# x800pro Vivo PCIe => x800xt-pe PCIe



## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 4, 2005)

I have a Sapphire x800pro Vivo PCIe and am unable to unlock the extra 4pl's. I have tried everything suggested on this and many other forums to no avail. If I use an AGP (X800xt-pe) I do get Overdrive and ATITool says the default is 520/560. If I use a PCIe Bios it ends being a x800se in windows, and ATITool says its 500/500 and I lose the Overdrive tab.

I have used every single bios posted on techpowerup.com
I have used the Gigabyte and the <empty> bios trick. No luck.
I checked my GPU and there are no laser cuts.
I have verified that my card will run @ 590/565MHZ for an indefinite amount of time.
I followed W1zzards guide to the "T".
My GPU is Water-cooled, and I have Large Copper Vantec RAMsinks on the RAM.
I checked voltages and its running around 1.4Volts.

Has anyone here successfully modded their PCIe card? With the R423 core...?

I have done the 9800pro to the 9800xt with no problems. So Please help!!!


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## singha (Mar 5, 2005)

If your core has a laser-cut, you cant softmod 4 pipes.
(Like non vivo AGP X800pro)
You;ll need to do hardware mod.
And i heard that pci-e X800pros(including PRO VIVO) has a laser cut in its core.
Go check it out.

And by the way, your card has an awesome OC limit. Hard to pick one up like that
Mine was a %&$#^$.


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 5, 2005)

*Yup, checked that.*

I have removed the stock HSF and put on my swiftech gpu waterblock, which is why I can hit high OC's. WHen I did the HSF I verified that my core was NOT laser cut. I used alcohol to clean of all the stock thermal paste and used artic silver. So it was all nice and clean and it was not laser cut....   

But thanks for the response.


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 10, 2005)

You mean to tell me that with 79 people viewing this thread none of you have experienced these problems? Am I the only person that own a Sapphire x800pro Vivo PCIe and is unable to unlock the pipes?


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## ReconCX (Mar 11, 2005)

give em a little time ^_^ most people can't afford a x800 =D


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 11, 2005)

LOL...What an insensitive Clod I am...  

I should have just went with the 754 chipset and AGP,,But no, I had to get the DFI-Ultra-DR and a new 3000 Winnie. I figured I could mod the DFI to a SLI later down the road (switching to Nvidia, or hoping for ATI SLI technologies). The Winnie is running at 2.7Ghz, so that was a good buy. The x800pro is OC'ing very well so Im not to upset with it. But if I can get those extra 4 pipes and maintain close to what Im running right now I would be super happy. And saved a ton of money on a machine that is OC'd faster then the fastest retail machines.

I used to run a AMD XP2500 Mobile @ 2.533Ghz,,But man what a difference having the memory controller on chip makes. Sisoft memory bandwidth is off the charts,,gotta love that. At 2.7Ghz my Winnie is barely faster then a Opteron 2.6Ghz. Not complaining. But I want those 4 pipes UNLOCKED.


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## ju1es (Mar 11, 2005)

I just bought a 3000+ winnie, DFI NF4 ultra -D board and a sapphire x800 pro VIVO PCIe which also runs fine at 590\550.  Having the same problem with the pipes.  I checked my card out and it does have the laser cut   Where did you get your card from?  And when did you buy it?  It's just I heard the newer ones have the laser cut.  I got mine from Overclockers.co.uk.  Also how have you got your cpu @ 2.7.  Have you unlocked the multiplier?  I've got mine @ 2385 with a sync FSB of 265.  Standard *9 multiplier.


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 11, 2005)

Well I didn't get new ram. I am still running Corsair XMS 3200LL.

SO to get 2.7GHz outa the winne I had to adjust the memory ratio.

Here is how the memory Ratio works. Because the memory controller is on chip the FSB is independent of the HTT (kinda). 

So you default ratio is 200/200 or 1
180/200 = .9
166/200 = .83
150/200 = .75
And so on.

You then take that multiplier and well, multiply it by the HTT. I am runnin 300HTT at a ratio of 140/200 or .7  which gives me a FSB of 210, and the cpu is at 300x9=2700Mhz.

You will need to increase your voltages.


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## ju1es (Mar 11, 2005)

Yeah I figured it put after I had sent the post   Might have to experiment.  I always thought it was best to have the mem and cpu buses in syn (1/1)?  Have you had good results?

Singha, what hardware mod are you talking about.  I'm looking for a mod to get 16 pipes from my 12 pipe laser cut x800 pro VIVO.  Anyone know of a hardware mod?


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 11, 2005)

That is where it can get tricky. See if you use the default timings for the mem (depending on the mem) it can cause serious instability. At the default timings for 140/200 (.7) its 2-3-2-6. Far to low for my ram to handle, even though its only running 210. I think using the lower ratios requires the timings to be a little more relaxed.

At 210FSB and 140/200(.7) ratio I am stable @ 2-4-3-7

I know that my sig say 225Mhs, that was at 150/200(.75) and I had to use 2-4-4-8. Running 210 with lower timings actually improved my performance over 225Mhz with the above timings.

