Turn X800 Pro into X800 XT PE with Bios Flash

[jpete1]

Bummer,

I am gonna return for 1.6 NS board.....what was really weird is it did work at the 16 pipes.....but only briefly lol

 

[jpete1]

hey that link is dead?

 

[jpete1]

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=3042178

do you have a part number by chance? that link is dead

 

[pgq3]

New to boards, Have a Sapphire X800pro ViVo that runs, albiet a bit hot, with the 16 enabled, stock XT speeds. If ATItool is used to keep the fan at 100%, it runs in the 50's to 60's C under load. I also found that if you use the backup.bin bios you save and flash it using the force command, then REflash it using the Gigabyte flasher using -force(-f), it will return it to stock 12 pipelines.

On a side note: I ordered a powercolor vivo from futurepowerpc, and they sent me an open box card that had the heatsink retainer on backwards, 2 stickers, neither of them powercolor on the heatsink, all software packages opened, and a strange smell and markings on the board. They were very helpful in getting the card returned though. The box had no plastic on it either, dead giveaway

 

[Uhtrinity]

~ http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=3042178
~ do you have a part number by chance? that link is dead

That was the 3d mark link, I bought mine from Extremegear
http://www.buyxtremegear.com/vc130114.html
Pricewatch price was $399 and took about one week after a backorder.

 

[jpete1]

Uhtrinity
thanks for the info, I ordered identical part number from newegg.com they were a little bit more but I had some unused credit to burn Just so I know I am doing this right did you use the instructions and bios files per Megaworks posting?

 

[Uhtrinity]

I used the directions here:

http://paddy007uk.freeservers....VO%20FLASH%20GUIDE.htm

With the exception of booting up with a win98 cd, and flashing straight from the hard drive. If something does go wrong you can reflash, but connect your monitor through a PCI video card.

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: Uhtrinity
I used the directions here:

http://paddy007uk.freeservers....VO%20FLASH%20GUIDE.htm

With the exception of booting up with a win98 cd, and flashing straight from the hard drive. If something does go wrong you can reflash, but connect your monitor through a PCI video card.

Thanks Uhtrinity for the information, I will post it on the first page.

 

[MegaWorks]

also do you think that this thread should get sticky?

Here's the link if you think it should

 

[Narnos]

Hello All,
I am a new member, however have been reading the forums for a while now. When I was doing some upgrading I found this little thread and it sold me on the x800pro VIVO. Please keep in mind that the suppliers in Australia don't even stock a x800xt and ordering one is just out of the question especially as here the price difference was around $300aussie.

Finding Nvidia cards is almost as hard, however the price again is far too expensive. So I took the plunge and bought an HIS x800 pro VIVO with the ice berg II cooler (or whatever). The one that claims to reduce the temps by 11 degrees.

Anyways, being far too keen I flashed my card without even checking the RAM and I must say that all of your guys/gals are LEGENDS!!! I now have a fully functioning x800xtpe with 16 pipes running at 540/580 (1160). I do not require vmod at all and the card idels at about 38 and peaks under full load just over 50 degrees.

Thanks to all the lovely people at this amazing forum as now I am playing at the res and picture quality I though I would be a few years after getting my 3dfx card with permenant FSAA.

Keep up the good work...

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: Narnos
Hello All,
I am a new member, however have been reading the forums for a while now. When I was doing some upgrading I found this little thread and it sold me on the x800pro VIVO. Please keep in mind that the suppliers in Australia don't even stock a x800xt and ordering one is just out of the question especially as here the price difference was around $300aussie.

Finding Nvidia cards is almost as hard, however the price again is far too expensive. So I took the plunge and bought an HIS x800 pro VIVO with the ice berg II cooler (or whatever). The one that claims to reduce the temps by 11 degrees.

Anyways, being far too keen I flashed my card without even checking the RAM and I must say that all of your guys/gals are LEGENDS!!! I now have a fully functioning x800xtpe with 16 pipes running at 540/580 (1160). I do not require vmod at all and the card idels at about 38 and peaks under full load just over 50 degrees.

Thanks to all the lovely people at this amazing forum as now I am playing at the res and picture quality I though I would be a few years after getting my 3dfx card with permenant FSAA.

Keep up the good work...

:beer:

 

[HumblePie]

Does anyone have a list of which brands of cards have VIVO and which don't? And is there any possibility that a non VIVO one can be hacked with this bios flashing mod?

 

[Uhtrinity]

As far as I know the non VIVO cards have GPU's that are laser cut (like the AMD cpus), and cannot be modded. VIVO cards will state that they are VIVO (Video In, Video Out) in the description.

 

[sbuckler]

Beware, nothing is without risks, this guy modded his, it worked fine for a few weeks then died. Checkout the thread
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=804930

Being as it's so hard to get X800XT's I can believe they're turning working ones into pro's just yet, it might be a simple as it wasn't quite stable at XT speeds, but there could be a more serious reason.

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: sbuckler
Beware, nothing is without risks, this guy modded his, it worked fine for a few weeks then died. Checkout the thread
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=804930

Being as it's so hard to get X800XT's I can believe they're turning working ones into pro's just yet, it might be a simple as it wasn't quite stable at XT speeds, but there could be a more serious reason.

no offence, but this guy overclocked his card to 585 core that's overkill if you tell me even if he's using water cooling.

