# X800 GTO² to X850 XT BIOS Mod



## W1zzard (Sep 13, 2005)

Show article


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## djbbenn (Sep 15, 2005)

Nice...could the card just be flashed with a X850 XT PE bios and truned into a X850? Or is a whole different PCB and all?

-Dan


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## Deathspawner (Sep 16, 2005)

Awesome find! That must be one of the coolest BIOS flashes ever!


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## AMDCam (Sep 16, 2005)

Can't find it anywhere. If I could buy this in AGP for that price I would. Do you think it's possible? I'm looking at a 6800 ultra, but if this is in that price range ($200) then I'll just go with the GTO.


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## 65tweet (Sep 16, 2005)

What cooling was on that thing for your runs? Don't tell me it was like the tiny one that comes on a pro.


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## ultimateguest (Sep 16, 2005)

Could you please specify the Product Name or Link of that Sapphire Card?

There are 3 different Models available, but none with the Nameing Extension GTO² all are named GTO.

http://www.geizhals.at/deutschland/...l&bpmax=&asuch=gto&filter=+Angebote+anzeigen+

Please help, to clarify which card to buy ....

Thanks in advance...

regards
ultimate


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## W1zzard (Sep 16, 2005)

the gto² will shortly appear at resellers it uses the x850 pro heatsink .. the big one, but one slot


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## thedivinehairband (Sep 16, 2005)

Does this same type of mod apply to the x800gt? it has the same core but only 8 pipelines activated. if so that would be totally awesome!!!!!!


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## thedivinehairband (Sep 16, 2005)

Bit more research done and I have found that the Powercolour X800 GT contains the r480 core and overclocks very nicely!!! Perhaps a bios update could get this working with all 16 lovely pipelines!!!


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## W1zzard (Sep 16, 2005)

it does not work on the gt as far as i know


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## Unregistered (Sep 16, 2005)

Hexus.net is reporting that the GTO2 is a 16 pipe card at stock settings:

"Other news we are hearing is that ATI love their GT brand so much there will be the GTO and GTO2 launched very soon. Essentially the GTO is a 12 pipeline GT, and GTO2 is X800XL (16 pipeline GT). They have decided that the XL and 850s will be gone for good. So the new lineup will be X800GT, GTO, GTO2, and their new VPUs."

See here: http://www.hexus.net/content/beanz/beanz.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD0xNTY4

Is the wrong, or should this article indicate use of a GTO (not 2)?

If it is the standard GTO this mod applies to, is this the product?: 
http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/products/graphics_specifications.php?gpid=119

The clocks and pipeline #s match the card in this article.


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## thedivinehairband (Sep 16, 2005)

Sounds interesting that does. This could change things when the GTO2 is released. There may be the possibility of using that BIOS to unlock the remaining pipes on the GT card. 
Don't you all just love the naming systems. Gets more confusing all the time.


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## W1zzard (Sep 16, 2005)

hexus is wrong all GTO products are 12p

the GTO and the GTO² are different products. As far as I know, the GTO can not be modded.


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## Unregistered (Sep 16, 2005)

"hexus is wrong all GTO products are 12p"

They say, the GTO ist a 12 pipeline version of the GT and they say that the GTO2 is 16 pipelines anyway.
btw, I have problems finding a Sapphire GTO2 card too. On Sapphiretech I can only find a X800 GTO and a X800 GTO Ultimate...


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## thedivinehairband (Sep 17, 2005)

Reckon most of these GTO thingy's arent in the market yet. Give the companies some time to get the stock in and then we shall see whats called what and what it does. I hate all these fancy numbers. why  don't manufacturers just use the core number and the frequencies. that way we all know what we are getting!!


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## W1zzard (Sep 17, 2005)

the gto² is 12 pipelines .. believe word of mouth (hexus) or a person who actually used as card? anyway, next week we should see more gto² reviews from other sites


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## Unregistered (Sep 17, 2005)

Understood that X800GT's aren't softlocked, however the X800RX (Club 3D's version of the X800GT with a guaranteed R480 core) is, apparently. In this case, given that the X800RX is essentially a GTO with 8 pipleines and 2.0ns memory, will the modified GTO bios work with the X800RX?


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## thedivinehairband (Sep 17, 2005)

Powercolours X800 GT http://www.powercolor.com/global/main_product_detail.asp?id=75 also has a guaranteed r480 core. They also do a GTO but no mention of a GTO2.


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## Unregistered (Sep 17, 2005)

Rumours are abound though that Club3D's X800RX is a softlocked GT, whereas Powercolour's and Sapphire's offerings are all lasercut. 

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=71234&page=2&pp=25


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## JuiCe (Sep 17, 2005)

W1zzard said:
			
		

> the gto² is 12 pipelines .. believe word of mouth (hexus) or a person who actually used as card? anyway, next week we should see more gto² reviews from other sites



Happy to hear that... but when will we see the cards themselves? I have looked all over the web shops in Germany and I can't find it


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## W1zzard (Sep 17, 2005)

i would bet this month


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## JuiCe (Sep 18, 2005)

Hmmm GTO2= RADEON X800 GTO ULTIMATE ?


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## Unregistered (Sep 18, 2005)

For the regular GT here is a tidbit.


> In short, *IRREGARDLESS of the chip used in the card (R423 or R480), flashing BIOS from X800/X800PRO/X850PRO/X800/X800XL will change nothing or may even aggravate the situation (the number of pipelines may be reduced to 4).* That's why the version about ATI's present to overclockers that can be easily modified is a lie. The only thing I haven't tried so far is to weld the broken bridge on the R423. But it turns out that the R423 is running out of stock and nearly all X800GT cards will be equipped with the R480, which are locked inside. Alas, there was no miracle. I guess, X800GT Extreme cards may be launched in future (but using two suffixes - down-grading and up-grading - is an absurd) with unlocked R480 chips. This event is not likely as it may cause the market fall.
> 
> Now what concerns overclocking. The samples I've got managed stable operation only at 510-513 MHz. Yep, overclocking is not high. I don't believe when I'm told about such cards running at 560 MHz... Probably for 15-20 minutes. You can manage to complete the tests. And that's it. Under such conditions I managed to run my cards even at 540 MHz (at the core), but only for an hour... Then the cards came to halt... That's no overclocking. What I call overclocking is a mode, in which a card may operate for at least 6-8 hours in succession, or even for twenty-four hours


from digilife http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/video/x800-3.html


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## grtek (Sep 18, 2005)

man  I just bought a 6600GT, looks like I'm gonna have to return it and get me one of these

I don't even know why I got an nvidia card, I miss my radeons.


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## Unregistered (Sep 19, 2005)

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=12993&sid=T57BVER63EJ18MR6AMQDFTT69NHW6CE1


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## AMDCam (Sep 19, 2005)

Well hopefully that guy is saying the GT's aren't compatible. We're talking about the GTO2's. Does anyone know if an AGP version will be available and if it will overclock just as well? Thank you.


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## flearider (Sep 19, 2005)

hey just got a gto .but don't know what the core is any helpers out there???? 215rbjaga12f is the code on the gpu .
fingers crossed thx for the help


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## sxotty (Sep 19, 2005)

I was the unregistered above. 

I agree hopefully we will be able too, I just did not want some poor sob to go buy a GT and think they would be able to unlock it.  I had a x800pro vivo that was flashable and great.  I am totally for this, but the gto2 listed there is a might bit expensive at the moment considering it is unknown until people begin getting the retail cards.

You can get a x800xt for $290, and a x800xl for $239, so $249 is not the best deal ever.  Now if it was a bit less I would definitely jump on it, but for now I will refrain.


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## BlackPearl (Sep 20, 2005)

I agree - this is a nice card but is not so attractive from a price/(potential)performance perspective at $249.  There have been too many good deals on R4xx cards over the last few weeks (I've bought 2) and with R5xx on the way there should be more.


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## Megatron (Sep 20, 2005)

I bought a powercolor x800gt and from what Ive read u can only unlock 4 more ontop of the standard 8 pipes.  I can now see a connect3d card for £4 more.  Im seriously considering returning this card and buying the connect3d.  Just one thing I would like to know is it possible to bios unlock this card or should I be aiming for a Sapphire?


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## CordlezToaster (Sep 21, 2005)

I see that 
http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=12993&sid=T57BVER63EJ18MR6AMQDFTT69NHW6CE1

have it for sale is this the right one?


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## superdav007 (Sep 21, 2005)

only sapphire is coming out with the GTO2? when will it be out in the market? wat will the product name be called? because the website at sapphire hv nth abt GTO2. it has just GTO extreme edition. & is it that all sapphire GTO2 can be modded? confused..


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## grtek (Sep 21, 2005)

Does anyone know if this mod will work with the Connect3D version of this card? Well I mean has anyone tried it?


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## W1zzard (Sep 22, 2005)

only sapphire will have the gto². other manufacturers have the regular gto which can not be modded. the prodcut will be called gto² and should appear in stores next week i hear. all gto² from sapphire can be modded


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## grtek (Sep 22, 2005)

That is so freaking sweet. Thanks man.


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## Unregistered (Sep 22, 2005)

W1zzard said:
			
		

> only sapphire will have the gto². other manufacturers have the regular gto which can not be modded. the prodcut will be called gto² and should appear in stores next week i hear. all gto² from sapphire can be modded



Sapphire X800GTO² and X800GTO Fireblade Edition both can be modded?? or just GTO² can be modded?


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## W1zzard (Sep 22, 2005)

does "X800GTO Fireblade Edition" look like "GTO²" to you? try to search for the little 2


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## intel igent (Sep 22, 2005)

what is the success rate for this mod?


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## AMDCam (Sep 22, 2005)

Yeah, what IS the success rate? And, how much will it cost on release date, because anything past $250 is really barely even worth it, even with the mod. And will it be AGP and PCIe, and if so, will the AGP be able to be modded up to X850XT PE like the one you tested? Thank you


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## daysleeper (Sep 23, 2005)

Any information about the price??.


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## Haplo_09 (Sep 24, 2005)

Well guys it looks like not all x800gto2 are moddable. 
I recieved mine today, and after flashing ati tool still says 12 pipes. Even though the the card had all F in their appropriate places, as manual mentioned. 

Did anyone had a simmilar experience.. ??

By the way what would happen if I try to flash it with x850xt bios.. ??


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## daysleeper (Sep 24, 2005)

Haplo_09 said:
			
		

> Well guys it looks like not all x800gto2 are moddable.
> I recieved mine today, and after flashing ati tool still says 12 pipes. Even though the the card had all F in their appropriate places, as manual mentioned.
> 
> Did anyone had a simmilar experience.. ??
> ...



Sapphire or what??


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## Haplo_09 (Sep 24, 2005)

yes. Saphire exactly, with label gto2


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## intel igent (Sep 24, 2005)

i think you were supposed to flash it using the xt bios


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## Haplo_09 (Sep 24, 2005)

well guys, I figured out the problem. when I flashed for the first time I used ati flash, 
and I had to use -f command. After i flashed I had to reinstall drivers completely, and remove 5.9 catalyst. Number of pipes remained the same. 
Next time I used flashrom instead of atiflash, and everything worked fine. My card is seen as x850 series with 16 pipes. 
So guys sorry for wrong info. At that time I was really pissed, and wanted to crush the video card. Aparrently atiflash didnt do its job.


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## intel igent (Sep 24, 2005)

so you were successful? how much did the card cost? thnx


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## Haplo_09 (Sep 24, 2005)

Yep IT works. I feel so happy, It comes with oc software, which determines stable speeds. Mine were 600 Hz mem and 600 HZ core. However I didn’t leave it so high, since I dont need it and also a little bit afraid to fry it. 
I paid 270, for this card 250 + 20 delivery 2 days ago. ( that’s why I was so pissed after first  unsuccessful unlocking)    Right now the price is 210 $ + 10 $ delivery.
So guys this is an excellent chance to get Ati x850 XT PE.
 
good luck gyus with purchase. IF you have any questions about card, ask ..   

Also sorry for bad english , since it not my native language : ))


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## Unregistered (Sep 24, 2005)

where did you get it from?


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## Haplo_09 (Sep 24, 2005)

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/FindResult.asp?sid=61G4CUNWNAR78KQ6XPQXV3QJ72S4C3G2 
by the way very fast shipping...


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## Ebola (Sep 24, 2005)

Haplo_09 said:
			
		

> http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/FindResult.asp?sid=61G4CUNWNAR78KQ6XPQXV3QJ72S4C3G2
> by the way very fast shipping...


Sounds as if this store is the only one that currently sell it 

This card will for sure be my next buying 

Any reseller found in Europe ?

From what i understood there would be 4 GTO made by Sapphire : Hybrid, Ultimate, Fireblade and GTO², where only the GTO² is moddable ?


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## grtek (Sep 24, 2005)

I just orderded mine from their this morning, and it's on its way! YES! I'll let you guys know my results when I get mine.


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## grtek (Sep 24, 2005)

This is going to be my 3rd ATI mod. 

I had a 9500np and it softmodded perfectly into a 9700. I was going through the process of putting a new cooler and some heatsinks to OC it to Pro speeds but I messed up the actual gpu, because I tried taking the shim off(I read that it made the contact better). 

So then I bought a 9800Pro, that was pretty good and I found out it had a R360 core so I decided to flash it with the XT bios, but first I wanted to put on the Artic Cooling VGA Silencer. I did that and in the process of putting it back into my computer I pushed to hard on it and I accidently ripped off some heatsink that was attached to a little chip. 

So hopefully I won't ruin this card doing stupid things. I've been pretty lucky with ATI mods and hopefully I'll get one that's moddable again.


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## DjiNN (Sep 24, 2005)

hi guys im new boy for this thing n i want to ask one think can this mod possible to do on connect3d x800gto ben i saw 2 powerconnector like x850xt-xtpe n it is using x850 xt pcb but on sapphire i didnt see yellow powerconnector 

thanks


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## HousERaT (Sep 24, 2005)

Hey w1zzard or Haplo_09 any temp monitoring on this card like on the XT cards?


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## Unregistered (Sep 24, 2005)

grrr to bad they dont ship to canada, cant find them here yet


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## Haplo_09 (Sep 24, 2005)

WTF... I oclocked mine to 500core and 580 memory.. increased fan speed to 100% 
run it through 3dmark 2005.. ( ised stock cooler.. ) 
the idle is 45C the peak was 52C
shouldnt peak be much higher ??


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## HousERaT (Sep 24, 2005)

Haplo_09 said:
			
		

> WTF... I oclocked mine to 500core and 580 memory.. increased fan speed to 100%
> run it through 3dmark 2005.. ( ised stock cooler.. )
> the idle is 45C the peak was 52C
> shouldnt peak be much higher ??


is the heatsink copper or aluminum?  I'm guessing the card does have temp monitoring?  or are you seeing the temps in atitool?


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## Haplo_09 (Sep 24, 2005)

the heatsink looks like Al to me.( which is quite strange ) 
I did temp monitoring through riva tuner


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## HousERaT (Sep 24, 2005)

Glad to hear about the temp monitioring...... if it's not detectable with ATITOOL, w1zzard will get it working eventually.
52C does seem to be a bit cool with just an aluminum heatsink.  is it cool where you live?


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## W1zzard (Sep 24, 2005)

does temp. monitoring work with atitool? it should .. if not, whats the device id of the card?


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## Unregistered (Sep 25, 2005)

Is everyone sure the gto frirevblade by sapphire is not what people are referring as the gto2?

I mean why isn't the gto2 on sapphires website? Only 3 versions of the gto.... normal. ultimate and fireblade.


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## Unregistered (Sep 25, 2005)

Should read fireblade above. Typo.

Even http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=26202 suggests the gto2 as people here are referring to the sapphire exclusive card is called the fireblade.

Don't you think gto2 would appear on Sapphire's website if that is what its called.


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## Unregistered (Sep 25, 2005)

And following link states there will not be a gto2 but a version similar by 1 manufacturer:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2527

Could be adding 2 plus 2 and making 5 here but I think this supports the fact that this special card must be the Sapphire Fireblade version.  As it is only Sapphire who are making this moddable card and they do not list a gto2.

I've got mine on order in the UK so will let you know when I try it.


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## Unregistered (Sep 25, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> And following link states there will not be a gto2 but a version similar by 1 manufacturer:
> 
> http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2527
> 
> ...



oh man..... 
the officialy announced GTO series fm Sapphire are not unlockable (at least not that easily)!
Some german folks asked Sapphire Germany directly  whether the Fireblade or the Ultimate actually
are the GTO2 and Sapphire denied this.
The key word in the above is "official".
Sapphire said they would not advertise the GTO2 (in contracdiction to the official Fireblades and Ultimates).
They used the Harware sites to spread the news about the GTO2 but they certainly won't put them on their website nor do advertisers for them (remember that dealers still have got quite some stock of
"real" 850XT and XT PE which costed them some good amount of money and they simply don't want competition fm a EUR200 card) 

The special thing on these GTO2s is that they are said to be hand picked/selected.
Thats why they say that they guarantee that the unlock works.
You might be able to unlock also the last quad on a Fireblade, but who guarantees you tthen that
the last 4 pipes work as supposed ? These R480 chips might not be fully funtional hence one quad
has been locked by ATI and sold to Sapphire as a 12 pipes chip.

Fireblade : guaranteed overclockablility
GTO2 : guaranteed overclockability AND guaranteed unlockable

As for Germany it was said that only 2 online dealers would get these special GTO2s (but quantities
should be sufficient).

rgds


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## Unregistered (Sep 25, 2005)

Found this link which must therefore confirm Fireblade is not a GTO2 as they are actually calling it GTO2:

http://www.sapphiretech.com/gallery/main.php?id=109

Will therefore cancel my Fireblade order and wait till I here of anywhere in UK offering GTO2.


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## Ebola (Sep 25, 2005)

I fully agree with that. What would become an expensive X850 XT/PE in a crow of modable GTO² and upcoming R520 (that get the leadership)

We must get more feedback from Fireblade users, but from what i eared till now is that they are not unlockable.


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## W1zzard (Sep 25, 2005)

it is not unlockable .. how often do i have to repeat myself: only the gto² is moddable


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## Ebola (Sep 25, 2005)

W1zzard said:
			
		

> it is not unlockable .. how often do i have to repeat myself: only the gto² is moddable


For me one time is enough  but as you can see through the whole web, the rumor that firebalde is modable is again the top priority

GTO² is labeled 'Limited Edition' right ? and box is referenced as SKU#310-18791B


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## HousERaT (Sep 26, 2005)

anybody else get this card yet?  I wonder what's the likelihood they'll hit xtpe speeds?  Does this card come with a power cable?


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## Haplo_09 (Sep 26, 2005)

yes it comes with power cable. 
the stock oc software determined 590 as memory speeds and 
520 core.. 
with stock cooler..


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## AMDCam (Sep 26, 2005)

SONOFAGUN!!!!! I just bought an A400 6800GT that easily overclocks to 6800 Ultra Extreme Edition speeds. I thought that was a good overclock, I guess I'm wrong. Well actually, according to benchmarks, the 6800 Ultra's do perform better with almost every good game, until you turn on AA and AF, then they lag just a few points behind the X800's. Anyway, I was really regretting buying the card because of this little card, but it's only PCIe and I've got AGP. So who cares, I got an AGP 6800 UEE, that should do pretty well compared to you lucky mofo's with your new X850XTPE's (GTO2).


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## Kinan (Sep 26, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> oh man.....
> As for Germany it was said that only 2 online dealers would get these special GTO2s (but quantities
> should be sufficient).
> 
> rgds



Which dealers are these? Is it known?


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## Unregistered (Sep 26, 2005)

Kinan said:
			
		

> Which dealers are these? Is it known?


mad-moxx and alternate (maybee others will get these cards too but these 2 named will be the first ones (first cards shall become avail this/next week))


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## HousERaT (Sep 26, 2005)

Haplo_09 said:
			
		

> yes it comes with power cable.
> the stock oc software determined 590 as memory speeds and
> 520 core..
> with stock cooler..


so if I slap a zalman or a ati-silencer on there it will be even better..... not bad for a $200 card.


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## AMDCam (Sep 26, 2005)

Nobody knows if they'll make an AGP version?


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## W1zzard (Sep 26, 2005)

no agp version


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## Ebola (Sep 26, 2005)

W1zzard said:
			
		

> no agp version


May you argue a bit because some adverts anounce that there wille be somme AGP version.

IMO there will NOT be AGP version, they are not gonna spend anymore money in a bridge for an obsolete slot


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## HousERaT (Sep 26, 2005)

Hey haplo?  what kind of scores are you getting with your system now in 3DMarks?  What are your system specs?


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## jerrym2 (Sep 27, 2005)

I had 3 out of 4 9500's turn into 9700's, 2 out of 4 9800se's turn into 9800 pro's, I am just thinking of upgrading to pci-e and can not pass this up. I think of it as free equipment. Had to get a pci-e card anyway, was going to get a x800xl but this is more interesting. Ordered it from Allstarshop for 223.00 US shipped. Will not be able to test for awhile because no pci-e board.


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## jerrym2 (Sep 27, 2005)

By the way, thank you very much W1zzard, without all your information I would not have been able to do any of this.


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## hoho220@ocforums.com (Sep 27, 2005)

*Hrmm*

It seems that this card will flash to an x850xt pe...The reliablity of the card however is in question. Remember these cards are not x850xt pes for a reason... with that said. I am not bashing the flash... it really is sweet and I am ordering a card tomorrow. However I do have to question how long we will have these cards before they fail.


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## HousERaT (Sep 27, 2005)

If I get one you can rest assured I won't be flashing it to an XT.  I'll be happy to flash it with the provided modded bios and call it a day.  I don't need an XT as long as I can get 16 pipes and plenty of overclock......


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## W1zzard (Sep 27, 2005)

hoho220@ocforums.com said:
			
		

> It seems that this card will flash to an x850xt pe...The reliablity of the card however is in question. Remember these cards are not x850xt pes for a reason... with that said. I am not bashing the flash... it really is sweet and I am ordering a card tomorrow. However I do have to question how long we will have these cards before they fail.



people were saying the same about the 9500 softmod .. i havent seen many of these cards die yet...


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## Trevor (Sep 27, 2005)

I do hope someone will find another place to buy these.


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## Unregistered (Sep 27, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> I do hope someone will find another place to buy these.




http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595


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## AMDCam (Sep 27, 2005)

Dang, that can go to X850 XT PE with the stock heatsink.....crazy. I mean I thought it was before but I didn't know it had a crappy heatsink, I mean imagine a VF700Cu or an X8%% XT heatsink! That would KILL even overclocked X850XT PE's. I am really jealous right now since I have no use for it because it's only PCIe and I just bought Nvidia's counterpart (a 6800GT that clocks to 6800 UE), but hey, the way I think of it, when I upgrade to PCIe It'll be in at least a year and by then the X800 series will already be cheaper, plus the new generation will be out. Although it SUCKS that I payed $245 for my Nvidia when I could get an ATI that's even better for $200, but oh well. With research Nvidia does actually outdo ATI with their cards without AA or AF, and even with it they don't lag too far behind, so it's not too big.


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## prius24 (Sep 27, 2005)

Are the Sapphire GTO2 x800 OEM and the retail lite both flashable and overclockable?  If so, isn't it better to get the OEM version because it's cheaper.


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## AMDCam (Sep 27, 2005)

Well the Lite package comes with games, a box, guides and cables, but OEM means you only get the card. So they're the same thing, just the lite package gives you more stuff. So since they're the same they'll overclock the same.


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## Unregistered (Sep 28, 2005)

what are the chances of getting a moddable x800gto2?


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## AMDCam (Sep 28, 2005)

I would say 100% if you buy one, I mean unless it's a dud but then every graphics card has possible duds.


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## bbL (Sep 28, 2005)

Well.. i bought Connect3D's X800 GTO and it modded to work with 16 pipelines.. Frequencys just cannot be raised to X850 XT or XT PE numbers.. Core 470mhz and mem. 500mhz :> Btw i havent read all posts, so pls don't complain if something of that info is old ;D


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## Migons (Sep 28, 2005)

bbL said:
			
		

> Well.. i bought Connect3D's X800 GTO and it modded to work with 16 pipelines.. Frequencys just cannot be raised to X850 XT or XT PE numbers.. Core 470mhz and mem. 500mhz :> Btw i havent read all posts, so pls don't complain if something of that info is old ;D



Here in Finland same situation. ATITool is reporting Connect3D X800 GTO to have R423 core, but really it has R480 (i don't do all C3D's GTO's have). And if you flash directly the Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin BIOS, only 8 pipes are then enabled. But you must first flash the original Sapphire.X800GTO2.Samsung16.bin BIOS, and then the 16P modded Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin. Now you have successfully enabled 16 pipes.

PS. I don't have the card, a user from Muropaketti has it.


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## bbL (Sep 28, 2005)

no johan outoa settiä iskee  When i started my pc 1st time with that C3D GTO, Atitool said that the core is R480 (if i remember it right) and it had 12 pipelines, then i put the new bios, then went to windows and got a nice surprise when atitool said, that card has 0 active pipelines.. well, just reinstalled drivers, rebooted and got those 16 pipes


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## Migons (Sep 28, 2005)

bbL said:
			
		

> no johan outoa settiä iskee



Jahas, sinäkös se olitkin jo tuossa ylempänä


----------



## bbL (Sep 28, 2005)

khyl  ja muistin kuiteki vääri, et kyll se atitool ekana sano et r423.. no kuiteki


----------



## ShadowFlare (Sep 28, 2005)

Haha, all this talk about how this card is easily moddable to be equivalent to an X850 XT PE is making me want to return my Powercolor X800 GT and get the Sapphire X800 GTO2 instead.  It would cost me about an additional $60, though.  I still have about a week and a half time period that I could return it for an 85% refund.

BTW, do all of them have the 1.6 ns memory chips?


----------



## Migons (Sep 28, 2005)

Reporting now another successful 16P mod here. Connect3D X800 GTO again. He says with original BIOS core can reach 550MHz, but with the Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin it only does 470MHz, just like bbL above. Something limiting in that bios? Also the 2.0ns memory chips are going 490MHz fine now, with original bios memory did 550MHz fine.


----------



## grtek (Sep 28, 2005)

*Mod Confirmed Again*

Well I got my card yesterday and I had enough time to use it. And I can say the mod worked perfectly. I had some trouble at first cause of my floppy drive, but once I flashed it, everything was good. I still haven't tried overclocking, but I will do that soon.

Oh yeah this was on a Sapphire X800GTO2 OEM card.


----------



## pmr123 (Sep 28, 2005)

which is a reliable place to buy this (X800GTO2) card from in US ? and is it worth trying to find a lite retail version....appreciate any advice...thanks


----------



## AMDCam (Sep 28, 2005)

Shadowflare, if I were you I would do it as soon as possible man. The GT and GTO2 are about the same price (at newegg.com, about $200) and obviously the GTO2 has the capability to be TWICE as powerful as the GT. I never had that choice when I bought my Radeon 9800 Pro, it was the best I could get in my price range. But seriously dude, in a couple months you're gonna wish you had more power (new games). Although the GT is a great card, just saying price-to-power the GTO2 is about a 200% better value.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Sep 29, 2005)

^I actually ordered it only an hour after posting that other message. 

I was thinking about it during that time period, and I figured that since mine didn't come with what I would need to have to connect 2 CRT displays (or any other 2 non-DVI displays) and also didn't come with the component video adaptor and the Sapphire card does, it would make up for part of the price because of not having to buy those adaptors later.  Those are both things I would like to have and getting them through ATI would cost about $35 total.  The DVI->VGA adaptor could be bought elsewhere, so maybe a little less than $35 total if I didn't get an ATI DVI->VGA adaptor.  The Powercolor card does have dual-DVI, but I don't even have any DVI-supported displays yet and probably won't for quite a while.  Anyway, considering that, it wouldn't have to be even nearly as fast as it can be for it to be worth it to me for the price difference; especially if I would have waited a couple of weeks and bought the X800 GTO2 originally. 

I'll probably be receiving it Friday or Saturday.  I'll be waiting until I try it out first before I send the other back.  After I try it out, I'll post my results here. 

BTW, why hasn't anyone posted their 3dmark05 score with the overclock and without the pipe unlock?  I'm kind of curious about the difference in speed when running at X850 XT PE clock speeds with 12 and 16 pipes compared with the difference in speed when running stock speeds with 12 and 16 pipes.  The reason is that the speeds before and the pipe unlock don't seem too dramatic compared with just overclocking.

This video card will make my system more like a high-end system rather than a mid-range or mid-high-end system like it is right now, especially when my cpu and memory are overclocked, too.  (look at specs in sig)


----------



## AMDCam (Sep 29, 2005)

Alright, but If you look at X850XT PE's they're going for about $350 to $400, which is twice as much as a GTO2, compared to $35 in accessories. Plus, from that one website with the "lite" package, I think those lites come with connectors. Although I completely understand if you don't play games much or don't want to overclock and just need a practical card.


----------



## Unregistered (Sep 29, 2005)

I've just have see x800GTO² in newegg. Looks very nice but if i want to change the stock heatsink to other better (like Arctic Cooling, Zalman) what silencer model would be the correct in accordance with PCB used in Sapphire GTO².


----------



## ShadowFlare (Sep 29, 2005)

AMDCam said:
			
		

> Alright, but If you look at X850XT PE's they're going for about $350 to $400, which is twice as much as a GTO2, compared to $35 in accessories. Plus, from that one website with the "lite" package, I think those lites come with connectors. Although I completely understand if you don't play games much or don't want to overclock and just need a practical card.


Yes, quite a savings there compared with the X850XT PE. 

The one I ordered is the oem package from newegg.com (that's the only one they have at the moment); it is pictured with the connectors and a driver CD.  Isn't the only difference between that and the lite package that it comes in a special box for it?  Then there's the full retail package which also includes other software, like games, etc.

I do plan on flashing the bios to unlock the pipeslines and also seeing how high it can overclock, but I don't intend on having the overclock the default for 3d games until I have one that would benefit.   I probably will go back to the 12 pipelines until then, too.


As for the correct silencer model for the PCB (asked by the above person), I'd say the ATI Silencer 5 is likely the one to use (if someone knows, correct me if I'm wrong  )


----------



## Unregistered (Sep 29, 2005)

*maz006*

Interesting thread, just wanted to pass on the 1st UK retailer I've managed to find selling sapphire GTO2 , well not yet but pre ordering http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=605103. 

Pricing is at £166 delivered. A little more expensive then I expected. Originally wanted to spend about £100 on a vid card but thought £125 was good for price for a GT card. Now £166 for a card that I just can't pass on. This system is getting more expensive by the day. Anyone know of any other UK sellers, prices, and number of cards expected. I guess these hardware guy's know what they are selling and pricing is relative considering mod. 

Anyone know what availability is (going to be) like generally (globally)?


----------



## ShadowFlare (Sep 29, 2005)

Lol, a retailer showing pipe unlockability as one of the selling points?  Quote from above link: "Details on the available mod for the Sapphire X800GTO2 graphics card are available by following the link here to the techpowerup site."  It even refers this site.


----------



## Unregistered (Sep 29, 2005)

Yay im so happy, opened 16 pipelines!  When i first flashed the modified bios, it didnt work.  But flash the original bios, and then the modified one and it works fine.
Got my x800gto2 from allstarshop yesterday. thank you guys!


----------



## HousERaT (Sep 29, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> BTW, why hasn't anyone posted their 3dmark05 score with the overclock and without the pipe unlock?  I'm kind of curious about the difference in speed when running at X850 XT PE clock speeds with 12 and 16 pipes compared with the difference in speed when running stock speeds with 12 and 16 pipes.  The reason is that the speeds before and the pipe unlock don't seem too dramatic compared with just overclocking.


I've been wondering the exact same thing.  Almost looks like people are scared to post.  Lots of talk but not one screenie.  Perhaps someone will be willing to back up all the talk with some proof?


----------



## Unregistered (Sep 29, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Interesting thread, just wanted to pass on the 1st UK retailer I've managed to find selling sapphire GTO2 , well not yet but pre ordering http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=605103.
> 
> Pricing is at £166 delivered. A little more expensive then I expected.



I don't know what Sapphire charge your retailers, but seems like they or maybe you guys are getting ripped off at that price when newegg is charging $199, about £112? Even if you include your tax it still only comes to about £130 which is probably a nicer price for what is an OEM card afterall. Maybe your retailers know there are limited GTO2s in Europe and overcharge you guys because they can?


----------



## thedivinehairband (Sep 29, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> I don't know what Sapphire charge your retailers, but seems like they or maybe you guys are getting ripped off at that price when newegg is charging $199, about £112? Even if you include your tax it still only comes to about £130 which is probably a nicer price for what is an OEM card afterall. Maybe your retailers know there are limited GTO2s in Europe and overcharge you guys because they can?



It is a total ripoff. there have been many computer mags saying about it. we have this magical conversion rate that usually goes along the lines of $1 = £1. its disgraceful. I hate it. but its a real bugger trying to get hold of an american retailer that does international delivery of computer components. availability has nothing to do wiv it. its the eu and goverments regulations and shit like that. and greedy ass retailers.


----------



## HousERaT (Sep 29, 2005)

wow..... all of a sudden I feel a little better about being an american.  We get good computer prices......


----------



## Kinan (Sep 29, 2005)

thedivinehairband said:
			
		

> It is a total ripoff. there have been many computer mags saying about it. we have this magical conversion rate that usually goes along the lines of $1 = £1. its disgraceful. I hate it. but its a real bugger trying to get hold of an american retailer that does international delivery of computer components. availability has nothing to do wiv it. its the eu and goverments regulations and shit like that. and greedy ass retailers.



Aye. In Germany preorder for GTO2 has started for 249 Euro. Too expensive to my liking, I ordered normal sapphire GTO for 160 Euro instead.


----------



## AMDCam (Sep 29, 2005)

Houserat, why would you be ashamed of being an american?!?!?!?!?! Please don't tell me you're a bush-hating, anti-war democrat too. I seem to be the only guy I know willing to stick up for my country (marines in about 8 months) and the only guy that likes bush.


----------



## Haplo_09 (Sep 29, 2005)

well here is my score, 
I have 512 ram 
athlon64 3000+ 
the core was oveclocked to 500Mhz 
memory up to 590MHz 
16 pipes


----------



## BlackPearl (Sep 29, 2005)

Very nice score - are you running your 3000+ oc too?


----------



## Haplo_09 (Sep 29, 2005)

Nope I havent oc-locked yet, just standart speeds. 
oh and also memory was with timing 2.5 8 3 3, If I purchase geil with cas latency 1.5 2 2 2 how strong will it boost the performance of computer. 
How far this score is from the XT PE card ??


----------



## Unregistered (Sep 29, 2005)

*powercolor x800gto*

Is it possible to do the modding from the article here step by step with this card and have it work?
It's not sapphire and it isn't named gto2.

Any suggestions?

I surely hope so because I just ordered the Powercolor x800gto !

cheers
Michael


----------



## Unregistered (Sep 29, 2005)

it only works with the sapphire gto2's. you wont see them on sapphires web site because they were intened for oem use and not retail release.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Sep 29, 2005)

Kinan said:
			
		

> Aye. In Germany preorder for GTO2 has started for 249 Euro. Too expensive to my liking, I ordered normal sapphire GTO for 160 Euro instead.


249 for the GTO2 compared with 160 for the GTO?  That's ridiculous!  In the US, the price difference is only about $10 ($199 compared with $189).  They are really taking advantage of this in Europe with knowing that its pipes are easily unlockable and it is overclockable to a high degree.


----------



## bbL (Sep 29, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> it only works with the sapphire gto2's. you wont see them on sapphires web site because they were intened for oem use and not retail release.


well atleast my Connect3D X800 GTO works well with that mod which i got from here... only frequencys cant reach higher than 470/500 mhz


----------



## Ebola (Sep 30, 2005)

Haplo_09 said:
			
		

> well here is my score,
> I have 512 ram
> athlon64 3000+
> the core was oveclocked to 500Mhz
> ...


That score sounds not quite good, considering that a X800-XL(16pp) @ 500MHz will do better than this.

Is 500 MHz max achievable ? You use stock cooling and voltage ?


----------



## Haplo_09 (Sep 30, 2005)

yes stock cooling; I didnt modify voltage.. and didnt oclock more. 
there is no need for me to go higher at this moment.. 

by the way what is normal xtpe score .??


----------



## HousERaT (Sep 30, 2005)

Haplo_09 said:
			
		

> yes stock cooling; I didnt modify voltage.. and didnt oclock more.
> there is no need for me to go higher at this moment..
> 
> by the way what is normal xtpe score .??


Normal xtpe should be around 6000 at stock, maybe higher.


----------



## Haplo_09 (Sep 30, 2005)

"xtpe should be around 6000 at stock, maybe higher.: 

What should be the configuration of other hardware get 6000. 
Well my score and it was only 130 away. I think if I replace memory and o/c cpu I would get much higher...


----------



## Ebola (Sep 30, 2005)

Haplo_09 said:
			
		

> "xtpe should be around 6000 at stock, maybe higher.:
> 
> What should be the configuration of other hardware get 6000.
> Well my score and it was only 130 away. I think if I replace memory and o/c cpu I would get much higher...


3DM05 is CPU/Memory few sensitive


----------



## HousERaT (Sep 30, 2005)

Ebola said:
			
		

> 3DM05 is CPU/Memory few sensitive


correct.... you will gain some points but very little by upping the rest of your system settings.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 1, 2005)

these are good cards, flash was a cinch and have been stable @560/610 and get about 6150 in '05.
will test more and post screens when I actually join the forum :0

btw: got the GTO2 from newegg for $199, seems they have gone up $20 in 2 days.


----------



## Superguy (Oct 1, 2005)

I'd just like to post my report.  The mod worked for me. 

Core wouldn only do XT speeds ... 520.  A smidge more would cause artifacting.  Memory would go to 595.

Benchmarks were consistent with what W1zzard posted on the mod article on my X2 3800 system, so I'm guessing the memory makes up a bit for the the slightly slower core.