Again this only with my RAM if your running PC4200 or above its a different story.


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 12, 2005)

To answer your other questions I got my Video card at NewEgg.

I refuse to accept my video card can not be unlocked. I think I am going to try atiflash instead of flashrom. Good thing I have a extra PCI video card....Good ole Voodoo 3,,that things has lasted forever!
Anyways, I well post if atiflash works. I have heard on other forums to give that a try.


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## DeadlyArtist (Mar 15, 2005)

*Sapphire X800pro PCI-e Vivo from Newegg*

Have the same card you have and been trying to get those extra 4 pipes now for some time if you get it let me know I will do the same good luck!


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## aL Doom (Mar 16, 2005)

Did u ever think about using the search feature? Anyway, it seems to me that most Sapphire ATI x800pro pcie vivo are indeed lasercut and after asking around a bit, only the vivo with 1.6 ns memory are not lasercut. Mine is and I couldn't try to hardmod it since I couldn't find all the proper tools. Anyway I got my card from zipzoomfly.com in oem form. I also assume urs also has 2.0ns memory which makes a xt pe overclock very hard... but seems ur running at these settings ok.


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## ju1es (Mar 18, 2005)

al Doom, what is required for the hard mod?  Are you telling me there is a way around the lasercut?


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 18, 2005)

Well ATIFlash failed.

So I went to Fry's and bought a Conductive Paint Pen for 15.00. Went home, removed my waterblock on the gpu. Cleaned it all up with some alcohol. 

Now as you may know the PCIe-VIVO uses the R423 Core, and not the R420. But the lasercut appears in the same location. So I scraped a channel through the PCB board, and applied the conductive paint bridging the two contact points.

Wadda ya know. It worked. 16 Pipes.

Results are from GPU 590, RAM 560, 16Pipes.
AquaMark = 83,500 gained 3,500
3dMark03 = 13,200 gained 1,300


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## chr0n1c (Mar 19, 2005)

This is awesome! I have the same exact card, pipes are cut also, and mod is a no go. Saw ur post and now I have a conductive pen on it's way. 

Care to explain how u scrapped a channel a little more? ;D


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## ju1es (Mar 20, 2005)

This is great news.  Looks like it's time to get in the conductive pen business 

Yes please share exactly what you did.


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 21, 2005)

Here is a good image of the lasercut bridges.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?p=3546849#post3546849

Basically you mod it just like you would a r420 core. There are instructions on how to do this all over the net. Just google it.

You may also want to check your voltages and make sure they are around 1.4Volts.
If not do the pencil mod.


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## Urlyin (Mar 21, 2005)

ZenZimZaliben said:
			
		

> Here is a good image of the lasercut bridges.
> 
> http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?p=3546849#post3546849
> 
> ...



Zen ... if you look at the pic close ... it says TechPower up ... here ... congrats on the extra pipes ....


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 21, 2005)

Not sure what you mean by that last comment. I was totally aware that link pointed to an image contained within this site. For whatever reason people above me couldn't find this information.

But yeah I am pretty happy about the 16pipes.


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## chr0n1c (Mar 22, 2005)

We found it fine, we were curious exactly what you did by scaping a channel. DOn't see hoe you could misunderstand that.


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 22, 2005)

Ok, well I took an exacto knife with a fat/short razor blade and etched a groove between the 2 contact points with the corner of the blade. Not to deep. But far enough to see some copper at the pin outs. From there I used 2 pieces of scotch tape and made a channel to apply the conductive paint. Let that dry a little, remove the tape and let it finish drying, and it should be good to go.


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## chr0n1c (Mar 22, 2005)

Ok I see now, I was just filling in the laser cut channel with thermal paste and then going accross that and connecting the two contacts. but your saying we should gouge out that space a little till we see copper and then use the concutive pen. Just want to really test my understanding.

O <- my contacts
|
-  < --- is my laser cut
|
O

Scrape right across them till i see copper then use the paint?


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 22, 2005)

Exactly. Clear the contact points to the copper and scrape a thin channel to the center piece on both contacts. Tape it up, and apply conductive paint.

0
-
0


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## Ford Freak (Mar 22, 2005)

I have the pro and modded it without any problem. I followed directions from another site since I heard you had to use the Gigabyte bios to get the 16p. After flashing to the xt(non pe), atitool said 8p. I was like wtf. I guess it had something to do with it being the agp bios. I then flashed using the pci-e xt bios and it worked fine. I want to flash to xt pe but I can't find a pci-e version.


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 22, 2005)

Here is the Bios I am using. 
http://www.techpowerup.com/bios/Asus.X800XT.256.Samsung16.040727.bin

I haven't found a good x800xt-pe bios.

Works fine. I really dont think you need to use any other bios. The only thing this gives you is the overdrive tab, Not needed because your using atitool, and sets the clock at 500/500, again not needed because you can clock it with atitool. The only thing it really does is make it appear to be a X800XT in the display properties....Big deal. Thats more for ego then anything else,,and yeah I did it. Just feels a little better seeing the X800XT

There was absolutley no difference in benchmarks between the defualt bios and the xt bios both clocked @ 590/550 with 16 pipes.