 

[AMDScooter]

Beware, nothing is without risks, this guy modded his, it worked fine for a few weeks then died. Checkout the thread

I replied to that thread some time ago. I still do not believe a card with defects would have run without issue for 3 weeks then die suddenly. If the die were somehow defective he would have had issues immediately after flashing. From the looks of it the guy BORKED it somehow, IMHO not in any way related to the BIOS flash. Again, I have read across a ton of forums. I have yet to find a single occurance where the flash to XTPE alone fried a card. There have been bad flashes, BORKED Vmods and other OC'ing mishaps. But not a single verified instance where the flash alone killed a card. It is well documented that a lot of the newly flashed pro's will not run at the XTPE speeds with 100% stability and must be clocked down. My advise, run it at the slower stable speeds or look into better cooling. My2c..

 

[Uhtrinity]

The heatsinks on the Pros aren't as good as the ones on the PE's. That could have andd was most likely the cause of his problems. For reference, my card runs around 30c, tops out in the high 30's under load, but then again that is with water.

 

[sbuckler]

I think that guy was using water as well. It could be just a bad card, or it could be something in the pro cards just can't hack it. e.g. modding to XT ups the voltages on some components on the card, and the inferior pro ones can't hack it and eventually burn out?
I don't know, I was just warning that it's not risk free. I think if I had a moddable pro I would leave it as a pro for the moment (other then bragging rights there's nothing that really need an xt right now so it's hardly the end of the world) and let someone else take the risks till I know its safe.

 

[Uhtrinity]

~ I think if I had a moddable pro I would leave it as a pro for the moment (other then bragging rights there's ~ nothing that really need an xt right now so it's hardly the end of the world) and let someone else take the ~ risks till I know its safe.

Understandable, but realize that is why most of us bought this specific card. Now, as far as performance, there are games that can take advantage of this card, Doom3 and Farcry I two that I have. Half Life 2 will be another once released. It is also nice knowing that you can max out settings on most other games.

After thinking about it I would suspect that he popped a memory chip, after all he was pushing above 1200Mhz ddr. Like i said earlier with water these GPU cores barely get near 40c which is slightly above 100F. I have also seen some scores on Future mark that showed cores clocked around 800 Mhz vaporcooled and over 600Mhz water cooled. Just starting to play around with voltmods on the X800, expect to push roughly 100 Mhz over stock PE speeds. Won't push memory over 1200Mhz though.

Example of super extreme: http://www.xtremeresources.com...showthread.php?t=32822

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: Uhtrinity
~ I think if I had a moddable pro I would leave it as a pro for the moment (other then bragging rights there's ~ nothing that really need an xt right now so it's hardly the end of the world) and let someone else take the ~ risks till I know its safe.

Understandable, but realize that is why most of us bought this specific card. Now, as far as performance, there are games that can take advantage of this card, Doom3 and Farcry I two that I have. Half Life 2 will be another once released. It is also nice knowing that you can max out settings on most other games.

After thinking about it I would suspect that he popped a memory chip, after all he was pushing above 1200Mhz ddr. Like i said earlier with water these GPU cores barely get near 40c which is slightly above 100F. I have also seen some scores on Future mark that showed cores clocked around 800 Mhz vaporcooled and over 600Mhz water cooled. Just starting to play around with voltmods on the X800, expect to push roughly 100 Mhz over stock PE speeds. Won't push memory over 1200Mhz though.

Example of super extreme: http://www.xtremeresources.com...showthread.php?t=32822

I also think that 1200mhz on the memory is to high, eventually the ram will die at that speed.

 

[HercTNT]

Stupid noob question folks. i know that every post says the ram has to be 1.6ns. is that because that is what the bios is looking for, or so that the card does not die when you flash to x800xt speeds? is it just possible to enable the 4 extra pipelines without overclocking the card? i have a sapphire oem card with 2ns samsung memory. i believe it may be a vivo but i'm not 100% sure? i'm still looking up that last part. any feedback would be greatly appreciated. thanks!!!

 

[jpete1]

I had the Sapphire 2.0 NS memory and had the pipes unlocked briefly before it reverted back to 12. I reflashed back to pro bios so I could return it before I returned it I was getting artifacts and screen issues (parts going black) so I think it was on it's way out. I ordered the powercooler 1.6 following Uhtrinity post and have it in now, now one thing I thought was interesting is the saphire 2.0 had a 3dmark score of 1036 not overclocked and running latest catalyst drivers. The power cooler 1.6 ns memory card (vivo) only benched 1024 3dmark score out of the box, but to be fair I have installed/uninstalled re-installed video drivers. I am going to flash unlock the pipes and will post some screen shots before/after. The guy who fried his card from other forum claimed 3dmark scores in the realm of 2900+ so who knows. thanks for all the postings with instructions and hey if I break it I can always send it back for an exchange.....

 

[Uhtrinity]

You are talking 3dMark 2003? My first run in 3dMark was 9958 witht the stock bios, and 12,709 flashed to XT PE bios.

As far as the 2ns memory it is only good for a maxium of 1Ghz (1000 / 2ns * 2) where the 1.6ns is good for 1250, though it won't run that high at stock voltage. That was probably your problem.

 

[jpete1]

Uhtrinity

yes 3dmark03, I dont have video card watercooled I have the full 16 pipes unlocked. One thing I did notice is that when I use ATI tool and bump up the fan speed my 3dmark03 scores go up some. I ran some 3dmar03 benches with different fan speeds with 12 pipes and different fan speeds at 16 pipes and BIG temperature differences starting at 45 degrees C all the way up to 89 degrees C. Again I will post findings soon, but I did have a question, what temperature would be considered not good to hit?

 

[jpete1]

if anyone is intested I have an unreal 2004 dedicated server at my office on a T-1 ip is 64.179.127.138
its only turned on after 5PM central standard time USA and all weekend.....I am new to running a game server so it doesnt have cool MODS but I will add some as I learn