Thanks for your work on this W1zzard and showing us this great value.

Super


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 1, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> these are good cards, flash was a cinch and have been stable @560/610 and get about 6150 in '05.
> will test more and post screens when I actually join the forum :0
> 
> btw: got the GTO2 from newegg for $199, seems they have gone up $20 in 2 days.


Looks like I ordered mine just in time. 

I received it today, but I'm not done with testing yet.  I just finished with finding my max overclocks before the mod.  They are about 525 or 530 for the core and 604 for the memory (makes sense for the memory since the 1.6 ns chips are rated for 600 MHz, according to the Samsung site).  I'll be benchmarking it then flashing the bios, then doing it all over again.  I'll post my final results later or tomorrow.

It's kind of strange; it never artifacts at all while overclocking the gpu, it just eventually crashes when set too high.  On my X800 GT, it would have artifacts before getting to the point that it would crash.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 1, 2005)

Whats the best tool to overclock this card with?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 1, 2005)

W1zzards ATItool of course


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 1, 2005)

All done testing.  The softmod was a success!  Is it still a 100% success rate so far?  BTW, I didn't download the modified bios to do it, I just used atiflash 3.09 to make a backup of the original bios, flashed an X850XT PE bios using the -newbios option (I don't remember which brand, but it probably doesn't matter), then flashed back the original bios without the -newbios option.

Max overclock (on stock cooling): 520 MHz core, 604 MHz memory

Here are my 3dmark 2005 scores with default settings.  I've added in the X800GT clock speeds and the scores for my X800GT for comparison with an 8 pipeline setup at equivalent speeds, plus at some other speeds just for a comparison of what each is capable of.

Powercolor X800GT 256 MB
8 pipelines, stock clocks (472, 492): 3935
8 pipelines, max stable overclock (560, 526): 4504
8 pipelines, slightly unstable overclock (576, 555): 4750

Sapphire X800GTO2 256 MB
12 pipelines, stock clocks (398, 492): 4448
12 pipelines, X800GT clocks (472, 492): 4961
12 pipelines, max overclock (520, 600): 5563
16 pipelines, stock clocks (398, 492): 5008
16 pipelines, X800GT clocks (472, 492): 5528
16 pipelines, max overclock (520, 600): 6244

I couldn't quite reach the X850XT PE's core clock speed on stock cooling or reach as high of a core overclock as my X800GT, but it is still fast enough to get a very good score.   Until I bought this card, I thought I'd never have a card this fast so soon.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 1, 2005)

Sorry if it's a lame question but... does the Sapphire come with the Rage Theater chip? 
I mean, I got me a Connect3d GTO and I was wandering if flashing it with the modded Sapphire GTO2 bios will have any effect on the video-in.


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 1, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> All done testing.  The softmod was a success!  Is it still a 100% success rate so far?  BTW, I didn't download the modified bios to do it, I just used atiflash 3.09 to make a backup of the original bios, flashed an X850XT PE bios using the -newbios option (I don't remember which brand, but it probably doesn't matter), then flashed back the original bios without the -newbios option.
> 
> Max overclock (on stock cooling): 520 MHz core, 604 MHz memory
> 
> ...


I'm guessing you did this with the stock heatsink?


----------



## W1zzard (Oct 1, 2005)

afaik the gto² cards dont have vivo


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 1, 2005)

HousERaT said:
			
		

> I'm guessing you did this with the stock heatsink?


Yes, and I mentioned it somewhere in my post.


----------



## AMDCam (Oct 1, 2005)

That's just plain awesome. Thanks Shadow, that really shows what the cards can do, VERY helpful man. I gotta test my card of 3DMark 05, I haven't downloaded it yet since I reformatted my hard drive, but I'd like to see how the Nvidia counterpart compares to this crazy crazy card.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 1, 2005)

W1zzard said:
			
		

> afaik the gto² cards dont have vivo



So, if I flash my C3D with the modded Sapphire GTO² bios then it's bye-bye vivo?
Any rumors if a modded C3D X800GTO bios will be made availuble then?


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 1, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> So, if I flash my C3D with the modded Sapphire GTO² bios then it's bye-bye vivo?
> Any rumors if a modded C3D X800GTO bios will be made availuble then?


Just do what I did with ATIFlash 3.09:

1) Make a backup of your original bios.
2) Flash any compatible 16 pipeline enabled bios using atiflash's -newbios option.
3) Flash your original bios without the -newbios option.

It's as simple as that, no modded bios needed.


----------



## AMDCam (Oct 1, 2005)

Shadow, can you explain how to make a startup floppy? I'm trying to flash an Nvidia and I don't remember how to flash cards (I used to flash the 9800), and not sure what types of files I need to make it a startup disk (.exe, .rom, .bin)


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 1, 2005)

It's pretty simple no matter what Windows version you have.  On any Windows version, insert a floppy disk into the drive, right-click the floppy drive in explorer, then click format.  In there there is an option either saying something about making an ms-dos startup disk or copying system files depending on your version of Windows.  Select that option and click start.

After you have your startup disk, copy to the disk the flash utility and any bios rom files you want to use.  If your bios isn't setup to boot off a disk, you will need to change it to boot off of it.  The process varies between different bioses.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 1, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Just do what I did with ATIFlash 3.09:
> 
> 1) Make a backup of your original bios.
> 2) Flash any compatible 16 pipeline enabled bios using atiflash's -newbios option.
> ...



Thanks for the advice, Sha. Still, I'm not sure if I understand this. It's not like I've flashed tons of hardware, but could you explain to me how 16 pipelines will remain active if I flash the bios back to the original? 

And which are the compatible bios files, 'xept for the Saphire one that's going around?


----------



## johnbarry (Oct 2, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Whats the best tool to overclock this card with?



Ray Adam's ATI Tray Tools


.


----------



## Megatron (Oct 2, 2005)

johnbarry said:
			
		

> Ray Adam's ATI Tray Tools
> 
> 
> .


Hmm we dont like tray tools here do we?

We like:
http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 3, 2005)

ok can someone please answer this question?

Can the Connect3d X800GTO card be unlocked to 16 pipes?? ive seen atleast 6 people say yes and 6 people say no, What gives????!?! if the answer is yes why are people buying the more expensive GTO2 ?????


----------



## AMDCam (Oct 3, 2005)

Well the GTO2 can be clocked/flashed to X850XT PE, and I hear the GTO can't. I'm not sure if it's pipes can be unlocked, but I know the potential is less.


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 3, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> ok can someone please answer this question?
> 
> Can the Connect3d X800GTO card be unlocked to 16 pipes?? ive seen atleast 6 people say yes and 6 people say no, What gives????!?! if the answer is yes why are people buying the more expensive GTO2 ?????


evidence suggests that the GTO "may" be unlocked but is by no means guaranteed.  I think it's a load of crap that people are getting the GTO cards to unlock.  Best bet is to stick with the GTO2 if you want a 16 pipe card.  Don't forget, on the internet people can say anything.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 3, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Thanks for the advice, Sha. Still, I'm not sure if I understand this. It's not like I've flashed tons of hardware, but could you explain to me how 16 pipelines will remain active if I flash the bios back to the original?
> 
> And which are the compatible bios files, 'xept for the Saphire one that's going around?


The way it works is that when you do not use the -newbios option, there are settings it keeps in the bios.  The number of pixel pipelines enabled is one such setting.

As for ones that are compatible, you need to know what type of gpu you have.  Look or ask around to see if you can find out what type yours is.  It should be either and R423, R430, or R480 (most likely R480).  After finding that out, look up that gpu in the gpu database on this site to find what 16 pixel pipeline cards use that.  When you've found that, download a bios for that type of card from the bios download page on this site.



			
				Unregistered said:
			
		

> ok can someone please answer this question?
> 
> Can the Connect3d X800GTO card be unlocked to 16 pipes?? ive seen atleast 6 people say yes and 6 people say no, What gives????!?! if the answer is yes why are people buying the more expensive GTO2 ?????


The reason people are buying the GTO2 is that there has been a 100% success rate so far for unlocking them just by flashing the bios.  Sometimes it's better to get something that's (basically) guaranteed than taking a chance with something that isn't.   Also, so far none have been found to have any defective pipelines either.  Even if another card is unlockable, it is not necessarily guaranteed that those pipelines are not defective.

Besides, this card has a power connection, but other GTO's I've seen don't.  That's probably something significant; it could possibly be needed when unlocking the pipelines and overclocking.  It makes sense since the higher end ATI cards have it, right?


----------



## Me Again (Oct 4, 2005)

The C3D GTO has a power connector as well... well, it has two actually, the other one looks like the floppy power pins...

Now, lets see if I understand what I've read so far here:

1. Flash my C3D GTO with -newbios and the modded Sapphire (or a C3D XL bios) 16p bios to get the pipes.
2. Flash without -newbios back to my original GTO bios so that I can get my Theater too.
3. Pray to whatever deity I believe in...

So, do I get this correctly? Sure, I'll first make certain I have some free time on my hands and make me a autoflash recovery diskette...

Ehh, sounds like fun.

PS: I haven't played around with my GTO too much yet, but I do get the 12 pipes to stable 550 MHz core and 73c temp. Haven't tried to go highter.
No idea what the core is - ATI Tool detects a 423, but that's most likely due to the bios. Taking off the heatsink does not appeal to me, for now.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 4, 2005)

Newegg got them back in stock... and jacked the price up... (again)
229 now. 
xD
Lucky I got mine from 219... missed out on the 199 ones ;_;


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 4, 2005)

Me Again said:
			
		

> The C3D GTO has a power connector as well... well, it has two actually, the other one looks like the floppy power pins...
> 
> Now, lets see if I understand what I've read so far here:
> 
> ...



please keep us updated if you get that C3D x800gto unlocked to 16p. thx


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 4, 2005)

Another success story: Sapphire X800GTO2 all 16 pipes flashed open...... highest clocks are 534/594.  One thing I like about these cards is they run low timings with clocks just as high as normal timings.....


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 4, 2005)

And another success(maybe?).  Sapphire X800GTO2 received today easily unlocked w/BIOS flash, but ATITool artifact tester detects one every second or so even at default speeds (12p or 16p doesn't matter).  I wonder what the problem is?


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 4, 2005)

BlackPearl said:
			
		

> And another success(maybe?).  Sapphire X800GTO2 received today easily unlocked w/BIOS flash, but ATITool artifact tester detects one every second or so even at default speeds (12p or 16p doesn't matter).  I wonder what the problem is?


Did you try using the Sapphire Trixx software?


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 4, 2005)

Hey guys I need to know how many watts this card draws. (Before and after mod is possible)

Thanks


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 4, 2005)

HousERaT said:
			
		

> Did you try using the Sapphire Trixx software?



No, I didn't know about it - thanks for the tip.  I installed it and the detection utility reported that it would not initialize.  Then I disabled VPU Recover in the ATI control panel and Trixx worked fine.  The "performance" mode detected 511/563 - I haven't tried "extreme" mode yet.  Anyway, things are looking brighter and I was able to complete 3D03, 3D05 and VST at 520/560 without a problem.  (ATITool still detects artifacts though at any speed.)


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 4, 2005)

Hey Guys, I was looking around at possible retailers to purchase one of these from and came across:

http://www.directron.com/x800gto2.html

Which states there is a GTO2 Fireblade Edition...do you guys think this card will be modable?

Anyone have a link for somewhere to buy a GTO2 in Canada?

Thanks.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 4, 2005)

im new to flashing bios, can i flash bios without a floppy drive? if so , how? Thx


----------



## ChAce (Oct 4, 2005)

Yes, use a ramdrive. I don't know how that works myself, so you'll have to search for it somewhere lol.


----------



## Megatron (Oct 4, 2005)

U can flash with a bootable CD.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 4, 2005)

Megatron said:
			
		

> U can flash with a bootable CD.


I have a bootable cd....and could u pls explain the process?


----------



## Trevor (Oct 4, 2005)

Start Up your computer... press delete/f2 (whichever is your bios entry key.)
Go into Basic Startup.. (Depending on your motherboard.)   It'll give you the boot order.
Change your CD drive to be first... and voila.
Start up, and run it like a floppy.
=)
--Trevor


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 4, 2005)

Also, detailed instructions for flashing from all bootable media and windows are linked in the first post of this thread under "Performing the mod".


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 4, 2005)

Can anyone answer my post? Its kind of important


----------



## Megatron (Oct 4, 2005)

BlackPearl said:
			
		

> Also, detailed instructions for flashing from all bootable media and windows are linked in the first post of this thread under "Performing the mod".


LOL knew I'd seen it somewhere before.


----------



## Megatron (Oct 4, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Hey guys I need to know how many watts this card draws. (Before and after mod is possible)
> 
> Thanks


That information is probably available on google.


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 4, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Can anyone answer my post? Its kind of important


I haven't seen any power specs on this particular card, but since it's the same GPU as the X850XTPE it should have similar power requirements when run at similar speeds.  This  article shows the X850XTPE consumption (71.6 watts under load) and you might use that figure as an estimate if you can't find a test of the X800GTO2.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 4, 2005)

can you just flash the gto2 with a x850xt bios? or do you have to use the modded gto2 bios?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 4, 2005)

for all people in Germany

ordered a GTO2 at HWSL in Leipzig (Retail EUR 225).
they came back today saying that they could not deliver but offered me a bulk version instead
(which they haven't listed yet on their homepage..... that would cost EUR 195 incl. Tax).
So try your luck as long as they are avail.

rgds


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 4, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Hey Guys, I was looking around at possible retailers to purchase one of these from and came across:
> 
> http://www.directron.com/x800gto2.html
> 
> ...


GTO2 Fireblade Edition?  That looks identical to my card.  So does that mean the GTO2 is one of the Fireblade Edition cards? (like a GTO2 Fireblade, not GTO Fireblade)  The X800 GTO2 even matches the specs of the Fireblade card mentioned on the Sapphire site, as in that it has the 1.6 ns memory to get high memory clock speeds and includes their TRIXX overclocking tool.


----------



## W1zzard (Oct 4, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> can you just flash the gto2 with a x850xt bios? or do you have to use the modded gto2 bios?



i havent tried but i think it should work .. let us know your results .. a problem i see is that xt has vivo, while gto² doesnt


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 4, 2005)

Well you could use RaBiT to modify the bios to disable vivo.  That bios should work, but it would probably be best to use the bios meant for the GTO2.  You can use your existing bios and still unlock the pipelines by using atiflash 3.09 and following the instructions I gave in an earlier post.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 4, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> GTO2 Fireblade Edition?  That looks identical to my card.  So does that mean the GTO2 is one of the Fireblade Edition cards? (like a GTO2 Fireblade, not GTO Fireblade)  The X800 GTO2 even matches the specs of the Fireblade card mentioned on the Sapphire site, as in that it has the 1.6 ns memory to get high memory clock speeds and includes their TRIXX overclocking tool.



the card shown under the given link seems to be a GTO2.
the fireblades i have seen sofar have a blue PCB..... and no.... these do not use the GTO2.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 4, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> the card shown under the given link seems to be a GTO2.
> the fireblades i have seen sofar have a blue PCB..... and no.... these do not use the GTO2.


Mainly what I was saying is that the X800 GTO2 has specs like a Fireblade card would have.


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 4, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> the card shown under the given link seems to be a GTO2.
> the fireblades i have seen sofar have a blue PCB..... and no.... these do not use the GTO2.



Yeah that's the GTO2 right down to the heatsink..... I've heard the GTO2 referred to as Fireblade so my guess is there will be confusion over this.  Nice price for directron but sometimes they charge a bunch for shipping.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 4, 2005)

HousERaT said:
			
		

> Yeah that's the GTO2 right down to the heatsink..... I've heard the GTO2 referred to as Fireblade so my guess is there will be confusion over this.  Nice price for directron but sometimes they charge a bunch for shipping.


Well, even if it is considered as a Fireblade card, it would still be a GTO2 Fireblade, not a GTO Fireblade, still different.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 4, 2005)

a new place to buy these cards


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 4, 2005)

a new place to buy these cards
http://newsite.pagecomputers.com/st...ategory_name=32g32c302s1287&product_id=882430

it was $195.00 a day ago


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 4, 2005)

Damn 71.6 watts is cutting it close to 75 watts. Stupid Dell

EDIT I found this article that says WAY more:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4/radeon-x850xt/index.x?pg=12


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 4, 2005)

Most X800 GTO Cards Can't Be Unlocked

HKEPC has a review up on the HIS Radeon X800 GTO and this card uses R480 core and 1.6ns Samsung memories. However, this card cannot be unlocked from 12 to 16 pipelines using the BIOS flashing method and sadly most X800 GTO cards that are hitting the retail now cannot be unlocked. So far only Sapphire X800GTO cards like the Ultimate and Fireblade editions using the X800 GTO² (R480) core can be successfully unlocked and from what we heard, X800 GTO² is only made exclusively for Sapphire. Don't rush out and grab a X800 GTO card because most likely you can't unlocked it. ATi has changed method of identifying and locking from 2ID to 4ID so it will be more difficult to alter the BIOS or perform hard mod. 


Is that true?


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 4, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Damn 71.6 watts is cutting it close to 75 watts. Stupid Dell
> 
> EDIT I found this article that says WAY more:
> http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4/radeon-x850xt/index.x?pg=12


Those are full system figures - the Xbitlabs figures are for the graphics card only.


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 4, 2005)

this guy over at xtremesystems claims to have a GTO2 that goes over 600 on the core with stock cooling.... not sure I believe it though.....
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=75920


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 4, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Well, even if it is considered as a Fireblade card, it would still be a GTO2 Fireblade, not a GTO Fireblade, still different.



wrong.
Fireblade and GTO2 are 2 different cards.
Look at Sapphires HP..... There is no Fireblade using a GTO2 (aka mechanically unlocked 480).
Fireblade is Fireblade and GTO2 is GTO2. Simple as that.


----------



## Derektm (Oct 5, 2005)

Well.... So far mine hits 520 core / 600 memory stock cooling. Card is idleing 44c.

If I try to go for 540 core, the computer locks up and artifacts and I have to restart. Is this a bad card? I didn't try any benchmarking at the 540 speed. It just locked up after a few seconds. Still was idleing 44c-45c.

I could RMA this one and order another one. I want to make sure I get a good one for this price because this is what's going to have to last me till next year.

Wow.......won't even bench at 507... locks up my computer.... the mouse can move for a few seconds...then pc beeps and I have to restart it.


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 5, 2005)

Derektm said:
			
		

> Well.... So far mine hits 520 core / 600 memory stock cooling. Card is idleing 44c.
> 
> If I try to go for 540 core, the computer locks up and artifacts and I have to restart. Is this a bad card? I didn't try any benchmarking at the 540 speed. It just locked up after a few seconds. Still was idleing 44c-45c.
> 
> ...


I won't get into the ethics of rmaing a card that meets stock specs...... my card also won't go past 540 on the core and I've upgraded my cooling to an ati-silencer.


----------



## Question (Oct 5, 2005)

Anyone know the max you can overclock the gto2 to with stock cooling?  I don't want to overdo it and fry the card.  I just want it reasonable.. but if not I might have to go with a Zalman VF700-CU.  I'd rather not buy a new GPU cooler right now.. but I do want to OC it to a reasonable point.  Thanks


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 5, 2005)

Hey hey I got a Connect3d x800gto card, used flashrom an flashed the moddified  gto2 bios on my videocard. And i got 16pipes   

So to the question: how do you flash without the newbios thing.... what do you type???

I force flashed the gto2 bios, but if i force flash the old bios back on the card it goes down to 12pipes...

(i read in a earlyer posting that you could flash your original bios back on the card, and still have 16 pipes???? if you flashed without the new bios thingy)





Anyone who wants to modify the c3dx800gto bios to 16 pipes, i can send you the bios


----------



## Trevor (Oct 5, 2005)

Screens, please?
Benchmarks?
Are you sure they're actually enabled 
Just a bit wary.
--Trevor


----------



## Trevor (Oct 5, 2005)

Question said:
			
		

> Anyone know the max you can overclock the gto2 to with stock cooling?  I don't want to overdo it and fry the card.  I just want it reasonable.. but if not I might have to go with a Zalman VF700-CU.  I'd rather not buy a new GPU cooler right now.. but I do want to OC it to a reasonable point.  Thanks


Buy an ATi silencer on ebay.. 10 bucks or so.
=)
And, from what I've seen, fluctuates substantially card->card.


----------



## Groggy (Oct 5, 2005)

Connect3d x800gto

i posted about the flashing of the c3d card.... flashed the gto2_16pipes bios. started ati tool and it said 16.

But when i scanned for artifacts i did see some, couldnt clock at all.... artifacts came and whent      is this because of a bad pipe??? 

Any now i flashed back my original bios and it says 12 pipes, it is ok here with no artifacts, and now i can clock it way up....

3dmark 05:
Out of the box 12p               -  4460
saphire gto2 16p bios            -  4719


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 5, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Hey hey I got a Connect3d x800gto card, used flashrom an flashed the moddified  gto2 bios on my videocard. And i got 16pipes
> 
> So to the question: how do you flash without the newbios thing.... what do you type???
> 
> ...


To do that, you need atiflash 3.09, not the modified flashrom.  It is available at the bottom of the bios downloads page on this site.  It is better than the modified flashrom.   You just use the -newbios option when you want to change the number of pipelines when flashing the bios and don't use that option when you don't want the pipelines to change.

I read about this method somewhere and I used it on my X800 GT to attempt to unlock the pipelines, but it didn't work.  I read this article about unlocking the pipelines on a GTO2 and decided to get one, but I only used the information about that it can be done, not how to do it.  I just decided to use the method that I already knew of, which is what I just mentioned above, and it worked perfectly.  I have 16 pipelines, but still using the original bios (with the exception of the pipeline change).


W1zzard, you should add the atiflash 3.09 with -newbios method to the guide, so that users of other X800 GTO cards will know how to attempt unlocking the pipelines if they want to.  This question seems to keep coming up in here.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 5, 2005)

newegg has the card again for $199!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 5, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> Buy an ATi silencer on ebay.. 10 bucks or so.
> =)
> And, from what I've seen, fluctuates substantially card->card.




those silencers go for over $20 now


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 5, 2005)

Question said:
			
		

> Anyone know the max you can overclock the gto2 to with stock cooling?  I don't want to overdo it and fry the card.  I just want it reasonable.. but if not I might have to go with a Zalman VF700-CU.  I'd rather not buy a new GPU cooler right now.. but I do want to OC it to a reasonable point.  Thanks


Mine went up to about 530/600 with the stock cooling.  Ironically my clocks didn't go much higher with my silencer but the temps went down.  I think I have a weak card.  I've seen other people with much higher clocks still on stock cooling.


----------



## Groggy (Oct 5, 2005)

Anyone that can tell me axactly how to use atiflash.... what to write (commands) when flashing -newbios or not????

My head really stops when i see anything in dos mode. :shadedshu 

Anyone who can tell me what a broke pipeline does, can you see it??? is it artifacts on the same spot or can they move around???

Can you do a 3dbenchmark with a broken one???

The GTO (connect3d x800gto) card has a 64kb bios, almost every other 16P bios has 58kb???
Is it possible to use one of the smaller ones or is it a big no no


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 5, 2005)

Groggy said:
			
		

> Anyone that can tell me axactly how to use atiflash.... what to write (commands) when flashing -newbios or not????
> 
> My head really stops when i see anything in dos mode. :shadedshu
> 
> ...


The commands for flashing to enable pipelines using atiflash 3.09 are as follows (where x800gto.bin is the name you save your current bios as and x850xt.bin is the bios you are flashing to):

atiflash -s 0 x800gto.bin
atiflash -f -p 0 x850xt.bin -newbios
atiflash -f -p 0 x800gto.bin

The -newbios option will not work with atiflash versions below 3.x and will not work with any version of flashrom.

Note:  In Windows make sure you give the bios file a name 8 characters or shorter before the .bin or .rom, so that you can use it properly in DOS.

If your pixel pipelines are unlockable with only flashing the bios, that will do it.  When using another card's bios, you risk having it not work because of an incompatible bios, but this way you still use your same bios, except with 16 pipelines enabled.  If it is successful at unlocking them, the only thing that could go wrong is that the unlocked pipelines are defective.  BTW, this is equivalent to using the modified flashrom to flash the bios then using the normal flashrom program to flash back your original bios, but it only requires one program rather than two.

As far as I know, the size of the bios shouldn't really matter as long as it matches the type of gpu you have and the memory the card has.


----------



## Bushwacker (Oct 5, 2005)

I can tell you that I was able to successfully flash a Connect3D X800GTO VIVO PCIe (R423 based, 2.0ns RAM) with a Powercolor X800XT BIOS. My video card has now 16 pipes and default 500 /500 MHz.
I'm still able to o/c to 540 / 540 at 76°C under load with stock cooling. At this setting I got 6.366 3D'05.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 5, 2005)

Well I am ordering this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595


----------



## Megatron (Oct 5, 2005)

Think Ill hang onto my x800gt for the time being and watch what happens with the x1600pro ect.  My board seems to do better than my review sites in that Ive had it at 580 artifact free and 595 was too in colder weather.  Apparently the memory has more bandwidth than needed so its only worth clocking the GPU.


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 5, 2005)

*God...*

newegg has raised the price to $299!!!!! Luckily, I ordered it just before they do that....what a shock...


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 5, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> The commands for flashing to enable pipelines using atiflash 3.09 are as follows (where *x800gto.bin is the name you save your current bios as and x850xt.bin is the bios you are flashing to*):
> 
> atiflash -s 0 x800gto.bin
> atiflash -f -p 0 x850xt.bin -newbios
> ...



shadow, can u explain the word in bold? how to save the bios? thx~!


----------



## ChAce (Oct 5, 2005)

Download ATiTool and under settings/misc hit "dump bios". Your original bios will be saved in the ATiTool folder


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 5, 2005)

for you folks that want to order the card today get it from Directron or Allstarshop and save about $80.


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 5, 2005)

newegg has it for $199 again....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 5, 2005)

wow.... newegg must be having problems with the website.....


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 5, 2005)

And now OOS.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 5, 2005)

Okay I had some time to play with my Sapphire X800GTO2.

*Hardware Details*
Computer: Dell 8400 - 3ghz - 800FSB (from a previous deal none the less)
Ram: 1.5gb
Video: Sapphire X800GTO2 (OEM from newegg)


*3DMark 2005 Demo results:*
4404 Stock fresh out of package (12 pipes)
4934 After 16 pipe firmware was applied
5891 After OC to 537.55 / 589.09 (XT PE speeds) But artifacts were present :-(. Stock cooling though

Using ATITool and clicking the "Find Max Core" button it got up to 585 the first time before the screen went black and I had to reboot. I tried it again and this time it got up to 585.9  (.9 higher)

I left the fan speed setting alone since it's automatically adaptive based on GPU temperature. At 537.55/589.09 (X850 XT PE speed) artifacts are present in the demo of 3dmark 2005. Checking the fan speed, it was running at 96%. Enabling the temperature meter in ATITool while the 3d view is enabled(spinning square porcupine thing) shows 84 / 60.  That seems pretty hot to me?  No?  Anyone else care to drop their temperature results and artifacting info?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 5, 2005)

I am new to the whole Overclocking thing. Please excuse my ignorance.

It seems everytime I reboot, the mem/core  is back down at stock speeds.

Do I have to run ATITool each and everytime I want to jump core/mem speeds up?

Am I missing something?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 6, 2005)

Pentium D said:
			
		

> shadow, can u explain the word in bold? how to save the bios? thx~!


Basically what I was saying is this:

*atiflash -s 0 x800gto.bin* This will save your bios as x800gto.bin
*atiflash -f -p 0 x850xt.bin -newbios* This will flash x850xt.bin to the bios chip and enable 16 pipelines in the bios.
*atiflash -f -p 0 x800gto.bin* This will flash your original bios back (which was saved in the first command), but will keep the pipelines intact.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 6, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Okay I had some time to play with my Sapphire X800GTO2.
> 
> *Hardware Details*
> Computer: Dell 8400 - 3ghz - 800FSB (from a previous deal none the less)
> ...



Hey I got a question for you. I have a Dell 8400 - 3ghz - 800FSB as well and I was wondering did you install the "Card Fan" (the one dell wants you to put in if the card uses more than 75Watts)

If you didnt, do you get the message in the BIOS that asks you to put it in everytime you start up?


----------



## Derektm (Oct 6, 2005)

The card on Directron says its a Fireblade... it has a different model number too. Is this the SAME CARD? I read that the Fireblade can't be unlocked and that it didn't use 1.6ns memory.

Has around same price as all the other ones too...


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 6, 2005)

It looks exactly the same as mine, and if it says it is a GTO2, it must be one; otherwise, when you get it they would have given you the wrong thing.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 6, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Hey I got a question for you. I have a Dell 8400 - 3ghz - 800FSB as well and I was wondering did you install the "Card Fan" (the one dell wants you to put in if the card uses more than 75Watts)
> 
> If you didnt, do you get the message in the BIOS that asks you to put it in everytime you start up?



I wasn't aware of the "Card Fan"? got any info on this? I forgot to plug the extra power supply into the card when I first got it and on Post it barked at me saying "Put the extra power supply...".  

It definately gets HOT.

I just finished playing Fear 2 on super high settings just to get the card hot, up to 80F. I launched ATITool and loaded the default clock speeds, clicked "Find Max Mem"  It's not going over 515 and the temp is hovering around 78 right now.  

Not sure whats up.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 6, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> I wasn't aware of the "Card Fan"? got any info on this? I forgot to plug the extra power supply into the card when I first got it and on Post it barked at me saying "Put the extra power supply...".
> 
> It definately gets HOT.
> 
> ...



Its because dells run hot heres a my thread on the card fan in the dell fourms
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_upghw&message.id=67516


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 6, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> ...
> 
> I left the fan speed setting alone since it's automatically adaptive based on GPU temperature. At 537.55/589.09 (X850 XT PE speed) artifacts are present in the demo of 3dmark 2005. Checking the fan speed, it was running at 96%. Enabling the temperature meter in ATITool while the 3d view is enabled(spinning square porcupine thing) shows 84 / 60.  That seems pretty hot to me?  No?  Anyone else care to drop their temperature results and artifacting info?


My X800 GTO2 (currently using stock cooling) usually doesn't reach 70 C even when overclocked and under load.  I have 4 case fans, though (2 intake, 2 exhaust).   That in combination with my psu (has 2 fans), cpu, and gpu fans makes a total of 8 fans in my case.  Your gpu overclocks better than mine, though.  When mine gets to around 530 and runs at that for a short time, it locks up and I have to reboot.  The memory on mine gets up to about 604.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 6, 2005)

Crap everyone is out of stock I cant find the card!


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 6, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Crap everyone is out of stock I cantt find the card!


Heh, it's probably because of all of the forum topics like these.   I'm sure they will get more sometime soon.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 6, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Its because dells run hot heres a my thread on the card fan in the dell fourms
> http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_upghw&message.id=67516




I didn't get any error messages about case fans.  When it comes back in stock, buy it.

I am thinking about getting another fan for the card.  Is the ATI Silencer the best bang for the buck fan?

How difficult is it to install? Any special tools needed to get the old fan off and install the new one? Does the ATI Silencer come with all the needed parts and bond that adheres the chip to the cooling system?


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 6, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> ...
> 
> How difficult is it to install? Any special tools needed to get the old fan off and install the new one? Does the ATI Silencer come with all the needed parts and bond that adheres the chip to the cooling system?


It looks like it would be pretty easy.  I'd recommend to any who is going to remove a heatsink and apply another to get some ArctiClean by Arctic Silver; it works extremely well at removing thermal material and is very easy to use.  It makes it much easier for when you mess up and need to do it over.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 6, 2005)

I hear ATI Silencer is the best!

This is the one
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=61

Well ati silencer 5 or ati silencer 1 I am not sure


----------



## Derektm (Oct 6, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> I hear ATI Silencer is the best!
> 
> This is the one
> http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=62
> ...



I got the Ati Silencer 5 rev. 2. It says X850XT r480 core on the box


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 6, 2005)

Derektm said:
			
		

> I got the Ati Silencer 5 rev. 2. It says X850XT r480 core on the box



Where did you get it?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 6, 2005)

I have a quick question. Currently I have an x850 pro ($250) that i have stable at 600/600 with stock cooling. Current 3dmark05 score is 5633. GPU temp is 64C under full load. It even seems like it could go higher clock speeds (no artifacts yet)

Would it be worth it to get this card over my current one. I know I would get higher scores but is stablility an issue? I keep hearing about how some of you are getting artifacts or random lock ups with temps up in the 80C mark. That cant be good.

My current ambient temps hover around 45C (side cover is off right now after rebuild)


----------



## Derektm (Oct 6, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Where did you get it?



Case-mod.com ... They have them the cheapest. Got it to me FAST too!


----------



## Heidelun (Oct 6, 2005)

*GTO2 to 850XT Success*

I got my GTO2 today and successfully went from 12 to 16 pipeline  
But I didn't overclocked it yet.

12 Pipeline 3DMARK2005 Score : 4473
16 Pipeline 3DMARK2005 Score : 5045


----------



## Derektm (Oct 6, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> I have a quick question. Currently I have an x850 pro ($250) that i have stable at 600/600 with stock cooling. Current 3dmark05 score is 5633. GPU temp is 64C under full load. It even seems like it could go higher clock speeds (no artifacts yet)
> 
> Would it be worth it to get this card over my current one. I know I would get higher scores but is stablility an issue? I keep hearing about how some of you are getting artifacts or random lock ups with temps up in the 80C mark. That cant be good.
> 
> My current ambient temps hover around 45C (side cover is off right now after rebuild)



The first X800GTO2 card I got won't even hit 510 stable. Its pretty much luck. Just keep your current card that was $250. Its not like you can get this card right now most are Out of stock.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 6, 2005)

Derektm said:
			
		

> The first X800GTO2 card I got won't even hit 510 stable. Its pretty much luck. Just keep your current card that was $250. Its not like you can get this card right now most are Out of stock.



Well, I already bought it before I posted lol. Mainly because i like tinkering with overclocking. But, if the likely hood of hitting 6000 is slim i may just cancel my order. I got mine for $235 after taxes and shipping so I guess I'll just have to see.


----------



## Groggy (Oct 6, 2005)

A big thanks to ShadowFlare for the help....

I managed to flash my *Connect3d x800GTO pcie vivo* card to 16 pipelines and the stock bios no prob, it looks like it is almost as god investment as the gto2..... the only drawback with the c3d card is the memory 2ns. (it affects the core and mem speeds???, right?)

I used Atitool, hold _shift_ down when you enter settings. here you can see if you got all the F`s in the right places.

Then i took a backup of my original bios, with Atitool.

Downloaded AtiFlash 3.09 and the Saphire x800gto2 bios modded to 16pipes, found it on the first page of this thread.
Formated a floppy and made it a bootable one, then i putted the atiflash, gto2 bios (witch i renamed to a really short name ex. gto2.16p.bin) and the original bios that i backed up (bios.bin)

Booted up and flashed like SHADOWFLARE said i should do it. 
1st with the gto2.16p.bin bios (using the -newbios) then i flashed again (without a reboot) with my original bios (bios.bin) do not use the -newbios here

then i  rebooted, whent in to atitool and       16 Pipelines   

Havent tried mutch oc yet but it will be sweet with som more more more give me more he he

3dmark 05

Stock bios 12 pipes    4460
stock bios 16 pipes    4960

Bushwacker really got a sweet score  


Anyhow can someone tell me what the dif. is between a x800xt bios and my own x800 16 pipe gto bios???
is it the default clock speeds? 

anyone who knows what type of gpu that is on the c3d card?? with stock bios it says r423 but if i flash it with gto2 bios it says R480???

it was not written any R4xx number on the gpu itself


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 6, 2005)

Groggy said:
			
		

> A big thanks to ShadowFlare for the help....
> 
> I managed to flash my *Connect3d x800GTO pcie vivo* card to 16 pipelines and the stock bios no prob, it looks like it is almost as god investment as the gto2..... the only drawback with the c3d card is the memory 2ns. (it affects the core and mem speeds???, right?)
> 
> ...



Wow good job


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 6, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> I didn't get any error messages about case fans.  When it comes back in stock, buy it.
> 
> I am thinking about getting another fan for the card.  Is the ATI Silencer the best bang for the buck fan?
> 
> How difficult is it to install? Any special tools needed to get the old fan off and install the new one? Does the ATI Silencer come with all the needed parts and bond that adheres the chip to the cooling system?


I have both the ATI-Silencer and the Zalman Copper...... Personally I like the Zalman better..... the ATI Silencer has a design flaw in which the core side memory doesn't come into contact with the heatsink..... you have to use really thick thermal pads to make contact...... Go with the Zalman Copper.... and it's cheaper.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 7, 2005)

Will there ever be an AGP version of the GTO2?


----------



## AMDCam (Oct 7, 2005)

People are really controversial on that, I've asked that twice and both times people say "no" or "they're thinking about it"


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 7, 2005)

What do you make of this?

http://www.computerhq.com/Sapphire_ATI_X800GTO2_AGP_256MB/100131/hardware/partinfo-id-567445.html


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 7, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> What do you make of this?
> 
> http://www.computerhq.com/Sapphire_ATI_X800GTO2_AGP_256MB/100131/hardware/partinfo-id-567445.html



all the sapphire gto2s i see are Mfg. Part No: 100130, but this one's Mfg. Part No: 100131 , I dont know if there's a new version coming out or somthing...any clues everybody?

and btw my gto2 has arrived today, can't wait till get off work and go home try it on....i get off work at 9pm...that sux....


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 7, 2005)

im very happy.got my gto2 today flashed to 16 pipes easy. running 520/540 right now.didnt try higher yet


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 7, 2005)

Anyone got a link to one thats not COmputerHQ or Allstarshop


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 7, 2005)

HousERaT said:
			
		

> I have both the ATI-Silencer and the Zalman Copper...... Personally I like the Zalman better..... the ATI Silencer has a design flaw in which the core side memory doesn't come into contact with the heatsink..... you have to use really thick thermal pads to make contact...... Go with the Zalman Copper.... and it's cheaper.



