X1800 XL 512mb Edition @ X1800 XT $199.99 at Zipzoomfly.com

[mazeroth]

Hmmm, so you think it's a possibility that I'm getting artifacts due to my core's voltage being too low? I've tried 1.15 and 1.20 but nothing near 1.4v. I'm actually a little reluctant to go that high but if you guys think it's ok I'll give it a shot. Also, in ATITool can I run the auto-detect and it will up the voltage as well?

Sorry for my newbishness! Thanks!

 

[ItsAlive]

I dont think the auto detect works in ATI Tool but i could be wrong.....I always typed in the clocks cause i dont think the sliders work correctly either. I am not going to say wether 1.4v is safe or not because i think it will vary on different cards. The only thing i can suggest is try at your own risk. However i believe the stock voltage for 3d clocks to be somewhere around 1.35v.

Also make sure to run msconfig and disable 2 items listed under service......Hotkey puller and something else......grrr i forget what its called.

I'm going to have to log its starting to storm here

 

[mazeroth]

ItsAlive, it's working

I was undervolted. Right now I'm running at 600/650 with my voltages at 1.325/1.952 and it's working great. I've been upping the cores 10mhz at a time and running 3DMark. So far, no crashes. I just hit 8862 3DMark05 on an Athlon64 3500+ at stock 2.2ghz. Don't worry, I just got that chip and will be OC'ing as well.

To everyone who contributed to this thread, and especially ChooChoo...THANKS!

 

[ItsAlive]

Thats good to hear. :thumbsup:

 

[bob4432]

just out of curiosity, why not just pick up the 256MB x1800xt? they are ~$220AR

 

[Esquire]

this can become a X1800XTPE with a bios flash... and 512 is better than 256mb because its more (j/k on that) 512mb my be better in future

i'm getting this cooler
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835186002

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Esquire
this can become a X1800XTPE with a bios flash... and 512 is better than 256mb because its more (j/k on that) 512mb my be better in future

i'm getting this cooler
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835186002

haven't seen the specs on a x1800xtpe...what are the clocks?

 

[Esquire]

well my card is running at 594 gpu and 693 ram in 2d
and 695 gpu and 792 memory in 3d

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Esquire
well my card is running at 594 gpu and 693 ram in 2d
and 695 gpu and 792 memory in 3d

those are some good speeds, i have mine set to go to 675/780 just because i live in az and my computer room is usually 82-85F, so i don't need to add anymore heat, but during testing it did 690/800 without any artifacting, but did get quite warm. i am also in a mid-tower case with only a 80 and 70mm fan bringing in air. after gaming it tops out at 70C at my current speeds.

i guess your way does work out pretty good, with the additional 256MB of ram

 

[mazeroth]

What do you guys feel is the absolute highest voltage these should be run at? Right now I'm at 1.350 and 2.150 and running at 640/770. At 40% fan the hottest it gets is 72ºC, which is nowhere near the point in which these cards get in to trouble. Am I voltage limited just on heat, or is there a number I shouldn't go over?

Thanks!

 

[bob4432]

how are you guys adjusting the fan speed?

 

[Starbuccaneers]

Originally posted by: bob4432
how are you guys adjusting the fan speed?

Use ATItool or Rivatuner to adjust the fan speed.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Starbuccaneers

Originally posted by: bob4432
how are you guys adjusting the fan speed?

Use ATItool or Rivatuner to adjust the fan speed.

thanks, man that little fan can move.....

 

[NicePants42]

In case anyone still cares, I've been toying around with this card for a while now, and have come to the following conclusions, which may help someone:

1. Modifying the XL bios to match XT memory timings to increase memory frequency is not possible. There is one value that seems to change dynamically depending on core/mem speed that I cannot get to adjust to 0x46. Even with all other timings @ XT, the modified XL Bios crashed over ~660mem. So, I've simply flashed to the XT bios as per LordGestle's fantastic instructions and forgotten about the XL Bios.

2. The best way to set up multiple clock frequencies (that I've found) that won't get messed up during 2D/3D switching is to 1) use 6.3 Cats (don't bother with the CCC), 2) disable the two ATI services per this thread, 3) use AtiTool to create/save/load profiles. This applies to XP Pro 64bit, I have yet to mess with the 6.5 Omegas + ATT in 32bit.

3. The accerlero x2 or some type of aftermarket cooling is a must for overclocking. Since I can run the fan on the accelero at 95-100% without being able to hear it over the rest of my case fans (whereas the stock fan literally sounded like a hairdryer at anything over 60%), the net result is ~10-12C lower load temps and MUCH LESS NOISE. At the moment, the accelero x2 is cheapest at Newegg, at $22. Here are some product links:

newegg
xoxide
SVC
heatsinkfactory

Thermalright has a nice hsf also, but I've read that the accelero is much easier to install.