By the way thanks to all the people who made atitool, what an awsome application!! Good Job!!


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## Ford Freak (Mar 22, 2005)

I just prefer to install the PE bios and not have to overclock though. That would also be one less thing I have to have running in the background/taskbar. I have found plenty of PE bios but they don't say if it is agp or pci-e or they are agp.


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 22, 2005)

Actually once ATITOOL is setup and you lock in your clock rate, you no longer need to run it. Although the temp monitor is nice.

I actually dont mind giving up 3Mb's for atitool. Thats nothing compared to other programs footprints.

I have 2 applications running in the task bar. ATItool, Daemon Tools. Together they take up, like 6Mb's. Very willing to sacrifice that amount of RAM for the abilities these apps give me.

I totally understand where you are coming from though. It took a long time for me to accept these programs as necessary.


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## ventrix (Mar 24, 2005)

Something to keep in mind if doing the hard mod - thermal paste is not adequately conductive. You would need to use conductive paint or something similar.


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## mikeguava (Mar 24, 2005)

ZenZimZaliben said:
			
		

> Exactly. Clear the contact points to the copper and scrape a thin channel to the center piece on both contacts. Tape it up, and apply conductive paint.
> 
> 0
> -
> 0



Boyoboy

I just received my X800 PRO VIVO PCI-X and also found the laser cut   

How did you manage to scrape the channel -  everything is so friggin tiny ! Did you just scrape from the "o' point to "o" point ? What tool did you use to scrape the channel?
I assume you put the conductive pen first and then put the tape over it? Or you taped a channel to not have any conductive ink mees around?

I really want to go your route too, but I am really nervous that I will not have a steady enough hand and destroy the 1 hour old card.
Any help would be greatly appretiated.

Congrats to your MOD and thanks for sharing the info!

Mike


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## chr0n1c (Mar 24, 2005)

So far no dice here....

All bios are showing up as 12 pipe X800SE here. Did the mod too. Gonna try again.


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## albertr (Mar 25, 2005)

ZenZimZaliben said:
			
		

> So I went to Fry's and bought a Conductive Paint Pen for 15.00. Went home, removed my waterblock on the gpu. Cleaned it all up with some alcohol.
> 
> Now as you may know the PCIe-VIVO uses the R423 Core, and not the R420. But the lasercut appears in the same location. So I scraped a channel through the PCB board, and applied the conductive paint bridging the two contact points.
> 
> Wadda ya know. It worked. 16 Pipes.



ZenZimZaliben, thanks for sharing your experience. Did you have a laser cut afterall? I'm a little bit confused, because in your first post you said:



			
				ZenZimZaliben said:
			
		

> I checked my GPU and there are no laser cuts.



Also, you mentioned that you got your card from NewEgg - was it Sapphire or other make? Was it OEM or retail packing? Does it have 2.0ns or 1.6ns memory? What was NewEgg's SKU?
-albertr


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## albertr (Mar 25, 2005)

Ok, I've just got my card from NewEgg too. It's Sapphire X800PRO VIVO PCI-E OEM from the following link:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=14-102-465&DEPA=0

It goes for $279 shipped right now and has all cables, but no games. The card has a red PCB and actually made by ATI, not Sapphire.

Mine has a laser cut. Has 2.0ns memory. The GPU marking reads:

```
RADEON X800PRO
215RBKAGA12F
GF2374.1
0443AA
```

I don't have a PCI-E motherboard until later next week, so don't have any means to test it right now.
-albertr


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## chr0n1c (Mar 25, 2005)

We have the same card. Mine will not mod period. 5 attempts. I gave up.


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## albertr (Mar 25, 2005)

Well, I knew it won't be easy  That's why I was surprised to hear about ZenZimZaliben's easy success...

Anyway, I'm gonna try to mod my card, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work, don't have anything to loose really. But have to wait for my PCI-E motherboard to come first.

chr0n1c, which DID you tried to flash it with? I think PCI-E cards could be alittle tricky since the device lookup table is quite different form AGP' ones. If they lock 0x74 and higher half-byte of x7B, you might want to try DID=554D to see if lower half-byte of x7B is still changable thru bios.
-albertr


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## chr0n1c (Mar 25, 2005)

m8 I have no clue what your talking about. O_O care to put it into simpler form ;D


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## mikeguava (Mar 25, 2005)

albertr said:
			
		

> Ok, I've just got my card from NewEgg too. It's Sapphire X800PRO VIVO PCI-E OEM from the following link:
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=14-102-465&DEPA=0
> 
> It goes for $279 shipped right now and has all cables, but no games. The card has a red PCB and actually made by ATI, not Sapphire.



Also got the same one. Haven't change any Bios yet but managed to pull a 6090 on 3Dmark04 with it at 585/580 Core/Mem on the 12 Pipes.
Pretty happy with the card for this moment as I am awaiting a Peltier for the GPU. That's when I really wanted to get the party started...but too bad for the laser cut...

Are you sure you have the 2.0NS memory?