Actally I did some reasearch and that was on revision 1, not revision 2


----------



## bub (Oct 7, 2005)

*GTO2 problems but not heat related...*

Just received my GTO2 today.  Atiflashed it to 16 pipes but maintained my original bios.  Using ATITool 0.24, I'm seeing max temps of 68, with Core at 504 computer locks up.  Restart and reset Core at default 400, Memory ran to 540 then puked but ATI recovered.

What I don't understand is my X800 Pro could do 540 Core and 570 Memory, but temps climbed to 82 after a bit (I didn't mess with fan settings at all and using stock cooler).  The Pro never crashed the computer or puked on the Scan for Artifacts even though its temp was much higher than the GTO and both Mem and Core was much higher.  Pro card had 2.0ns RAM too, weird.

Anybody got any ideas???

I'm running 475 Core and 540 Memory right now without any problems so far...

Thanks for any advice or ideas,
bub

PS  Bought from ZZF, bastards advertised as retail box, but came in brown box and the anti-static bag had been opened, looked like many times.  Card looked alright though...


----------



## Trevor (Oct 7, 2005)

Question, for anyone who's willing to hear it.
got my zalman 700-cu...
Unfortunately, one of the ramsinks doesn't quite fit perfectly.. do I put it on at a 10 degree angle, or chop a bit off?


----------



## Trevor (Oct 7, 2005)

Scratch that, did a quick hack-job on it =)  Installing the rest of the cooler now.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 7, 2005)

Just wanted to say that I got my card a week ago or so, and it modded fine with the files provided in the tutorial.  I've been running it at 545/600 perfectly stable.  My temps on the card are around 40c idle and 60-70 when playing a game.  

Score for 3dmark05 is 6500 with the drivers at default settings and a few background apps running... I was really just checking stability not going for a high score, but I think thats pretty decent still.  

I got my card from allstarshop by the way.


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 7, 2005)

I have a question here, after I flashed 12p to 16p, the card in the system showed up as x850 ...is this right? was it suppose to show up as x800? thx


----------



## nick255 (Oct 7, 2005)

Pentium D, if your card was a sapphire gto2,  it has a r480 core which is the same core used in some x850 cards so that would be why its being seen as an x850 after you flashed it.


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 7, 2005)

nick255 said:
			
		

> Pentium D, if your card was a sapphire gto2,  t has a r480 core which is the same core used in x850 cards so that would be why its being seen as an x850 after you flashed it.



cool man, thx for the fast reply, i was wondering if I did anything wrong...heh.
Im pretty excited about my new card here, and atitool for oc rocks...anybody can recomend a good cpu oc software? I got a 2.8 processor, i heard it can be oc to 3.2 at least...just wanna try...

btw...im playing WOW...i think this gto2 is way over that game....anybody can suggest a good game for my new card? thx!


----------



## thedivinehairband (Oct 7, 2005)

If ya wanna stretch your card try Battlefield 2 or perhaps the F.E.A.R. demo. 

I've got an overclocked X800XL and it is really stretched when I turn all the setting to full!!


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 7, 2005)

I flashed to 16pipes without a problem and haven't had any problems but the drivers still say X800/X850 series card, is this correct.  Would I have any advantage to changing to one of the X850 drivers so that device manager recognizes an X850XE or X850XEPE....??   Tks.


----------



## nick255 (Oct 7, 2005)

Afaik x850 has no added features over x800 apart from being able to be clocked higher so i dont think there would be any advantages to the driver seeing it as a x850 instead of x800


----------



## Trevor (Oct 7, 2005)

Crap crap crap, and crap some more... 
Ramsinks fell off, over and over.
In addition to it booting 2/3 times, then refusing to boot afterwards.  
The fan feels extremely hot... (the tip of the fan, on the actual spinning part, not the copper bit.)
I don't know if direct contact with the GPU wasn't occuring, or what.  Also, some of the thermal grease was was touching some of the resistors.. I'm trying to clean it off, but havnig trouble, even with alcohol.
(91% iso.)
Any suggestions?
It's suck in the very far part...
Even worse, I stuck my other card back in, and I'm now getting a disk read error on post... (this is due to a different problem I've been having over time.. just have to plug in another drive and it'll be fine.)
So, I now need to buy new thermal grease (for the GPU.), thermaltape for the ramsinks (because they keep falling off.), somehow clean the CURRENT stuff out of the resistor area (and keep it just on the GPU itself)  I'm defining resistors as the tiny black boxes surrounding the R480 chip.. I hope I'm accurate in saying that.

Could the GPU now failing to start up be due to contact of thermal grease with the resistiors?
IS IT RECOVERABLE? (I hope so.)     I'm pretty sure it's just a heat (bad contact?) or resistors-being-covered/touching-grease issue.

If anyone has any advice... please let me know.
--Trevor

By 'not booting' I mean it no longer turns the monitor on.
=/  But when the monitor is unplugged, works perfectly.
:|


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 7, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> Crap crap crap, and crap some more...
> Ramsinks fell off, over and over.
> In addition to it booting 2/3 times, then refusing to boot afterwards.
> The fan feels extremely hot... (the tip of the fan, on the actual spinning part, not the copper bit.)
> ...


Did you make sure you cleaned off the memory chips really good first before installing the ramsinks?  They won't stick if there is still a residue of the thermal compound that was on them.  I cleaned mine really good (with ArctiClean) and they stuck just fine, good enough that I probably couldn't just pull them off without making the thermal tapes come off the ramsinks.

As for the thermal grease on those parts around the gpu, I'm not sure if would cause problems or not.  If you want to try cleaning it off, I'd recommend getting some ArctiClean like I did (made by Arctic Silver).  I've used that several times now on various different things.  It works great for cleaning up thermal material and some other stuff.


BTW, yesterday I installed a Zalman VF-700AlCu on my GTO2.  I bought it a few months ago and I actually intended to use it on another card, but I'm not going to be keeping that card now, so I decided to install it on my new card.  I installed the ramsinks on the front side, but I'm going to try just using the existing heatspreader on the back first and see how it is before putting the ramsinks on the back.  I remember that it only got just barely warm under load, so maybe it would be a good thing to use on the back ones.  I installed it last night and I'm going to test it out later today when I have time.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 7, 2005)

http://www.prohardver.hu/html/vga/x850xt/picz/gpu.jpg
the little things to the left/right/top/down of the GPU are what I'm talking about.
I assumed I'd cleaned it off quite well, (Scrubbing with rubbing alcohol) but I guess I didn't.
I'll pick up some articlean at a local store...


(That's not mine, I'm currently as school...)

Thanks Shadow.

--Trevor


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 7, 2005)

Goof Off or other xylene-based cleaners also work very well (and are also recommended by Arctic Silver).  Those cleaners can be purchased at any hardware or home improvement store so they may be easier to find.  I think that rubbing alcohol contains too much water to be very effective.  BTW, when I removed my HSF there was hardly any compound on my RAM and a large gob on the GPU - quickly applied, I guess.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 7, 2005)

I noticed that you said it booted 2 out of 3 times then refused to boot afterwards.  It's possible that maybe you didn't get good contact between the gpu and the heatsink and your gpu is burned out...  Did you check to see if it was making good contact with it or not?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 7, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> I noticed that you said it booted 2 out of 3 times then refused to boot afterwards.  It's possible that maybe you didn't get good contact between the gpu and the heatsink and your gpu is burned out...  Did you check to see if it was making good contact with it or not?


This is what I'm worried about =/
Hence why I removed the entire thing.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 7, 2005)

Oops, that was me above.
ANyway, that's what I'm worried about.
Probably a bit more than 2... it was just an issue with my HDD.  
If it did fry, I think I'll be able to RMA it (just stick the old stuff back on...)
As I still have my 30 day OEM warranty.
Going to buy some thermaltape/grease/etc. now... 
--Trevor


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 7, 2005)

Oh my god!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595

What the hell newegg?! $299!


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 7, 2005)

That's probably why the price dropped to 199 again--They were intending to bring it up to 299, but a typo?


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 7, 2005)

I got mine from newegg for $199


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 8, 2005)

Pentium D said:
			
		

> I got mine from newegg for $199



Yeah First it was 229.99 (I think) then 199.99 then it went of of stock and the page was "disabled". Now its back at 299

That pisses me off, I dont know if I am ever gonna get this card


----------



## RobP4P (Oct 8, 2005)

*Agp Version From Computerhq??*

Ok, someone asked a few posts back what the difference was between part number 100131 and 100130 that most of you have been getting. Did anyone else notice that computerHQ is claiming to have an AGP VERSION of the GTO2??? 

Is this for real? I think I might have to take a chance on this...


----------



## RobP4P (Oct 8, 2005)

*link*

forgot the link...

http://www.computerhq.com/Sapphire_ATI_X800GTO2_AGP_256MB/100131/hardware/partinfo-id-567445.html


----------



## RobP4P (Oct 8, 2005)

*Agp Gto2*

well, I just took a chance and ordered one of the agp versions. I'll keep you all posted if the agp version works anything like the pci-e has been for everyone else!


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 8, 2005)

Yea I just purchased an AGP version of it from excaliberpc and there is actually a description of it.  I'll also update as I get it and such.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 8, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> Scratch that, did a quick hack-job on it =)  Installing the rest of the cooler now.



Can you explain what part didn't fit and how you fixed it?  I'm planning on getting a Zalman too with my GTO2.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 8, 2005)

the ram sinks didnt fit so he just cut a little bit off the end to get it to fit, it wont affect the performance so dont worry, the zalman vf700 is the best cooler imo.


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 8, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Actally I did some reasearch and that was on revision 1, not revision 2


sorry it took so long to respond to this..... actually I have a revision 2, well that's what it said on the package.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 8, 2005)

*Ulocked Connect x800GTO*

Just to let people know that I too have managed to unlock the full 16 pipes on this card.

R423 core


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 8, 2005)

I want to run my X800_GTO2 as X850XT speed Full time instead of open ATI Tool everytime I reboot my computer.

Can I just flash it to X850_XT or X850_XTPE?
(of course with non-VIVO one, if there is.)


----------



## Cally (Oct 8, 2005)

AMDCam said:
			
		

> Can't find it anywhere. If I could buy this in AGP for that price I would. Do you think it's possible? I'm looking at a 6800 ultra, but if this is in that price range ($200) then I'll just go with the GTO.



http://www.excaliberpc.com/Sapphire_ATI_X800GTO2_AGP_256MB/100131/partinfo-id-559967.html
They gottem.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 8, 2005)

Ok... so, I need thermal tape for the ramsinks.. anyone know where I can buy it, pref. locally?  (I.e., what kind've stores might have it..)

Someone said to just use scotch tape, but that sounded absurd, to say the least.


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 8, 2005)

You should be able to find thermal interface tape/pads in any computer store with component-level products since they are replacements for the material used on OEM coolers on old Intel and AMD processors.  Locally I've bought at Fry's where they have .75" and 1.5" widths.  Or you can order from the manufacturer of your ramsinks.

As for whoever proposed scotch tape


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 8, 2005)

*SSID mismatch on Sapphire GTO2*

Hi;

   I got the Sapphire X800GTO2 'Retail Lite' version. If I try to flash up to 16 pipes (using Sapphire.X800GTO2_16p.Samsung16.bin and flashrom16) I get:

    BIOS DEVID= 0x5D4F
    ASIC DEVID= 0x5D4F
    Exsisting SSID= 0x1600
    New SSID= 0x0302

   and says I would need to force the flash.

   Is it supposed to do this? (the article doesn't mention needing to 'force' the flash). I don't see anyone else mentioning this problem flashing their GTO2 cards.

  Is this because it's a 'retail' instead of EOM card? Is it safe to force the flash?

   Thanks;


----------



## RobP4P (Oct 8, 2005)

*mod BIOS for AGP?*

Is the modified BIOS shown in the guide for PCI-E only? Is there any difference between the BIOS for AGP and PCI-E? If so, any idea what to do for the AGP version?


----------



## Psxcrazy (Oct 8, 2005)

*my case runs extremly hot with new card*

loving the gto2 but my case gets awfly warm and i cant get the card to overclock past 500 540 without there being artifacts i have to keep my fans cranked and 100% just to keep my case at about 45c while playing a game  i just dont understand why i cant overclock higher i tried ocing it with a house fan right on the card and still no luck could it be cause i bout a sony pc i still get a decent score on 3d mark of 5700


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 8, 2005)

RobP4P said:
			
		

> Is the modified BIOS shown in the guide for PCI-E only? Is there any difference between the BIOS for AGP and PCI-E? If so, any idea what to do for the AGP version?



am curious regarding this also...


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 8, 2005)

I say you probably shouldn't try the modified bios on the agp version.  Instead follow the instructions I posted earlier.  That will basically make your own modified bios with 16 pipelines.   If you want, you could even save the 16 pipeline bios after you are done.


----------



## psxcrazy (Oct 8, 2005)

*5893 mark 05*

just got my score to 5893 ambient temp in my room is 55 only way i can keep my case cool enought ot clock my gto2 to 540 600 i'm loving it glad i snaged one og the laast ones from new egg the say limeted editon you think new egg will have them again but i'm sure tha since the new ati is coming out the prices will drop significantly what do you think


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 8, 2005)

Anyone know for sure that the modified BIOS for the PCI-e version won't work with the AGP version?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 8, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> I want to run my X800_GTO2 as X850XT speed Full time instead of open ATI Tool everytime I reboot my computer.
> 
> Can I just flash it to X850_XT or X850_XTPE?
> (of course with non-VIVO one, if there is.)


Please advise.


----------



## edge929 (Oct 8, 2005)

Another successful mod here.

Sapphire Radeon X800GTO2 ordered from Newegg on 10/3/05. Modded today.

One thing I wanted to point out that the guide doesn't mention. For me, I HAD to use the -f command to force the flash (as the SSIDs didn't match). After flashed the BIOS and go into Windows for the first time, ATi Tool couldn't recognize the card and said it was a 32-bit, 8 pipe version. Freaking out, I restarted and it fixed the problem. ATi Tool then reported 16 pipes, 256-bit.

Not bad for $220 bucks, regardless if X1800 was just launched. They won't hit Newegg and such until the end of this month if we're lucky.


----------



## edge929 (Oct 9, 2005)

Forgot to mention, I have it OCed to XT PE speeds (540/590) with no artifacts for 30 mintues now. Will try to find max settings here soon, but guessing it won't be much higher from reading what others have said.


----------



## Megatron (Oct 9, 2005)

edge929 said:
			
		

> Another successful mod here.
> One thing I wanted to point out that the guide doesn't mention. For me, I HAD to use the -f command to force the flash (as the SSIDs didn't match).


http://www.techpowerup.com/articles//overclocking/vidcard/34/8

"
If you are trying to flash a BIOS for a different card then you will get a security warning that the BIOS does not match your card. If you are absolutely sure that the BIOS is compatible you can use the -f parameter to force flashing. For example atiflash -f -p 0 BIOS.bin
"


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 9, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> I want to run my X800_GTO2 as X850XT speed Full time instead of open ATI Tool everytime I reboot my computer.
> 
> Can I just flash it to X850_XT or X850_XTPE?
> (of course with non-VIVO one, if there is.)


 in ati setting you can chose for windows to start atitool at your desired speed and chose to close it after speed has been loaded atitool will load your profile than it will exit on its own while keeping your modified speed on your card without hogging up any resources


----------



## DjiNN (Oct 9, 2005)

hi guys 

can x850pro moded to x850 xt pe bec it have vivo but i dont know which chip is using on this product and it is cheaper than x800tgo2 if it can be mod i'll buy one of them but if not i'll buy c3d x800gto please help me friends 

and what are the difference btw this two products

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102498

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102593


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 9, 2005)

DjiNN said:
			
		

> hi guys
> 
> can x850pro moded to x850 xt pe bec it have vivo but i dont know which chip is using on this product and it is cheaper than x800tgo2 if it can be mod i'll buy one of them but if not i'll buy c3d x800gto please help me friends



only AGP version of X850 Pro VIVO can be modded, so I heard, to X850 XT or to XTPE depends on your luck.


----------



## DjiNN (Oct 9, 2005)

im using pci e so is it means i cant open 16 pipe to this x850 pro vivo???

if i cant ill buy c3d x800gto


----------



## RobP4P (Oct 9, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> I say you probably shouldn't try the modified bios on the agp version.  Instead follow the instructions I posted earlier.  That will basically make your own modified bios with 16 pipelines.   If you want, you could even save the 16 pipeline bios after you are done.




So you're basically saying flash the agp card with an AGP x850XT BIOS using the -newbios option, then reflash to the original BIOS? Any considerations I should take for which BIOS i flash with -newbios? Help appreicated.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 9, 2005)

DjiNN said:
			
		

> im using pci e so is it means i cant open 16 pipe to this x850 pro vivo???
> 
> if i cant ill buy c3d x800gto



check this out
http://www.overclock.net/showthread.php?t=28036


----------



## WildStyle (Oct 9, 2005)

Hi all,

Hope you can help me out with a flashing issue I'm having.

Here's 6593 marks in 05 with just the 12 pipes and 630/630 clocks:





Yet I cannot flash the modified BIOS to enable the other 4 pipes. It's really annoying as I'd be scoring over 7k in 05 with all 16 pipes.

I go to flash the BIOS after creating a bootable CD with Nero (with the necessary flashing files on), but then it says (when loading off CD, but before it even gets to loading ATIFlash) "EMM386: Warning: Address line A20 already enabled." It then just sits there and I can't do anything.

What's this mean and how do I get around it? 

Any ideas? I'd REALLY appreciate some help here.

Thanks.


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 9, 2005)

for whatever reason Nero has not worked for me creating a bootable disk for NF4 boards..... I just used my maxtor harddrive disk, got into dos with it then ran the program from my harddrive.  Worked like a charm twice since I've done this with two cards already.

mighty fine core you got there.


----------



## WildStyle (Oct 9, 2005)

Thanks for the reply.

So when you use Nero to create a bootable CD for NF4 boards you get the same problem? (I have an Ultra-D BTW).

I guess I'll hook up a floppy drive, or is there another program I could use to make a bootable CD that you know of?


----------



## AMDCam (Oct 9, 2005)

Like Wildstyle, I'm having a problem flashing too. Not a GTO, not even an ATI, but a Leadtek A400 Nvidia 6800 GT. NVflash keeps telling me the ROMs don't match (WELL OBVIOUSLY!), and I can't figure out how to force the flash because there's an error every time I try anything. If you could give me a command line I could just type in, it'd be greatly appreciated. By the way, I call the GT rom "Original.rom" and the Ultra "6800Ultra.rom


----------



## WildStyle (Oct 9, 2005)

@AMDCam, this is a thread regarding the GTO2 cards though. Maybe you could start a new thread.

As for my issue, I can't get my system to detect a floppy drive no matter what. So, that idea goes out the Window.

How else can I create a bootable CD w/out using Nero?

Or if you've any other ideas please post.


----------



## AMDCam (Oct 9, 2005)

GOD DANG GUYS, How about you share your damn thread? I've been here for a while, and yes I understand it may be rude, but I try to help you guys a much as possible, and by taking your question and simply adding on to it, we get both our questions answered simultaneously instead of me making a separate thread and having the people that could be helping you be looking at mine. Please calm yourselves, I am really getting tired of the mentality of you guys here (you don't seem mad or anything wildstyle, but I mean it's really just plain selfish to say "no no, I'm a lot more important since my post is more relevant, so go figure out your problem somewhere else"). Plus I've made 2 threads on it already, no one helps. So I've been going into other threads and asking (when the subject comes up), I mean it's a simple problem but no one seem to want to help.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 9, 2005)

WildStyle said:
			
		

> @AMDCam, this is a thread regarding the GTO2 cards though. Maybe you could start a new thread.
> 
> As for my issue, I can't get my system to detect a floppy drive no matter what. So, that idea goes out the Window.
> 
> ...



I dunno but if you have a flash drive you can make it bootable


----------



## WildStyle (Oct 9, 2005)

Blunt copy/paste from my home forum:

As it turned out, Nero was the problem. I updated it and the bootable CD worked fine. Flash also went ok, so here are the results:

7147 in 05! 620/580/16 pipes. Love this little card!





Thanks for the pointer Houserat. Appreciated.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 9, 2005)

If the AGP version of the GTO2 from excaliber that I ordered turns out to be fake, how would I go about in returning it?  The page for it says it can only be returned for the same item/replacement.  Do you think "false advertising" is good enough to return it?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 9, 2005)

@WildStyle - Is your system water cooled or something?  How did you clock that sucker all the way up to 620 core?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 9, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> If the AGP version of the GTO2 from excaliber that I ordered turns out to be fake, how would I go about in returning it? The page for it says it can only be returned for the same item/replacement. Do you think "false advertising" is good enough to return it?



someone on the hardocp forums talking about the agp version at excaliberpc said that excaliberpc will give a full refund for it if it doesn't match the product description, but i can't find anything about that on their site.  i ordered one, so i hope it either unlocks and overclocks or is a fake item that i can get a full refund on.  if it's real but doesn't unlock, i can only return it for store credit after a 15% restocking fee, which means i'll just have to keep it and cry.


----------



## Mistral (Oct 10, 2005)

Reporting another successful Connect3D GTO mod here 
First, I'd like to thank ShadowFlare for all the usefull info.

Flashed it to PowerColor 800XT, then backed it without -newbios to my original bios.

Boost at default speed is from 4393 in 3DM2k5 to 5038. Runs stable at 530/530, scorring 6102 with 16 pipes compared to 5516 with 12.

Memory starts to give artefacts at 545, core tends to lock at above 540. Temps don't go above 75c, so it could be due to my crappy Okia PSU. Then again, it's the R423 core in tere. Anyhow, I'm very happy with the results, given that the card cost me a 245 CAD total.


----------



## PhAnToM (Oct 10, 2005)

After reading the thread from hardforum.com about the AGP version of the gto2, I wanted to register there and tell them I love them!  I am so excited about my card coming Tuesday 

edit: I love you guys too!

On a more serious note, did anyone already order and receive their AGP GTO2?  How would the mod work?


----------



## WildStyle (Oct 10, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> @WildStyle - Is your system water cooled or something?  How did you clock that sucker all the way up to 620 core?


Actually, the card is on stock air !


----------



## hubgods (Oct 10, 2005)

*Major failure in flashing from GTO2 to X850 XT*

I think I may have one of the very few disappointing instances of flashing a Sapphire X800 GTO2 to the X850 XT and in fact, I think the card is now hosed. Here's what I did:

- Downloaded ATI Tool and confirmed that I had 12 active pipelines, R480 core and the f's in the correct places indicating likely mod success

- Downloaded and used flashrom as indicated and flashed to the 16 pipeline version of the Sapphire BIOS. All appeared to go successfully

- Upon restart, XP indicated that it had found the X800/X850 card, but could not finish loading drivers because "device could not start"

- Worse yet, when I reloaded ATI Tool and checked the settings it was only showing 4 active pipelines. Decided to shutdown and restart, but to no avail

- Tried to go back to original BIOS file and again, no problem flashing was indicated. However, XP still could not start device and only 4 active pipelines showing in ATI Tool. Starting to worry about now...

- Tried the alternate method using atiflash with the x850 XT BIOS file and while ATI Tool was showing the faster clocks (520/540), same problems as before: 4 active pipelines and worse, XP cannot start the card

- Then removed all driver references using Driver Cleaner Pro and restarted - no change

- Interesting, when I run -i for info at this point under either flashrom or atiflash it says RS423 under the asic

Also, I purchased on 10/4 from the Egg for those who are interested.

Any guidance or suggestions or should I just throw in the towel on this card?

Thanks in advance!


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 10, 2005)

lol..... I did the same thing..... once the card is flashed, uninstall the video drivers then reinstall.  your 4 pipe card should turn out to be 16.  Let me know how it works out..... scared me pretty good the first time that happend.


----------



## hubgods (Oct 10, 2005)

*Removed all drivers...still no go*

Thanks HouseRat...I actually did use Driver Cleaner Pro and remove all of the ATI drivers, as well as uninstalled/reinstalled Ati Tool. I still cannot get back to where I started w/ 12 pipes. There seems to be some issue with XP as it cannot start the card to actually install the drivers once again.

Maybe try a fresh install of XP?


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 10, 2005)

I have this card and I absolutely love it.  Running with the BIOS mod at 520x1200

That's right.  1.2GHz memory on stock cooling with a bit of arctic silver.  Got mine for $230.  Best $200 bucks I've ever spent.  Upgraded from an MSI NX6800-TD128E and I'm running it on sn MSI K8N Neo4/SLI with the PCI-E Frequency at 110MHz on an AMD Athlon 65 3500+.

Bottom line:
If you want an X850XTPE (or better with aftermarket cooling), BUY THIS CARD!!!

As for you hubgods, I have absolutely no idea how to solve your problem, but hey!  A fresh install of XP probably wouldn't hurt huh?

I would try to re-flash the card or flash it with the original BIOS.  Good luck to ya bud.


----------



## hubgods (Oct 10, 2005)

*Think I got it!*

Thanks DanishDevil. After Ghosting in a fresh image, I did get the system to actually recognize and install drivers for the x850 AND ATI Tool now sees all 16 pipes active as well! Only "downside" is that early testing with stock cooling limits me to 522/549 before I crash. Already have the Zalman cooler on order...

One other question: is the x850 primary/secondary supposed to show under "Unknown" category in system properities? (it does say Radeon X850 Series under that section however). Just curious...


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 10, 2005)

I woudn't worry about anything in the Hardware Manager unless it has a yellow 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 on it.   Glad to hear of your success!

BTW, what Zalman you getting?  I was thinking of getting the new AeroCool VGA Cooler (not yet released in the US), and Vantec's Copper BGA RamSinks.

PS: I have DNA Drivers running.  Try those out and see if they fix the problem.


----------



## bigpuns (Oct 10, 2005)

Hey all

Bit new to all this computers malarkey so please bear with me...

Will this overclocking work exactly the same on all makes of x800gto. Cos I can get the sapphire version £4 cheaper than the rest, and the box is prettier!  

Cheers


----------



## Trevor (Oct 10, 2005)

You guys are making me jealous... I need to head to the store today to buy some goof off. ;_; and some ramsinks <_<


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 10, 2005)

bigpuns, no.  The only card that will work the way we are describing is the Sapphire X800GTO2 (squared).  This is because that card has the same graphics processing unit core as the X850XTPE.

Trevor, if ur talking about stuff to get thermal compound off, go get some ArticClean.  That stuff works wonders, and I find myself using it on everything from thermal pads to cleaning my knife


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 10, 2005)

hubgods said:
			
		

> Thanks DanishDevil. After Ghosting in a fresh image, I did get the system to actually recognize and install drivers for the x850 AND ATI Tool now sees all 16 pipes active as well! Only "downside" is that early testing with stock cooling limits me to 522/549 before I crash. Already have the Zalman cooler on order...
> 
> One other question: is the x850 primary/secondary supposed to show under "Unknown" category in system properities? (it does say Radeon X850 Series under that section however). Just curious...


I've never seen that before with a videocard.... are you using catalyst drivers?
You may have already done this but I'll walk you through the proper way to install drivers.....
1. Goto Control Panel and then add/remove programs.
2. uninstall the graphics driver
3. reboot system then goto safe mode (hit F8 before system goes to windows)
4. once in safe mode run your driver cleaner or/and uninstall program
5. reboot (when system tries to boot for the first time don't let it install anything, just hit cancel) install catalyst drivers of choice.


----------



## Spag (Oct 10, 2005)

Sorry if this has been asekd already, but anyone know where can you buy these cards in Europe? I only found one shop in France but of course they're out of stock.. 

Thanks!


----------



## hubgods (Oct 10, 2005)

*Driver cleaning etc*

HouseRat, I've never done the Driver Cleaning in Safe mode before (please don't tell me it's a RTFM issue).   

I'll try as you suggest this evening and let you know if that does the trick.

So, to confirm, I assume I should be seeing them listed as "normal" under Display Adapters in the System Devices section?

Thanks....


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 10, 2005)

hubgods said:
			
		

> So, to confirm, I assume I should be seeing them listed as "normal" under Display Adapters in the System Devices section?
> 
> Thanks....


Yes you should, and you should always clean drivers in safe mode.  Failure to do so could leave all kinds of residual goodies in your registry. GL


----------



## hubgods (Oct 10, 2005)

Thanks for the RAPID reply HouseRat. Will do....

Also, to clarify, I have ordered the Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 5 Rev 2 where I previously said Zalman. Brain cramp at the time.....should be here tomorrow. I'm hopeful that it allows me to go a bit further than standard X850 XT range.


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 10, 2005)

I hope you get a good Silencer 5..... the one I got has a design flaw and doesn't touch the memory flush on the core side..... Switching over to Zalman so I can voltmod mine.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 10, 2005)

this just in: the agp version of the gto2 doesn't exist.  sapphire screwed up, and excaliberpc called to tell me about it and cancel my order.  it was gonna be such a good deal, too.


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 10, 2005)

It's still on the excaliberpc website...... guess we'll have to see how valid this is.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 10, 2005)

HousERat said:
			
		

> It's still on the excaliberpc website...... guess we'll have to see how valid this is.



check the page again - they took the 2 out of the name in the main item title and the details title so it's labeled as a regular gto.  the description and details still list it as a gto2 cause they haven't changed all of that yet.


----------



## PhAnToM (Oct 10, 2005)

I think I'm going to cry, but I called in and its coming tomorrow.  The guy at excaliber told me to refuse the package and they'll refund my money.  Right now I'm looking into a x850pro from ebay but I really hate ebay, anyone know where I can get one for a good price?  Like perhaps under $250.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 10, 2005)

An X850Pro?  Here's one for like $252 shipped.  ATI Original too 

http://www.maincomp.com/shop/product.jsp?id=1274&pg=

PS: www.pricegrabber.com is your friend


----------



## PhAnToM (Oct 10, 2005)

Wow, thanks!  I'll have to remember pricegrabber


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 10, 2005)

Defenitely.  First place I go once I decide to buy something . . .

Except for last night.  Xoxide's X-Hour had the ZALMAN CNPS9500LED on sale for just under $60.  Let's just say I had "limited time" before the X-hour ended. *cough*2 minutes*cough*

Got one though.  I'll be sure to let you all know how it works


----------



## XeoNoX (Oct 10, 2005)

http://www.atacom.com/program/print...RCH_ALL&Item_code=VIDR_ATIX_PB_A6&USER_ID=www


for $129 so far the cheapest place i found.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 10, 2005)

$229 my friend.  Not $129.  That's actually not bad at all considering Newegg raised the price to $299.

HousERaT, I see you bought one 

{Rogue} is the guy that turned me onto this card.  I think he had the first review.  Too lazy to look, so whatever.  I think I'll do this for a while


----------



## Cally (Oct 10, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> this just in: the agp version of the gto2 doesn't exist.  sapphire screwed up, and excaliberpc called to tell me about it and cancel my order.  it was gonna be such a good deal, too.



Looks like Wizzard was right again. He said they didn't exist in spite of all the post that they did.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 11, 2005)

I mean http://www.atacom.com/program/print_...A6&USER_ID=www has it for $229 wich is the cheapestplace i found


----------



## XeoNoX (Oct 11, 2005)

grrr. let me try this again, lol.


http://www.atacom.com/program/print...RCH_ALL&Item_code=VIDR_ATIX_PB_A6&USER_ID=www  has it for $229, cheapest place i found!!!


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 11, 2005)

I need a place that has it for $200 or so. I WOULD order it from pagecomputers but a glance at resellerratings and thats  out of the question

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1830-p1-s4-d1.html#reviews
Ugh


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 11, 2005)

Well GOOD LUCK Dr.D my friend.  That's the best place to get it unless you can come up with about $300.  You're not gonna want to return the card (obviously we wouldn't be mindlessly babbling about it since the card has essentially become a part of us, a parasite if you will, expressing itself through its free four pipelines and extreme ocing)   So hey!  Don't worry about the reviews.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 11, 2005)

Actally I am gonna try this place:
http://www.atacom.com/program/print...RCH_ALL&Item_code=VIDR_ATIX_PB_A6&USER_ID=www

If I get screwed I am gonna be pissed

Edit: Anyone know what lite retail has in it?


----------



## t^3 (Oct 11, 2005)

I took the plunge and ordered from Page Computers on 9/29 when they still had it for $195 + $8 shipping. Arrived today via UPS Ground, but it only showed up as being shipped today on Page's order status page. Never received any emails or tracking numbers. I had to contact them via their live support page last Thursday to find out that it had actually shipped last Monday. There was no packing slip inside, and someone had actually ripped out the return address on the shipping label! I would not buy from them again unless I was really desperate.

Now, regarding the card, it was the lite retail version, so it came in a plain box with some cables and adapters. I flashed the card successfully, and then I tried flashing a X850 XT BIOS. Turns out that might have killed the on-card fan. I remember that the fan (or at least one of my fans) was running really loud, then quit all of a sudden, and after a few seconds, the screen locked up. I immediately forced a shut down, and I smelled something was burnt. Great. When I turned on the computer again, the fan would spin up really fast and then quit. I tried flashing it back to the modified GTO2 16p BIOS, and the same thing happened. Then I tried flashing it back to my original BIOS, and the same thing happened. I restarted again, and now the fan is completely dead. Does anybody have any suggestions? Thanks in advance! For now, I'm back to using my X800 Pro.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 11, 2005)

t^3 said:
			
		

> I took the plunge and ordered from Page Computers on 9/29 when they still had it for $195 + $8 shipping. Arrived today via UPS Ground, but it only showed up as being shipped today on Page's order status page. Never received any emails or tracking numbers. I had to contact them via their live support page last Thursday to find out that it had actually shipped last Monday. There was no packing slip inside, and someone had actually ripped out the return address on the shipping label! I would not buy from them again unless I was really desperate.
> 
> Now, regarding the card, it was the lite retail version, so it came in a plain box with some cables and adapters. I flashed the card successfully, and then I tried flashing a X850 XT BIOS. Turns out that might have killed the on-card fan. I remember that the fan (or at least one of my fans) was running really loud, then quit all of a sudden, and after a few seconds, the screen locked up. I immediately forced a shut down, and I smelled something was burnt. Great. When I turned on the computer again, the fan would spin up really fast and then quit. I tried flashing it back to the modified GTO2 16p BIOS, and the same thing happened. Then I tried flashing it back to my original BIOS, and the same thing happened. I restarted again, and now the fan is completely dead. Does anybody have any suggestions? Thanks in advance! For now, I'm back to using my X800 Pro.



Glad to see you got it from PageComputers.

Well the cards fan might be defective. Normally I would say send it back but because its PageComputers I would just get a Ati Silencer 5 (Rev 2). Not only will it keep it just as cool as the stock fan but with the silencer you can overclock alot higher.


----------



## t^3 (Oct 11, 2005)

I actually have a Zalman VF700-Cu on my X800 Pro, and it works great. I might just end up switching it over and getting some RAM heatsinks. Then hopefully I can sell the Pro for a decent amount.

Edit: Is there any way I could take out the RAM heatsinks that are stuck on by thermal adhesive?


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 11, 2005)

I have a question myself, how do I check card temprature?

And whats Retai Lite?


----------



## t^3 (Oct 11, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> I have a question myself, how do I check card temprature?
> 
> And whats Retai Lite?


There are various programs that will check the temp. I use ATITool - it's probably the most popular overclocking program.

The full retail version includes the nice retail box with some games included, while the lite version doesn't have these. The other stuff I got is listed below:

-Male-male yellow composite video cable
-Male-male S-video cable
-Male S-video/female component video adapter
-Male S-video/female composite video adapter
-DVI/VGA adapter
-4-pin Molex to PCI-E power connector adapter (needed if your power supply doesn't include a PCI-E power connector)
-Catalyst 5.8 driver CD with Sapphire Trixx overclocking utility

Just had to include the genders to avoid any confusion.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 11, 2005)

OK.  Here's the answers to all your questions.

Reguarding the fan on the X800GTO2:

The fan is controlled by the card's BIOS and allows you to set your own fan percentages for 10 (I think it's 10) different variables (Ex. 40C=45% Fan Speed, 50C=65% Fan Speed, etc.) as shown here:







The computer boots for 2 seconds at 100% fan speed on the card's fan.  The fan at 100% is the loudest fan in my case (next loudest is my Zalman 7000Cu soon to be replaced by my CNPD9500LED in the mail).  Do not worry about the change of fan speed.  If you smelled burning though, you may want to check the fan out.  Play with the fan speeds and unplug any loud fans you have in your case as long as your temps will be OK.

In order to check card temps, download ATITool.  It will give you readouts of GPU Core Temp and Ambient Temp (does anyone know where that thermal sensor actually is  ). The beta will also give you statistical information in the form of a graph and if you want it to, write it to a file.

And thanks t^3 for answering the question on Retail Lite 

Hope this answers all your questions!


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 11, 2005)

*mongoled*

Asking alot, but is it possible someone registered here to make a list at start of this thread (need mod to do this) documenting the success/failures of the GTO/GTO(2) cards?


----------



## t^3 (Oct 11, 2005)

Just an update on my fan issue - I plugged in a different fan momentarily and it works. I'm thinking that the X850 XT (not sure about XT PE) might control the fan at different voltages. I found a thread where someone also flashed a Sapphire X850 XT BIOS and the fan also died. I even used RaBiT to turn off the VIVO on the XT BIOS. So I'd recommend that everyone DO NOT flash a X850 BIOS until we get to the bottom of this. However, I've noticed hubgods flashed a X850 XT BIOS several pages back on this thread and apparently hasn't complained.