Currently I'm running at ~705 / 785 @ 1.4Vcore, 2.097Vmem. Load temps hover around 72-74C. The fastest I've gotten the core is 579mhz @ 1.5V, and the fastest the memory will go is just shy of 820mhz. I'm still homing in on the best 24/7 OC.

 

[Esquire]

here's what I've found,

I flashed my bios to the x1800xtpe bios in the card seems to be running stable is running at 1.3 V core and the core clock is at 594, the memory is clocked at 693, when I run 3-D mode. They both jump up a hundred to 694 and 793. Not bad.
my car does get hot, though. I'm running the accerero x2 cooler I got from newegg and my ideal temperatures are 52°. When my apartment is 73°, and when I run the benchmarks. My core temperature jumps up to around 80°. I'm a little concerned about that seems to be running hot.

. I'm not sure how to keep the fan running at 100%. Any ideas? It seems to keep bumping back down to about 25% is rather annoying. Both the core temperatures down to around 52° idle at 1.3 V the card is stable so not bad for a $200 video card and $25 cooler.

and one more thing. Whenever I go in the 3-D mode, which bumps my clocks my voltage goes up to 1.5 V is that okay?

thanks audios

 

[bob4432]

i know you can use ati tray to change fan settings, but am not sure if you could use it with ccc, if anybody knows let us know please

 

[NicePants42]

AtiTool will let you adjust the fan speeds according to temps, voltages, etc. I really really like it. I believe that the XTPE Bios is what is causing your Vcore to increase to 1.5V in 3D mode, which makes me feel better about setting my voltage over 1.425.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: NicePants42
AtiTool will let you adjust the fan speeds according to temps, voltages, etc. I really really like it. I believe that the XTPE Bios is what is causing your Vcore to increase to 1.5V in 3D mode, which makes me feel better about setting my voltage over 1.425.

which card are you using because with ati tool all i got were crashes.....

 

[ItsAlive]

I modded the XL bios to 650/650 and im gettin about 8500-8700 in 3dmark05 with the rig in my signature.

I modded the core voltage to run at 1.3 and set the clocks to 650/650 and i adjusted the fan speed in the bios with Rabit 2.1. Seems to be working great and never overheats and is very quiet except on boot up and during heavy action in games like fear or BF2.

I have found that the tighter timings with the XL bios seem to give more of a performance boost rather than trying to run the XT bios with my core clocked to 1.425v, and mem to 2.2v. The card runs much cooler this way and I get very playable frame rates.

I'm almost positive when i upgrade to 939 and 2Gb of ram that i will hit over 9k and possibly 10k if i get a nice overclock on it. Because I'm thinking at this point my poor lil Sempy is strugglin and 1Gb of ram just isnt cutting it.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: ItsAlive
I modded the XL bios to 650/650 and im gettin about 8500-8700 in 3dmark05 with the rig in my signature.

I modded the core voltage to run at 1.3 and set the clocks to 650/650 and i adjusted the fan speed in the bios with Rabit 2.1. Seems to be working great and never overheats and is very quiet except on boot up and during heavy action in games like fear or BF2.

I have found that the tighter timings with the XL bios seem to give more of a performance boost rather than trying to run the XT bios with my core clocked to 1.425v, and mem to 2.2v. The card runs much cooler this way and I get very playable frame rates.

I'm almost positive when i upgrade to 939 and 2Gb of ram that i will hit over 9k and possibly 10k if i get a nice overclock on it. Because I'm thinking at this point my poor lil Sempy is strugglin and 1Gb of ram just isnt cutting it.

just and fyi - 3dmark05 really doesn't suffer that much from the cpu that much, or ram. my rig in sig runs about 9200 with the cat6.5s moving it up to 675/775. does the rabit program you are talking about have the 3d o/c like ccc? i would like to be able to speed up the clock when having heavy 3d usage as the card does get quite warm. if so can you point me in the direction of that program?

 

[ItsAlive]

I know that CPU is very minimal on the 3dmark05 bench, but I think it will increase scores somewhat. If I bump up from Sempy(256 L2 cache) to Opty(1mb L2 cache), and from 1Gb(single channel) to 2Gb(Dual channel) ram I think I will get a decent boost. Not to mention my Sempron is limited due to my ram and heat issues, so if i get a good clocking Opty I can take it up a notch on the FSB and gain a bit there too.

As far as Rabit 2.1 goes you can download it here and I didnt try with the XT bios so I'm not sure about the 3d/2d clocks. It's a pretty straight forward program.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: ItsAlive
I know that CPU is very minimal on the 3dmark05 bench, but I think it will increase scores somewhat. If I bump up from Sempy(256 L2 cache) to Opty(1mb L2 cache), and from 1Gb(single channel) to 2Gb(Dual channel) ram I think I will get a decent boost. Not to mention my Sempron is limited due to my ram and heat issues, so if i get a good clocking Opty I can take it up a notch on the FSB and gain a bit there too.