I didn't check yet on mine.

ZIM - any update?

Cheers

Mike


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## albertr (Mar 25, 2005)

Yes, mine is 2ns.
-albertr


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## sleepeeg3 (Mar 25, 2005)

chr0n1c said:
			
		

> m8 I have no clue what your talking about. O_O care to put it into simpler form ;D


Chronic, you know you have to flash it after you hardmod it, right?


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 25, 2005)

I was wrong on the laser cuts on my first inspection. After looking at it a little closer and after reading a little more on its location I realized I was incorrect. I did have lasercut. Its rare, but I have been wrong before  

The tape was simply to avoid a mess. Making it a nice clean channel.

Also once you do the mod, you will need to flash it with at least the X800 pro vivo 16P,,which is located on this site. That is what I used and then I flashed it to ASUS X800XT to set clock, and get the XT to appear in display/device properties (more for this then anything else).

The channel I scraped was very shallow channel, just be sure to scrape the contacts until you see copper. From the first contact to the middle point, and from the middle point to the second contact point. Then I applied the tape, conductive paint and let it dry some, then I removed the tape and let it finish drying.

You may need to apply more then one coat. Just let the first coat dry a little, and reapply. I avoided this by using a larger amount the first time. Some of the paint ran onto the tape, but thats what its for. Once its almost dry, carefully remove the tape. You should be left with a nice line of paint over the top of the contacts.

My card is a Sapphire x800Pro Vivo, ordered from NewEgg.


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 25, 2005)

I will continue to try and anwser questions. But it was totally easy to do. Everything I have stated has been exactly that easy.

I wont really have any updates as my card is running 590/560 w/16Pipes. So Unless it burns the card up or I start getting artifacts I am calling this a clean and stable mod.


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## ju1es (Mar 26, 2005)

Could you put a link up for the x800 pro 16 pipe bios.  Cheers


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## albertr (Mar 26, 2005)

ZenZimZaliben, does your card have 1.6ns or 2.0ns memory chips?
-albertr


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## albertr (Mar 26, 2005)

Ok, here's my thoughts on a hardware mod. 

You have to have a digital multimeter if you want to make sure that it's done right.

Here's how it looks on PCB:

```
[font=Courier New]
----------------------------------|
                                  |
                (1)       (2)     |
                ---               |
                (3)   O   (4)     |
                                  |
```
[/font]

Of course, you already know that you need to connect contact points (1) and (3). What you might not know is that (1), (2) and (4) points are already connected. So to make the mod to succeed, all four contact points need to be connected.

Now, unless your GPU is different from mine, I don't see a reason to scratch the PCB surface. First, there's nothing covers the points, so they already make a perfect contact. Secondly, it's possible to ruin the points by accidentally over scratching them.

You'll need to have a good contuctive paint (or pen). Nickel, copper or silver are all fine. Silver has less resistance, but that's not important with short distances.

I would suggest to paint a line between points (3) and (4) in the following manner:

```
[font=Courier New]
----------------------------------|
                                  |
                (1)       (2)     |
                ---               |
                (3)   O   (4)     |
                 |         |      |
                 |---------|      |
                                  |
```
[/font]

Or line between points (1) and (3) like this:


```
[font=Courier New]
----------------------------------|
                                  |
             |--(1)       (2)     |
             |  ---               |
             |--(3)   O   (4)     |
                                  |
```
[/font]


After paint is dried up, test the contacts with digital multimeter to make sure that all four points are connected.

-albertr


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## albertr (Mar 26, 2005)

Opps, ascii art is all screwed up, but you got the point. One thing, thou. If someone with a digital multimeter can test the points (1), (2) and (4) to confirm that they are all connected like mine? I don't think my card is anyhting special, just want to make sure not to misgiude you guys.
-albertr


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## ju1es (Mar 26, 2005)

I thought the intention was to connect the two points in between the laser cut?  Is the thread early?  I mean April the 1st is just under a week away


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## Consilio (Mar 28, 2005)

*solder?*

Hi, 

I don't have conductive paint, but I do have this card and I do have solder. Can I use solder to make this connection or is it too small? Also does anyone know where to get the paint for cheaper then here:

http://shop1.outpost.com/product/3330952?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Thanks for info.


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## Consilio (Mar 28, 2005)

*good pen*

OK well best place I have found to get this is here:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&product_id=64-4339

it's cheap and most poeple have a radioshack near them. 

I'll post the outcome after I attempt this.


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## mikeguava (Mar 28, 2005)

Consilio said:
			
		

> OK well best place I have found to get this is here:
> http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&product_id=64-4339
> 
> it's cheap and most poeple have a radioshack near them.
> ...



Good luck to you. Be sure to get a magnifying glass -  That is on my shopping list for right now before I start to  try this mod.

Mike


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## Consilio (Mar 29, 2005)

*ah*

well took off the fan and heatsink today, found the laser cut and that I have the Samsung 2.0 memory... oh well others on here seem to have the same and its working fine. One thing though, the above post is right you will need a magnifying glass.