Still, there is no benefit in having a X850 BIOS. Just use RaBiT 1.7 (can find on Google) to change the clocks permanently in the modded GTO2 BIOS, and you'll get a X850 XT, XT PE, or whatever in disguise as a "X800/X850 series" card. Or, to be even safer, just stick with ATITool.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 11, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

>



I just dont know how to get to that screen:shadedshu


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 11, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> I just dont know how to get to that screen:shadedshu


hit the button down in the bottom right corner that says settings.....


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 11, 2005)

Start ATiTool.  Click settings in the bottom right corner.  Scroll through the drop-down menu until you get to "Fan Control."


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 11, 2005)

Goof off, or goof off two :|


----------



## Trevor (Oct 11, 2005)

^^That was me.


----------



## blackadder (Oct 11, 2005)

*x800 gto2 results*

Purchased x800 gto2 from Newegg for $203.
Purchased a Zalman VF7000-Cu Vga fan for $28

Unlocked pipes using the atiflash to 850 then flash back to 800.  Showed 12pipes in Atitool 0.25 beta8 -> currently shows 16pipes.

Used stock fan - ran the max core.
Core hit 513, screen blanked and system froze.
ran max memory - got to about 590 before stopped it.
ran overclocked at 500 and 580 fine (temps 65c)

default core and memory = 3dmark05 4994 (not overclocked)
idle temps = 56c

Next.  Changed to Zalman VF700-Cu
Core hit 522, screen blanked and system froze.
(have not run overclocked for long period - wanted to give time for heatsinks and arctic silver 5 to settle in)

default core and memory = 3dmark 5000 (not overclocked)

Temperatures:
Stock fan - Idle                                   = 45c
Stock fan - Load                                  = 56c
Stock fan - Load overclocked 500/580     = 65c

Zalman VF700 - Idle(normal 12v mode)     = 34c
Zalman VF700 - Load(normal 12v mode)    = 50c
Zalman VF700 - Load overclocked            = not tested yet but expect @60 since thats what it reached when doing find max core.

Installing the Zalman - I used Isopropyl Alcohol (>99.8+%) to clean memory to ensure heatsinks would stick.  Also cleaned r480 chip and used arctic silver 5 before mounting heatsink.  Initially when i first powered up unit - temps of gpu jumped all over the place and scared the hell out of me jumping from 45c to 80c - realized it was probably the chip bonding with the fan....

I have a friend running the same card purchased from Newegg on same day.  His card reached 610core and 690memory before crapping out.  His system recovered from it and he clocks it at 540/590 when playing games.  He is using stock fan.  His only complaint has been noise of stock fan, but isnt going to touch it because his performance is fine.  Compared to my setup - he is running a 775 intel p4 3ghz on a newer intel board 995chipset i think, while mine is an older hp compaq dc 7100.  He is going to run my card on his machine to see if we can get performance out of it.  I will also check on bios flash for my system and check other things, since the system does NOT recover.  OOOH and i think he is running atitool 0.25 beta 5 - i will confirm that with him.


----------



## blackadder (Oct 11, 2005)

HousERaT said:
			
		

> Mine went up to about 530/600 with the stock cooling.  Ironically my clocks didn't go much higher with my silencer but the temps went down.  I think I have a weak card.  I've seen other people with much higher clocks still on stock cooling.



Sounds like we have similiar cards - weak ones - ill let you know if system makes a difference.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 11, 2005)

So what is the best way to flash this card. The main article says to use flashrom. On this forum people use ATI flash... Can someone please tell me how it is done...please.
Will be my first flash so im a bit nervous.
Getting mine tomorrow (from Slovenia) for 240Euros.
Thanks for help.


----------



## blackadder (Oct 11, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> The commands for flashing to enable pipelines using atiflash 3.09 are as follows (where x800gto.bin is the name you save your current bios as and x850xt.bin is the bios you are flashing to):
> 
> atiflash -s 0 x800gto.bin
> atiflash -f -p 0 x850xt.bin -newbios
> ...




I used this method - bumping this so people can see.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 11, 2005)

I purchased form ATACOM and this is the email I got:


> Dear Valued Customer:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Apart from having bad grammer they have it all wrong. I called my credit card company and they said they have never heard of such a thing. So I called ATACOM and we went around in circles a few times and eventally decied to have it shipped to my billing address which is going to be another big hassle.

What the hell ATACOM?


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 11, 2005)

Iunno?  GL gettin the card though.  I've been playing the F.E.A.R. Multiplayer Demo with it.  OH MY GOD.  It is the new friggin CS man I swear.  And with this card, I'm running smooth as silk


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 12, 2005)

blackadder said:
			
		

> Sounds like we have similiar cards - weak ones - ill let you know if system makes a difference.


Basically it turns out these cards are luck of the draw....... the worst I've seen was 500 on the core.... which is still 100Mhz over stock.  I've seen people up over 600.  Most people will fall somewhere in between.  Everyone is gonna come out well with this card, it's just that some people will come out better.  My suggestion is don't spend a fortune for one of these.  My first card clocked 530 on the core and my second one clocks at 560.  Go figure.


----------



## blackadder (Oct 12, 2005)

HousERaT said:
			
		

> Basically it turns out these cards are luck of the draw....... the worst I've seen was 500 on the core.... which is still 100Mhz over stock.  I've seen people up over 600.  Most people will fall somewhere in between.  Everyone is gonna come out well with this card, it's just that some people will come out better.  My suggestion is don't spend a fortune for one of these.  My first card clocked 530 on the core and my second one clocks at 560.  Go figure.



Yah I'm not dissappointed.  I can run 510core and 590 memory and im pullin in 5987 on the 3dmark05.  If I could get another to play with for a friend, I would, but I'm not gonna take the chance since I have a 7800gtx that i got for free sitting in a box in my other room.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 12, 2005)

HousERaT said:
			
		

> hit the button down in the bottom right corner that says settings.....



I just realized why it wasnt showing up, its doesnt have a fan its a X300SE


----------



## blackadder (Oct 12, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> I just realized why it wasnt showing up, its doesnt have a fan its a X300SE



Oi...Ill sell you my Gto2 with a Zalman fan for $265 shipped.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 12, 2005)

blackadder said:
			
		

> Oi...Ill sell you my Gto2 with a Zalman fan for $265 shipped.



My Gto2 in the mail


----------



## Trevor (Oct 12, 2005)

Ok, so:  I have the 'Goof off'  How do I apply it?  Is it safe to use on the er... resistors surrounding the core?  What do I clean it off with?  Etc.


----------



## XeoNoX (Oct 12, 2005)

can you guys post your mother boards and cpu on it too? Does havinga  cheap motherboard affect how much it will overclock? I got one of those ECS boards.


----------



## XeoNoX (Oct 12, 2005)

HousERAT when u got 530 and 560 on 2 different cards, did you test them on the same exact computer or different computers?


----------



## Blackadder (Oct 12, 2005)

XeoNoX said:
			
		

> HousERAT when u got 530 and 560 on 2 different cards, did you test them on the same exact computer or different computers?



My bet is both the same PC.  I'll have more info tomorrow.  The one that I'm overclocking is going to be tested in a DELL 9100 and a custom built p4 775 intel mb and a dfi lanparty ut ultra d with amd x2 64 3800+ as well.  I will post all results.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 12, 2005)

Anyone help me with my goof-off dilema?  can I put it in the area surrounding the actual R480 core?


----------



## Blackadder (Oct 12, 2005)

just use it on the core and memory not on the other parts...  Sure it won't hurt it but i just used alcohol...


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 12, 2005)

So is there such a thing as a X800GTO2 AGP or not???

It is still listed here:
http://www.computerhq.com/Sapphire_ATI_X800GTO2_AGP_256MB/100131/hardware/partinfo-id-567445.html

Thanks.... interesting thread


----------



## Trevor (Oct 12, 2005)

Blackadder said:
			
		

> just use it on the core and memory not on the other parts...  Sure it won't hurt it but i just used alcohol...


I can't seem to get it off with alcohol though.  It's stuck in between the black dots (resistors?)  Considering gettings a nice small instrument to shave it out with.


----------



## Blackadder (Oct 12, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> I can't seem to get it off with alcohol though.  It's stuck in between the black dots (resistors?)  Considering gettings a nice small instrument to shave it out with.



Wait whats on the resistors? the thermal grease?  use an old toothbrush with soft bristols and alcohol.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 12, 2005)

Blackadder said:
			
		

> Wait whats on the resistors? the thermal grease?  use an old toothbrush with soft bristols and alcohol.


You my friend, are a god.


----------



## XeoNoX (Oct 12, 2005)

Did anyone that got the RETAIL LITE version boxed, did it come seal wrapped in plastic or was it just a open up the box thing?


----------



## Blackadder (Oct 12, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> You my friend, are a god.



Heh no I just hated brushing my teeth so I would used any excuse i could to get out of it.  I'm only missing 4 teeth - who said brushing is good for the teeth - don't believe em!!!

Toothbrush and baking soda are two of my best tools.  Baking soda acts as fine sandpaper when rubbed with a toothbrush and little bit of water on cases with scratches etc etc.  I took permanent marker off a computer case with baking soda, water and a toothbrush.  Case looked brand new after 10 minutes of cleaning.

Anyway glad it helped, although would it really have harmed the card if the grease was still on it?  Who knows.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 12, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> So is there such a thing as a X800GTO2 AGP or not???
> 
> It is still listed here:
> http://www.computerhq.com/Sapphire_ATI_X800GTO2_AGP_256MB/100131/hardware/partinfo-id-567445.html
> ...



Look at this from the site:

"Pictures and descriptions are for your convenience only and may not be accurate! You should by no means buy this product based on the description or the picture. We will ship you the item based on the product name and mfg number only. For accurate pictures and descriptions, please check the manufacturer's website. "

I wouldn't buy from there.  EVER.


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 12, 2005)

same confusion i posted earlier, after activating the 16p, will the device manager in xp show up the x800 gto2 as x850?


----------



## GreenBaron (Oct 12, 2005)

*GTO Brands*

I've about given up looking for a GTO2 under $250, so now I'm looking at the next best thing: a standard GTO and roll the dice to see if I can flash 16p out of it.

Here's the question.   Newegg has two brands of the GTO.  I've seen the reports of the connect3D GTO having some success, but no info on the Sapphire GTO version.  I KNOW I'm talking about the GTO version, but does anyone have a clue on which brand is better?  Any better cooler on one vs. the other?

$172 is still attractive....


----------



## XeoNoX (Oct 12, 2005)

GTO2 is right here for 229 http://www.atacom.com/program/print...RCH_ALL&Item_code=VIDR_ATIX_PB_A6&USER_ID=www


can someone tell me if the LITE RETAIL BOXED Version of their GTO2 came seal wrapped in plastic or was it just a open up the box?


 (i'm having a feeling mine might have been a return, i didnt even find instruction manual that normally comes with it, not that i need a manual, its just the point of weather or not i got a returned item without them telling me)


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 12, 2005)

The normal GTOs don't come with the same core.  They do not have 16 physical pipelines, and therefore cannot be modded to 16 pipelines.

Also, LITE RETAIL BOXED means that the card comes in a generic box with cables (and dongle), a CD, and no documentation.  You won't need anything they don't include.  I don't think it was a return . . . Places just want to get rid of the cores, so they are getting rid of them easily and making the most profit possible out of their markup.


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 12, 2005)

I have something to say about pagecomputer....it was a disappointing experience....I ordered it from them when this thread is still 6 pages...and the status remains "in progress" for so long I forgot when, I just know I ordered from newegg.com on 10/6 and got it the next day...during the long wait...I tried all methods to contact pagecomputer and apsolutly no customer service, in the only time i can get hold of one lady, I can hear loud chatting in the background and they keep laughing,all she can say is once u placed that order u can't cancel it..and u can only wait for their warehouse to ship it out while they don't know when since they a different departments....btw I filed a dispute with my crediter and definately won't even look at their website again.....avoid !!!!


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 12, 2005)

I had a bad experience with Page Computers as well, took a week for them to finally ship my card out and though they had crappy customer service, the shipping was actually quick once it got out of their warehouse in some other state, and I got my card, so far it gets video, so thats good, will post more if unlocking / over-clocking poses a problem.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 12, 2005)

Oh and to answer some questions about the retail like version of the GTO2, it comes in an unwrapped brown box with barcode and then the inside has the card, cables, CD, and foam. But that isn't bad for only paying $195 + tax / shipping for a card that seems to be getting sold out or overpriced lately.


----------



## XeoNoX (Oct 12, 2005)

ok, i guess, i just freaked out when the tape said "please refer to the getting started guide for installation instructions"  i was like wtf, i didnt get a guide, and made me think it was an open box. I guess its not, well my results were not all that great, i guess thats why im kinda pissed, im getting about 4fps less than what i got before with my x700 and i can only overclock the card to 495 core and around 580 mem running stable after doing the mod, if i up it by any more than 7 on either them memory or the core it starts to freeze, so right now i figured i wasted 250 and should have stayed with my x700. i guess i got a bad batch, go figures with my luck, let me know what you get unregistred person since you too bought the lite boxed version, im starting to wonder if maybe it happens to the people that bought the lite retail boxes.


----------



## Smultron (Oct 12, 2005)

Biosmodded Connect 3D X800GTO VIVO, R423, 2ns Samsung, 16pipes, @582MHz core / 582MHz mem, default vcore and cooler.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 12, 2005)

XeoNoX said:
			
		

> ok, i guess, i just freaked out when the tape said "please refer to the getting started guide for installation instructions"  i was like wtf, i didnt get a guide, and made me think it was an open box. I guess its not, well my results were not all that great, i guess thats why im kinda pissed, im getting about 4fps less than what i got before with my x700 and i can only overclock the card to 495 core and around 580 mem running stable after doing the mod, if i up it by any more than 7 on either them memory or the core it starts to freeze, so right now i figured i wasted 250 and should have stayed with my x700. i guess i got a bad batch, go figures with my luck, let me know what you get unregistred person since you too bought the lite boxed version, im starting to wonder if maybe it happens to the people that bought the lite retail boxes.


Get a better cooler, it'd work wonders.
And, did you actually unlock the pipes?


----------



## Blackadder (Oct 12, 2005)

XeoNoX said:
			
		

> ok, i guess, i just freaked out when the tape said "please refer to the getting started guide for installation instructions"  i was like wtf, i didnt get a guide, and made me think it was an open box. I guess its not, well my results were not all that great, i guess thats why im kinda pissed, im getting about 4fps less than what i got before with my x700 and i can only overclock the card to 495 core and around 580 mem running stable after doing the mod, if i up it by any more than 7 on either them memory or the core it starts to freeze, so right now i figured i wasted 250 and should have stayed with my x700. i guess i got a bad batch, go figures with my luck, let me know what you get unregistred person since you too bought the lite boxed version, im starting to wonder if maybe it happens to the people that bought the lite retail boxes.



Re-install yer drivers.  Run some tests.  I was only able to get mine safely to 510/590.  But...
3dmark05 - unlocked default 400/490 i got 5000
3dmark05 - unlocked 510/590 i got 6000
I have a zalman gpu fan - it increased my core by 7pts (maxed at like 522)

I didn't buy the card for any reason myself = i just wanted to do this mod.
Keep trying things, you might get some improvement by doing some things.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 12, 2005)

I've read about quite a few people having fan problems when using the X850 XT/XT PE bioses.  I've tried using one of those once and when I opened up ATITool, it showed a fan speed of less than 10%.  I wasn't using the stock cooling, I was using a Zalman VF-700AlCu at the time I tried it.  That fan doesn't get its power through the card, so it won't be affected by having the bios set weird fan speeds.  That's part of the reason why some people have had no problems with using those bioses.

[SIZE="+2"]In short, for everyone who is using stock cooling, a cooler by Arctic Cooling, or any other fan that gets its power through the connection on the video card:  DO NOT use the X850 XT/XTPE bios on your card![/SIZE]

It will only cause fan problems, so don't do it!

If you are using a Zalman fan or any other one that does not use the video card's power connection, your fan will be unaffected.  If you are flashing back to your original bios before restarting, then using the X850 XT/XTPE bios is just fine.  Just make sure you flash back to your original bios before you restart! (or if you are using the modded bios, you can leave it at that if you want)


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 12, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> I've read about quite a few people having fan problems when using the X850 XT/XT PE bioses.  I've tried using one of those once and when I opened up ATITool, it showed a fan speed of less than 10%.  I wasn't using the stock cooling, I was using a Zalman VF-700AlCu at the time I tried it.  That fan doesn't get its power through the card, so it won't be affected by having the bios set weird fan speeds.  That's part of the reason why some people have had no problems with using those bioses.
> 
> [SIZE="+2"]In short, for everyone who is using stock cooling, a cooler by Arctic Cooling, or any other fan that gets its power through the connection on the video card:  DO NOT use the X850 XT/XTPE bios on your card![/SIZE]
> 
> ...



Ok so in short.

You can pretty much use any bios if you use an external fan.
You should NOT use the x850xt bios for fans connected to the power on the card.
You can use any fan if you use the modified bios.

and to clarify even more...

External powered fan = X850XT/XTPE bios, Original X800 GTO2 bios, Modified X800 GTO2 bios
Internal (on card) powered fan = Original X800 GTO2 bios, Modified X800 GTO2 bios

An example...  I have a Zalman VF700-Cu connected to case power supply
Therefore I can use the X850XT/XTPE, the original GTO2 or the modified GTO2 bios.


----------



## Blackadder (Oct 12, 2005)

*oops*

^
|___ Oops that was me...


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 12, 2005)

Yes, that's exactly what I meant.

Just to clarify one more thing, this kind of command sequence that I posted earlier for flashing the bios is still OK when you are using stock cooling:

atiflash -s 0 x800gto.bin
atiflash -f -p 0 x850xt.bin -newbios
atiflash -f -p 0 x800gto.bin

Since that does preserve your original bios, except for the number of pipelines.  Because you don't restart while the x850 xt bios is on the card, it doesn't start using the very low fan speed before you go back to the orignal bios.


----------



## mrmemnoch (Oct 12, 2005)

I tried to read most of this thread and many others, but I can't find people with my same problem.  I can't find my card in DOS.  I have tried an MS-DOS boot disk, Windows Recovery Console, and an actual installation of DOS.  With the boot disk and The dos installation I can run the flashrom, but it can't find the adapter.  In the recovery console I can't even run the flashrom.  Please Help.


----------



## Blackadder (Oct 12, 2005)

mrmemnoch said:
			
		

> I tried to read most of this thread and many others, but I can't find people with my same problem.  I can't find my card in DOS.  I have tried an MS-DOS boot disk, Windows Recovery Console, and an actual installation of DOS.  With the boot disk and The dos installation I can run the flashrom, but it can't find the adapter.  In the recovery console I can't even run the flashrom.  Please Help.



What are system specs...  Hardware etc etc.

Are you using Atiflash - have you tried Shadowflare's method?  Are you creating a boot disk from within windows xp?

atiflash -s 0 x800gto.bin
atiflash -f -p 0 x850xt.bin -newbios
atiflash -f -p 0 x800gto.bin

What flash software you using and what error is it giving you specifically.


----------



## mrmemnoch (Oct 12, 2005)

Well I am not at home, but I can answer some of those questions,  I am using a Foxconn NF4PIK8AA-8EKRS Socket 940 with an fx-53.  I am creating the boot disk from within windows XP.  As far as the error goes, it keeps telling me adapter not found.  I tried the -i subswitch, but it says there  is no ati adapter found.  No I haven't tried atiflash, only the modified flashrom.


----------



## Blackadder (Oct 12, 2005)

mrmemnoch said:
			
		

> Well I am not at home, but I can answer some of those questions,  I am using a Foxconn NF4PIK8AA-8EKRS Socket 940 with an fx-53.  I am creating the boot disk from within windows XP.  As far as the error goes, it keeps telling me adapter not found.  I tried the -i subswitch, but it says there  is no ati adapter found.  No I haven't tried atiflash, only the modified flashrom.



Try the atiflash way - see if it works there.  You sure you have an ati video card?


----------



## mrmemnoch (Oct 12, 2005)

LOL, Yes I am sure, unless the Nforce chipset is working some kind of mojo on my poor gto2.  I'll try the ati flash when I get home.  Thanks.


----------



## Blackadder (Oct 12, 2005)

mrmemnoch said:
			
		

> LOL, Yes I am sure, unless the Nforce chipset is working some kind of mojo on my poor gto2.  I'll try the ati flash when I get home.  Thanks.



Any special settings in yer motherboard bios.  might wanna make a note of those settigns and then default it and try again - or try flashing mb bios - id still try the atiflash before any of the other stuff.


----------



## XeoNoX (Oct 12, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> Get a better cooler, it'd work wonders.
> And, did you actually unlock the pipes?




Yes, i reinstalled drivers and then i double checked to make sure the pipes said 16, i guess im just outta luck, im not gonna bother with another fan, by the time im done if i bought another fan, i would have spent nearly $300 on the card, at that rate i would have been better off getting a different card.


----------



## XeoNoX (Oct 12, 2005)

NEW CATALYST DRIVERS!! version 5.10 wdm is out final! https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=293


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 12, 2005)

Testing now.  I prefer DNA Drivers, but I'll try the original out for a while.


----------



## mrmemnoch (Oct 12, 2005)

I tried atiflash and it still could not find the card.  I then reset defaults on my motherboard and tried both flash roms again...No luck.  Has anyone else had my problem?


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 12, 2005)

If you have another system to install the card in to do the flash, maybe it will work.  Other than that, I can't think of anything else to try.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

*My results and a request for opinions*

Can I get some opinions?

Here’s the background – I ordered a GTO2 from Page Computers on 9/29, they cancelled on 10/4 saying they were OOS, but were still listing them for 40% more at exactly the same time.  (I’ll never deal with them again, and don’t recommend them to anyone else).  Anyway, I immediately ordered one from AllStarShop for $218, and received it in 36hrs – the service was well worth the additional $20.  (I’m in CA, so with tax and shipping, it came to $241).  I ordered the Retail Lite and it came in a bright Sapphire box with cables and CD but no manuals.  After installing the card and drivers, my computer (a Dell 8400) id’s the card as a GTO (not GTO2).

Using Flashrom and the original modified bios in the tech article, enable 16p but had to use the –p option.  My system now thinks the card is a 850xt.  Then using ATItool, was able to take core clock over 550 (I manually stopped it, no artifacts were ever seen), then holding core clock at 540 got the memory clock to 580 before artifacts were detected.

With 3D05, using stock cooling (which seems to adjust speed and everything just fine) benchmarks were as follows:

12P/400/490 – 4303
16P/400/490 – 4809
16P/520/540 – 5554
16P/540/580 – 5784

So here’s my questions:
1)	Why did I need to use the –p option with Flashrom?
2)	Is the card being identified as a 850xt when using the modified bios correct?
3)	What are the pro and cons with Flashrom and the modified bios, verses the 3step ATIflash method?
4)	How about the pro and cons of ATITool verses TRIXX for overclocking?
5)	Any opinions on my max clock rates and benchmarks?

Thanks.


----------



## The_NME (Oct 13, 2005)

Already then. Ordered 3 of these cards from Atacom. PCI-E in the title, description, invoice. Got 3 cards today. Are they PCI-E? HECK NO! Instead I received 3 AGP cards which look identical (still sealed in bag) heatsink wise. However, it does have a molex power connector instead of the PEG. In fact, now that I take a closer look at the card and bag, there are two of the STOP stickers sealing the bag. One is broken (its been opened before) and the top one is untouched. Very fishy... I dont think I'll be opening them unless someone confirms the mod works for these AGP versions - that and I want PCI-E cards anyway darn it!


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 13, 2005)

The_NME said:
			
		

> Already then. Ordered 3 of these cards from Atacom. PCI-E in the title, description, invoice. Got 3 cards today. Are they PCI-E? HECK NO! Instead I received 3 AGP cards which look identical (still sealed in bag) heatsink wise. However, it does have a molex power connector instead of the PEG. In fact, now that I take a closer look at the card and bag, there are two of the STOP stickers sealing the bag. One is broken (its been opened before) and the top one is untouched. Very fishy... I dont think I'll be opening them unless someone confirms the mod works for these AGP versions - that and I want PCI-E cards anyway darn it!



Crap! I order from ATACOM and I am waiting for it to get here


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

I have sapphire x800gto with an r480 core (I checked),
any chance this would work?,
I checked and the red numbers are 7 and E (instead of the F's).

BTW what resolutions did you do your bencharks at?



			
				W1zzard said:
			
		

> it does not work on the gt as far as i know


----------



## GreenBaron (Oct 13, 2005)

*GTO Brands - part 2*



			
				Unregistered said:
			
		

> Can I get some opinions?
> 
> Here’s the background – I ordered a GTO2 from Page Computers on 9/29, they cancelled on 10/4 ...  After installing the card and drivers, my computer (a Dell 8400) id’s the card as a GTO (not GTO2).
> 
> ...



This is my previous point.  SOME people can get SOME GTO cards to work as flashed XT.  I've resigned to get a GTO instead of the GTO2 -- way too many ordering glitches and unreliable sellers since newegg ran out of the $199 stock.  

So what is the better brand GTO board?  Connect3D or Sapphire?  Any chance of one versus the other being able to mod better than the other?

For those who modded the Connect3D GTO board, did any of you have a R480?  Did the VIVO still work?

-Green Baron


----------



## Trevor (Oct 13, 2005)

Uhoh?






*Edit*:Scratch the above.  Forgot to press Shift. xD


----------



## The_NME (Oct 13, 2005)

Pics:


















Note that the PN on the card is 109-a49001-00, possibly indicating R423


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 13, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> ...
> 
> So here’s my questions:
> 1)	Why did I need to use the –p option with Flashrom?
> ...


1) The -p option is to tell it to program the flash memory; without it, you haven't really told flashrom to do anything!  I've seen that some people have been mixing up the -p and -f commands here.

2) What Catalyst version are you using?  Below 5.9 will usually identify it just as an X850 series card.

3) Pros compared to flashing with the 3 step method?  2 less commands, that's it.   Cons?  You don't keep your original bios, so if your card's one is a little different, then you get a different bios and could possibly have some problems.  Using the 3 step method is basically guaranteed to not mess up your card as long as your card doesn't have severely malfunctioning pipelines, since you will always end up with a compatible bios.

4) Comparing ATITool and TRIXX, TRIXX's automatic determination of the maximum overclock would not get even close to finding my real maximum overclock.  It stopped about half-way.

5) Your max core overclock is pretty good.  While mine is artifact-free at 540 and some unknown amount above that, anything much higher than 520 will make it lock up in a few minutes.  As for the memory, around 600 is fairly common with this card, since the chips are rated for that.  It mainly varies depending on how good of cooling your case has.  On mine, it reaches 604.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 13, 2005)

Can I get a w00t?
While not quite '630' I managed to hit a respectable 580 core, and the mem is going up and up, (It's at 594 now... and still rising.)

--604.

Wait.. 608..


610...


612..

WHEN WILL IT STOP!?
(Never =D)

Also, what would you guys consider 'too hot' temp wise?

Alright, 579/618
Not too shabby, considering I don't have ramsinks on 4 of my chips... 2 top, 2 bottom) and the thermal compound hasn't quite broken in yet.
=D
(And there's a crap amound of airflow..)

Now, anyone want to run me through flashing?
I tried throwing the 'Firm' (from bootdisk.com) on a disk, (CD), but it gave me some weird error.
Can anyone give me a bit more exact instructions on how to flash via a CD (Meaning, how to make a bootable CD =P)


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

GreenBaron said:
			
		

> This is my previous point.  SOME people can get SOME GTO cards to work as flashed XT.  I've resigned to get a GTO instead of the GTO2 -- way too many ordering glitches and unreliable sellers since newegg ran out of the $199 stock.
> 
> So what is the better brand GTO board?  Connect3D or Sapphire?  Any chance of one versus the other being able to mod better than the other?
> 
> ...



connnect3d's are the only brand of GTO's that have been modded, if you search this forum for connect3d you will see that about 7 users unlocked them, im not sure if vivo works or not after flashing, im still waiting for mine, also as far as i know all have the r480 core even though ati tool tells you its a r423 or whatever, the only way to be sure is to take of the HSF and see for your self.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 13, 2005)

Alright... I think I have it made.  I'm going to go flash.. wish me luck.


----------



## ryanmw (Oct 13, 2005)

Got mine in today

12p 400/490 - 4482
16p 400/490 - 4988
16p 525/565 - 6157


I must need better cooling :/.......i had it up to 537/568 before the flash...no it locks up around 530


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 13, 2005)

The_NME said:
			
		

> Pics:



That Looks like a X800GTO2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.asp?image=14-102-595-03.jpg,14-102-595-02.jpg,14-102-595-04.jpg,14-102-595-05.jpg&CurImage=14-102-595-02.jpg&Description=SAPPHIRE%20100130%20Radeon%20X800GTO2%20256MB%20GDDR3%20PCI%20Express%20x16%20Video%20Card%20-%20OEM

I have no idea because all of the cards that use that "thing" are new. Whats it say on the front?

Hey I found your post in FatWallet! Did you see this post:



> ordered the x800gto2 lite-retail card from ATACOM on Sunday 10/9 @ $219 + s/h. Called today and they are telling me that the item is not yet shipped b/c they got the wrong item from manufacturer and the next shipment will not arrive at ATACOM until next Wednesday. However, the rep assured me that the item will be shipped out.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

I have a regular X800GTO and it has a heart shaped heatsink fan,
so yours doesn't look like mine (then again mine is for PCI-E).


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

If I flashed the bios of my regular X800GTO would it do any damage?,
b/c the Ati-tool does say it's an R480 chip.


----------



## The_NME (Oct 13, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> That Looks like a X800GTO2
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.asp?image=14-102-595-03.jpg,14-102-595-02.jpg,14-102-595-04.jpg,14-102-595-05.jpg&CurImage=14-102-595-02.jpg&Description=SAPPHIRE%20100130%20Radeon%20X800GTO2%20256MB%20GDDR3%20PCI%20Express%20x16%20Video%20Card%20-%20OEM
> 
> I have no idea because all of the cards that use that "thing" are new. Whats it say on the front?


Indeed it does, except for the molex power connector and the extended PCB. The brown box it came in says x800GTO AGP on it, but whats confusing me is that a) no one sells a x800GTO AGP and b) my packing slip says x800GTO2 AGP


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> 1) The -p option is to tell it to program the flash memory; without it, you haven't really told flashrom to do anything!  I've seen that some people have been mixing up the -p and -f commands here.
> 
> 2) What Catalyst version are you using?  Below 5.9 will usually identify it just as an X850 series card.
> 
> ...



1)  Right, I meant -f, why did I need to use -p and -f when -f was not mentioned in the original article.
2)  Also right, I meant x850 Series not 850xt.  Truthfully, I don't even know if I'm running Catalyst.  I only installed the ATI drivers, according to the properties, its driver version 8.162.0.0
3)  I think my real question is what is the modified bios linked to the original article?  I thought it would be the GTO2 bios modified for 16p but it obviously isn't based on my version of Sapphire's GTO2.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 13, 2005)

I get an error code every time I try to flash (even with -f).
And yes, I used -p.

"File Open Error" every single time.
Just unarchived them, going to see if that helps.


(This is after I type type the flashrom.exe -i command... it says 'locked' on the far right.)


----------



## Trevor (Oct 13, 2005)

Uhoh.. It's reading pipes as 8 =/
DID get it flashed though..

Looking at ATi tool, it's bonkers.

0C temps, no clock speed..etc.

Meep.
Went down to 4...(after uninstalling drivers)
Jumped back to 12 after I reinstalled them.
Back to square 1.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> If I flashed the bios of my regular X800GTO would it do any damage?,
> b/c the Ati-tool does say it's an R480 chip.



if u have the r480 chip then it can be unlocked to 16p try flashing the x800xl bios, is that a connect3d u have?


----------



## Dijital (Oct 13, 2005)

OK guys here are my specs, please recommend what you think I can run my card at and still be stable and not cause anymore heat problems than I already have.
Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz HT LGA775
Intel D915PBL Motherboard
2x512 PC5400 DDR2 Corsair XMS2 RAM
Gigabyte Rocket 3D Cooler Pro Heatsink
Thermaltake BWA3000
Thermaltake 480PSU Silent

The thing that concers me is heat all around what are stable settings for my GPU, and what clock, along with my CPU, or shouldn't that rise much. Should also note that right now I have a stock fan on my GPU for now..... Currently under load my desktop hits about 60C. Any recommendations?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

To all the users of Connect3d X800gto's who have successfully modded them into 16 pipes can you please tell me which online store you bought them from, beacuse theres a version of R420, R423 and even R480; it depends on which chip the vendor wishes to use. so please help me out, i want to get the r480 core!


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

I have the Sapphire card, but the ATI-Tool says it has a r480 chip  (I guess it could be wrong?).



			
				Unregistered said:
			
		

> if u have the r480 chip then it can be unlocked to 16p try flashing the x800xl bios, is that a connect3d u have?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

The only thing is in the article it says the red letters have to be F's,
but in my card the red ones are a 7 and E.



			
				Unregistered said:
			
		

> I have the Sapphire card, but the ATI-Tool says it has a r480 chip  (I guess it could be wrong?).


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

Should I try Modding it anyway (even though the red letters/numbers aren't F's)?,
Since ATI-Tool does list the chip type as R480.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

This thread is getting so long i can't find what i'm looking for...

All i want to know is can you Re-Lock the pipelines if you get a bad quad? Going back to 12 pipelines. I remember with the pro once you enabled them you couldn't turn them off.

-TBi


----------



## Mistral (Oct 13, 2005)

The "F" letters show that your card actually has the physical connections needed for the extra 4 pipes to work. If you don't have the "F"s, you can't softmod it.

I have the Connect3d and it uses the R423 core. It's easily moddable, since it seems the cheapskates at C3D didn't actually bother to sever the pins. Mine runs rock stable at 530/530. Going over 540 with the core leads to black screens. Going over 550 with the memory leads to visable atrifacts, though ATItool does not report them. Keep in mind though, that I have a crapp OKIA power suply. When and if I change it, I'll post new results.

VIVO still works, used the 3 step procedure here. Don't know if that makes a dif, but I used the Powercolor 800XT bios before flashing back, since the Powercolor card has VIVO as well.


----------



## Blackadder (Oct 13, 2005)

Yesterday I did some tests.

Intel 915G Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4 630 3ghz
Corsair Value Ram 1gb Dual Channel (512x2)
GTO2 (A) my friends GTO2 unlocked
GTO2 (B) my GTO2 unlocked


Results using 3dmark05
GTO2 (A) 16pipes - 400/490 - 4756
GTO2 (A) 16pipes - 540/590 - 5838
GTO2 (A) 16pipes - 610/630 - 5840

GTO2 (B) 16pipes - 400/490 - 4750
GTO2 (B) 16pipes - 510/590 - 5737
GTO2 (B) 16pipes - unable to go higher

I will try my video card (hopefully) tonight on an amd x2 64 3800+


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 13, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> 1)  Right, I meant -f, why did I need to use -p and -f when -f was not mentioned in the original article.
> 2)  Also right, I meant x850 Series not 850xt.  Truthfully, I don't even know if I'm running Catalyst.  I only installed the ATI drivers, according to the properties, its driver version 8.162.0.0
> 3)  I think my real question is what is the modified bios linked to the original article?  I thought it would be the GTO2 bios modified for 16p but it obviously isn't based on my version of Sapphire's GTO2.


1) If it won't flash without -f, the card must be identified differently in that version of the bios.

2) I have Catalyst 5.9 and it shows up as 8.172, so you must have Catalyst 5.8 or earlier.  It won't show up as an X800 GTO on that version. (BTW, to people who have asked about this; no, it never detects it with the GTO2 name)

3) It must be a little different.  Either something else was modified on it, too, or it is a different bios version than the cards come with now.




			
				Mistral said:
			
		

> ...
> 
> VIVO still works, used the 3 step procedure here. Don't know if that makes a dif, but I used the Powercolor 800XT bios before flashing back, since the Powercolor card has VIVO as well.


The bios you flash to before flashing back doesn't need to have VIVO, since the one you are flashing back to does have it.




			
				Trevor said:
			
		

> I get an error code every time I try to flash (even with -f).
> And yes, I used -p.
> 
> "File Open Error" every single time.
> ...


You need to give the file a shorter name in the form of 8 characters, period, then 3 characters.  Any longer than that won't work with the flashing program.  Also, none of those 11 characters can be a period or space.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

Alrighty.. flashed to 16 pipes.  Yay.
Problems...
My overclocks can't even TOUCH where they were. (I was 575/608... I crash instantly even approaching those.)
Any ideas?


----------



## Trevor (Oct 13, 2005)

That would be me above.  
I finally managed to actually get the 16 pipe config working, but and now that ATi tool reads the card accurately, it won't overclock for crap.  (I can't even get the artifact scanner RUNNING.)

(Even at stock)


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 13, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Alrighty.. flashed to 16 pipes.  Yay.
> Problems...
> My overclocks can't even TOUCH where they were. (I was 575/608... I crash instantly even approaching those.)
> Any ideas?


Not all cores are created equal.  I bought two cards.  One did 530/600 and the second 560/600.  That's just the way it goes with these bottom of the barrel R480 cores.  You might get a real good one and you might get a less than stellar overclocker.


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 13, 2005)

hi guys. im running windows 2000 pro and i would like to make my connect3d x800 gto to an x800 xt. i know how to flash it and the rest only problem is i cant boot into dos. i dont have a floppy drive and i cant boot into dos without going into windows first and running dos in a window anyone knows of a way to get into dos before windows starts? or do i just run dos through windows minimized and flash it from there??


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 13, 2005)

OK.  I have just read the past like 4 pages of this thread.  I am going to respond on the issues of not recieving the correct card, ect.

IMO, buy from NewEgg.  Yes, you are going to pay $80 more, but do you want a guaranteed correct product and do you want it with no hassle and in about 3 days?

If you don't but from a reliable source, you get screwed.  Sometimes, I'll buy from NewEgg and spend an extra $100 just because I know that I won't have any trouble.

