lower end product into their higher end product and it would be fine?

 

[nvfx]

Does that mean i should convert my X800 Pro into XT.

Reminding again, that only doing this cause i also have to install my Zalman HP80D.

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: nvfx
Does that mean i should convert my X800 Pro into XT.

Reminding again, that only doing this cause i also have to install my Zalman HP80D.

Nobody can tell you whether or not to mod your card. If your system gives you the performance you want with the games/applications you use, then I would say "No." If you are concerned with voiding your warranty, then I would say "No." If your system is struggling, then I'd say "Maybe." It could be your card holding you back or something else in your system.

Best bet would be to look around at benchmarks of the Pro and XT and try to extrapolate how well the XT would do on your particular system. Or browse through the posts until you find somebody with a similiar system + XT and ask them how well theirs does with different programs.

 

[imported_Shizen]

You know, if you do have an X800 Pro VIVO and just want to unlock
the 4 bios-disabled pipelines, you could just use ATI's x800 Pro 16
Pipeline bios instead of flashing it to an XT PE and risk it operating
at core and memory frequencies that'll render your card unstable,
or even nonfunctional.

I found it here: http://www.techpowerup.com/bios/
It's the one labelled: X800 Pro VIVO 16P 256 MB

I successfully flashed mine to an XT PE, you see... but when my
brother turned on the PC one day and logged on his profile, the
screen started to become corrupt and garbled. It happened to him
three times in a row. Just to be on the safe side, I flashed it with
the 16-pipeline X800 Pro bios, and its default speeds were set back
to 475/450. It solved the problem. Anyway, when I want to go up
to XT PE speeds, I could always load 'em up via ATITool.

I hope this helps those who want to get a little more bang out of
their x800 Pro VIVO.

 

[jim1976]

Originally posted by: JBT
I havn't heard any cards that were pipeline modded have died yet but maybe? Hold off a couple of months and see what happens and when you actually need the extra power give it a go if all the cards are still churning away. I would check out the rage3d forums for a more indepth perspective as they are specifically about ATI cards.

What the man said...

 

[Bar81]

That rumor is a bunch of garbage. Almost from the first moment people discovered the VIVO cards were just XT PE VPUs that didn't make the speed cut ATI has been rumored to be putting the lock down on the cards. Hasn't happened and it won't happen. There's simply no need. ATI is selling every XT PE it makes and even once they are readily available the price gap between a VIVO and a XT PE is so insignificant no one is going to buy a VIVO when they can get the XT PE for $50 or less more.

For the authoritative guide on how to mod your card, volt modding, and everything else:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=312063

 

[Dman877]

X800 Pro is plenty of card for todays games. I'd wait a fe w months, see where the chips fall. If a game comes along that really taxes your system, see how the modded cards are holding up at rag3d forums and then decide to mod at that point.

 

[fsstrike]

Mabye its true? If it were so easy to mod a x800pro into a XTPE then why is ATI having such difficulty producing XTPEs?

 

[MegaWorks]

if you guys want to turn the X800 Pro VIVO into XT PE here the action!

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: fsstrike
Mabye its true? If it were so easy to mod a x800pro into a XTPE then why is ATI having such difficulty producing XTPEs?

Maybe thats what is happening.

ATI is trying to mod pro's into XT's, and they keep failing.

 

[Keysplayr]

Why even call ATI and ask this question if your only going to question what they say anyway?

 

[Dakey]

Main reason the shortage of XT PE linked to shortage of 1.6ns memory. So besides half of 6800 ultra's shipping with 2.0 instead of the reference 1.6. ATI waits like the rest of us. A paper launch is to blame when the parts werent even in procduction i.e the memory. These cards shouldnt have existed until maybe a month or so ago. ATI is waiting to stick with there reference design 1.6ns and if u like ATI then u should be pleased by this. Personally I use a 5950(among others) and was going to upgrade to a 6800 ultra but, have not been happy about getting 2.0ns chips on that card. I firmly believe that ATI catalyst will get much better results than what has been benched here recently...more so than Nvidia as they have been getting feedback before ref. 61.77. I bet this will catch them up to 6800 ultra...SM3.0 support is a huge debate i wont go into it. I will upgrade before it becomes an issue anyway. Ill take a X800XT PE water cool it and be happy. And wait until 6800 ultra extremes(definetly has 1.6ns or better) are more mainstream. BTW ive never had an ATI but have been hypnotized by the shiny red and copper!

-------------------------------------


!!! Da Rig Mon !!! -