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## albertr (Mar 29, 2005)

Thanks for a tip on Radioshack's conductive pen, I've checked it out in a local store, and it looks fine. I'm still waiting for my PCI-E motherboard to arrive, once it's here, I'll do the mod and post my results.
-albertr


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## ju1es (Mar 29, 2005)

5 attempts using a a magnifying glass and conductive pen.  Painting a connection over the laser cut.  NO LUCK 

I have tried flashin the card with many bioses all of which are XT and the 16 pipes will just not come.  Do you have to use a modded pro 16 pipe bios first?


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## Consilio (Mar 29, 2005)

*hmm first attempt not working*

Well...

after the first attempt I have had no luck. Zim, could you tell us the bios flash order again and what you used, was it flashrom16p?

I guess I will be attempting this again, soon I will be back at radioshack buying a multimeter.

PS. buy more then a 2x magnifying glass


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 29, 2005)

5 attempts? Well it could be that some cards are just not able to be modded. Maybe. But hey I found a great article for you all. To bad I didn't have this when I was going through all this trouble.

http://www.madshrimps.be/gotofaqlink.php?linkid=2577


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## Consilio (Mar 30, 2005)

*attempt 3*

I am going to go for attempt 3 tonight. That link helps a lot, thanks Zem


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## Urlyin (Mar 30, 2005)

ZenZimZaliben said:
			
		

> 5 attempts? Well it could be that some cards are just not able to be modded. Maybe. But hey I found a great article for you all. To bad I didn't have this when I was going through all this trouble.
> 
> http://www.madshrimps.be/gotofaqlink.php?linkid=2577



Sorry Zin but that's the same mod the AGP guys beat their heads on ... congrats on doing the mod, but the percentage is still very, very low for a successful mod .... IMHO it's not worth attempting and voiding the warranty ...


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 30, 2005)

The link was more for a graphical representation of the LaserCut, and the tools\supplies used to bridge. Yeah I am aware that our chips are r423 but the same principle applies, the lasercut is the exact same on the r423.

Just use x800XT PCIe Bios instead of AGP. The order I installed was x800pro vivo 16p pcie, then without rebooting, flashed to asus x800xt pcie bios. This is of course after the hard mod.


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## Urlyin (Mar 30, 2005)

ZenZimZaliben said:
			
		

> The link was more for a graphical representation of the LaserCut, and the tools\supplies used to bridge. Yeah I am aware that our chips are r423 but the same principle applies, the lasercut is the exact same on the r423.
> 
> Just use x800XT PCIe Bios instead of AGP. The order I installed was x800pro vivo 16p pcie, then without rebooting, flashed to asus x800xt pcie bios. This is of course after the hard mod.



Zen ... I understand   ... my referrence was to the percentage of cards that were able to make the lazer cut hardmod work... I hope it goes better with the PCI-E than it did with the AGP... I just think people should know the percentage is not in their favor and attempting it will void any warranty... with slim chance it'll work ... I hope I'm proved wrong ..


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## albertr (Mar 30, 2005)

Can you guys post the marking found on your GPU core? At least we can see if they look the same or not... Also if you get your hands on a digital multimeter, please test  if you have contact between points...
-albertr


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## albertr (Mar 30, 2005)

Zen, does your card have 2.0ns or 1.6ns memory chips? Also, does your card have VIVO? 
-albertr


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## sleepeeg3 (Mar 30, 2005)

-He has VIVO (yellow MPC connector on the end and Rage Theater chip)
-He is the only one to say he has opened up the pipes with the hardmod (ATITool screeny maybe? Nothing personal, I just want to see.  )

How did you other guys attempt it? Did you fill the lasercut with non-conductive material before painting over? Did you remove the clear coat from the contact points so the paint could make contact? ...or did you dig a channel under the lasercut like ZZZ?

As far as the softmod goes, I've done it over half a dozen times and all it requires is flashing to the 16 pipe bios and then the XT one like ZZZ did. The hardmod had about a 5% chance of success with the Pros, but I thought the ViVos might still be unlockable...


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## ZenZimZaliben (Mar 30, 2005)

Ok, I will get a screen shot.   Will have to be later in the day though as I am not home.

My card as I have said. Is a Sapphire x800pro VIVO, with 1.6ns memory, I believe, otherwise I wouldn't be able to hit 560MHz on the mem.

Also I didn't dig a channel under the lasercut. I scraped a little off the contacts and etched a thin path across the lasercut. I didn't make some major cut or anything and I would say DONT DO THAT. No pick-axe, shovel or jackhammer required.


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## BlackPearl (Mar 31, 2005)

Any news on screen shots?  Has anyone else succeeded with the mod on a PCI-e VIVO?


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## albertr (Apr 1, 2005)

I finally got my PCI-E motherboard. Didn't have much time to play with it last night, but it does seem that my Sapphire X800Pro VIVO PCI-E card with 2.0ns memory from NewEgg is indeed hardware locked. Under locking I mean that some of the bits which comprise Device ID (DID) could not be changed by software. Most probably they are hardwired to some resistors on PCB or something.