TBi, yes you can.  You just reflash with an original BIOS.  And the Unregistered poster on top of him, if it doesn't have the matching letters as it does in the tutorial, you'll fry your card IMO.


----------



## r350 (Oct 13, 2005)

djbbenn said:
			
		

> Nice...could the card just be flashed with a X850 XT PE bios and truned into a X850?
> -Dan



Has somebody answerded this question?

Will an ordenary Sapphire X800GTO2 work with 16 pipes when I use one of the Sapphire X850 Bios files, which are offered for download?!

Please answer me,...

Greetings from germany


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 13, 2005)

I would just use the modded X800GTO2 BIOS.  All this BS about the X850 Bioses is worthless IMO.  The modded X800GTO2 BIOS gets your card recognized as an ATI X800/X850 Series card.  It then is a true X850XTPE is it overclocks as well.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 13, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> That would be me above.
> I finally managed to actually get the 16 pipe config working, but and now that ATi tool reads the card accurately, it won't overclock for crap.  (I can't even get the artifact scanner RUNNING.)
> 
> (Even at stock)



Make sure you're not running any of these:

Alternate Pixel Center
Temporal AntiAliasing
FRAPS or any other overlay program.

Those will make the artifact scanner believe your card is causing errors.


----------



## r350 (Oct 13, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> I would just use the modded X800GTO2 BIOS.  All this BS about the X850 Bioses is worthless IMO.  The modded X800GTO2 BIOS gets your card recognized as an ATI X800/X850 Series card.  It then is a true X850XTPE is it overclocks as well.



But how can that be? In the techpowerupreview is written, that the modded BIOS will only enable all 16 pipelines. The modded Bios is not increasing the clock of the core.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

HousERaT said:
			
		

> Not all cores are created equal.  I bought two cards.  One did 530/600 and the second 560/600.  That's just the way it goes with these bottom of the barrel R480 cores.  You might get a real good one and you might get a less than stellar overclocker.


It was a stellar overclocker pre-flashing, and after flashing it can't overclock.. at all.


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 13, 2005)

*some help guys?(repost)*

hi guys. im running windows 2000 pro and i would like to make my connect3d x800 gto to an x800 xt. i know how to flash it and the rest only problem is i cant boot into dos. i dont have a floppy drive and i cant boot into dos without going into windows first and running dos in a window anyone knows of a way to get into dos before windows starts? or do i just run dos through windows minimized and flash it from there??


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> hi guys. im running windows 2000 pro and i would like to make my connect3d x800 gto to an x800 xt. i know how to flash it and the rest only problem is i cant boot into dos. i dont have a floppy drive and i cant boot into dos without going into windows first and running dos in a window anyone knows of a way to get into dos before windows starts? or do i just run dos through windows minimized and flash it from there??


Alright---
Do this:
Go into the BIOS... and set your floppy drive to boot first.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

I´m very curious about the Sapphire Fireblade Edition. There are anyone with that card? The card is modded to 16pipes. The core and memory should ran at the same speed x850xtpe since it has 1.6ns.


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 13, 2005)

*reply to get into bios and enable floppy drive*

as i said i dont have a floppy thats the whole problem can i flash it within windows or by running a dos in a window in windows 2000?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

Eek.
I tried making a boot CD for hours last night.. no luck.
I'd buy a floppy.


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 13, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> That would be me above.
> I finally managed to actually get the 16 pipe config working, but and now that ATi tool reads the card accurately, it won't overclock for crap.  (I can't even get the artifact scanner RUNNING.)
> 
> (Even at stock)


My first GTO2 always immediately detected artifacts (ATITool) at default or any other clocks (worked great otherwise, no visible problem).  I exchanged it for a new one and now ATITool's artifact checker works as expected.  I don't know if you're describing a similar problem, but there is a chance the card could be defective.


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 13, 2005)

*flashing within windows?*

any chance of using winflash and follow the same steps to mod my card?


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 13, 2005)

r350 said:
			
		

> Has somebody answerded this question?
> 
> Will an ordenary Sapphire X800GTO2 work with 16 pipes when I use one of the Sapphire X850 Bios files, which are offered for download?!
> 
> ...


I wouldn't do it only because it's been discovered that the bios isn't exactly like the bios on this card.  People are having issues with the fan controls using an X850XT bios.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 13, 2005)

OK guys.  To clarify:

This thread is about the Sapphire X800GTO2

NOT the X800GTOs.  The mod is for X800GTO2s NOT X800GTOs.  I do not know of anyone that has succesfully modded an X800GTO.  If anyone succesfully done this, please let us know so we can clear the confusion.


If you flash the BIOS of an original X800GTO2 to the modded BIOS, download ATITool and set it to start when windows does, set the clock speeds in your OC profile, and minimize.  That's what I do, and it works GREAT.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 13, 2005)

I have a proposition:

I want somebody that has flashed a Sapphire X800GTO2 to an X850XTPE BIOS to plug their video card fan into the card and try this setting in ATITool:







Let me know if that solves the fan speed problems.  I have my X800GTO2 with the modded BIOS and I have that setting enabled.


----------



## mrmemnoch (Oct 13, 2005)

I thought I would let you know that I finally had my computer find the adapter!  All I did was switch to the next pci 16x slot.  6207 3dmark05 score clocked at 518 core and 570 memory(both at the maximum.)


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 13, 2005)

*connect3d x800gto success*

well another success modding a connect3d x800gto from 12 to 16 pipelines. flashed the x800xt bios using a win me boot cd which i made and then back the original bios without the -newbios option. rebooted didn't even have to reinstall drivers. ati tool immediately saw 16 pipelines and so did rivatuner, i left the card at stock 400/490 cause i have to be somewhere in a few. 3dmark03 is 9.536 marks but i think that is due to my cpu it hit its limit i think hmmm i left my sempron 3100 at the default 1.8 ghz hmmm maybe its time i put it back to the 2.34ghz i had it before it beats my cousins 3.8 ghz pentium at that frequency hehehehe

cheers core still reads r423 but all pipelines are enabled


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 13, 2005)

Nice VTwedge!  Connect3D X800GTO available HERE:

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=190533&AFFIL=pg&NR=1

PCI-E, 256MB VRAM, possible 16 enabled pipelines,  $179.00 Wish I would have gotten one!!!

PS: It probably won't overclock as well as the Sapphire X800GTO2, but we'll see what happens once VTwedge plays around with it a bit.


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 13, 2005)

*hehe*

i know for sure it hits 545/1090 from this review http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=3575&page=10 anyways i will play with it tonight and let u know how it goes 2morrow unless im completely wasted from drinkin too much


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 13, 2005)

Do they have all 16 pipelines enabled in that review?

And just to make sure people don't jump to conclusions:

Just because a site that reviewed a card hit a certain frequency, it doesn't mean that your card will too.  Just beware.


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 13, 2005)

i know even if it does go that high i wont push it i just want to break my roomies 10000 3d03 record he is using a geforce 6800gt and an fx55 i just wanna shove it up to his face and say hey luke dude my £117 card  beats the hell out of your £250 revenge is sweet


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 13, 2005)

12 pipes in the review


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 13, 2005)

Damn I wish they could enable all 16 and compare the card to the other cards in those benchmarks.  Don't those benchmarks always leave something to be desired?


----------



## Trevor (Oct 13, 2005)

Looking at it.. (started over from 400/490) and apparently, it might be my temps.  I'm running at 427/490 (and rising) and temps are around 64/46... (about what they were unflashed at 575/608)


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 13, 2005)

Any place still has it for cheap?


----------



## Trevor (Oct 14, 2005)

Defintely believing it might be a heat issue now. 67C @ 480...
95 Mhz under yesterday.

69C @ 490...

70C @ 535...

Why would opened pipelines increase the heat this much?


----------



## Psxcrazy (Oct 14, 2005)

*I have no issue with my fan on my moded x800 gto 2*

I have it the fan control on ati tool to keep card at 40 and when not playing fan is nice and quiet and speds up normaly when hardcore game just alittle upset at my top clock speed which is 540/558 my case only warms up to 30 c with my fans at full blast and istill cant get a higher clock without artifacts but ican still crank it up to 550/600 and no visual affects in gameplay but atitool sees artifacts and farcry crashes 3dmark scores is only a few points difference my 3dmark05 score was 5831  any coments on this matter


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Open pipelines do not increase GPU Temperature on the X800GTO2.  My temps run about 40C idle and 60C Load on stock cooling.

Does anyone know if the Thermalright V-1 is compatible with the Sapphire X800GTO2?


----------



## rev (Oct 14, 2005)

i have the modded sapphire gto2, but i cant seem to get it any higher than the 520/540 speeds, anything higher makes it detect artifacts in atitool. whats the deal.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 14, 2005)

They have a link to download the old bios in the article 
so I guess that means you can reflash it, but don't take my word for it.



			
				Unregistered said:
			
		

> This thread is getting so long i can't find what i'm looking for...
> 
> All i want to know is can you Re-Lock the pipelines if you get a bad quad? Going back to 12 pipelines. I remember with the pro once you enabled them you couldn't turn them off.
> 
> -TBi


----------



## Trevor (Oct 14, 2005)

*Pre-Flash, pre-extra fan*
2005-10-12 20:49:15	Clocks set to: 579.27 / 498.27
2005-10-12 20:49:17	Temperature:	GPU: 64.6°C	GPU environment: 46.0°C
*STABLE*

*Post-flash, pre-extra fan*
2005-10-13 18:07:58	Temperature:	GPU: 70.8°C	GPU environment: 48.0°C
2005-10-13 18:08:00	Clocks set to: 556.88 / 492.75
2005-10-13 18:08:04	Clocks set to: 558.00 / 492.75
*CRASHED* (at the above)

*Post-flash, w/ extra fan*
2005-10-13 18:42:52	Clocks set to: 555.00 / 492.00
2005-10-13 18:42:54	Temperature:	GPU: 63.5°C	GPU environment: 41.0°C
*CRASHED* (At the above)

Not quite sure what the deal is.
After the flash, my clocks dropped.. dramatically.
(Ability to overclock.)


*Side note*
Pre-flashing, it would hit the 'cap', then start moving back down.. after flashing, it'd just lock up/stop whenever it hit the 'cap'.

*Final stable:*
540/580.5
40/37 idle 
70/47 full load after half an hour. (On Zalman 700-Cu)
Not bad, I'm happy with trading 35Mhz/27.5Mhz (well, 55...) for 4 pipes.
Any day.
=D


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 14, 2005)

my question here havnt been answered...can somebody pls help? after the flash to 16p on gto2, would the system reconigze the card as a x850 in the windows device manager? if not, what should it show up?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 14, 2005)

has anyone come across an agp version?cause I have is it modable also?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 14, 2005)

newegg has the gto2 lite in stock for $249 plus whatever shipping is...


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 14, 2005)

I got mine from newegg for $199, superbuy looking back now


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Pentium D said:
			
		

> my question here havnt been answered...can somebody pls help? after the flash to 16p on gto2, would the system reconigze the card as a x850 in the windows device manager? if not, what should it show up?




Here is mine.







JUST like I have been saying this whole time:  X800/X850 Series.

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



			
				Unregistered said:
			
		

> has anyone come across an agp version?cause I have is it modable also?



As far as I know, there IS NO AGP version.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

UPDATE:

NewEgg Stock:

Retail Verison Here ($249)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102596

OEM Version Here ($199)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Here is a pic of Sapphire's Website:






It shows that the only X800GTO/GTO2 version that is AGP is the Base X800GTO Version (NOT THE X800GTO2).  The only way you will for sure get to unlock the pipelines is by buying a:

Sapphire X800GTO2 PCI-E

There is no guarantee that any other cards will work.


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 14, 2005)

mine showed up like this , is there something wrong?


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Did you flash to the modded 16 pipeline BIOS or an X850 BIOS?


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 14, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> Did you flash to the modded 16 pipeline BIOS or an X850 BIOS?



I think i used the modded 16p bios..I followed the 1st page of this thread and used atiflash instructions acording to shadow


----------



## Trevor (Oct 14, 2005)

Pentium D said:
			
		

> mine showed up like this , is there something wrong?


This happened to me originally.
How many pipes are you showing unlocked?


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 14, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> has anyone come across an agp version?cause I have is it modable also?


There is no AGP version.  Far as I know there isn't going to be one either.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 14, 2005)

*My GTO2 Flash*

Just to add to the mix.  My gto2 card purchased from newegg unlock flawlessly using the directions posted in the first page (thanks a million for that).  16pipes unlocked and 575core/575mem.  Under load 60-62c, idels@35c.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 14, 2005)

Got my GTO2 form Micro direct in the UK, unlocked a treat and am running ATITool, and the core clock speed is at 605mhz and rising??? is that healthy should i stop it???

Used the modified bios at the start of this thread

Thanks for all the information ppl


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Go ahead and push it as far as you would like.  Keep an eye on the temps though.  I wouldn't let them go past 70C.  I could only get my core to 519 on stock cooling so far, but some cards are better than others.


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 14, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> This happened to me originally.
> How many pipes are you showing unlocked?



16p


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 14, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> Go ahead and push it as far as you would like.  Keep an eye on the temps though.  I wouldn't let them go past 70C.  I could only get my core to 519 on stock cooling so far, but some cards are better than others.



Well it got to 618 and black screened on me, so i set it to 575 and am now doing the memory one and it is on 591, been here for a good 45mins, how long will it go on for??

Also is there anything wrong in setting the fan speed to 100% when it hits over 60C??

Thanks

Rudy


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 14, 2005)

Pentium D said:
			
		

> mine showed up like this , is there something wrong?


No, nothing wrong.  Based on the version number you must be using the Catalyst 5.8 drivers.  I think the GTO name wasn't formally recognized by the driver until 5.9, so for anything earlier, it will just say you have an X850 card.




			
				DanishDevil said:
			
		

> UPDATE:
> 
> NewEgg Stock:
> 
> ...


$199 again?  If it is still that price when it is in stock, maybe I'll buy another to try to get one that clocks better.   Then if I do, I'll sell my current one.   If possible, I'd like to get one that at least gets a little beyond XT PE speeds, not just between XT and XT PE.


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 14, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> No, nothing wrong.  Based on the version number you must be using the Catalyst 5.8 drivers.  I think the GTO name wasn't formally recognized by the driver until 5.9, so for anything earlier, it will just say you have an X850 card.



when I flashed to 16p and restarted, it shows found new hardware in xp and installed driver automatically...is that the catalyst driver? otherwise i didnt install any driver myself. btw...a lot of ppl saying that this card can reach core 540 on stock fan...but mine not even to 460..is that common? or am i doing something wrong?


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 14, 2005)

the oem version from newegg for $199 is currently out of stock


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Still a goddamn steal.  I bought mine in their initial price rise to $299 (I got it for $230).  Hell, I might pick up another (or two )

The only thing that sucks is:  If we want crossfire, we're spending $350 for an X850XTPE Crossfire Card that probably won't reach the speeds of these beauties


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 14, 2005)

take a look at this..
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sapphire-Radeon...ryZ80190QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I wonder how much it will end up


----------



## GreenBaron (Oct 14, 2005)

Pentium D said:
			
		

> the oem version from newegg for $199 is currently out of stock



What does the retail $249 one contain that the $199 does not?  I looked at the cable/CD page, and it didn't look like there was a lot of bundled software or anything... is it just for the cables?

What cables come with the OEM version?  Also, I thought that this card did not need an extra power feed from the case, but the graphic shows what looks like a power cable??? Does this come with the OEM?

BTW: For all the Connec3D GTO doubters out there, this card has been added to the original article that this forum is based on.  I'd just like to see some benchmarks on the C3D-GTO vs. the Sap-GTO2 on the same system.... Any takers?

-GB


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 14, 2005)

they dicuss the differance between oem and retail earlier in this post, may be u can find it.
and yes they need an power feed.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Pentium D said:
			
		

> take a look at this..
> http://cgi.ebay.com/Sapphire-Radeon...ryZ80190QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
> I wonder how much it will end up



It's already too much


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 14, 2005)

Got my GTO2 today, unlocked 16p with no problems, used ATItool to overclock it and it goes to 600/620, but I get these black(in F.E.A.R and Battlefield2) and yellow (in atitool; scan for artifatcs) dots every now and then. Between scanning atitool says "delta of 107000 in 1024 pixels (102avg). NO ERRORS FOR 20min... NO Errors? wtf am i seeing then?
Thanks for help... in advance


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

The only diff btwn the OEM and Retail is:

The box
Documentation

That's it.  You wanna spend $50 on that???


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 14, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> The only diff btwn the OEM and Retail is:
> 
> The box
> Documentation
> ...



good point..heh


----------



## GreenBaron (Oct 14, 2005)

Pentium D said:
			
		

> they dicuss the differance between oem and retail earlier in this post, may be u can find it.
> and yes they need an power feed.



The differences were barely discussed in this post (which is the only discussion I can find):

"Well the Lite package comes with games, a box, guides and cables, but OEM means you only get the card."

So my questions are not really answered... What games? what cables with OEM? Is "Lite" Retail the same as newegg's "Retail".....  Why are bundled specs so hard for site/manufactr to list???

-GB


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

I got the OEM from Newegg and I got:

Card in AntiStatic Bag
PCI-E Power Cable
STOP Sticker
S-Video Cable
Video Cable
DVI-VGA Dongle
Component Video Adapter
Plain Brown Box


----------



## Pentium D (Oct 14, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> I got the OEM from Newegg and I got:
> 
> Card in AntiStatic Bag
> PCI-E Power Cable
> ...



mine is same except I got a plain WHITE box...


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 14, 2005)

Anyone knows if the Artic ATI Silencer 4 fits on the card?


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Got my GTO2 today, unlocked 16p with no problems, used ATItool to overclock it and it goes to 600/620, but I get these black(in F.E.A.R and Battlefield2) and yellow (in atitool; scan for artifatcs) dots every now and then. Between scanning atitool says "delta of 107000 in 1024 pixels (102avg). NO ERRORS FOR 20min... NO Errors? wtf am i seeing then?
> Thanks for help... in advance



When it says "delta of 107000 in 1024 pixels (102avg).", that is an error.  Set ATiTool to Beep on every error.  Then, LISTEN.  If it beeps, Abort the overclock and scan for artifacts.  Once you can go for, oh let's say 30-45 min. without errors, then you're good to go.

One thing though: When I'm overclocking, I close my doors and windows and leave the AC off.  It gets pretty hot in the room, but this makes sure that no matter what the conditions, your GPU will not overheat.  If you overclock with your AC cranked to like 60 degrees, when you have an intense summer gaming session or go to an LAN Party, your GPU will fry.  Be cautious.

For your reference, this is what I'm running with my card right now.  And believe me, I have sufficient cooling (although I haven't gotten aftermarket GPU Cooling yet):







GL to you,
DanishDevi

PS: Does the Thermalright V-1 work on the X800GTO2?
Where is the Auxilary thermal sensor on the card physically?l


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Pentium D said:
			
		

> mine is same except I got a plain WHITE box...



Well white is more boring than brown! HAHA!


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Cubewood said:
			
		

> Anyone knows if the Artic ATI Silencer 4 fits on the card?



This is the one you want:

Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 5 Rev 2 (X800, X850)

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...uct_info&manufacturers_id=69&products_id=2878

This one fits the R480 core, the one on the X800GTO2.

GL to ya


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

What kind of FPS do you guys get with your modded cards on the ATITool 3d View?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 14, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> This is the one you want:
> 
> Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 5 Rev 2 (X800, X850)
> 
> ...



Oh damn I bought the Silencer 4, because they didnt have the 5 rev 2 

Ah well then i try sell it to someone again


----------



## Blackadder (Oct 14, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> This is the one you want:
> 
> Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 5 Rev 2 (X800, X850)
> 
> ...



I didn't like the arctic coolers - i used a zalman vf700-cu - seems to work well...


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 14, 2005)

I Emailed the company where i ordered the Arctic cooler, and asked if they can change it in a VF700-Cu Silent VGA Cooler


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Blackadder said:
			
		

> I didn't like the arctic coolers - i used a zalman vf700-cu - seems to work well...



Give me a screen like I posted of ATITool with the 3D View and Temps and clock speeds and all.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 14, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> Still a goddamn steal.  I bought mine in their initial price rise to $299 (I got it for $230).  Hell, I might pick up another (or two )
> 
> The only thing that sucks is:  If we want crossfire, we're spending $350 for an X850XTPE Crossfire Card that probably won't reach the speeds of these beauties


Won't reach the speeds of these?  An X850 XT PE should have at least as high of a chance to overclock to high speeds as the X800 GTO2.  How could the overclocking potential of the X800 GTO2 surpass the X850 XT PE when they use the same memory and same core? (except for that the XT PE is guaranteed to get at least 540)  Those chips were designed for that kind of card. 


BTW, I'm considering buying another from newegg when they are in stock again, if the price is still $199 when it gets in stock.  It would be so that I could try to get one that gets better gpu clocks.  Then I would sell my existing one on eBay if the other overclocked better.   Maybe I could even sell it for more than I bought it, especially if the prices go up again by the time I sell it.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> BTW, I'm considering buying another from newegg when they are in stock again, if the price is still $199 when it gets in stock.  It would be so that I could try to get one that gets better gpu clocks.  Then I would sell my existing one on eBay if the other overclocked better.   Maybe I could even sell it for more than I bought it, especially if the prices go up again by the time I sell it.



Well shit, I'm thinking of putting my 6800 back in for a week or so and selling this thing on ebay until other catch on.  That auction is at over $230.  That's an easy $15 there and it's still got time to sell.

He got it to 600/600(1200) though.  I must have really good RAM on this card with a weak core.  I've got 519/610(1220).


----------



## hmm (Oct 14, 2005)

I'm very curious about VTwedge's results with the connect3d card. considering plonking the cash down for that one since the GTO2 seems to be sold out everywhere.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 14, 2005)

Well, go for it!  Please let us know how it goes!


----------



## GreenBaron (Oct 14, 2005)

hmm said:
			
		

> I'm very curious about VTwedge's results with the connect3d card. considering plonking the cash down for that one since the GTO2 seems to be sold out everywhere.



If anyone has the resources (friend with a similar card, etc) to run some benchmarks on the SAME SYSTEM that compares the Connect3D GTO-modded with the Sapphire-GTO2-modded.... that would be killer.  Anyone think they can rig that?

-GB


----------



## at2wooden (Oct 14, 2005)

Newegg has the OEM for $199 again.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595

Went up to $219 when I bought it

Still happy


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 15, 2005)

at2wooden said:
			
		

> Newegg has the OEM for $199 again.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595
> 
> ...



You should be!  I got it for $230!  

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

Hey guys, I just installed the Zalman CNPS9500LED.  My friggin AMD Athlon 64 3500+ idles at 30C!!! 

I'll have some pix for u soon.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 15, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> *Pre-Flash, pre-extra fan*
> 2005-10-12 20:49:15	Clocks set to: 579.27 / 498.27
> 2005-10-12 20:49:17	Temperature:	GPU: 64.6°C	GPU environment: 46.0°C
> *STABLE*
> ...




Still need help on this, if anyone can help me.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 15, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> You should be!  I got it for $230!
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> ...


Hit 3Ghz, and see how hot it gets   Then we'll have something to talk about.


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 15, 2005)

*results*

well heres the results

core went up to 520 then i stopped it cause my crappy case only has one fan in it grrrrrrrr memory went to 520 it reported no problems but i thought i saw some pixels off at some point so i stopped it too memory rated is 2 ns samsung so theres not much room for overclocking it went 20 over the rated frequency and then i stopped atitool also since my temps were 76C on the core and 56c on the ram chips i got to get some fans in my case pronto! by the way at the  initial 400/490 my 3dmark 05 was 4800 points whiles my brother who has the same card but with 12 pipes activated and run the test on his faster amd3200 got 4500 in it. well thats one victory for my slower sempron hehe. ordering fans now shite i feel stupid for having one fan in my case i threw my older case away and it had 3 fans in it which i forgot to take off!!


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 15, 2005)

*safest clock*

safest clock up to now is 520/520


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 15, 2005)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sapphire-ATI-X8...ryZ80190QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Black Adder got it to 510 Core, wonder if he really thinks hes gonna get 300 bux for it, lol.


----------



## GreenBaron (Oct 15, 2005)

*But what's the 3dmark05?*



			
				VTwedge said:
			
		

> well heres the results
> 
> core went up to 520 then i stopped it cause my crappy case only has one fan in it grrrrrrrr memory went to 520 it reported no problems but i thought i saw some pixels off at some point so i stopped it too memory rated is 2 ns samsung so theres not much room for overclocking it went 20 over the rated frequency and then i stopped atitool also since my temps were 76C on the core and 56c on the ram chips i got to get some fans in my case pronto! by the way at the  initial 400/490 my 3dmark 05 was 4800 points whiles my brother who has the same card but with 12 pipes activated and run the test on his faster amd3200 got 4500 in it. well thats one victory for my slower sempron hehe. ordering fans now shite i feel stupid for having one fan in my case i threw my older case away and it had 3 fans in it which i forgot to take off!!



What are your specs for the system (RAM, GHz)?  And what 3dmark do you get with 520/520?  If you move your card to your brothers system, check those results against his so that you can determine if it's your card or his system that is cause the discrepancy.

-GB


----------



## GreenBaron (Oct 15, 2005)

*Thanks*



			
				DanishDevil said:
			
		

> I got the OEM from Newegg and I got:
> 
> Card in AntiStatic Bag
> PCI-E Power Cable
> ...



BTW: Thanks for listing this.  Do you think the retail comes with Games?  Then it might not be all bad....

-GB


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 15, 2005)

GreenBaron my brather was running 12 pipelines on his 400/490 i ws running 16 pipelines 400/490 thats why the extra 300 points


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 15, 2005)

GreenBaron said:
			
		

> BTW: Thanks for listing this.  Do you think the retail comes with Games?  Then it might not be all bad....
> 
> -GB



I got the retail version, and you geet Brothers in Arms: Raod to Hill 30 + Prince Of Persia + Tony Hawk Underground 2 + Richard Burns Rally, and you get 2 serial keys so you can only keep 2 games


----------



## MegaViper (Oct 15, 2005)

Got mine at allstarshop.com for $219 and it unlocks 16 pipes and runs the 540/590 easy.  I even ran it at 545/595 just to be pushy.  I don't know why your only getting 520/520.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 15, 2005)

Also the OEM comes with all the cables, the install cd, and a very nice brown box to throw away, stock cooling 540/590.


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 15, 2005)

im getting 520/520 because mine uses the 2ns samsung memory rated at 2ns and the r423 core which is an x800xt. if your using a gto2 card then u have the r480 which is an x850xt and u got 1.6ns memory which is rated to 600 thats why mine is a modified connect3d x800gto


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 15, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> im getting 520/520 because mine uses the 2ns samsung memory rated at 2ns and the r423 core which is an x800xt. if your using a gto2 card then u have the r480 which is an x850xt and u got 1.6ns memory which is rated to 600 thats why mine is a modified connect3d x800gto



where did u buy ur connect3d x800gto from VT? also what is your highest 3dmark05 score? are u using stock cooling?


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 16, 2005)

MegaViper said:
			
		

> Got mine at allstarshop.com for $219 and it unlocks 16 pipes and runs the 540/590 easy.  I even ran it at 545/595 just to be pushy.  I don't know why your only getting 520/520.



Also, these R480 cores are the bottom of the barrel when it comes to R480s.  The purpose of the X800GTO2 from Sapphire and ATi's standpoint was to get rid of extra R480 cores they had lying around.  These are not tested to their supposed reachable speeds.  Keep this in mind when overclocking anything, especially on a card meant to "get rid" of extra cores.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 16, 2005)

Has anyone tried this flash with the omega drivers? (And has benchmarks)


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 16, 2005)

No, but I might try that now for ya Dr.D


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 16, 2005)

Anyone know how a R480 12P, compares with the 423 16P?

I bought the Sapphire X800GTO which can't be unlocked (so it's 12P), 
but I'm thinking since it has the R480 it might still be as fast (or maybe even a little faster) 
than the R423 16P.




			
				DanishDevil said:
			
		

> No, but I might try that now for ya Dr.D


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 16, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Anyone know how a R480 12P, compares with the 423 16P?
> 
> I bought the Sapphire X800GTO which can't be unlocked (so it's 12P),
> but I'm thinking since it has the R480 it might still be as fast (or maybe even a little faster)
> than the R423 16P.



No clue.  If you buy me a Sapphire X800GTO, I'd be happy to test it for you  Or shit, just send it to me if ya trust me and I'd be glad to set the two head to head.

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

On a more serious note:

My GPU has been acting more unstable than Charles Manson (and Windows ME for that matter).   Any ideas?  Did I get such a high overclock that I fried the temp. sensor???  







They like to drop to 1C every now and then just to scare me sh*tless 

And yes, I am running conservative overclocks because of this (500/600)


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 16, 2005)

OK I think I figured part of it out.  The fan settings that I set for it don't want to work right.  They keep changing like they have a friggin mind of their own.  I'm DLing RivaTuner to see what I can do.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 16, 2005)

Actually someone did some banchmarks on the Sapphire X800GTO.: 

http://www.3davenue.com/1401.html


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 16, 2005)

I meant benchmarks LOL, anyway I wonder how those compare with 
the R423 16P?, b/c the Sapphire X800gto is actually a bit cheaper ($164 at Newegg) the last time I checked.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 16, 2005)

I ordered one for my friend from comtec.ca because we are in Canada. I originally ordered from computerhq.com but shipping was $50, and newegg doesn't ship to Canada. Comtec.ca is $252 canadian + $15 shipping for us in ontario, they are based in medicine hat alberta.

We got the pci-e sapphire X800 GTO2 to unlock the 16 pipes and oc from the 400/490 stock to 550/600, it doesnt tick past 70'c in the Antec Aria small form factor Case. Also when running 3dmark2001 at the 540/590 we only got 16,600, while my same setup computer but with an agp x800 xt got 21,700. its 16p and 500/500.


the x800 gto2 (video card of the year!)
http://www.comtec.ca/atisapphire-sapphire-x800gto2-pcie-256mb-gddr3-tvout-p-790616.html

they also list the agp version, I hope its not entirely fictional.
http://www.comtec.ca/atisapphire-sapphire-x800gto2-256mb-gddr3-tvout-p-790629.html

Sapphire on every site i've seen has the pci-express version model number 100130, and the agp version 100131.


----------



## Makarich (Oct 16, 2005)

Guys! Finaly i want to know if anyone sucseded in unlocking pipes on:

GeCube 256Mb PCI-E ATI Radeon X800GTO (GC-RX800GTO3-D3)
Sapphire 256Mb PCI-E Radeon X800GTO DDR

plz tell me.


----------



## nick255 (Oct 16, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Anyone know how a R480 12P, compares with the 423 16P?
> 
> I bought the Sapphire X800GTO which can't be unlocked (so it's 12P),
> but I'm thinking since it has the R480 it might still be as fast (or maybe even a little faster)
> than the R423 16P.




As far as i know R480 is a revision of R423 with better power management etc so it runs cooler and so can be clocked higher. 
I would say a 12p R423 clocked at the same speed as an 12p R480 would have similar performance.

The advantage the R480 core has is that it can be clocked higher.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 16, 2005)

Hey guys, my fan started to well, not work.  Thank god the stock heatsink does its job.  I'm running at stock settings now just to be safe.  I don't even think I'm gonna do any gaming until I get the Zalman cooler.  I put RamSinks on the back memory chips from the ThermalRight V-1 (wish it fit this card, but the memory configuration won't allow it).  They're just cheapass little aluminum ramsinks, so they won't help much, but it's better than a heatspreader.

I've got some pics of my comp for ya, so I'll post links to em soon.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 16, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Anyone know how a R480 12P, compares with the 423 16P?
> 
> I bought the Sapphire X800GTO which can't be unlocked (so it's 12P),
> but I'm thinking since it has the R480 it might still be as fast (or maybe even a little faster)
> than the R423 16P.


I depends on how high the memory is able to overclock.  If that card has the 1.6 ns memory chips, it would probably get results similar to my X800 GTO2 at 12 pipelines.  Of course, as with any of these cards, the overclocking on the core varies between different cards, so your GTO could possibly overclock better than my GTO2.  I posted this in an earlier message:



			
				ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Here are my 3dmark 2005 scores with default settings.  I've added in the X800GT clock speeds and the scores for my X800GT for comparison with an 8 pipeline setup at equivalent speeds, plus at some other speeds just for a comparison of what each is capable of.
> 
> Powercolor X800GT 256 MB
> 8 pipelines, stock clocks (472, 492): 3935
> ...


----------



## intel igent (Oct 16, 2005)

ive been looking into this card and @ $260cad before taxxes and a 100% success rate, i think i just might switch to 775/pcie/ddr2 much sooooooooner than planned


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 16, 2005)

*memory faster when core lower?*

well i left my core running at 450 and tried to overclock memory just for kicks, well the limit before was 520/520 now memory got pushed up to 565 before givin up instead of 520! thats 65 over the rated limit mind you time ti bench at 450/550 just to be safe hold on!


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 16, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> well i left my core running at 450 and tried to overclock memory just for kicks, well the limit before was 520/520 now memory got pushed up to 565 before givin up instead of 520! thats 65 over the rated limit mind you time ti bench at 450/550 just to be safe hold on!


Have you tried installing a different cooling system for the card?  On my Powercolor X800 GT, even though it had 1.6 ns memory chips, on my system it could not clock beyond 526 without artifacts or beyond 555 without crashing.  It didn't have any cooling for the memory.  Maybe installing something for the memory would help.  Also, it sounds like some of the heat could possibly be transferring to the memory chips, so installing a better gpu cooler would probably help, too; and may actually be required if you want to install heatsinks on all of the memory.


BTW, has anyone bought a Powercolor X800 GTO and tried the bios mod on it?  It also has vivo on it, like the Connect3d card and unlike all the other GTO cards, so maybe it will be unlockable, too.   Vivo seems to sometimes have something to do with pipes being unlockable. (like the X800/850 Pro AGP with vivo which has unlockable pipes)  Also, if anyone does have this card, what kind of memory chips does it have?  If it is 1.6 ns memory and the core has unlockable pipes, it would be superior to the Connect3d card.   Another thing I wanted to mention; some site said it has an R430 core (not a review, though, and they didn't say they had taken the heatsink off).  Their X800 GT is also identified as an R430 in the bios, but is an R480, so maybe their X800 GTO also has an R480?

I haven't seen any reviews on this card, so the information seems nowhere to be found.


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 16, 2005)

r430 is an x800xl core actually so it wont hit xp speeds i think


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 16, 2005)

450/520 scores:5456 3dmark05


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 16, 2005)

Gimme some Aquamark 3 scores guys!  I've got about 73,000 right now on the OMEGA Drivers.  Screenshots to come.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 16, 2005)

OK guys.  For all of you that have had fan problems with the Sapphire X800GTO2, this is for you.

Check out this pic of the rear of my card.  These pins are the backside of the 3 where the stock fan plugs into.







I think we have found our problem.  The problem lies in the connector itself.  The pin that seems to be half melted is the +12V lead for the fan.  Also notice the residue on the PCB.  Any ideas?  Maybe the PCI-E Power Connector isn't giving the card stable power?


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 16, 2005)

Here's the ramsinks I installed temporarily.






They haven't seemed to make a difference so far.  I need a new PSU (or at least a PCI-E Connector that gives me all 6 pins instead of the 3 that the stock adapter does) and some better cooling.  Then I can really do some heavy OC work


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 16, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> No, but I might try that now for ya Dr.D



Do it!


----------



## bub (Oct 16, 2005)

*Is your RAM running dual channel?*

As a side note...

Is your RAM installed correctly for running dual channel mode?  I thought the color coding of the RAM banks directed you to install pairs in similar color coded slots...  No?

bub


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 17, 2005)

Mine is yes.  With the MSI K8N Neo4/SLI, the green slots are channel one, and purple channel two.  DC requires all four, 0+1, or 2+3.  I have 0+1.  Trust me, I'm not THAT noobish 

3DMARK 05 OC'd to 523/613:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=1329430



This is with your Omega drivers Dr. D

Next up:  New Catalyst Drivers. Before that though, I will elaborate on my experience with the Omega Drivers.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 17, 2005)

mmmm cant wait


----------



## rev (Oct 17, 2005)

I am only able to get my GTO2 to these clocks: 585/530. for some reason, even when i clock the core low, the memory will start to get artifacts around 540mhz, i have no idea why. could it be the cooling? should i try a newer bios? i thought the memeory was able to get real high on these cards.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 17, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> 450/520 scores:5456 3dmark05



hey man, where did u get your connect3d x800gto from???? i want to get it from the same place as you so i have a higher chance of unlocking it. thx.


----------



## nick255 (Oct 17, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> Mine is yes.  With the MSI K8N Neo4/SLI, the green slots are channel one, and purple channel two.  DC requires all four, 0+1, or 2+3.  I have 0+1.  Trust me, I'm not THAT noobish
> 
> 3DMARK 05 OC'd to 523/613:
> 
> ...



Nice overclock, is it still running stable?


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 17, 2005)

Can anyone recommend a Zalman cooler for this card?


----------



## narjisse (Oct 17, 2005)

Hello Folks,

After installing Catalyst 5.10 Driver, my system sees X800GTO2 as:
Adapter: RADEON X800/X850 Series
Chipset: RADEON X850 Pro (0x5D4F)

with Catalyst 5.09 Driver,
Adapter: RADEON X850 Series
Chipset: ATI display adapter (0x5D4F)

what gives?
what drivers are you using guys?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 17, 2005)

Guys! Finaly i want to know if anyone sucseded in unlocking pipes on:

GeCube 256Mb PCI-E ATI Radeon X800GTO (GC-RX800GTO3-D3)
Sapphire 256Mb PCI-E Radeon X800GTO DDR

plz tell me.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 17, 2005)

narjisse said:
			
		

> Hello Folks,
> 
> After installing Catalyst 5.10 Driver, my system sees X800GTO2 as:
> Adapter: RADEON X800/X850 Series
> ...