As far as Rabit 2.1 goes you can download it here and I didnt try with the XT bios so I'm not sure about the 3d/2d clocks. It's a pretty straight forward program.

i know if i run my opty144 at 1.8GHz vs 2.5 there is little change. not trying to bust your bubble, and the same with ram, at 3dmark05 stock settings it doesn't effect the ram since you don't max out. but in real life there is a difference with ram and eye candy. even since i am lcd locked at 1280x1024, i have hit 1.75GB with bf2, even with dynamic lighting and shadows off (don't like them) with everything else on high. personally i think there are something wrong with the 6.5cats and am switching over the 6.6s when i have the time....or omega/ati tray gets their automatic o/c feature to work...

 

[NicePants42]

Bob, if you read my post, you'd see that I'm using 6.3 cats, the latest ones that work with AtiTool. The reason you're crashing is the 6.5's. The 6.6's won't help either.

Once you get that cleared up, getting a 3D setting saved in AtiTool shoudl be cake, meaning that if you're going to do some 3D, all you have to do is load the profile in AtiTool and then go for it.

ItsAlive - I don't understand what you are trying to say here:

Originally posted by: ItsAlive
I have found that the tighter timings with the XL bios seem to give more of a performance boost rather than trying to run the XT bios with my core clocked to 1.425v, and mem to 2.2v. The card runs much cooler this way and I get very playable frame rates.

If you're trying to say that XL BIOS @ 650/650 beats XT BIOS @ 600/700, then you are obviously correct, but you seen to attribute this to tighter timings and forget the extra 50mhz on the core. If you're going to run the XL bios, at least crank the core up as far as it will go. 1.425 gets me to ~710 - and why run the RAM @ 2.2? That just dumps heat, which you seem to be concerned with. Have you got an accelero x2?

Personally, I didn't flash to XT so I could run 650/650, I flashed to XT so I could run 700/800. Right now I'm running ~705/785 or so and scored 10390 in 3dMark05. I'm running an opty 144 @ 2.7 with 1gb OCZ @ DDR600.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: NicePants42
Bob, if you read my post, you'd see that I'm using 6.3 cats, the latest ones that work with AtiTool. The reason you're crashing is the 6.5's. The 6.6's won't help either.

Once you get that cleared up, getting a 3D setting saved in AtiTool shoudl be cake, meaning that if you're going to do some 3D, all you have to do is load the profile in AtiTool and then go for it.

ItsAlive - I don't understand what you are trying to say here:

Originally posted by: ItsAlive
I have found that the tighter timings with the XL bios seem to give more of a performance boost rather than trying to run the XT bios with my core clocked to 1.425v, and mem to 2.2v. The card runs much cooler this way and I get very playable frame rates.

If you're trying to say that XL BIOS @ 650/650 beats XT BIOS @ 600/700, then you are obviously correct, but you seen to attribute this to tighter timings and forget the extra 50mhz on the core. If you're going to run the XL bios, at least crank the core up as far as it will go. 1.425 gets me to ~710 - and why run the RAM @ 2.2? That just dumps heat, which you seem to be concerned with. Have you got an accelero x2?

Personally, I didn't flash to XT so I could run 650/650, I flashed to XT so I could run 700/800. Right now I'm running ~705/785 or so and scored 10390 in 3dMark05. I'm running an opty 144 @ 2.7 with 1gb OCZ @ DDR600.

thanks for the info. i wonder how much the extra vram on the card makes as the highest i ever hit in 3dmark05 is 9600 with my opty 144 @ 2.5 although i run a divider on the main memory, and the card was at 695/785....but again i have the 256MB version. i could go higher on probaby both the gpu/memory and cpu but figured even 9000 in the game translates into excellent fps in bf2 the way i set it up, but who knows

 

[ItsAlive]

Actually my card wont run with the XT bios unless I down clock it. Guess its not that great of an overclocker. I like running the XL bios because I dont have to run ATITool in the backround and I have the fan speeds adjusted in the bios so no extra programs are needed to keep it running at 650/650.

I was not suggesting that the XL bios could beat out the XT....all i was saying is that with the tighter timings i can get really close to my best clock with the XT bios and my core is only running at 1.3v as opposed to 1.425 with the XT bios.

My best clock with the XT bios was about 675/700 and i scored 9100 points in 3dmark05.....with the XL bios clocked to 650/650 I score 8500-8700 and my card runs much cooler. I am using the stock cooler also which seems to be adequate enough while it keeps my card in the mid 50s-low 60s consistantly.