I'm glad that ZZZ has managed to overcome it with his card by just flashing its bios, I've tried to use all my luck and some prays, but miracle ... just didn't happen - I'll try to figure out which bits are locked, maybe there could still be a slim chance to convert it to some other DID with 16 pipes, especially since ATI seems to introduce some new DIDs with X850 series and such...
-albertr


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## albertr (Apr 1, 2005)

sleepeeg3 said:
			
		

> As far as the softmod goes, I've done it over half a dozen times and all it requires is flashing to the 16 pipe bios and then the XT one like ZZZ did. The hardmod had about a 5% chance of success with the Pros, but I thought the ViVos might still be unlockable...



Could you please elaborate on:
1) Why you flash PCI-E card with AGP card's bios (I assume that "16 pipe bios" is the one for AGP-based card)?
2) Which flasher do you use to flash either bios'es? Is it cracked flashrom (by Wizzard) or just a regular one? For either bios?
-albertr


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## pl4Gue (Apr 1, 2005)

1) I dont think he said that. He said that he has done the softmod many times. I assume he ment the AGP Softmod ... 
2) To get additional pipes you allways need to use w1zzards flashrom.exe, the other wou8ld complain or produce errors ...


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## albertr (Apr 1, 2005)

Maybe I was not clear in my questions, let's me explain... Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I see a theory going on here that says to take a Pro PCI-E VIVO card and flash it with "special" 16pipes Pro AGP bios, and then flash it with XT PCI-E bios without reboot in between. I'm just trying to see if this theory has any valid grounds...
-albertr


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## albertr (Apr 2, 2005)

The DID is indeed is locked. I've tried all different bit combinations, but no dice. Until someone can compare PCI-E PCBs of 800PRO and 800XT, and figure out where's the lock (I guess it's some SMD resistors somewhere), I give up. Sorry.
-albertr


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## ventrix (Apr 2, 2005)

albertr said:
			
		

> Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I see a theory going on here that says to take a Pro PCI-E VIVO card and flash it with "special" 16pipes Pro AGP bios, and then flash it with XT PCI-E bios without reboot in between.


It begs the question, will a pcie x800pro work correctly when flashed with the AGP 16 pipe pro bios?


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## albertr (Apr 2, 2005)

AFAIK the code in the BIOS would work, however you need to make sure to change bytes @ offset 0x74 & 0x7B, since they control DID, and DID controls ASIC initialization. However, if your DID is locked, it won't matter.
-albertr


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## BlackPearl (Apr 4, 2005)

I've been watching this space, hopeful that the PCI-e VIVO mod would somehow prove successful.  Unfortunately, all the news has been negative and the one person (OP) who claimed success has not been back 5 days after saying he/she would post screen shots "later in the day".  I guess that ATI has finally taken steps to prevent the easy bios flash unlocking we enjoyed with the AGP models.


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## albertr (Apr 4, 2005)

AFAIK, the lock is most probably implemented as a SMD registor(s) somewhere on the card's PCB. The problem is I don't have access to X800XT PCI-E card (of the same PCB's revision), so I can't compare PCBs. IMHO it shouldn't be too hard to figure out the differences if you do have both.
-albertr


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## Kniteman77 (Apr 5, 2005)

*Yeah*

Yeah I'm having trouble modding my X800 Pro VIVO that is Sapphire as well.

I'll keep you all posted.

Contact me on AIM at Kniteman77 if anyone wants to chat bout this, it'd be much appreciated.


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## chr0n1c (Apr 5, 2005)

ZenZimZaliben said:
			
		

> The link was more for a graphical representation of the LaserCut, and the tools\supplies used to bridge. Yeah I am aware that our chips are r423 but the same principle applies, the lasercut is the exact same on the r423.
> 
> Just use x800XT PCIe Bios instead of AGP. The order I installed was x800pro vivo 16p pcie, then without rebooting, flashed to asus x800xt pcie bios. This is of course after the hard mod.



Where diod u get the Pro 16p vivo bios?  

And albtr yes I knew I had to flash after the hardmod.


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## ju1es (Apr 5, 2005)

I've already asked about the 16 pipe pci-e bios but got no reply


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## chr0n1c (Apr 5, 2005)

yea I looked all over for it....no dice.


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## sleepeeg3 (Apr 6, 2005)

albertr said:
			
		

> Could you please elaborate on:
> 1) Why you flash PCI-E card with AGP card's bios (I assume that "16 pipe bios" is the one for AGP-based card)?
> 2) Which flasher do you use to flash either bios'es? Is it cracked flashrom (by Wizzard) or just a regular one? For either bios?
> -albertr


Yes, those were all AGP cards. Like I said, I returned my PCI-E card, before I could try it. It didn't occur to me that the reason your cards might not be working is, because you are just using the XT or standard VIVO bios. That won't work!   

The 16-pipe bios was created _specifically for that reason_. It changes the ASIC code from x0049 to x0050 ...or something along those lines - don't quote me.  Simply flashing to an XT bios will not do anything. Look at the techPowerUp guide guys.

Originally, people were using the Gigabyte flasher and flashrom to get the same effect, but it supposedly permanently modded the ASIC code, which made RMAing difficult (not that you should  ) so that's probably why someone went about creating the 16-piped version.