Same issue here.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 17, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> Here's the ramsinks I installed temporarily.
> 
> [removed pic]
> 
> They haven't seemed to make a difference so far.  I need a new PSU (or at least a PCI-E Connector that gives me all 6 pins instead of the 3 that the stock adapter does) and some better cooling.  Then I can really do some heavy OC work


You only have the ramsinks on the memory chips on the back, correct?  It probably won't help one bit with your memory overclock if you do not have all 8 of the chips cooled down.  As long as at least 1 chip isn't being cooled, your max overclock will likely be the same as if none of them had any cooling.




			
				narjisse said:
			
		

> Hello Folks,
> 
> After installing Catalyst 5.10 Driver, my system sees X800GTO2 as:
> Adapter: RADEON X800/X850 Series
> ...


Did you use the modified bios W1zzard posted?  I didn't (I used the 3 step method I have posted) and mine is always detected as RADEON X800 GTO.


*W1zzard*:  What card did you get that bios from?  A very early GTO2?  It seems to be different than the standard GTO2 bios besides just the pipelines.


----------



## W1zzard (Oct 17, 2005)

yup early gto².. email me the newer bios you have if you can


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 17, 2005)

OK, I've sent my bios to your e-mail address.

BTW, what is the date on that bios?  I think mine was 8/23/2005.


----------



## narjisse (Oct 17, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Did you use the modified bios W1zzard posted?


Yes, I thought that's the bios everyone is using



			
				ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> I didn't (I used the 3 step method I have posted) and mine is always detected as RADEON X800 GTO.


Can you provide a link for that 3 step method? This thread got too long and hard to find it.
Thanks.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 17, 2005)

nick255 said:
			
		

> Nice overclock, is it still running stable?



Yes, it is VERY stable   Stands Aquamark3 and 3DMark05 looping for an hour each.  Temps don't go above 59C on the stock cooler.  I hope to order a ZALMAN within the next week.

Elaboration on OMEGA Drivers coming soon.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 17, 2005)

New OC speed.  522/618

Thermal tape on rear RamSinks finally set in.  Clock is stable.  Any higher on core or memory produces artifacts in ATiTool.

PS: I do not set clocks that produce ANY artifacts WHATSOEVER.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 18, 2005)

Recommend me a zalman cooler!


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 18, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Recommend me a zalman cooler!



Hey hey hey, don't get pushy now Dr.D  

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118125

That guy will cool our cards damn well.







Also get some of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835110108






Use Arctic Silver 5 on the Zalman Cooler, and the pre-applied thermal tape on the RamSinks.  Do what you wish with the Zalman RamSinks.  The copper Vantecs will cool much better than the Zalman ones.

Be sure to try to get the direction of the airflow to flow through the grooves in the RamSinks to ensure the heat is radiated into the air from the RamSinks.  I'll hopefully have these 2 items installed in a week and I'll have pics for you guys.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 18, 2005)

*Sapphire X800GTO2 on Omega 2.6.71 Drivers*

*OK boys, here's what you all (or at least Dr.D) have been waiting for:

First things first:

My computer SPECS:


Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 90nm Winchester Core (Zalman CNPS9500LED @ Full Speed)
Power Supply: ULTRA X-Connect UV Orange 500Watt
Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo4/SLI (SLI Version of the MSI K8N Diamond)(Vantec Iceberq Copper Cooler)
Random Access Memory:  2x512MB OCZ Gold PC3200 2-2-2-5 Winbond BH5 (Gold Plated Copper Heatspreaders)
Video Card: Sapphire X800GTO2 (Modded 16 Pipeline TechPowerUp BIOS @ 522/618 on stock cooling&Arctic Silver 5&4x ThermalRight V-1 Aluminum RamSinks on rear)
Hard Drive: Western Digital 10,000RPM 74GB RAPTOR
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Audigy 2ZS
Case: ThermalTake Armor Black SuperTower Case
Cooling: 2x120MM Blue LED 17DBA Fans(1 Intake, 1 Exhaust), 2x92MM Orange/Black 19DBA Fans(Exhaust), 2x80MM Orange UV Reactive PSU Fans(Exhaust)
Keyboarrd/Mouse: Logitech Media Keyboard / Logitech MX510 Blue
Monitor: Dell Flat Screen Trinitron Monitor (Max 100MHz Refresh, Max Res. 1600x1200)

*All clocks stock unless noted above*

Sapphire X800GTO2 on Omega 2.6.71 Drivers (16 Pipelines Unlocked with the BIOS from the Article and clocked at 522/618 with stock cooling, Arctic Silver 5, and Thermalright V-1 Aluminum RamSinks on the rear memory chips)

The version of ATi Tray Tools that comes with the Omega Drivers read my card as an X850:





I just installed the new version of ATi Tray Tools:





And it read my card as an X800GTO.





Just some interesting tidbits of information.  I think that they are programming recognition of the X800GTO BIOSes in new software.  In case some of you were wondering, this is what Device Manager says:





I've got GREAT drawing skills with my mouse don't I?  

One other interesting thing to point out.  I have an MSI motherboard which comes with MSI Live Update 3.  Its job is to provide automatic updates to the Motherboard BIOS, Drivers, and the BIOS and drivers of Video Cards, and updates to MSI Utilities (which suck, HARD).  Anyway, these are the options that Live Update 3 gave me for Video Card drivers:





No, my card is not made by MSI, it's just interesting to see the possibilites of BIOSes that the program recommends.  I may try these out sometime.  I'm not making any promises though.

Anyway, I got to AquaMark 3.  The first run was taken with Omega's integrated Direct 3D "Benchmarks" profile (really part of ATi Tray Tools) as seen here:





Here is AquaMark 3:





I also ran AquaMark 3 at ALL settings maxed at 1600x1200.  Here is the directory where you can find the shots.  I think you will enjoy them.  20 screenshots, 40MBs.  PS: Temps didn't go over 60C while I was running AquaMark3 for these shots.































The rest can be found here:
http://www.nbpdexplorers.com/DANISH/TechPowerUp Pics/AquaMark 3/

OK, now onto 3DMark05:

I ran it with the Benchmark setting, and this is what I came up with:





Not too shabby of a score is it?  Temps never broke 56C

Here are some shots taken with ultra settings like I did in AquaMark 3.  Temps did not go over 63C. 45 pics, 24MB.  *cough*Can you say HDR?*cough*









































The rest can be found here:
http://www.nbpdexplorers.com/DANISH/TechPowerUp Pics/3DMARK05/

Well, this concludes my extensive examination of the Omega 2.6.71 Drivers.  I love ATi Tray Tools, and will never get rid of it now that the Omegas have exposed me to the program.  I also now love 3DMARK05.  As you can tell from the Ultra Quality screenshots, this is a truly amazing benchmarking program.  I regret not using that $10 off coupon on 3DMARK05 Advanced now   Oh well.  Overall, I love the Omega drivers.  Soon, I will make some graphs to show how they stack up to the other major drivers out there (Catalyst and DNA Drivers).

Coming soon:  Extensive review of Catalyst 5.10

Until next time,
-=DaNiSh+DeViL=-
*


----------



## Qtax (Oct 18, 2005)

Not that i really mind, but do we need all the 1600 screenshots here?
Ordered an Connect3D GTO and will tell you how it works out when it arrives, hopefully another success.
Day after i ordered they lowered the price 20€, bleh... (Lowest price right now at 180€ here in Sweden.)


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 18, 2005)

Qtax said:
			
		

> Not that i really mind, but do we need all the 1600 screenshots here?
> Ordered an Connect3D GTO and will tell you how it works out when it arrives, hopefully another success.
> Day after i ordered they lowered the price 20€, bleh... (Lowest price right now at 180€ here in Sweden.)



I simply wanted to give people an in-depth review of the card's capabilities.  I apologize if you have dial-up and it crashed your system 

Lol, I had second thoughts about posting the shots there, but the post looks so goddamn hot after I posted it, that I said, "Nahh, Dr.D would be disappointed if I did." 

I also got jacked pricewise.  I bought my X800GTO2 for $230 and it's $200 now.  I might have to pick another up.  DAMN I wish I could harness a kind of ATi SLI on this mobo of mine


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 18, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> Hey hey hey, don't get pushy now Dr.D
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118125
> 
> ...




Found a cheaper price:

http://www.xoxide.com/zalman-vf700culed-vga-cooler.html






For some reason though, Xoxide discontinued EVERY RamSink they carry.  You'll only save a couple bucks by buying them from another place besides newegg, so I'm gonna get them from there.

PS: I was a noob, and attached some Zalman RamSinks on my old ATI AIW9600XT with my Zalman HP Blue Anodized Aluminum cooler with AS5 instead of the thermal tape about 2 years ago.  Would anybody be willing to use some Vantec Copper BGA RamSinks and test MAX OCs with AS5 vs Thermal Tape vs Arctic Alumina on these?  If not, I'll buy two packs or so and compare thermal tape, AS5, and Arctic Alumina.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 18, 2005)

Thanks alot

Great posts! I can't wait for those graphs!


----------



## RatusNatus (Oct 18, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Guys! Finaly i want to know if anyone sucseded in unlocking pipes on:
> 
> GeCube 256Mb PCI-E ATI Radeon X800GTO (GC-RX800GTO3-D3)
> Sapphire 256Mb PCI-E Radeon X800GTO DDR
> ...



GeCube dosnt have a external power connector, so it wont have a good oc.

I want to know if someone has the 16p in a Powercolor GTO cus all of it has a r480 core...

What about open a new threat to a connect3d?


----------



## psxcrazy (Oct 18, 2005)

*sometimes artifacts sometimes not*

Can someone help me i was excited casue i got my gto2 to oc at 540 610 artifact free for 5 minutes that i ran than all was fine for a few days then i started getting artifacts and hickups im my games and know i can only oc it to 540 550 without artifacts could it be a drive thing or software i just dont understand my card doesnt even go past 60 C on scan and about 55 playing game i just dont understand


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 18, 2005)

psxcrazy said:
			
		

> Can someone help me i was excited casue i got my gto2 to oc at 540 610 artifact free for 5 minutes that i ran than all was fine for a few days then i started getting artifacts and hickups im my games and know i can only oc it to 540 550 without artifacts could it be a drive thing or software i just dont understand my card doesnt even go past 60 C on scan and about 55 playing game i just dont understand


You should test for the final speed for more than 5 minutes, in my opinion.  I think it should be tested for 10 or more minutes.  It could be possible that you messed up the memory by having it overclocked too high for too long...  That memory is rated for 600 MHz, but needs adaquate cooling to be stable at that speed.


----------



## Qtax (Oct 18, 2005)

RatusNatus said:
			
		

> GeCube dosnt have a external power connector, so it wont have a good oc.
> 
> I want to know if someone has the 16p in a Powercolor GTO cus all of it has a r480 core...



You can't unlock them, only GTO2 and Connect3D GTO are unlockable. It's all in the article.
I think you can confirm this here http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5367


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 18, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> You should test for the final speed for more than 5 minutes, in my opinion.  I think it should be tested for 10 or more minutes.  It could be possible that you messed up the memory by having it overclocked too high for too long...  That memory is rated for 600 MHz, but needs adaquate cooling to be stable at that speed.



I agree.  Cooling is required for OCing, and running a chip or ram at too high of a frequency CAN mess it up pretty bad.



			
				Dr.D said:
			
		

> Thanks alot
> 
> Great posts! I can't wait for those graphs!



Can't you tell I yearn to be a product reviewer?  I've always dreamed of being sent brand new hardware to review.  That review took me all of 4 hours.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 19, 2005)

Ugh..
I don't know how you guys are getting such amazing temps.
I'm getting 70 load, WITH a Zalman cooler, and only running 540/580.
No ramsinks on half of the RAM (But half of them I do have them on.
Using AS5.
I'm going to remount it.. but I really don't believe that to be the problem.

Any ideas?
Also, overclock dropped SUBSTANTIALLY.
I believe with lower temps I'd have a lot higher headroom.

And, I had the issue of post-flash having the card literally shut off whenever it got too high, rather than simply than clocking back down.

Going to flash to original BIOS, see if the problem (with shutting off) still exists.  If it does...
then I don't know.

If it does, then I know there's a problem BIOS/otherwise.

Who knows.

--Trevor


----------



## ericlikeseatin (Oct 19, 2005)

does anyone know if other GTO cards will work? im particularly interested in this card here because its the only GTO for AGP there seems to be.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 19, 2005)

Ok.
Flashed back to the ORGINAL 12P BIOS, and I CAN hit the original speeds (575/610)

But whenever I flash to the 16P BIOS, I can only hit 540/580.
An ideas, at all?


----------



## GreenBaron (Oct 19, 2005)

*Brands...*



			
				Qtax said:
			
		

> You can't unlock them, only GTO2 and Connect3D GTO are unlockable. It's all in the article.
> I think you can confirm this here http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5367



Statements like this do not aid the spirit of adventure of the overclocker.  It was not very long ago that the Connect3D was not even mentioned in the main article.  It has been included because of pioneers that TESTED and took a chance.

With the variety of chips used in the various brand's GTO cards, there is mixed success.  I have not heard of any successful mods of the HIS, Powercolor, or Gecube brands.  I have heard of some confirmed DID NOT work on these brands.

However, the Sapphire GTO (not the GTO2) has at least one positive report on this very forum that the 16p mod worked.  There are others that the Sap-16p did not work...

The article shows the state of what is KNOWN, but does not rule out the possibility of other combinations.  That is precisely what this forum is for.  If anyone has even NEGATIVE reports of mod attempts on other GTO brands, please post.  The more information, the better the conclusions.

We're weak on AGP reports.  Other brands may work better if VIVO is used (this seems to be an odd common thread -- ATI VIVO cards unlock better).

-GB
Get my Connect3D GTO tomorrow.... I will report.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 19, 2005)

ericlikeseatin said:
			
		

> does anyone know if other GTO cards will work? im particularly interested in this card here because its the only GTO for AGP there seems to be.



Take a chance.  Doesn't seem like anybody has succesfully modded an AGP card yet.


----------



## feeric (Oct 19, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> Ok.
> Flashed back to the ORGINAL 12P BIOS, and I CAN hit the original speeds (575/610)
> 
> But whenever I flash to the 16P BIOS, I can only hit 540/580.
> An ideas, at all?



I have same problem, 545/602@12P and 513/602@16P

I think the quad pipe activated is the worst off the four and it limit the max core OC.


----------



## feeric (Oct 19, 2005)

Thk to Wizzard for his job. My GTO² work fine 6200pts 3DM05

Thk you


----------



## feeric (Oct 19, 2005)

One question about bios values.

Do you know where is the default frequencies in the bios, i want modify with an hex éditor for my card work allway at the OC freq without atitools ?

Thk


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 19, 2005)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property 

sorry about my english. i`m from europe, from lithania. in newegg is two cards. both card is moddible or not? because the cheaper is out of stock. what about the other card? thank you


----------



## Zoomer (Oct 19, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property
> 
> sorry about my english. i`m from europe, from lithania. in newegg is two cards. both card is moddible or not? because the cheaper is out of stock. what about the other card? thank you



Yes, both are moddable and are essentially the same card. The cheaper is the oem and the more expensive the lite retail. You can ask newegg for a packing list to see the differences. 

And oh yeah, lite retails are supposed to have a colourful box.


----------



## narjisse (Oct 19, 2005)

narjisse said:
			
		

> Hello Folks,
> 
> After installing Catalyst 5.10 Driver, my system sees X800GTO2 as:
> Adapter: RADEON X800/X850 Series
> ...


is there new BIOS update?


----------



## Qtax (Oct 19, 2005)

GreenBaron said:
			
		

> Statements like this do not aid the spirit of adventure of the overclocker.  It was not very long ago that the Connect3D was not even mentioned in the main article.  It has been included because of pioneers that TESTED and took a chance.
> 
> With the variety of chips used in the various brand's GTO cards, there is mixed success.  I have not heard of any successful mods of the HIS, Powercolor, or Gecube brands.  I have heard of some confirmed DID NOT work on these brands.



Just to clear things up. As stated by W1zzard you need "F":s in the marked (red) parts of fuses data for this to work. Right now only 2 cards were found to have this (and many more X800 cards that don't, as can be seen in the thread below). 



			
				GreenBaron said:
			
		

> It was not very long ago that the Connect3D was not even mentioned in the main article.  It has been included because of pioneers that TESTED and took a chance.



It was, afaik, tested by someone who saw that the fuse values were right on that card.
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5367


----------



## psxcrazy (Oct 19, 2005)

*Back to 549/600*

finally got my card back to 549\600 artifact free i found out what my problem was before when i was getting artifacts I have sony ra which has a liquid cool cpu so my power supply sits right on top of my card onlt a quater inch from my gto so by accident i found a program that overides the fan speed control of all my fans cause sony has locked them so without adjusting the fans my power supply gets extremly hot and it being so close to the card affects my oc so i use freshdiagnose to overide the lock on the fans and speedfan to set mmy fans at 100 % which is 50% more faster than sony origanily set the fans at and i get my case and cpu nice and cool if any one has a sony with the same issue of fan control when you download freshdiagnose just click on hardware and then sensor and youll here you fanspeeds go up its a bit loud but worth it i'd rather have the extra gameplay horse power i can deal with the noise


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 19, 2005)

so is there a new bios that shows the card to be an x850xt with the new catalyst 5.10 drivers? if so where can we get it?


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 19, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> so is there a new bios that shows the card to be an x850xt with the new catalyst 5.10 drivers? if so where can we get it?


I had mine running that.
the BIOS has nothing to do with the drivers.. the BIOS can be downloaded from techpowerup (go to the main site for the bios download section)
then just install the 5.1 drivers.

--Trevor


----------



## Trevor (Oct 19, 2005)

Hopefully, though, you're doing it simply for your own pleasure and not to pass this card off as an X850XT...
That'd be wrong, and illegal <_<


----------



## nick255 (Oct 19, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> Ok.
> Flashed back to the ORGINAL 12P BIOS, and I CAN hit the original speeds (575/610)
> 
> But whenever I flash to the 16P BIOS, I can only hit 540/580.
> An ideas, at all?



I guess with 4 pipes disabled the core is running cooler so its easier to hit 575.. From what ive noticed with my card is that the temp of the core seems to have a knock on effect on how high i can run the memory stable.

With stock cooling my R423 core jumps from about 40c to nearly 70c and thats only running at like 460mhz, when my waterblock turns up ill see how high i can get it....... 

i think ur gonna need some extra cooling to get it stable with 16pipes at 575


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 19, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> Found a cheaper price:
> 
> http://www.xoxide.com/zalman-vf700culed-vga-cooler.html
> 
> ...





those ramsinks are too tall, the top left sink will not allow the zalman to seat all the way down, I know I tried it. you may be able to sand/cut it if you have the means.


----------



## psxcrazy (Oct 19, 2005)

*Half life crashes*

Anyone have an issue where half life crashes your pc when you have a high oc cause I do all games work fine except half life it crashes my pc i have to turn my card down


----------



## Psxcrazy (Oct 19, 2005)

psxcrazy said:
			
		

> Anyone have an issue where half life crashes your pc when you have a high oc cause I do all games work fine except half life it crashes my pc i have to turn my card down


sorry i meant far cry


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 19, 2005)

nick255 said:
			
		

> I guess with 4 pipes disabled the core is running cooler so its easier to hit 575.. From what ive noticed with my card is that the temp of the core seems to have a knock on effect on how high i can run the memory stable.
> 
> With stock cooling my R423 core jumps from about 40c to nearly 70c and thats only running at like 460mhz, when my waterblock turns up ill see how high i can get it.......
> 
> i think ur gonna need some extra cooling to get it stable with 16pipes at 575


I'm using a Zalman 700Cu, which is why I'm so curious about my high temperatures.


----------



## Unregistered (Oct 19, 2005)

*HIS X800GTO ICEQ II Turbo*

HI guy's i will receive my card tomorow and I try to mod-it.
Nobody have this card ?

Sorry for my poor english.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 19, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> so is there a new bios that shows the card to be an x850xt with the new catalyst 5.10 drivers? if so where can we get it?



Does it matter what it shows? So long as your unlock and runninng at X800XT speeds right?


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 19, 2005)

*Vm-102*



			
				Unregistered said:
			
		

> those ramsinks are too tall, the top left sink will not allow the zalman to seat all the way down, I know I tried it. you may be able to sand/cut it if you have the means.



Thanks for the tip man.  I'm gonna have to look into a few things . . .

My friend got the AeroCool VM-102 from Europe a few weeks ago.  Check it out:
















I WANT ONE!!! Does anybody know where they are selling, and when they will sell in the US?


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 19, 2005)

I called ATACOM and they said they will get their shipments in on friday (10/21/05)
"If they have them in on time" said the lady I talked to


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 19, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Does it matter what it shows? So long as your unlock and runninng at X800XT speeds right?



Exactly my philosiphy.  I don't know why all you guys freak out about whether Device Manager says you have an X850XTPE anyway.  The fact is, if it overclocks to XTPE speeds, you do in fact have one


----------



## Trevor (Oct 19, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Does it matter what it shows? So long as your unlock and runninng at X800XT speeds right?


I'm worried he's trying to do this for malicious purposes.
(Sell it on Ebay as an X850XT/PE, and just say he added a cooler, or something along those lines.)


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 19, 2005)

He can do whatever he wants.  I actually pondered selling these as modded X800GTO2s at X850XTPE Speeds.  Too much work during Junior year of High School though.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 20, 2005)

OK guys.  I have decided that I'm going with that Zalman cooler I mentioned earlier and I'm just going to use the RamSinks that come with it.  No, they won't cool as well as copper ones, but, hey, you can always upgrade your ramsinks.


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 20, 2005)

*How high can I go*

Hey guys I Have the gto2 have it running 549 610 with stock cooler artifactfree so my question is if i purchase a high end cooler how much higher can i get ther card would the gain be worth the price if anyone knows? what is the highest you guys have gotten


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 20, 2005)

Your clocks seem very good.  I can't get my core that high, but my ram goes a little bit higher.  522/619 now for me.  I would defenitely invest in this cooler:






http://xoxide.com/zalman-vf700culed-vga-cooler.html

$28.99 + tax and ship.  Not too shabby.


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 20, 2005)

I have to keep all my fans at 100% to get 549/610 those speeds ican only get it to 540 540 if i want my pc to be quiet


----------



## Trevor (Oct 20, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> He can do whatever he wants.  I actually pondered selling these as modded X800GTO2s at X850XTPE Speeds.  Too much work during Junior year of High School though.


Yes, but you'd have to list them as X800GTO2s that are modded to X850XT PEs... not X850XTPE's flat out.

He was asking what it would appear as in the BIOS, and the only reason I can think of for a question like that is deception <_<


----------



## p0lly (Oct 20, 2005)

OKAY!!!!!!  Everyone out there i the know...  is a modded GTO2 @ XTPE the same as genuine XTPE?  My problem is this - bios settings in the genuine may, and probably are different ex. multipliers, mem timings, etc.  My skepticism comes from me running my gto2 at the EXACT same speeds as my x800pro and i got 300 less in 3D05 with my GTO2.  I didn't check timings.  I would guess that the XTPE's mem is even more optimized than my x800pro and would beat is at even settings.  THEREFORE...  (i ask again) is the GTO2 (overclocked @ GTO2, 16pp 540, 590)the same as a genuine x850XTPE?


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 20, 2005)

p0lly said:
			
		

> OKAY!!!!!!  Everyone out there i the know...  is a modded GTO2 @ XTPE the same as genuine XTPE?  My problem is this - bios settings in the genuine may, and probably are different ex. multipliers, mem timings, etc.  My skepticism comes from me running my gto2 at the EXACT same speeds as my x800pro and i got 300 less in 3D05 with my GTO2.  I didn't check timings.  I would guess that the XTPE's mem is even more optimized than my x800pro and would beat is at even settings.  THEREFORE...  (i ask again) is the GTO2 (overclocked @ GTO2, 16pp 540, 590)the same as a genuine x850XTPE?


 I got 6118 score with 3dmark 05 on my gto2 set at optimal with catalyst i get a lil less with mipmap at high quality but i'm running the card 549/610 with stock cooler just need to keep my case cool to be artifact free about 30c is what my case is durring idle and 38 when playing games


----------



## Trevor (Oct 20, 2005)

p0lly said:
			
		

> OKAY!!!!!!  Everyone out there i the know...  is a modded GTO2 @ XTPE the same as genuine XTPE?  My problem is this - bios settings in the genuine may, and probably are different ex. multipliers, mem timings, etc.  My skepticism comes from me running my gto2 at the EXACT same speeds as my x800pro and i got 300 less in 3D05 with my GTO2.  I didn't check timings.  I would guess that the XTPE's mem is even more optimized than my x800pro and would beat is at even settings.  THEREFORE...  (i ask again) is the GTO2 (overclocked @ GTO2, 16pp 540, 590)the same as a genuine x850XTPE?


Not quite.
These are the bottom-of-the-barrel cores.. so they probably won't run as well.
(Like a 2.6 Venice vs. another 2.6 venice, even with the exact setup one might score a tad higher.)

Timings would also be quite important.
If you're trying to pass off an X800GTO2 as an X850XT PE, don't bother, you'll get caught.


----------



## RatusNatus (Oct 20, 2005)

Qtax said:
			
		

> You can't unlock them, only GTO2 and Connect3D GTO are unlockable. It's all in the article.
> I think you can confirm this here http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5367




Hehehe, thankx man but i already read 55 pages and  the article, in the beggining, says that JUST GTO2 is modded!A few weeks later this info was updated. The info is true until is updated!!!
In 55 pages looks like no one tryed to mod the PwC GTO.
So, i'm thinking if someone will update the article AGAIN  with some new info about Powercolor GTO.


----------



## Ebola (Oct 20, 2005)

Still stockcooling, some improvements on memory, ambiant is ~22°C :/ A64 @ 3Ghz







t° does matter a lot, moreover the thermal paste is crap and the copper insert is a big bullshit. A must set under wb or dod


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 20, 2005)

Ebola said:
			
		

> Still stockcooling, some improvements on memory, ambiant is ~22°C :/ A64 @ 3Ghz
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 man thats is alot better than my score of 6118 but i'm running a pentium 4 3.2 could it be the amd man my pentium is crap cause my speeds are 549/610 and my 3dmark aint even close to touching yours how you get your ambient so low


----------



## p0lly (Oct 20, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> Not quite.
> These are the bottom-of-the-barrel cores.. so they probably won't run as well.
> (Like a 2.6 Venice vs. another 2.6 venice, even with the exact setup one might score a tad higher.)
> 
> ...


OK!!! I think that the OCing population needs to be informed about this issue.  Tweeking every last drop out of your hardware is what enthusiasts do.  OCing to XTPE speeds and flashing the bios of the XTPE will most likely give different results... granted these will be minimal, and probably not noticeable in a realife setting but that's not what we (the enthusiast community) care about! 100 points extra in 3D05 is exciting.

To get back to my original post and question... can anyone shed some light on the performance difference between a GTO2 OCed to XTPE speed (w/ 16pp) and a GTO2 flashed to a genuine XTPE bios.


----------



## Trevor (Oct 20, 2005)

Ebola said:
			
		

> Still stockcooling, some improvements on memory, ambiant is ~22°C :/ A64 @ 3Ghz
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm buying a WB, eventually.
Just need to buy some extra tubing, as well.

Very nice score, though considering the 3200 is at 3 Ghz, not as good as I'd expect.

WHERE DO YOU LIVE!?  Honestly now, 22C's ambient? 
My room is in the 30s?
That'd be several below my ambient ROOM temperature =|


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 20, 2005)

p0lly said:
			
		

> OK!!! I think that the OCing population needs to be informed about this issue.  Tweeking every last drop out of your hardware is what enthusiasts do.  OCing to XTPE speeds and flashing the bios of the XTPE will most likely give different results... granted these will be minimal, and probably not noticeable in a realife setting but that's not what we (the enthusiast community) care about! 100 points extra in 3D05 is exciting.
> 
> To get back to my original post and question... can anyone shed some light on the performance difference between a GTO2 OCed to XTPE speed (w/ 16pp) and a GTO2 flashed to a genuine XTPE bios.


I taught that if you flashe with original xtpe bios you wont unlock the 4 extra pipes that was the reason for using the modifed flasher and bios i'm happy with my performance numbers but if any one has flashed with xtpe bios let us know


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 20, 2005)

*Catalyst 5.10 Drivers*

Test of Catalyst 5.10 Drivers:

Aquamark 3:






Sry for the big image.

3DMark05:






A small performance increase over the OMEGA Drivers in AquaMark 3, small performance decrease in 3DMark 05.  Food for thought.  Maybe tweaking all that shit doesn't really do you much good performancewise.

OMEGA:
AQM: 73,759
3DM: 6495

Catalyst:
AQM: 73,956
3DM: 6488

Danish


----------



## t^3 (Oct 20, 2005)

DanishDevil: Maybe instead of posting 1600x1200 screenshots like that, you could just write out the 2 sentences of info that's there. It's not like we don't believe you, and even then, screenshots can be Photoshopped. Plus, you'll save your host a lot on bandwidth costs.


----------



## p0lly (Oct 21, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> I taught that if you flashe with original xtpe bios you wont unlock the 4 extra pipes that was the reason for using the modifed flasher and bios i'm happy with my performance numbers but if any one has flashed with xtpe bios let us know


Ombracol,
using the modified flashrom allows you to flash ANY bios including the original XTPE bios.  you are right that just a flash to the bios using atiflash will not work (in most cases).  this thread has been pushing a modified ORIGINAL GTO2 bios to unlock the 16 pipes and then leave the overclocking up to the user (maintains original gto2 core and mem speds).  this is smart for a few reasons: (1.) the xtpe seems to be killing some peoples fans (2.) the speeds of the xtpe may be a little to high for some peoples gto2's so they would then have to underclock. (3.) you don't need to go out and buy an aftermarket cooler to maintain reasonable temperatures without sacrificing noise.

My issue with this (AND NOBODY HAS YET TO TOUCH ON IT - W1ZZARD, maybe a little insight?) GTO2 modded bios is that some of the essential goodies in the XTPE bios (mem timings, multiplyers, and some i may be unaware of) are not represented in the GTO2 bios.  just because the core and mem are the same it doesn't mean that it will perform the same...  simple example  DDR400 @3-3-3-8 vs. DDR400 @2-2-2-7.  the bandwidth is the same but the latencies are not.  It is still just a guess, but i believe the GTO2's mem may be more of the 3-3-3-8 part of my example whereas the XTPE's mem is at the 2-2-2-7 (obviously these numbers are not representitive of the actual DDR3 timings)

CAN ANYONE SHED SOME LIGHT ON THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 21, 2005)

Yeah, that's real smart there, kiddo. I had to go and buy a new 21" monitor just to see this image, not only you're costing the Admin money, me too, 
   Anyhow i've been reading this whole thread and came to my attention maybe the reason why when you add the 4 pipelines and can't get the same core/mem o/c is because of the heat, connection, strains. When you look at the front side of the GTO2 it comes with this cooler on the GPU along with the four memory modules covered by its copper. When you look at the back side, it's an aluminum heatspreader and not copper. Then again not every gpu/memory modules on these cards are going to overclock identical anyway. Beside not sure what improvements they've done to the ATI Silencer, but the Silencer 3 (not sure which rev, i think it's the first issue and no revision) only got my 9800xt overclocked from 412/365 to 437/383 and if  i do remember i couldn't overclock the damn thing with it's original cooler past 418/? One thing i know, copper is always better then aluminum so stay away from aluminum, i think that's what comes with the AC ATI SILENCER 5 Rev2, an aluminum heatspreader on the back memory modules, no good. Another thing if you want good overclocking on any of your components, PSU is the key. I got an OCZ 520 Modstream that should be up to the task. I already have my 3000+ Venice E3 @2.44 (limited vcore 1.45v) and OCZ EL DDR400 2x512 DC to 2225-1T 220Mhz (Set at 166) with the OCZ Booster at 3.4v. So i'm still waiting for a better deal then paying $279 or $255 for this GTO2.


----------



## t^3 (Oct 21, 2005)

I think somebody actually mentioned a while back that the memory timings are in fact the same between the X800 GTO2 and X850 XT PE. I can confirm this - just use RaBiT (Radeon BIOS Tuner) to look at them.


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 21, 2005)

p0lly said:
			
		

> Ombracol,
> using the modified flashrom allows you to flash ANY bios including the original XTPE bios.  you are right that just a flash to the bios using atiflash will not work (in most cases).  this thread has been pushing a modified ORIGINAL GTO2 bios to unlock the 16 pipes and then leave the overclocking up to the user (maintains original gto2 core and mem speds).  this is smart for a few reasons: (1.) the xtpe seems to be killing some peoples fans (2.) the speeds of the xtpe may be a little to high for some peoples gto2's so they would then have to underclock. (3.) you don't need to go out and buy an aftermarket cooler to maintain reasonable temperatures without sacrificing noise.
> 
> My issue with this (AND NOBODY HAS YET TO TOUCH ON IT - W1ZZARD, maybe a little insight?) GTO2 modded bios is that some of the essential goodies in the XTPE bios (mem timings, multiplyers, and some i may be unaware of) are not represented in the GTO2 bios.  just because the core and mem are the same it doesn't mean that it will perform the same...  simple example  DDR400 @3-3-3-8 vs. DDR400 @2-2-2-7.  the bandwidth is the same but the latencies are not.  It is still just a guess, but i believe the GTO2's mem may be more of the 3-3-3-8 part of my example whereas the XTPE's mem is at the 2-2-2-7 (obviously these numbers are not representitive of the actual DDR3 timings)
> ...



Well I have my card steady at 549/610 i got a score of 6118 on 3dmark so i will try flashing xtpe bios and see what results i get


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 21, 2005)

t^3 said:
			
		

> I think somebody actually mentioned a while back that the memory timings are in fact the same between the X800 GTO2 and X850 XT PE. I can confirm this - just use RaBiT (Radeon BIOS Tuner) to look at them.


 i have rabit when i try to open the modified bios it crashes but all other bios work fine i didnt try the original gto2 bios but i will do that before i go flashing my card again


----------



## t^3 (Oct 21, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> i have rabit when i try to open the modified bios it crashes but all other bios work fine i didnt try the original gto2 bios but i will do that before i go flashing my card again


I think the crashing issue is fixed in version 1.7 of RaBiT.


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 21, 2005)

*same memory timing*

yeah just checked the original gto2 and xtpe mem timing are all the same 

so there you go moded gto2 same as xtpe


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 21, 2005)

so inlight of all of this i am going to flash my bios with the higher oc that i have from atitool using rabit so i wont have to use atitool when starting up but i wonder how it will affect my fanspeed will my fan hit 100% if it gets to hot anyone know?


----------



## p0lly (Oct 21, 2005)

OMBRACOL and T^3...  that is EXACTLY what i was looking for - THANK YOU!

Then I wonder why my x800pro performs better than my GTO2 at the same mem and core...  perhaps the pro's timings are even more tweeked b/c it's meant to run slower???


----------



## Ebola (Oct 21, 2005)

p0lly said:
			
		

> OK!!! I think that the OCing population needs to be informed about this issue.  Tweeking every last drop out of your hardware is what enthusiasts do.  OCing to XTPE speeds and flashing the bios of the XTPE will most likely give different results... granted these will be minimal, and probably not noticeable in a realife setting but that's not what we (the enthusiast community) care about! 100 points extra in 3D05 is exciting.
> 
> To get back to my original post and question... can anyone shed some light on the performance difference between a GTO2 OCed to XTPE speed (w/ 16pp) and a GTO2 flashed to a genuine XTPE bios.


A friend tried a genuine XT PE bios and got instability issues. The problem is that you must have a card that support 540/590, unless you can't give any conclusion

I will do it when the core will be enough cooled and guaranted to be rockstable at 540


----------



## Ebola (Oct 21, 2005)

Trevor said:
			
		

> I'm buying a WB, eventually.
> Just need to buy some extra tubing, as well.
> 
> Very nice score, though considering the 3200 is at 3 Ghz, not as good as I'd expect.
> ...


The ambiant am reporting is the real ambiant temperature, not the one reported by ATiTool (the LM63 temp)


----------



## Ebola (Oct 21, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> yeah just checked the original gto2 and xtpe mem timing are all the same
> 
> so there you go moded gto2 same as xtpe


Rather focus on some optimised timings given by an XS member

Even if you lose some MHz, you'll win much more from decreasing latency

TRCDRD: 7
TRCDWR: 3
TRP: 5
TRAS: 13
TRRD: 4
TWR: 6
TR2W: CL+2
TW2R: 4
TR2R: USE TWR RULE
TR2R: 2
WR_LATENCY: 1.5
CAS_LATENCY: 7
CMD_LATENCY: 0
STR_LATENCY: WR LATENCY
REFRESH_RATE: 0x75
TRFC: 23


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## scorpion_amd13 (Oct 21, 2005)

I want to mod an X800GT card. I've seen that no one managed to mod an X800GT so I'm going to take my chances. I'm going to buy a HIS or PowerColor Radeon X800GT with 256MB GDDR3/256 bits.

First of all, I've noticed that there are no X800GT cards equiped with the additional power connector, which would normally mean that a succesfull mod from X800GT to X850XT is impossible. I can't stop wondering, can't I just mount a connector on the PCB? I didn't find the answer to this question yet and I was hoping you could help out here. If I could get a power connector, can I mount it on the PCB?

The second problem is the BIOS. Can I use one of the modded BIOS versions presented at the begining of this article on a HIS/PowerColor X800GT with 256MB GDDR3/256 bits? Or would that be a mistake?

I was also thinking of buying an Arctic Cooling ATi Silencer 5 (Rev. 2) to cool the card.

What do you think?