Either use the Gigabyte flasher, or...
-Flash to the empty.bin
-Flash to the 16 piped AGP version
-Flash to the XT PCI-E version

Now I'm fairly sure the AGP version works just fine on a PCI-E card, if you were to reboot, but just to be on the safe side - don't. Not until you've finished flashing. The card will not try to run the settings until you reboot, but it _does_ modify the internal codes on the bios chip each time.

You should be doing all of that after doing the hardmod. Seriously, how many people were using the 16-pipe bios?


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## chr0n1c (Apr 6, 2005)

I will ahve to try this again. thanks man.


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## ventrix (Apr 14, 2005)

Anyone else tried this?


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## Kniteman77 (Apr 14, 2005)

*Help ?*

Ok so where do I get the empty.bin and the 16 pipe modded AGP bios ? 

I cant seem to find them.

After that you're saying all I have to do is flash do the PCI-E X800 XT bios and the 16 pipes will be unlocked ?


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## Kniteman77 (Apr 14, 2005)

Oh, and when we flash . . . . should we use the 16 pipe modified flashrom that preserves the R42X settings, or the other flashrom ?

Are we supposed to preserve settings when we flash or not ?


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## sleepeeg3 (Apr 15, 2005)

Well I would use the modified one first and then try the permanent Gigabyte version if that doesn't work.


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## ventrix (Apr 22, 2005)

I flashed my Sapphire x800pro vivo using the AGP 16 pipe bios from Wizzard.  The card worked fine, but still reported 12 pipes so i flashed back.  I may try the hard mod if i can source some conductive paint.


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## mikeguava (Apr 25, 2005)

browsing thru several various forums I have not yet found another recent PCI-E  X800 Pro that was flashed successful. I have a feeling that ZenZimZaliben posted his "success story" to let other peeps try to duplicate what he "would like to try" to see if anyone else has success before he tries in fact himself. I am not trying to flame, but it all seems a bit fishy to me at this point. No pics - no screenies etc.



			
				ventrix said:
			
		

> I flashed my Sapphire x800pro vivo using the AGP 16 pipe bios from Wizzard.  The card worked fine, but still reported 12 pipes so i flashed back.  I may try the hard mod if i can source some conductive paint.



Radioshack has some conductive paint - but just froogle it - plenty of places online if you want to try. Good luck


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## TheWretched (Apr 27, 2005)

*No Luck*

I have a sapphire x800 Pro VIVO PCI-E. I tried everything except using the un-modified flashrom.  I scrapped the connectors and applied the conductive paint.  I found that the only deviceID that will work is 5549.  When I used RaBiT to change the deviceID to that of an XT card, the card failed upon reboot.  An XT bios works fine with a Pro DID.  If there were some way to bypass this lock (which someone has suggested is the result of some extra SMS resistors) then there may be hope otherwise we are out of luck.  I'm not really that upset though as I bought my PRO for the same price as an XL and it out performs the XL (except for fillrate, barely) with a slight overlcock.  Plus its a VIVO.


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## tazz0r (Apr 27, 2005)

This is kinda wierd i think...
I want to mod my powercolor x800 pro (not vivo) into an x800 xt and ive heard that I can just join the dots up over the lazer cut bridge and then reflash it to an XT, but when I come to taking my cooler off, I look and see that there is no lazer cut bridge, where people would normally join the dot connection points up? So basically there is 4 dots (just like the XT) and no lazer cut bridge ? whats that all about? Is my card shipped as a 16p unlocked x800pro non VIVO?, so the same as a x800 pro vivo? Im not understanding this, and I need to get this right else i will bodge my card  



Also, does anyone know if these cards flash well, and which bios to flash it to. I looked on the bios collection, and found the x800 pro VIVO bios and downloaded that, and also found the x800 XT bios and downloaded that, although i could not find an x800 pro NON VIVO bios, would this be another reason to suggest that my card is 16p unlocked already? Could someone point in the right direction and precedure on how to re-flash my card, once I fianlly have the right bios  Im not familiar with re-flashing gfx cards, im kinda new on this scene.

Sorry for my long post, and dumbness, just need a little help  

Much appreciated


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## obso1337 (Apr 27, 2005)

ZenZimZaliben said:
			
		

> You mean to tell me that with 79 people viewing this thread none of you have experienced these problems? Am I the only person that own a Sapphire x800pro Vivo PCIe and is unable to unlock the pipes?


maybe. LOL

have you tried using riva tuner? very easy to unlock in that.


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## ventrix (Apr 28, 2005)

obso1337 said:
			
		

> maybe. LOL
> 
> have you tried using riva tuner? very easy to unlock in that.