----------



## p0lly (Oct 21, 2005)

Ebola said:
			
		

> Rather focus on some optimised timings given by an XS member
> 
> Even if you lose some MHz, you'll win much more from decreasing latency
> 
> ...



are these the optimized timings?  are they slightly tweaked or fully (w/ stability of course)?  what is the equivalent performance of the mem at stock timings...  ie. with the lower clock speed but decreased latencies, what speed is it equal to at normal latencies?

IS THERE A THREAD DEDICATED TO THIS TOPIC??


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## GreenBaron (Oct 21, 2005)

*X800 vs. X850*

I heard that the X800 cards do not support DirectX9 Shader 3.0.  This seems true enough.  But I also heard that X850 cards DO support Shader 3.0.  Is this true?

If it is true, then how does this pertain to making a GTO2 into an X850 XTPE?  If the XTPE can do Shader 3.0, is this because of the R480 chip?  Then what would it take to make the GTO2 run Shader 3.0 --- would this be a reason to use the real XTPE bios?

IF the R480 supports this, do any other chips support Shader 3.0 also?  The R423? -- Thinking of my GTO.

BTW:

Connect3D 12p GTO OC 540/540 - 5610 at 68 degrees 80% FAN.  Athlon 64-3200+ eMachines.  Pretty good for an EMACHINES!!!  I'll flash to 16p later.

-GB


----------



## GreenBaron (Oct 21, 2005)

*Flashing Question*

Everyone is mentioning to use a boot disk (so you are not in Windows XP) to do the BIOS flashing.  This makes sense.

But what about using Safe Mode Command Prompt?  Wouldn't this be just as good?

-GB


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## Ombracol (Oct 21, 2005)

GreenBaron said:
			
		

> I heard that the X800 cards do not support DirectX9 Shader 3.0.  This seems true enough.  But I also heard that X850 cards DO support Shader 3.0.  Is this true?
> 
> If it is true, then how does this pertain to making a GTO2 into an X850 XTPE?  If the XTPE can do Shader 3.0, is this because of the R480 chip?  Then what would it take to make the GTO2 run Shader 3.0 --- would this be a reason to use the real XTPE bios?
> 
> ...


 I believe only the new ati cards x1800 etc support 3.0 shaders and certain nvidia


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 21, 2005)

From gathering information throughout this forum i've came to a conclusion on attempting the mod on a *Connect3D X800 GTO*. First i'll try to see if the fuses match, then get on with the mod....

*Method:*
1)atiflash -s 0 c3dgto.bin (Save old bios) 
2)atiflash -p 0 newbios.bin -newbios (X800 PRO VIVO 16PP Mod bios or GTO MOD [This Site])  
If the second procedure doesn't work i'll do the force command....
3)atiflash -f -p 0 newbios.bin -newbios (Force flash with modded bios)
4)atiflash -f -p 0 c3dgto.bin (Flash back my original bios including the new 4 pipelines)
Reboot....
One thing i would like to make clear is that when i do use the "-newbios" to preserve bios settings the command comes after the bios and why? So that's what i'm going to do, flash it with a Connect3D X800 PRO VIVO 16pp bios modded with the -newbios command and then reflash my old original bios that i backed up before. I'll then reboot and go back into windows and hopefully everything works, if not....
1)reinstall ati drivers "5.10" and hopefully works... 
If not....
Try to clear all my modded/unmodded bios with the specific command listed somewhere i have to find right now and reflash with original Bios. I'll then try Flashrom instead of Atiflash and do the same thing over...What do you guys stink?


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## nick255 (Oct 21, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> From gathering information throughout this forum i've came to a conclusion on attempting the mod on a *Connect3D X800 GTO*. First i'll try to see if the fuses match, then get on with the mod....
> 
> *Method:*
> 1)atiflash -s 0 c3dgto.bin (Save old bios)
> ...



If your going to use the modified c3d bios, use the modified flashrom from the article instead of atiflash or you will end up with a black screen


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## Dynamic (Oct 21, 2005)

nick255,
 That's exactly what i was going to use on the first method. By the way, did you get my private message? Thank you again and in advance....


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## Dynamic (Oct 21, 2005)

When you look at the page #4 on the mod site, now it's updated to:
Success 23 : 1 Failed (last update Oct 21 2005)
On which cards, GTO2 or GTO, or both? 1 fail, oh oh......


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## nick255 (Oct 21, 2005)

im quite interested in this faliure, because either the failed card doesnt have an R423 core or i dunno what.
I find it hard to believe ati started making R423 cores with 4 cut pipes just for connect3ds gto.
The other R423 cores currently are 16 piped apart from the one thats going in the x800 gt which has 8 pipes....  Though if the x800 gts can be modified to 12 pipes then i guess it could be this core turning up in c3d gto cards now


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## Ombracol (Oct 21, 2005)

*help*

i think o lost my 4 pipelines when trying to flash the modified bios with higher oc now i get horrible 3dmark scores even after flashing with the moded bios i'm gonna try a spyware scan and reinstalling drivers but if anyone have any ideas help please


----------



## Vario (Oct 21, 2005)

So do we know for sure if the connect3d x800 gto will unlock?  The sapphire x800gto2 oem went out of my price range.

I am looking at this particular model http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814142052.


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## Ombracol (Oct 21, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> i think o lost my 4 pipelines when trying to flash the modified bios with higher oc now i get horrible 3dmark scores even after flashing with the moded bios i'm gonna try a spyware scan and reinstalling drivers but if anyone have any ideas help please


I am such an idiot i taught i had the gto on optimal performance but i had it on optimal quality


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## mascaras (Oct 21, 2005)

my conect3d x800 GTO arrive next monday , then i will see if  i can make de MOD or not.


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## mascaras (Oct 21, 2005)

by now, who is the one who cant make the MOD (Success 23 : 1 Failed )????Strange


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## Dynamic (Oct 22, 2005)

Yeah, who is the failure, SHOW YOURSELF...


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## mascaras (Oct 22, 2005)

lolololol not for that , only to know what hapened , my GTO arrive monday now i have afraid


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## Dynamic (Oct 22, 2005)

Damn, Newegg just took the OEM Gto2 $199 off it's charts, it's only selling the $279 retail, bastards! Okay, Directron and Zipzoomfly gto2 are out of stock, but they both have very nice prices, $214-$220? Okay, how many C3D Gto and Gto2 mod success owner here in this thread, SHOW YOURSELF!


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## mascaras (Oct 22, 2005)

my conect3d already in store but only come to my house monday , then i post .


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## Trevor (Oct 22, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Damn, Newegg just took the OEM Gto2 $199 off it's charts, it's only selling the $279 retail, bastards! Okay, Directron and Zipzoomfly gto2 are out of stock, but they both have very nice prices, $214-$220? Okay, how many C3D Gto and Gto2 mod success owner here in this thread, SHOW YOURSELF!


It's still there.
Search for "Sapphire X800" and scroll down.  Just out of stock.


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## Ombracol (Oct 22, 2005)

*New record*

So i flashed my card with the x850xtpe bios and did a fresh install of catalyst and since it thinks its a x850 it downloaded overdrive with catalyst a built in overclocker for those of you who did no know and achieved a personal best of 554/614 artifact free the only thing is fan does not start up unless you use atitool and set fan speed but you can exit afterwards and keep the fan running i have to read more into that problem i taught i saw something about the fan issue on previous posts but i like that oc tool in catalyst pretty neat dont need atitool hoging up extra resources


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## DanishDevil (Oct 22, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> So i flashed my card with the x850xtpe bios and did a fresh install of catalyst and since it thinks its a x850 it downloaded overdrive with catalyst a built in overclocker for those of you who did no know and achieved a personal best of 554/614 artifact free the only thing is fan does not start up unless you use atitool and set fan speed but you can exit afterwards and keep the fan running i have to read more into that problem i taught i saw something about the fan issue on previous posts but i like that oc tool in catalyst pretty neat dont need atitool hoging up extra resources



Ever heard of a period?  Not bad results BTW.  I've heard of fan problems with modding these cards to X850XTPEs.  I'm ordering my Zalman V700CU tomorrow.


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## Ombracol (Oct 22, 2005)

lol danish


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## p0lly (Oct 22, 2005)

Ombracol,
do you have a power cable from your PSU to power your card, oe are you using the cable that was supplied with your card? Some people think that the three wire connector that comes with the card may be the culprit vs. the six wire connector that comes with certain PSU's.


----------



## 2BIG4U (Oct 22, 2005)

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=12993#
this is the right card? because i want to order.


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## mascaras (Oct 22, 2005)

yep, its that card .


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## Ombracol (Oct 22, 2005)

p0lly said:
			
		

> Ombracol,
> do you have a power cable from your PSU to power your card, oe are you using the cable that was supplied with your card? Some people think that the three wire connector that comes with the card may be the culprit vs. the six wire connector that comes with certain PSU's.


I'm using the one that came with my card i wanted to get a psu but i have a sony and all there stuff is custom but i got lucky its a 375w psu i am gonna replace the motherboard so i can oc the processor  and maybe memory .I think you can also oc the pci port increase its bandwith but sony wants me to install the motherboard at there service place....yeah right and they said they couldnt guarentee that my software would work wich is crap i should just have built my own pc but all in all i am happy with the case does a great job of keeping everything cool thats why i am holding off on a cooler for my gto cause it takes up to much space and not worth it atleast for me.... Its good if you have a warm case cause i have heard you dont get to much oc out of the coolers.....unless you have a warm case cause its all about ambient temp... I will probably get a cooler when my fan burns out cause i have to keep it at 100% all the time


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 22, 2005)

2BIG4U said:
			
		

> http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=12993#
> this is the right card? because i want to order.



Yep, that's the one.



			
				p0lly said:
			
		

> Ombracol,
> do you have a power cable from your PSU to power your card, oe are you using the cable that was supplied with your card? Some people think that the three wire connector that comes with the card may be the culprit vs. the six wire connector that comes with certain PSU's.



That's what I'm thinking.  I'm gonna order one of those new Enermax Liberties,  Most likely the 680W in case I go Crossfire and Athlon 64 FX soon.  The standard 6-pin PEC power connector comes with 3 12V leads and 3 grounds (just going by the color of the wires here, so sorry if i'm wrong) and the adapter comes with 2 12V leads and 1 ground.



			
				Ombracol said:
			
		

> I think you can also oc the pci port increase its bandwith



I have my PEC Bandwadth at 110MHz vs the original 100MHz.  I'm gonna try bumping it up and see if it aids OCing.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 22, 2005)

Well I called atacom and they dont seem to have any idea when they are gonna get the cards


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 22, 2005)

what games are you guys playing


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## DanishDevil (Oct 22, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Well I called atacom and they dont seem to have any idea when they are gonna get the cards



GL with that man.

I play America's Army and the F.E.A.R. Multiplayer Demo.  I play each at 1600x1200 and get about 45+FPS on medium settings in F.E.A.R. and all settings maxed in AA for about 65+FPS.  I love em both.


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 22, 2005)

yeah i've been playing fear single player is real good the thing that sux is that i have an lcd so everything caps at 60 fps cause i have to enable vsync if i dont i get a splitting screen crts a re real cheap now i might get one of those or maybe save up for a high def you can get some for 800 dollars now


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## p0lly (Oct 22, 2005)

I have the 6 wire cable from my PSU powering my card, but I havn't flashed to XTPE yet because i'm still burning in my card...  i burnt in my old x800pro VIVO over a one week period and noticed a HUGE!!! decrease in temp's that the core and mem were running at.  once i feel that my card can run at those speeds (safely), i'll let everyone know if i experience the same fan problems that others are experiencing.

Ombracol, there is no point in going over 60FPS...  the human eye can't see the difference (you will not notice a playing difference between 60 and 100FPS)...  the ONLY reason that higher FPS is better is because your MIN FPS in a hugh fire fight (or whatever) may be noticed.  EX. 40 FPS (average) is VERY playable as long as it never drops below 40 - which we all know is not the case.  if you turn off Vsync and crank up the AA and AF, that will limit your FPS to under 60...  horizontal tearing will stop, and you don't have to go and dish out that extra $$$.


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 22, 2005)

thanks polly


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 23, 2005)

p0lly said:
			
		

> I have the 6 wire cable from my PSU powering my card, but I havn't flashed to XTPE yet because i'm still burning in my card...  i burnt in my old x800pro VIVO over a one week period and noticed a HUGE!!! decrease in temp's that the core and mem were running at.  once i feel that my card can run at those speeds (safely), i'll let everyone know if i experience the same fan problems that others are experiencing.
> 
> Ombracol, there is no point in going over 60FPS...  the human eye can't see the difference (you will not notice a playing difference between 60 and 100FPS)...  the ONLY reason that higher FPS is better is because your MIN FPS in a hugh fire fight (or whatever) may be noticed.  EX. 40 FPS (average) is VERY playable as long as it never drops below 40 - which we all know is not the case.  if you turn off Vsync and crank up the AA and AF, that will limit your FPS to under 60...  horizontal tearing will stop, and you don't have to go and dish out that extra $$$.



I agree.  I play at 60FPS max on America's Army, and the thing is, the FPS NEVER crosses the 60/65 border.  EVER.  The thing I notice about ATi Cards vs. nVidia Cards is that ATi's Cards have a much more solid framerate.  I had an MSI 6800GT before the X800GTO2, and it got like 120 FPS at times, but it would drop to like 20 in smoke.  In AquaMark 3 with the 6800GT, the smoke would drop it to 20, and the X800GTO2 doesn't go below 45.

Overall, steady FPS above 40-50 is the best you're gonna get (any better doesn't matter).


----------



## Qtax (Oct 23, 2005)

*Dead BIOS link*

Don't know if anyone said this lately but the "original Connect3D X800 GTO bios" link in
_Original, unmodified Bios: Sapphire X800 GTO² | Connect3D X800 GTO_
(in the article) is broken. It should be:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/Connect3D.X800GTO.Samsung20.bin
s/Sapphire/Connect3D/;


----------



## mike_dude_ (Oct 23, 2005)

My Connect3D X800 GTO unlocked to 16p, no problems there,boosted 3dMark05 from 4493 to 5050 ... 
But my card must be the worst overclocker ever.. Max stabel Core 435 and mem 510 with ATITool. Gpu max temp 72C. 
What is limiting my core oc? High temerature? Bad sample? Or   is it something about the powercable that came with the card( read something about it in a previous post)?


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 23, 2005)

*flashing the connect3d gto*

hey guys anyone who is flashing a connect3d x800 gto do this: save your original bios, flash an X800XT bios not an X850xt since that is for the r480 cores the connect3d gto has an r423 core and the x800xt has an r423 core, then flash back your original bios. oh and use atiflash! you dont have to reinstall drivers for it. i flashed mine like 3 weeks ago, its workin fine. followed the flash procedure described above booted into windows ati tools immediately saw 16 pipelines, so did rivatuner, drivers loaded normally! as for the guy who was wondering what was wrong with his overclocking with the connect3d he should know that the memory chips r samsungs 2ns rated at 500mhz so it wont overclock as high as the gto2 who has 1.6ns memory chips rated at 600mhz! the 423core is closer to the 430 core which is an x800xl card. best speed you are gonna get is 520/520 with preferably a third party cooler.oh and by the way i left mine running at the default speeds and im gettin better scores in 3dmark05 than an x800xl i also got mine running 520/520 but it was gettin too hot so if you are gonna overclock make sure you have sufficient cooling. cheers and best of luck!


----------



## mascaras (Oct 23, 2005)

look what score a portuguese user do with conect3d  moded   560/580>>>>  

   -- take that


----------



## nick255 (Oct 23, 2005)

mike_dude_ said:
			
		

> My Connect3D X800 GTO unlocked to 16p, no problems there,boosted 3dMark05 from 4493 to 5050 ...
> But my card must be the worst overclocker ever.. Max stabel Core 435 and mem 510 with ATITool. Gpu max temp 72C.
> What is limiting my core oc? High temerature? Bad sample? Or   is it something about the powercable that came with the card( read something about it in a previous post)?



Temperature certainly limits the overclock you can get with this card, using a waterblock i managed to get the core to 549mhz before it crashed..... the temperature was still low so i think it probably needs more voltage to go higher but im not gonna try a voltmod just yet.

Actually while i was running 3dmark, i didnt notice one of the pipes had kinked, and it crashed with the core at 86c so i guess thats a temperature to avoid!


----------



## mike_dude_ (Oct 23, 2005)

I will get the "Aero Cool Video Magic VM-102" or "Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer 5  ATI REV.2" to get better cooling. But I doubt that I will reach 500 on the core when it's only doing 435 with stock cooling, running the fan at 100%. I kow the C3D uses slower mem, so not so disappointed in that respect, but the gpu clock was a big letdown...
Or does anybody know if better cooling will boost overclocking much? Well, at least the gpu will run cooler and quieter!


----------



## mascaras (Oct 23, 2005)

very strange do you saw the cloks that my  portuguese friend put in his conect3d card '?? 560/580  and its the same card and same memorys that you have .


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 23, 2005)

mike_dude_ said:
			
		

> My Connect3D X800 GTO unlocked to 16p, no problems there,boosted 3dMark05 from 4493 to 5050 ...
> But my card must be the worst overclocker ever.. Max stabel Core 435 and mem 510 with ATITool. Gpu max temp 72C.
> What is limiting my core oc? High temerature? Bad sample? Or   is it something about the powercable that came with the card( read something about it in a previous post)?



ambient temp my friend my gpu never goes above 60 c and my ambient temp in my case is 30 idle 38 full load i had an issue whe i couldnt go higher than 520 540 when my case would be at 40 idle and 48 full load cranked all my fans to 100% got temp inside case  low and now i get 554/614 if you have warm case the air is to warm to cool your gpu so try to get your case temp down not to mention i am using the stock cooler


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 23, 2005)

mike_dude_ said:
			
		

> I will get the "Aero Cool Video Magic VM-102" or "Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer 5  ATI REV.2" to get better cooling. But I doubt that I will reach 500 on the core when it's only doing 435 with stock cooling, running the fan at 100%. I kow the C3D uses slower mem, so not so disappointed in that respect, but the gpu clock was a big letdown...
> Or does anybody know if better cooling will boost overclocking much? Well, at least the gpu will run cooler and quieter!


 aftermarket coolers work great if you cant get your case temps down but if you can keep your case temp low aftermarket cooler will only benefit you by keeping your pc quiet as for oc it will aid very minimal unless like i keep saying you have a hot case. the aftermarket cooler will help bring you case temp down wich will then aid in being able to oc at a higher speed..gpu will always get warm under load its about how effective your able to decipitate that heat and if its warm in your case it wont do that great of a job


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 23, 2005)

560/580?? are you sure he is using a connect3d gto card?!?!?! max memory i could push it was 550 and the core at 465 at that! are you sure he is not using an x800xt overclocked mascaras?!?! unless he is watercooling the cpu and memory chips i dont see how he got that high


----------



## Scenatic (Oct 23, 2005)

Flashed my Connect3D GTO yersterday......could get the card to 531 core and 531 Mem by now. 3D Mark 05 result was 6173 Points. 

Still using the stock cooler but thinking about to get my system watercooled. Let´s see wat time brings us^^


----------



## nick255 (Oct 23, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> 560/580?? are you sure he is using a connect3d gto card?!?!?! max memory i could push it was 550 and the core at 465 at that! are you sure he is not using an x800xt overclocked mascaras?!?! unless he is watercooling the cpu and memory chips i dont see how he got that high



Ild say you would have to put some active coolin on the memory chips of some kind, im not being funny but my memory clocked at 530, the heatsinks i put on them can burn ur fingers!


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 24, 2005)

gto2 279 now at new egg


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 24, 2005)

It seems that as the number of cards get less and less, the price is going up.  Especially at Newegg.


----------



## mascaras (Oct 24, 2005)

VTwedge, yes im sure is a conect3d x800GTO he bought it in same shop  i buy  my x800GTO and his using a zalman vf700 and ramsinks on memorys. And you saw x800XT cause its same core (r423 moded=x800xt) and same  bios, the bios that  you flash conect3d its not the same  bios that you flash GTO2(r480 moded= x850xt)


----------



## RatusNatus (Oct 24, 2005)

My bad...

Cheers


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 24, 2005)

I got a email from ATACOM:



> Thank you for shopping at ATACOM, We are sorry to let you know the item you ordered, “  ATI SAPPHIRE X800GTO2 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E DVI TV-OUT VGA LITE RETAIL  ” is in shortage and there is no ETA at this moment. We will hold the order at this moment, and if you wish to cancel the order, please call us back as soon as possible. Should you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call.



That pisses me off so much, I dont know if I am ever going to get this card


----------



## mascaras (Oct 24, 2005)

buy the conect3D like me, not so expensive(209 euros) and good


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 24, 2005)

it does appear that the the bulk of the Connect3D cards come with the 423 core which is fully moddable.  I have yet to read about one that wasn't (which isn't saying much because I haven't been looking).


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 24, 2005)

Yeah but its not the same! Arghhhhhhhh


----------



## mascaras (Oct 24, 2005)

1  question , to do the MOD just need the flashrom and the  bios moded wright??i see the original bios too , my friend just use the moded bios and flashroom  and works   why its the original bios needed???


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 25, 2005)

i know that 423 modded =x800xt mascaras how do u think i modded my connect3d gto?!?!?!?!?! and i know u use a different bios too thats how i flashed mine.loland u flash your own bios back so u can maintain the memory timings and the vivo functionality to answer your question.


----------



## mascaras (Oct 25, 2005)

tnks


----------



## mascaras (Oct 25, 2005)

but if you flash back again with original bios the card dont stay with   the 12 pipes again????


----------



## mascaras (Oct 25, 2005)

PS:new score of my friend and new cloks  573/600@zalman vf700 >>>  http://img486.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gto70409gf.jpg


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 25, 2005)

For the Connect3d X800 GTO you use the modded bios listed on the site and then reflash your original one that you back up earlier. You have to make sure you use the "-newbios" command when you flash with the mod and not use it when you flash back to your original, right guys? People been saying once you flash with -newbios with the modded and flash back to original w/o -newbios you are suppose to have 16pp instead of 12pp right guys? As of now, i'm waiting for my C3D GTO and that same Zalman your buddy has, so wish me luck when i get it i'll let you guys know what happened, okay.

How did everybody attempt the mod on their C3D GTO, by old or new method.....

Old method
4) after boot, type atiflash -s 0 c3dgto.bin - this will save ur current bios
5) type atiflash -f -p 0 (power color bios filename) -newbios - this will flash the powercolor bios
6) type atiflash -f -p 0 c3dgto.bin - this shall restore the old bios you saved previously
New method
4) after boot, type flashrom -s 0 c3dgto.bin - this will save ur current bios
5) flashrom -f -p 0 (modified c3d bios filename)


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 25, 2005)

VTwedge,
  Flashing back will maintain memory timings and vivo? I thought the timings for the X800XT was pretty much the same, since it uses the Samsung 2.0ns memory modules right? The vivo, i wouldn't know what to do with it, my first vivo card really. What is it for encoding/decoding, better quility picture on DVD? Anyhow i wanted to mention that if you're going to attempt the old method, try to use Flashrom since i've hear using the Atiflash will result in a black screen. Good luck and let the force be with you,


----------



## nick255 (Oct 25, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> VTwedge,
> Flashing back will maintain memory timings and vivo? I thought the timings for the X800XT was pretty much the same, since it uses the Samsung 2.0ns memory modules right? The vivo, i wouldn't know what to do with it, my first vivo card really. What is it for encoding/decoding, better quility picture on DVD? Anyhow i wanted to mention that if you're going to attempt the old method, try to use Flashrom since i've hear using the Atiflash will result in a black screen. Good luck and let the force be with you,



For the old method you really need ati flash as you need the -newbios option for thr 16 pipes. As long as you are flashing the right bios (powercolor x800 xt) then you should be okay.

The new method needs modded flashrom or you will get a black screen!


----------



## blsnelling (Oct 25, 2005)

I read somewhere that the Sapphire X800GTO Fireblade was another moddable card.  Can anyone verify this?


----------



## Karmalicious (Oct 25, 2005)

C3D with modded BIOS. Never bothered changing back. Couldn't see the point. Running:
ASUS A8N-E - AMD Athlo64 3200+ @2,400 - 2x512 Kingston 3200 2.5CAS - C3D X800GTO 256 @520/565 - Seagate Barracuda 120Gb 8Mb 

As you can see, my gfx card is at 520 Core and 565 memory and I use stock cooling. I ran the ATi Tool artifact scan for 15 minutes without any errors. It's about 45 degrees at idle and it hasn't gone over 75 degrees so far. Reached 75 in Black and White 2 and stayed there. Q4 at high settings reaches 64 degrees. 

3dmark05:

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/5627/3dmark050510259hq.jpg

Still working on some tweaking.
I'm very happy. Payed about 187 euro/$220/£125 for it.


----------



## mascaras (Oct 25, 2005)

hi guys my conect3d  just arrive , go instal it  and try make the MOD , then i post if the MOD its OK , wish me luck


----------



## VTwedge (Oct 25, 2005)

used atiflash when i did my flashing 3 weeks ago saved the bios, flashed the powercolor x800xt bios with the newbios option and then flashed my old bios back, atitools immediately saw 16 pipelines after that rivatuner also, no need to reinstall the drivers it worked like a charm


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 25, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> VTwedge,
> Flashing back will maintain memory timings and vivo? I thought the timings for the X800XT was pretty much the same, since it uses the Samsung 2.0ns memory modules right? The vivo, i wouldn't know what to do with it, my first vivo card really. What is it for encoding/decoding, better quility picture on DVD? Anyhow i wanted to mention that if you're going to attempt the old method, try to use Flashrom since i've hear using the Atiflash will result in a black screen. Good luck and let the force be with you,


Black screen when flashing with atiflash?  Nah, I've never seen that and I've flashed several times each on 3 different types of cards using atiflash and on two of them using different bioses to attempt to unlock pipelines.  The only thing that causes that is an incompatible bios and I have yet to find an X8xx series bios that is incompatible with cards having R480 chips.  I've tried X800 GT, X800 XL, X800 XT (unsure if I tried this one, actually), X850 XT, and X850 XT PE; bioses from all those seem to work just fine on R480 chips.  I'm not sure if it works the other way around, though; and from what I've heard, it probably doesn't (using bioses for cards with R480 chips on cards with R423 chips).  It seems that the R480 may be backward compatible with R423 and R430.


----------



## mascaras (Oct 25, 2005)

hi guys , my card unlock the 16 pipes >>> 

    . I can use outlook express to contact you admin ,so here  stay my results.PS: i dindt flash back with original bios only flash with powercoçor x800xt bios and work fine.


----------



## blsnelling (Oct 25, 2005)

I'm still trying to figure out the Fireblade version.  Is it indeed R480 and can the pipelines be activated?  Some say it can, others say it can't.  Who's tried it?


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 25, 2005)

blsnelling said:
			
		

> I'm still trying to figure out the Fireblade version.  Is it indeed R480 and can the pipelines be activated?  Some say it can, others say it can't.  Who's tried it?



Yeah I have heard both sides as well, I think you just have to get lucky. Because ATACOM doesnt have my x800gto2 I am prolly gonna get the fireblade


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 25, 2005)

Okay just had a successful mod on the Connect3D X800 GTO going from 12pp to 16pp. I had it overclocked at core/mem 540/575 stable on 12pp, but after the mod i had to bring the memory down 10mhz from 575 to 565, not sure. Another thing, i just had my first freeze on this pc, something to do with the gto. I'll do further testing, wish me luck.


----------



## mongoled (Oct 25, 2005)

Hi peeps,

I got my Connect3D GTO today also, Ive unlocked the pipes using the instructions from the first post of this thread. Currently running atitool scanning for artifects at 565/565. After playing arnd with this card for a few hrs I feel this is the max stable clocks I can run on this card 24/7 with stock cooling. All ive done is replace the default paste with AS5, Load temp right now with atitool is 74C.

Ive seen posting abt modding the card to X800XT, wht gain is their from doing this? I briefly flashed to an original ATI X800XT bios using the flashrom link from the first page but didnt see a difference in score using 3DMark05 compared to the modified Connect3D bios. The card was detected as a X800XT, no improvements in overclock either.

I ended up flashing back to the Connect3D mod bios as i felt this clocked better. Im hoping for some good results when i put my WB onto this card, the memory chips are scorching, will be putting ram sinks on also, dont think i have a chance getting the card stable at 600/600, not with default voltages at least.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 25, 2005)

mongoled said:
			
		

> Hi peeps,
> 
> I got my Connect3D GTO today also, Ive unlocked the pipes using the instructions from the first post of this thread. Currently running atitool scanning for artifects at 565/565. After playing arnd with this card for a few hrs I feel this is the max stable clocks I can run on this card 24/7 with stock cooling. All ive done is replace the default paste with AS5, Load temp right now with atitool is 74C.
> 
> ...



74C is VERY hot.  Although the card may be running stable, it is struggling nonetheless.  With temps like that, I bet that card won't last a year on that frequency.  Get some aftermarket cooling on that.  I've got mine at 522/618 running max 59C on stock cooling.  My card produces artifacts at any higher speeds, and I'm going Zalman V700-CULED in a week or so.


----------



## mascaras (Oct 25, 2005)

hi guys , i put my old wc  block  innovatek graph-o-matic  of my old 6600gt and its ok 30c idle/39 full load >>>


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 26, 2005)

How do you go back to 12pp on the C3D GTO's? I wanted to test it at stock 12pp 400/490 since i'm having freezes. I'm assuming this is due to my board in somehow since nobody has any freezing/lockup's with this mod?

I'm thinking....

I have my original backup bios c3dgto.bin
2)Atiflash -f -p 0 c3dgto.bin -newbios
3)Atiflash -f -p 0 c3dgto.bin w/o -newbios

Is that how you can have it back to the settings/bios that it came with from the box?


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 26, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> How do you go back to 12pp on the C3D GTO's? I wanted to test it at stock 12pp 400/490 since i'm having freezes. I'm assuming this is due to my board in somehow since nobody has any freezing/lockup's with this mod?
> 
> I'm thinking....
> 
> ...


No, it's simpler than that.  You said the filename is c3dgto.bin, so the command would be this:

atiflash -f -p 0 c3dgto.bin -newbios

That's all there is to it.  No need for another flash, since you are going back to your original.  I tried it out yesterday and it got my card back to its original 12 pipelines.


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 26, 2005)

Damn dudes, i think there is something wrong with my motherboard and this C3D GTO card. Keep getting freezes and lock-ups at anytime and anywhere. I just flashed from 1.20 to 1.30 for my ASRock 939Dual-Sata2 and went back to the original bios for my C3D GTO card @12pp 400/490 to see if i keep getting freezes again. Also did any of you use the PCI-E power cable that came with the box or did you use your own PCI-E from your PSU? I'm using my OCZ 520 Modstream connector instead of the one in the box, what's yellow and black wires? Why only two? Also there is another 4pin power connector on the card i believe, but the fan is only using the 2pin? I don't know, but this is sure pissing me off. I got some good scores too...wanna see...

GTO12PP 400/490
3Dmark03:10123
3Dmark05:4566
GTO16PP 540/565
3Dmark03:13017
3Dmark05:6389 <--- I have my rig overclocked, so that's why....

3000+ Venice E3 @270X9=2430 1.45V Memory: (166) @221mhz 2225-1t 3.4v w/ocz booster
PCI-E ASYNC @100 CPU-NB:600

Oh almost forgot, thank you so much "SHADOW" for helping me out with this, you're very kind.


----------



## jeffreyyan (Oct 26, 2005)

Hey, should be getting my C3D X800GTO tomorrow.  Is it possible to not plug in the PCIe power connector in the card and use my ASUS A8N-SLI's EZplug power plug instead?


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 26, 2005)

jeffreyyan,
 The one that comes with the GTO box has only two wires compared to the one from PSU which is all 6 wires. I don't know how, but i'm not using the one that comes with the box, can't understand why they would send that. The GTO2 from Saphirre, does it come with a two wire PCI-E cable also, anyone?


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 26, 2005)

Anyone have a good price on the X800GTO2?


----------



## p0lly (Oct 26, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> jeffreyyan,
> The one that comes with the GTO box has only two wires compared to the one from PSU which is all 6 wires. I don't know how, but i'm not using the one that comes with the box, can't understand why they would send that. The GTO2 from Saphirre, does it come with a two wire PCI-E cable also, anyone?


GTO2 comes with a 3 cable connector - 2 black, one yellow.


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 26, 2005)

p0lly,
 I wonder why these cases, is there a particular reason why these PCI-E should be running not fully power managable like others?


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 26, 2005)

Well ZZF had them in stock for less than 30min then went out again


----------



## mascaras (Oct 26, 2005)

i use the cable that cames with box i put the power cable  in card then to the hard drive and then to the psu , but wy wont work with you guys=?????


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 26, 2005)

I think the reason why this card "Connect3D X800GTO" is not working for me is because of the fact that my mother board might have an issue with the mod. It's working totally fine right now, as least with 12pp 560/580 3DMark05:5915 which is pretty damn good i suppose, right? If i mod it again and still gives me freezes and lockups i'll just leave it at 12pp but try to bring the core/memory higher then 560/580 with the Zalman VF700-CU which is on its way. I did flash my motherboard with the latest bios "1.30" and i haven't modded my card back to 16pp since i'm doing further testing at the moment. 


AMD64 3000+ Venice E3 270x9=2.43g 1.45v 
OCZ EL DDR400 (Set to DDR333) @221mhz 2225-1t 3.4v OCZ Booster
ASRock 939Dual-Sata2 Bios:1.30
Connect3D X800 GTO @12pp 560/580 (freezing issue @16pp)
Sound Blaster Audigy Gamer w/Beta Drivers
OCZ 520 Modstream


----------



## mascaras (Oct 26, 2005)

Dynamic ,but where you have freezes and lockups , like playing????


----------



## Karmalicious (Oct 26, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> 74C is VERY hot.  Although the card may be running stable, it is struggling nonetheless.  With temps like that, I bet that card won't last a year on that frequency.  Get some aftermarket cooling on that.  I've got mine at 522/618 running max 59C on stock cooling.  My card produces artifacts at any higher speeds, and I'm going Zalman V700-CULED in a week or so.



How hot is ok then? ATi tool doesn't even power up the fan to 100% until you hit 90 and I assume W1zzard knows what he's doing? 74C seems a bit hot compared to i.e a CPU which normally shuts down at those temps. So how hot can we have this thing be and still be fine?


----------



## Maksim (Oct 26, 2005)

Im not trying to beat a dead horse but, Ive looked throught the whole thread..lol, anyhow i just ordered the Sapphire X800 GTO (the agp version) from newegg, im constrained on cash right now and it seemed to be the best value per price otherwise i would have gone for the 6800 series, now seeing from some posts earlier in the thread, some people have also ordered the Sapphire X800 GTO (AGP version) and said they were going to attempt to unlock the 4 pipelines, has anyone had any luck? Also where are people getting their Connect 3D GTO's from? Im considering possibly sending back the Sapphire card if it is unlockable and getting the C3D card instead but i would like to order it from a site thats trustable, since ive been using newegg for a while now and i can't find a C3D on there. And a final question, With my rig's spec's below im worried that my CPU might be my bottleneck in games, im not having any issues with my current Radeon 9800 Pro but im concerned that with such games as F.E.A.R and X3 Reunion might shaft my CPU.


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 26, 2005)

Karmalicious said:
			
		

> How hot is ok then? ATi tool doesn't even power up the fan to 100% until you hit 90 and I assume W1zzard knows what he's doing? 74C seems a bit hot compared to i.e a CPU which normally shuts down at those temps. So how hot can we have this thing be and still be fine?


first rule of any computer component is to keep as cool as posible, not only will it save your product might also see performance gains .I oc my gto2 to 554 614 and keep the fan always at 100% or have it go to 100% when it reaches 50 my card never goes over 60c idle is 34 it seems your case is also warm cause ambient temp affects performance too. Anything over 65 is too hot even 60 is hot remember heat is your enemy i would hate to ask how hot your cpu is? How hot is it ?  and case i keep my case at 30idle 41 under load i had an issue where i had my fans set half way and my case was warmer than that and i wasnt able to oc past 540 540 so try to keep it cool and might see a big improvement ....


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 26, 2005)

Maksim said:
			
		

> Im not trying to beat a dead horse but, Ive looked throught the whole thread..lol, anyhow i just ordered the Sapphire X800 GTO (the agp version) from newegg, im constrained on cash right now and it seemed to be the best value per price otherwise i would have gone for the 6800 series, now seeing from some posts earlier in the thread, some people have also ordered the Sapphire X800 GTO (AGP version) and said they were going to attempt to unlock the 4 pipelines, has anyone had any luck? Also where are people getting their Connect 3D GTO's from? Im considering possibly sending back the Sapphire card if it is unlockable and getting the C3D card instead but i would like to order it from a site thats trustable, since ive been using newegg for a while now and i can't find a C3D on there. And a final question, With my rig's spec's below im worried that my CPU might be my bottleneck in games, im not having any issues with my current Radeon 9800 Pro but im concerned that with such games as F.E.A.R and X3 Reunion might shaft my CPU.


I have fear it is a system hog  my gto2 does a good job with this game but you can see it strugle at maximum  setting you have to fine tune the setting  but this game was meant for a 2 card setup if you want to enjoy it at maximum quality with no hick up. but it is still a great game and messing with the setting for about 20 mins i found a good balance i still drop to about 25fps durring some gunplay but i average about 60fps it has a built in benchmark wich is pretty cool


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 26, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> first rule of any computer component is to keep as cool as posible, not only will it save your product might also see performance gains .I oc my gto2 to 554 614 and keep the fan always at 100% or have it go to 100% when it reaches 50 my card never goes over 60c idle is 34 it seems your case is also warm cause ambient temp affects performance too. Anything over 65 is too hot even 60 is hot remember heat is your enemy i would hate to ask how hot your cpu is? How hot is it ?  and case i keep my case at 30idle 41 under load i had an issue where i had my fans set half way and my case was warmer than that and i wasnt able to oc past 540 540 so try to keep it cool and might see a big improvement ....