I didnt think Rivatuner was applicable at all for the x800 series


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## TheWretched (Apr 28, 2005)

tazz0r said:
			
		

> This is kinda wierd i think...
> I want to mod my powercolor x800 pro (not vivo) into an x800 xt and ive heard that I can just join the dots up over the lazer cut bridge and then reflash it to an XT, but when I come to taking my cooler off, I look and see that there is no lazer cut bridge, where people would normally join the dot connection points up? So basically there is 4 dots (just like the XT) and no lazer cut bridge ? whats that all about? Is my card shipped as a 16p unlocked x800pro non VIVO?, so the same as a x800 pro vivo? Im not understanding this, and I need to get this right else i will bodge my card
> 
> 
> ...




Use ATITool to determine whether or not you have 16 pipes enabled.  If you do, don't bother flashing, just OC the card as high as you can.


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## obso1337 (Apr 28, 2005)

ventrix said:
			
		

> I didnt think Rivatuner was applicable at all for the x800 series


should be, if not, that sucks for you.


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## mikeguava (Apr 29, 2005)

obso1337 said:
			
		

> should be, if not, that sucks for you.



Can't unlock pipes with rivatuner - but change you clocks...


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## ventrix (May 5, 2005)

Does anyone know how the other 4 pads near the laser cut interconnect? From the photos in Wizzards article it appears that the other 3 dots (and one big dot) are joined. If so, then it wouldnt matter which point the laser cut dot was linked to.


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## littlepiggy (May 8, 2005)

so, this seller is lying?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=40158&item=5193715259&rd=1


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## 65tweet (May 8, 2005)

I have an AGP card with no laser cut so although I can’t directly help you I may be able to clear some things up. When I (and everyone else) flashed my VIVO PRO to XT PE I used an original Gigabyte bios and ATI flash. It seems flashing with this bios completely flashed the entire BIOS changing the device ID. That in turn removed the software lock opening the pipes. None of the other BIOS will do that. In short until your card is recognized as a genuine 16 pipe card they will never show up. Unless this is accomplished IMO you are wasting you time on the laser cut. Changing back to your original BIOS after flashing to 16 pipes works because your original bios will not change the cards ID thus leaving pipelines enabled. Another thing to think about if your mod works is some of those pipes may be broken. Don’t make changes you can’t easily undo until you are sure you want to keep them.


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## BlackPearl (May 8, 2005)

littlepiggy said:
			
		

> so, this seller is lying?
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=40158&item=5193715259&rd=1


I haven't seen any proof of a PCI-e X800pro unlock.  Now the card in the linked auction is approaching the price of the discounted X800XL's available from several online vendors.  If I wanted a guaranteed 16-pipe card at about the same price, I would seriously consider the XL.  Also, I wonder what Sapphire's warranty policy says about cards purchased from individuals in online auctions?


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## 65tweet (May 8, 2005)

There's an old saying: If it sounds too good to be true... 
I think this is a no brainer


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## littlepiggy (May 9, 2005)

here is the respond I got from the ebay seller from the link I posted a few posts up. I pointed out the fact no one has gotten 16pipes on the their pci-e pro:

****
"HM Johnson" <tekkmarket@yahoo.com wrote:

Just to PROVE you are a moron, I went onto Google and
it took me all of, oh, about 30 SECONDS to find 15
different links with instructions on how to flash a
PCI-E version of the X800 Pro to an XT.

Here is just one such link:

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/100

********


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## BlackPearl (May 9, 2005)

That seller seems like a nice guy, doesn't he?    He also doesn't seem to grasp the difference between being able to flash a PCI-e card with an XT bios vs. actually unlocking the card's additonal pipelines in the process.  He might benefit from spending more time reading up on the subject and less time calling names.


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## littlepiggy (May 9, 2005)

BlackPearl said:
			
		

> That seller seems like a nice guy, doesn't he?    He also doesn't seem to grasp the difference between being able to flash a PCI-e card with an XT bios vs. actually unlocking the card's additonal pipelines in the process.  He might benefit from spending more time reading up on the subject and less time calling names.




Cause I mentioned his auction is misleading, he also said I must have just graduated law school (i didnt) and that its because of damn people like me who think they know it all that he decided to go to med school and not law school (like i care,)


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## 65tweet (May 9, 2005)

Since he went to med school why don’t you ask him if he can remove his head from his a$$   Most people who react like that do so because they have nothing tangible to back the argument. anyhow I think we're getting off topic. Starting to sound like Yahoo chat


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## sleepeeg3 (May 12, 2005)

LOL! That's funny. He does sound like an arrogant prick. It's only okay to be a know-it-all if you actually know-it-all. 

Well I was hoping someone had tried the Gigabyte bios, but it looks like everyone has given up. Someone try it so we can put this issue to rest...


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## TheWretched (May 12, 2005)

I tried the gigabyte bios and the unmodified flashrom, no luck.  Guess we're stuck with 12 pipes for now.


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## TheWretched (Jun 7, 2005)

Did everyone go around the laser cut or through it?  I don't know if it would make a difference but I was just curious because some of the mods I have seen go around the laser cut.

o--
-  |
o--

OR

o
|
-
|
o


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## tdbone1 (Feb 20, 2006)

on the core it says:

RADEON X800 PRO
215RBKAGA12F
GF2421.4
0443AA
TAIWAN

on memory:

SAMSUNG 443
K4J55323QF-GC20


http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=9123


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