DAMN that's like reading my own handwriting.  You don't use periods, and I think it's a waste of space to put spaces in between my words . . .

Anyway, I completely agree.  The cooler, the better.  It will yield higher overclocks, extend the life of yokur components, and give you some sweet bragging rights too!

I have my card running at the same idle and load temps as you, and I manually shut down my comp if the GPU gets over 60C.  Now if I had my Zalman, I wouldn't worry, but on this stock cooler, I wouldn't trust it over 60C.


----------



## mascaras (Oct 26, 2005)

hi guys, im getting problems entering in windows , sometimes dont restart and sometimes i get errors in windows at restart , do you guys think it could be because of the MOD or maybe drivers conflits???


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 26, 2005)

mascaras said:
			
		

> hi guys, im getting problems entering in windows , sometimes dont restart and sometimes i get errors in windows at restart , do you guys think it could be because of the MOD or maybe drivers conflits???



It's possible.  If your card is OCed, set it to stock for now.  I'll wait for a second opinion on the bios.  How are your temps?  What it sounds like to me is either temps or too much OC.


----------



## mascaras (Oct 26, 2005)

it was drivers conflits with TV card , but i change bios to the powercolor x800xt bios and clocks change too to 500/500(stock clocks of X800XT) , i have water cooling the card with 500/500 have 31c idle and 41 full.


----------



## RatusNatus (Oct 26, 2005)

mascaras said:
			
		

> hi guys, im getting problems entering in windows , sometimes dont restart and sometimes i get errors in windows at restart , do you guys think it could be because of the MOD or maybe drivers conflits???



Looks like power issue. Try a low OC.

hummm, newegg just raise the price of a GTO2 oem...


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 26, 2005)

Maksim said:
			
		

> Im not trying to beat a dead horse but, Ive looked throught the whole thread..lol, anyhow i just ordered the Sapphire X800 GTO (the agp version) from newegg, im constrained on cash right now and it seemed to be the best value per price otherwise i would have gone for the 6800 series, now seeing from some posts earlier in the thread, some people have also ordered the Sapphire X800 GTO (AGP version) and said they were going to attempt to unlock the 4 pipelines, has anyone had any luck? Also where are people getting their Connect 3D GTO's from? Im considering possibly sending back the Sapphire card if it is unlockable and getting the C3D card instead but i would like to order it from a site thats trustable, since ive been using newegg for a while now and i can't find a C3D on there. And a final question, With my rig's spec's below im worried that my CPU might be my bottleneck in games, im not having any issues with my current Radeon 9800 Pro but im concerned that with such games as F.E.A.R and X3 Reunion might shaft my CPU.



I got my Connect3D X800GTO from Monarchcomputers.com. They don't charge tax which is so freaking cool, i live in Cali, and they're located in Georgia. Try them, also i think they even have the Sapphire GTO available now too.


----------



## Karmalicious (Oct 26, 2005)

Took you guys' advice and got me a Zalman v700-cu. Now I got to oc to 570/570 and temperature never exceeds 65 degrees. 38 idle. I guess my case sucks since it gets 43 degrees in there on load.

New 3dmark05 score also. Not as impresseive as I would like considering I raised the core 50 Mhz.

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5954/200510263kb.jpg

Still happy about everything though.


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 26, 2005)

Ombracol,
    Check out this F.E.A.R tweak by this dude, it might help.....

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/5218/fear_tweak_guide_and_benchmarks/index.html


----------



## JimmyHa (Oct 26, 2005)

Yall getting some sweet temps w/ the zalman.  Mine runs hot, but its fast.  

Case temp 37c idle / 41 c load
Stock cooling
400/490 48c idle / 71c load 16pipe
551/551 48c idle / 74c load
591/585 48c idle / 78c load
599/565 49c idle / 81c load

I may put some AS5 on stock heatsink.  Guess I stay 551/551 w/ stock for now.  Imagine a zalman would get me 591/585 easy but $25! LOL.  Should I pony up the $25 for a zalman?


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 26, 2005)

JimmyHa said:
			
		

> Yall getting some sweet temps w/ the zalman.  Mine runs hot, but its fast.
> 
> Case temp 37c idle / 41 c load
> Stock cooling
> ...




y0 you need to go into the ATI TOOL and set your fan to 100% because those temps are pretty damn hot dude.


----------



## Karmalicious (Oct 26, 2005)

According to people here you should. Having 70+ degrees seems to be to much. I got my temp down 10 degrees and also I managed to raise the core 50Mhz so I would say it's well worth it. If you can spend 10% extra on your card to keep your card alive for a bit longer I would say it's even more worth it. To summarize: It's worth it.


----------



## JimmyHa (Oct 26, 2005)

How do I set it to 100% in atitool? I am using 0.24, not the beta.  Can I set 100% only above certain temp, say 70c.  Will not tolerate any noise at idle.  

Won't an aftermarket cooler void my warranty? J/K  
I gonna try the el cheapo route w/ some AS5, old heatsinks and a few rubber bands.  
Failing that which cooler to choose.  Zalman v700-cu or AC Silencer 5?


----------



## mongoled (Oct 26, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> 74C is VERY hot.  Although the card may be running stable, it is struggling nonetheless.  With temps like that, I bet that card won't last a year on that frequency.  Get some aftermarket cooling on that.  I've got mine at 522/618 running max 59C on stock cooling.  My card produces artifacts at any higher speeds, and I'm going Zalman V700-CULED in a week or so.


Hello,

I would agree tht the card is hot, not something I particulary like, but I wouldnt say it is a problem to the same extent as yourself. The X800XL i had before this card would run at the same temperatures under load. Its quite warm where I am ambient temps in the upper 20's.

Anyhow temps are not a problem anymore, ive just stuck my Maze4 GPU block onto the core and load temps are now 45C . I can run 3DMark05 at 590mhz, ati tool blacks out at 593mhz, im going to play some Quake4 at 585/565 to see how stable thhe card is. Im sure this core has 640+mhz in it with some volt mods, 25mhz more out of cooling the core isnt too shabby. I havnt got round to measuring the vGPU yet, it would be nice if the core was only running with 1.3v, who knows . I dont think the mem will clock too much higher, ive got the ramsinks on now, they are scorching hot  im a bit scared upped the mem voltage. Im not really benching anymore, well not for really high scores, so 620/565 will do me until i decide to upgrade my GFX card again. With anyluck ati will have just the card for us 

hehehheee


----------



## mascaras (Oct 26, 2005)

problme solved t was drivers conflits thnks


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 26, 2005)

JimmyHa said:
			
		

> How do I set it to 100% in atitool? I am using 0.24, not the beta.  Can I set 100% only above certain temp, say 70c.  Will not tolerate any noise at idle.
> 
> Won't an aftermarket cooler void my warranty? J/K
> I gonna try the el cheapo route w/ some AS5, old heatsinks and a few rubber bands.
> Failing that which cooler to choose.  Zalman v700-cu or AC Silencer 5?



RUBBER BANDS??? Oh man you're gonna fry your core.  TRUST ME get the VF700-Cu.  Here's the link:

http://xoxide.com/zalman-vf700culed-vga-cooler.html

$28.99 for the cooler and VERY well performing ramsinks.  I found out why these RamSinks work well: No, they aren't copper, but the distance from the thermal tape to the fins is so small, that it works better than copper.

A few words on copper vs. aluminum:

Copper conducts and transfers heat faster from a GPU to the heatsink.

Aluminum conducts slower, but radiates heat into the air faster than copper.

Therefore, thin aluminum base and well-designed fins: better than copper performance.  That's why ThermalRight uses nickel plated copper bases, copper heatpipes, and aluminum radiators.


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 27, 2005)

To set your fan speed to 100%

1)Open ATI TOOL
2)Settings
3)Fan Controls at the top tab
4)Click the "Override fan speeds" option
4)choose "Fixed Percentage" and set it to "100%" which should already be there when you
click fixed percentage, if not type it in then hit the APPLY at the bottom left, if you don't nothing wil happen okay...remember only use the 100% fan speed when you do benchmarks or play games, if you're just browsing around on the web, doing a word app no need for the cooler to run that fast. And please don't use a rubber band, you crazy mofo!


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 27, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> And please don't use a rubber band, you crazy mofo!



ROFL I agree.  If you did, this would be me >< and this you.


----------



## thetoad30 (Oct 27, 2005)

Hello,

Just installed my GTO2 card today, did the bios flash, and I am having major problems.

I can't get my card to run stable above the default speeds. Mem speeds are fine at 590.

However, the core heats up to 70C even at 400 speeds. I have the Zalman cooler on it with some AS5 so I'm not sure why this thing is running so hot.

I think this is why I can't get it to OC... but even if I let ATI Tool try to find the max OC it will crash above 460 if the core temp hits 75C. What's going on here? Bad BIOS flash? Bad card?

Any help is appreciated.


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 27, 2005)

thetoad30,
 First off, give us your procedure on how you flashed the bios in steps? You did get the Sapphire X800GTO2 right? What's the RPM on your Zalman fan read at? Does it come with a control switch from silent to high? How did you use the Artic Silver 5 on your GPU core anyhow? So i'm assuming you did see your 16pp in ATI TOOL .24 right? How did the memory sinks work out for you? Also give us your complete system specs too, what CPU/RAM/MOTHERBOARD/DRIVERS USED FOR EACH ONE and finally what kind of case do you have and how many fans and where are the fans, example: how many intakes/exhausts?


----------



## JimmyHa (Oct 27, 2005)

@Dynamic Thxs for help w/ fan control.  That got me over 600mhz on core w/ 100% fan speed. It even idles at 42c but hella LOUD.

@DanishDevil  U sold me on the Zalman vf-700-Cu.  Sounds like a quality product and u got good results w/ it.  Gonna grab a zalman soon.

@both  Rubber bands rox. LOL  

I used rubber bands to make my rendition verite v2100 hella fast w/ a pentium heatsink rubberbanded on.  Used same trick to attach backside junker heatsink on celery 300A@450 to get 504mhz.  Celery got too hot and broke my rubberbands.  She never did 504mhz again, but I got smart and used some chic's ponytail hair bands.  Given the speeds and heat of the GTO, I'll be forced to find another chic's ponytail hair bands.


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 27, 2005)

JimmyHa,
 I'm glad that worked out for you. 
@Whoever reading this...
 What motherboard and PSU are you running...need to know this, please?
Plus is your system overclocked and how far up is your C3D GTO with pipelines and core/memory?


----------



## Karmalicious (Oct 27, 2005)

My complete Specs are:
ASUS A8N-E - AMD Athlo64 3200+ @2,400 (200x10) - 2x512 Shit memory (2.5 4-4-7, set to 166 and then clocked to 200)- C3D X800GTO 256 16p @570/570 (Core/Mem) and I have replaced the cooler with a Zalman VF700-CU. Temp @ Core gets to 65 degrees but never higher. Temp in case gets to 43 degrees. Before changing cooler I Couldn't get the Core past 520 without artifacts and the temp was getting to 75 degrees.

Hope this helps. And here are my 3dmark05 scores both with 16 pipes:

Before changing Cooler on the card and running it at 520/565 and keeping temp at max 75
http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/5627/3dmark050510259hq.jpg

After changing cooler and running it at 570/570 and keeping temp at max 65
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5954/200510263kb.jpg


----------



## thetoad30 (Oct 27, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> thetoad30,
> First off, give us your procedure on how you flashed the bios in steps? You did get the Sapphire X800GTO2 right? What's the RPM on your Zalman fan read at? Does it come with a control switch from silent to high? How did you use the Artic Silver 5 on your GPU core anyhow? So i'm assuming you did see your 16pp in ATI TOOL .24 right? How did the memory sinks work out for you? Also give us your complete system specs too, what CPU/RAM/MOTHERBOARD/DRIVERS USED FOR EACH ONE and finally what kind of case do you have and how many fans and where are the fans, example: how many intakes/exhausts?



Ok here goes.

The procedure I used was flawed at first. Instead of using the flashmod.exe, I used atiflash.exe. No problem, it just didn't update my pipelines.

After getting to the 16 pipelines as confirmed in ATI Tool, I tried both the "unlocked" GTO2 Bios and my original bios. Both were still at the 16 pipelines.

When I was in 12 pipelines, I got an OC on the core dependent on when ATI Tool would overheat the GPU. The highest I ever got was around 475. Yup, that's right, a measly 75MHZ oc. The memory, however, was rock-solid at 590.

I have the Antec P180 case with excellent ventillation, my CPU rarely hits above 55 and its a Prescott 3.4 GHz.

I have a Seasonic S12-500 PSU, with dedicated power for the video card.

I am using an Asus P5AD2-E Premium (925XE) all at stock (put it back so I could flash reliably). I haven't moved it since then.

I am running 1.5 GB of 667 DDRII memory at a 600 MHz clock (default for stock clocked FSB).

My fans are 2 Nexus with intake on the top, exaughst on the rear, and an Antec Tricool as intake in the front.

I DID have the side of the case off while testing because I was having problems, so I know the temp was around 74F in my room. Plenty cool. The Zalman fan was at first running in slow speed, but I soon changed that to full speed so I could find out if heat was the problem. It didn't seem to be. I would get random lockups at 65, and sometimes even as low as 54. The card just locked the system and needed a hard reboot.

I played COD2 tonight with the card in stock GPU/590 mem, and barely got above 60 FPS in 800x600 mode with details set to normal/low. No AA or AF.

So, here I am, wondering WTF Mates. I got the card hoping to get XT PE speeds, and would even be happy with an XT speed at this point. I did send an email back to my place of purchase telling them that I think the card might be faulty. When it runs that hot at full load, something has to be wrong, especially with the Zalman. My stock cooler fared no better, either.

My AS5 install was just like I have done with previous CPU/GPU's, not too much, but enough to cover the core and create contact.

Other then that, I don't know what else to say. I even reapplied the AS5 thinking I could have done something wrong, but no go.

The RAM heatsinks SUCK, but once on they seem to do the job. I had to bend 2 flanges of one of the HS to fit onto the memory under the mounting bracket on the back of the card, but that won't hurt the thing.

Oh yeah, and I am using Catalyst 5.10 drivers.

Any clues now? Please? I'm thinking that either I got the "end of the line" on the 480 GPU, or I just got a "bad" one. I'm hoping like hell that I just got a bad one and I can get a cross-ship with a much better card.

One more question: How do I tell that its definately a GTO2 card and not a GTO? I know that by being able to mod it should "tell" me, but the sticker on the card says its just a regular one, where the box says GTO2. Is that perhaps a problem?

Thank you for all your help.


----------



## Maksim (Oct 27, 2005)

You think you could post a pic of the card, specifically the heat sink? On mine it says GTO, i think what might have happened was that the GTO2 got swapped out of the box and you got a vanilla GTO, but at the same time i have not heard any success with modding a vanilla GTO to 16 pipes, im to scared to try mine..lol. Or you might have a GTO2 just didnt look close enough on it. When looking at the heat sink and fan it should say GTO witha teeny tiny little # 2 next to it.


----------



## thetoad30 (Oct 27, 2005)

Yes, the heatsink does say it with the little 2. I was talking about the sticker on the back of the card. It doesn't have the 2 in it, but on the box, the barcode does say it with the 2. I'm pretty sure its a GTO2 as the core is a 480, I saw it with my own eyes. Then again, I guess so is the GTO.

Either way, the part numbers on the card match the box. If that means anything.


----------



## Maksim (Oct 27, 2005)

Lol..then im 99.9% sure its a GTO2.. 

Btw anyone any luck with the regular GTO getting unlocked to 16 pipes? Im keeping my fingers crosssed that maybe its unlockable...


----------



## Ebola (Oct 27, 2005)

Even if my stock frequencies were a bit disapointing (540/615), the raise after moding/massive cooling is impressive, about 150 MHz one the VPU and 15MHz on the VRam (less hot due to separated cooling, still stock voltage)

I was eared that GT2/GT3 get a lot of benefit when used with 1GB L2 CPU, gonna try soon with a CABNE. May be games (what i really look after) will be boosted as well

XS's X850 timings rox


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 27, 2005)

Ebola said:
			
		

> Even if my stock frequencies were a bit disapointing (540/615), the raise after moding/massive cooling is impressive, about 150 MHz one the VPU and 15MHz on the VRam (less hot due to separated cooling, still stock voltage)
> 
> I was eared that GT2/GT3 get a lot of benefit when used with 1GB L2 CPU, gonna try soon with a CABNE. May be games (what i really look after) will be boosted as well
> 
> ...


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 27, 2005)

Now the memory timings you see above are for the GTO2 from Sapphire using 1.6ns, so don't think you can be cool and use it to screw up your memory on your GTO. I'm sort of sure about this, if someone else wants to confirm, i'll be very happy to listen. Okay so far i got my C3d GTO @16pp 520/520 without any problems for 9hrs now. This is a on going issue with the "ASRock 939Dual-Sata2" board, because i'm pretty damn sure every C3D GTO would mod fine, but not sure what speeds it can hit.

3DMark05:5927 
I had to completely set my rig to default speeds only memory @200 sync with cpu freq. and timings 2225-1t 3.0v and that's what i get with the GTO so far. I'm testing for problems still and my cooler should be here today...soon....


----------



## Ebola (Oct 27, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Now the memory timings you see above are for the GTO2 from Sapphire using 1.6ns, so don't think you can be cool and use it to screw up your memory on your GTO. I'm sort of sure about this, if someone else wants to confirm, i'll be very happy to listen. Okay so far i got my C3d GTO @16pp 520/520 without any problems for 9hrs now. This is a on going issue with the "ASRock 939Dual-Sata2" board, because i'm pretty damn sure every C3D GTO would mod fine, but not sure what speeds it can hit.
> 
> 3DMark05:5927
> I had to completely set my rig to default speeds only memory @200 sync with cpu freq. and timings 2225-1t 3.0v and that's what i get with the GTO so far. I'm testing for problems still and my cooler should be here today...soon....


Indeed those timings are for 1.6ns GDDR3 not for 2.0ns from others


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## mascaras (Oct 27, 2005)

ok i make my  1run in 3dmark 2005 only with MOD to 16 pipes  without change cloks only the MOD (stock clocks after MOD automaticly change to 500/500 with x800xt bios) >>>


----------



## jeffreyyan (Oct 27, 2005)

I just got my C3D GTO card and successfully modded it to 16p.  Haven't tried overclocking yet, but it looks as if temps range from about 40 idle to about 65 on load.

3Dmark03 score increased about +1000 after modding to 16p.

Just if anyone is interested, I followed the exact instructions given by techpowerup.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 27, 2005)

So is Aluminum or Copper better for cooling?

This:
Copper
OR
This:
Aluminum &  Copper


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 27, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> JimmyHa,
> I'm glad that worked out for you.
> @Whoever reading this...
> What motherboard and PSU are you running...need to know this, please?
> Plus is your system overclocked and how far up is your C3D GTO with pipelines and core/memory?



Specs in the sig vvv


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 27, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> So is Aluminum or Copper better for cooling?
> 
> This:
> Copper
> ...



Copper by no doubt.  For cooling a GPU, the most important thing to do it to get the heat away from the core.  Therefore, copper works best.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 27, 2005)

JimmyHa said:
			
		

> @DanishDevil  U sold me on the Zalman vf-700-Cu.  Sounds like a quality product and u got good results w/ it.  Gonna grab a zalman soon.
> 
> @both  Rubber bands rox. LOL
> 
> I used rubber bands to make my rendition verite v2100 hella fast w/ a pentium heatsink rubberbanded on.  Used same trick to attach backside junker heatsink on celery 300A@450 to get 504mhz.  Celery got too hot and broke my rubberbands.  She never did 504mhz again, but I got smart and used some chic's ponytail hair bands.  Given the speeds and heat of the GTO, I'll be forced to find another chic's ponytail hair bands.



I haven't gotten the ZALMAN yet, 522/618 is on stock cooling (my case temps are the same as ambient room temps because my computer is a friggin icebox).  I'll be sure to post how much the ZALMAN helps though.  Glad to hear about the Zalman, not so glad to hear about those rubber bands . . . BTW, why the hell would it be so hard to get a hair band?  I'm friends with like 200 chicks at my school that would be glad 2 gimme one


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 28, 2005)

I am gonna go for the Ati Silencer 5 (rev2) as soon as my freaking card comes in


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## mascaras (Oct 28, 2005)

nothing its better than WC , 30c idle 37 load    with a 30 dolars water block and 4 ramsinks of zalman and its ok  with default clocks (500/500), wait more time and put a water sistem in you computer, with  150 dolars you can a   good  kit wc.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 28, 2005)

I dont have 150 and once I do it wont go to my comp


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## DanishDevil (Oct 28, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> I am gonna go for the Ati Silencer 5 (rev2) as soon as my freaking card comes in



Why?  The Zalman will outperform it in EVERY aspect but ambient temperature.


----------



## kotetu (Oct 28, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Yeah I have heard both sides as well, I think you just have to get lucky. Because ATACOM doesnt have my x800gto2 I am prolly gonna get the fireblade



I ordered from Allstarshop on the 24th and the card arrived today.  Cost me $286US though. >_<


Oh well!  With luck it will perform like it's $500 brother. ^__^


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 28, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> Why?  The Zalman will outperform it in EVERY aspect but ambient temperature.



Because it pumps hot out OUT of the case thats kind of important especially with a hot dell


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 28, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Because it pumps hot out OUT of the case thats kind of important especially with a hot dell



Gotcha.  With my computer, ambient temperature isn't a problem.  I have a ThermalTake Armor, and . . . well, let's just let these picture speak for themselves.

http://www.nbpdexplorers.com/DANISH/TechPowerUp Pics/Comp Pix/

So hey, for me the Zalman is the best option.  GL with the Arctic Silencer, and be sure to let us know how the experience works out for ya.


----------



## Excalibur800GTO (Oct 28, 2005)

*Directions for trying a new BIOS on X800GTO*

Hi Guys,

Is it possible to try flashing other X800 GTO cards with modified BIOS? I am thinking of trying it on HIS Excalibur X800GTO ICEQ II card. It has R480 core and comes with a better cooler and can be overclocked.

Any suggestions about what BIOS I shall try?

Cheers

AP


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 28, 2005)

Find out the speed on the memory and I'll tell ya (1.6ns, 2.0ns, etc).  This will tell you what the card is capable of reaching memorywise, and what other card it is closest to.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 28, 2005)

I have done some research, and I can't find out what type of memory that is.  3DGameMan got it up to 515/575 if memory serves me right.  That's a little under what I'm running.  Of course, he didn't try the pixel pipeline mod.

My suggestion is: If you would be happy with that HIS card with 12 pipes, then go ahead and get it.  Be sure to back up the old BIOS, and try the mod.  I would try it with the X800GTO2 BIOS (R480 Core).  Good luck to ya.  Be sure to let us know how it went!


----------



## mascaras (Oct 28, 2005)

the HIS card have 1.6ns memorys for me its de best GTO card (with no MOD) , already have a UV vga silencer , you can try the GTO2 bios , maybe like in GTO fireblade, the card acept the bios but dont unlock the pipelines but for those  ppl who dont want MODS the HIS card its a excelent choice, here a pic of  HIS x800GTO with UV vga silencer >>>


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 28, 2005)

You said your card has an R480 chip.  Did you find that by using a program or did you actually take the heatsink off?  If you took off the heatsink to find that, but the software says it is an R423, then flashing to the GTO2 bios would likely help with performance.  If the software alreadys says it is an R480, the only thing flashing could do is possibly unlock pipelines (if they are unlockable).

Post a picture of the fuses data in ATITool.


----------



## mascaras (Oct 28, 2005)

the HIS card have the r480  but the saphire fireblade also have the r480 and with the MOD dont unlock the pipelines but the card acept  the bios , like i said before try the MOD with GTO2 bios and see if the card acept it , if not flash back again  to the original bios.


----------



## thetoad30 (Oct 28, 2005)

Hi all, it's me again! 

Ok, I RMAed my last card and got a cross-ship. I now have another GTO2 and I have left everything stock. I immediately put the memory up to 591 since I know the card can handle that.

I let ATI Tool do the "Find Max Core" and it got up to 605 with 12 pipelines!!!  MUCH BETTER than the 462 I was getting with intermittent lockups.

So ATI Tool told me after the reboot that the max working speed was at 589. I have currently backed the card down to 576/591 so that I can have some headroom.

I have been running the scan for artifacts now for 15 minutes and no problems at that speed.

Here's my question: Can a bios flash cause the card to immediately become unable to clock above 450 or so? Or is it more possible that my last card was just bad?

When using flashrom to go back to the 12 pipelines from my backed up bios, could it have left the other 4 pipes on but not used in the bios? Could that have caused my problem if one of the pipes wasn't up to snuff?

I ask this because stupidly I never tested the OC of the first card at stock cooler and bios before flashing.

Thank you


----------



## pkilway (Oct 28, 2005)

Unregistered said:
			
		

> Hi;
> 
> I got the Sapphire X800GTO2 'Retail Lite' version. If I try to flash up to 16 pipes (using Sapphire.X800GTO2_16p.Samsung16.bin and flashrom16) I get:
> 
> ...



I forced the flash last night myself.  Was successful, then booked into XP to see only 8 pipes show up in the ATITool.  Reboot then double check, and all 16 pipes showed up then.


----------



## jtf2 (Oct 29, 2005)

i have a quick ?.is this mod meant for the pci version of the sapphire cards or will the agp version also be moddable
thnx


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 29, 2005)

As far as I know, there is no AGP version of the card.


----------



## jtf2 (Oct 29, 2005)

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16647&vpn=SP-X800GTO256E-OEM&manufacture=SAPPHIRE
is this not the card


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 29, 2005)

Guess so, but the fact is, if that card needs the extra molex power to run with 12 pipelines at stock speeds, will it be enough with pipelines unlocked and overclocked (if the pipelines can even be unlocked).  If it has an R480 Core, try it.  If it has an R423 core, try it.  If not, it's most likely not gonna unlock.


----------



## jtf2 (Oct 29, 2005)

thnx for the info,afaik i have yet to see an ati card that has required 2x molex connectors,
nvidia cards i have seen but not any ati


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 29, 2005)

Yeah, well the fact is, the nVidia 6800GT and 6800Ultra GPUs are power hogs.  This required the AGP versions to be supplied with dual molex power.  ATi went ahead with its PEG Power Connector for its PEG cards, and nVidia followed.


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 29, 2005)

Is anybody using the PCI-E power connector that came with their video card box? I'm using the PCI-E power connector that came with my PSU. I mean when i looked at it, only two wires available for the C3D GTO? Is that good enough, a yellow and black wires? So who's using what and have they seen any power issues or what not?


----------



## Megatron (Oct 29, 2005)

Ordered a connect3d, will post results when I get the card.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 29, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Is anybody using the PCI-E power connector that came with their video card box? I'm using the PCI-E power connector that came with my PSU. I mean when i looked at it, only two wires available for the C3D GTO? Is that good enough, a yellow and black wires? So who's using what and have they seen any power issues or what not?



I am now using the cable that came with my card.  I am ordering one from ULTRA for my X-Connect PSU.  I will try to overclock higher before I install my Zalman.  I'll post my results here.


----------



## breethon (Oct 29, 2005)

I recevied my Connect3d x800gto from Newegg yesterday, unlocked 16p like a charm!  IT says I have the R480 core...not sure if I do or not.  This is my 3rd try at modding my vid cards.  I had the 9500 non pro, the 9800SE, and now this.  This is the only one that truely worked flawlessly.....ROCK ON!


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 29, 2005)

jtf2 said:
			
		

> http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16647&vpn=SP-X800GTO256E-OEM&manufacture=SAPPHIRE
> is this not the card


That is not the gto 2


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 29, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Is anybody using the PCI-E power connector that came with their video card box? I'm using the PCI-E power connector that came with my PSU. I mean when i looked at it, only two wires available for the C3D GTO? Is that good enough, a yellow and black wires? So who's using what and have they seen any power issues or what not?


i dont have the c3d but i have the gto2. I'm using the cable that came with the card no issues there and my psu is only 375w. card runs great with 3 hardrives intalled and 2 dvd roms and tv tuner and 2 case fans and psu fan all set at 100% oh yeah and my speaker system that that gets power from the back of my psu its just 2 speakers and a sub.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 29, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> i dont have the c3d but i have the gto2. I'm using the cable that came with the card no issues there and my psu is only 375w. card runs great with 3 hardrives intalled and 2 dvd roms and tv tuner and 2 case fans and psu fan all set at 100% oh yeah and my speaker system that that gets power from the back of my psu its just 2 speakers and a sub.



What are your complete specs?  I'm gonna try and find a link that I had a while ago . . . it gave you spots to fill in everything you had, and it told you the approx. power consumption of all of it.


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 29, 2005)

Hi i just tryed flashing my GTO² and something is wrong.

I made a floppy bootable, and putted the 3 Flashrom files:

Flashrom
FLASHROM.CHG
FLASHROM.ROM

on the floppy.

Then i did the Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin on the floppy and renamed it to gto16pipe.bin.

I rebooted my comp and went in the boot menu.
Typed Flashrom -p 0 gto16pipe.bin and it gave this error:

ERROR OFL01

Im a noob in this stuff and i hope someone can help me and knows what i do wrong.

Thnx.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 29, 2005)

Try using: Flashrom -f -p 0 gto16pipe.bin

The -f forces it to flash.

Follow this page exactly:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles//overclocking/vidcard/34/8

GL and HF!

-=DaNiSh+DeViL=-


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 29, 2005)

Ok thnx i will try it.

*Edit¨

It worked, thnx  16 pipelines now 

Now i need to try some overclocking!

*edit*

This is the first time i ever overclocked something, but i cant get that high.
I got a Zalman VF700-CU on the graphic card but it still gets verry hot.
I connected it on the black 12volt connector so it should be at full speed.






Is it normal that it gets that the temps get that high, or did i instaled the fan wrong?

And what Temps + Clockspeed do you guys get?


----------



## thetoad30 (Oct 29, 2005)

Does anyone have any answers to this???



			
				thetoad30 said:
			
		

> Hi all, it's me again!
> 
> Ok, I RMAed my last card and got a cross-ship. I now have another GTO2 and I have left everything stock. I immediately put the memory up to 591 since I know the card can handle that.
> 
> ...


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 29, 2005)

Cubewood said:
			
		

> Ok thnx i will try it.
> 
> *Edit¨
> 
> ...



Did you use Arctic Silver 5 or the thermal paste that Zalman supplies?  Those temps look great.  The OC on the core doesn't though, but hey try this.  Set your memory to stock and just try to overclock the core.  if it produces artifacts, lower it until it doesn't.  It could just be a bottom of the barrel core . . .

60C load at 522/618


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 29, 2005)

I uses the Zalman supplies. IT helps much if i use Artic Silver 5? Then i just buy it tommorow, and check if it lowers the temps much.

When I'm playing Brothers in Arms Earned In Blood, with all details high i get 57° too. Is that high or normal?

Will try the overclocking on the way you say it. Hope it gets higher. 

Dont know much about this overclocking because I always had a Geforce 4 MX 4400


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 29, 2005)

That is normal.  Arctic Silver 5 helps.  GL.


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 29, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> What are your complete specs?  I'm gonna try and find a link that I had a while ago . . . it gave you spots to fill in everything you had, and it told you the approx. power consumption of all of it.



364.7 w max
+5---22a             +5vsb---1.8a
+12-1 --12a          +12v-2----12a
+3.3---20a          +12v-sp-----1.2a
-12v----0.2a

I know I cant use an nvidia card with this psu


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 29, 2005)

Ok will buy it as soon as posible.

Now i got core at 429 and allready 59°

*edit*
500/520

Max Load:65°

Think I will keep it like this, till I get the Artic Silver 5.


----------



## Sejanus (Oct 29, 2005)

*Woot!*

Hey folks, thought I'd post my results with the Connect3D GTO

Important note:  I *am* using a ASRock 939 Dual SATAII motherboard, bios 1.20

I was pretty nervous reading about all the problems folks have had with this card, mysterious crashes, and this motherboard. 

The important bits of the rest of my rig:

X2 3800+ (currently not OC'd--that's next!)
Connect3D GTO 256MB PCIe unlocked to 16pipes, running at 560/560, using powercable included with the Connect3D retail package, and stock cooling
XP Service pack 2
2x512mb of PCIq DDR400 memory
Ultra X-Connect 500watt powersupply
Ultra Red Dragon midtower case (nice big puppy for lots of airflow) w/2-4 80MM case fans
I do have some case fans and a cpu fan that are all positioned just right to blow on the backside RAM, and give the card some extra cooling.

3DMark05 benches:

Connect3D GTO 12pp 400/490: 4436
12pp 520/560: 5478
16pp 400/490: 4961
16pp 560/560: 6314

Well, overclock-wise, that's even better than the stock x800xt, and *so far* it seems stable (knock on wood).

Question:
I didn't really check temps before flashing to 16pp, but at stock speeds and 16 pipes, it runs at 76C under load.  Is this good/bad/normal?  OC'd, it doesn't seem to run more than 1C hotter.  I'm not really comfortable replacing the heatsink on the card, so I'd like to know what temps I should be aiming for.

Oddity:
I purchased my card from Newegg.  It was supposed to be new, retail box.  It came and was not in shrinkwrap.  I opened it, and the antistatic bag and the manuals, none of that was sealed.  The bag looked even like it had been untaped once already, and there may have been a fingerprint on that diagonal metal strip on the back of the board.  I'm thinking I got someone's return.  Of course, if it remains stable and those temps are good temps, I'll keep it, but it really kinda steamed me that I'd be paying for new, and getting used.  

Thanks a lot Wizz and to the other posters on this board!


----------



## Muk (Oct 29, 2005)

Has anyone successfully modded an AGP x800GTO?


----------



## p0lly (Oct 29, 2005)

Cubewood said:
			
		

> Ok will buy it as soon as posible.
> 
> Now i got core at 429 and allready 59°
> 
> ...


Cubewood,

Set your fan higher!!!  you will be able to go WAY HIGHER than 500...  In ATItool click on settings (bottom right corner) and then select "Fan Control" from the pull down menu.  Here you can set the fan speed...  (NOTE: 90% yields almost NO difference from 100% and it is not as loud)


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 29, 2005)

Its allready on 100%


----------



## p0lly (Oct 30, 2005)

Cubewood said:
			
		

> Its allready on 100%


There must be a problem with the contact between your heatsink and core...  if you would be willing to take it off, check to see if the paste is evenly spread. if it is thick on one side and too thin on the other, this may suggest that the sink is not sitting on the core flat.  proper contact can make a difference of more than 20 deg. if the sink is not on properly


----------



## kohan69 (Oct 30, 2005)

sorry for my lame html skills, but here ya go:


----------



## kohan69 (Oct 30, 2005)

<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)">
<title>driver</title>
<table class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=left>
 <tr style='height:14.25pt'>
  <td width=93 valign=top style='width:70.05pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:14.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:15.0pt'>driver</span></i></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width=151 valign=top style='width:113.3pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  border-left:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:14.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:4.35pt'><b><i><span style='font-size:
  15.0pt'>Card</span></i></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width=118 valign=top style='width:88.75pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  border-left:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:14.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:15.0pt'>Clock</span></i></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width=120 valign=top style='width:1.25in;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  border-left:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:14.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:15.0pt'>3dMark 05</span></i></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style='height:29.65pt'>
  <td width=93 valign=top style='width:70.05pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  border-top:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:29.65pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Cat5.10</p>
  <p class=MsoNormal>&nbsp;</p>
  </td>
  <td width=151 valign=top style='width:113.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:29.65pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>&nbsp;</p>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Sapphire x800 non-pro</p>
  </td>
  <td width=118 valign=top style='width:88.75pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:29.65pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:3.2pt'>&nbsp;</p>
  <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:3.2pt'>(stock) 391/351</p>
  </td>
  <td width=120 valign=top style='width:1.25in;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:29.65pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>&nbsp;</p>
  <p class=MsoNormal>3920</p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style='height:49.0pt'>
  <td width=93 valign=top style='width:70.05pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  border-top:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:49.0pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Cat5.10</p>
  </td>
  <td width=151 valign=top style='width:113.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:49.0pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>&nbsp;</p>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Sapphire x800 non-pro</p>
  </td>
  <td width=118 valign=top style='width:88.75pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:49.0pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>(Max stable OC w/ arctic cooler rev3) 416/445</p>
  </td>
  <td width=120 valign=top style='width:1.25in;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:49.0pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>4425</p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style='height:35.25pt'>
  <td width=93 valign=top style='width:70.05pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  border-top:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:35.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Cat5.10</p>
  </td>
  <td width=151 valign=top style='width:113.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:35.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Connect3d x800gto vivo</p>
  </td>
  <td width=118 valign=top style='width:88.75pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:35.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>(stock) 398/492</p>
  </td>
  <td width=120 valign=top style='width:1.25in;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:35.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>4538</p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style='height:35.25pt'>
  <td width=93 valign=top style='width:70.05pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  border-top:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:35.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Cat5.10</p>
  </td>
  <td width=151 valign=top style='width:113.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:35.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Connect3d x800gto vivo</p>
  </td>
  <td width=118 valign=top style='width:88.75pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:35.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>(OCed) 575/567</p>
  </td>
  <td width=120 valign=top style='width:1.25in;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:35.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>6014</p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style='height:26.25pt'>
  <td width=93 valign=top style='width:70.05pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  border-top:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:26.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Cat5.10</p>
  </td>
  <td width=151 valign=top style='width:113.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:26.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Connect3d x800gto vivo @ 16pipelines </p>
  </td>
  <td width=118 valign=top style='width:88.75pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:26.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>(stock) 398/492</p>
  </td>
  <td width=120 valign=top style='width:1.25in;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:26.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>5081</p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style='height:17.25pt'>
  <td width=93 valign=top style='width:70.05pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  border-top:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:17.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Cat5.10</p>
  </td>
  <td width=151 valign=top style='width:113.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:17.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>Connect3d x800gto vivo @ 16pipelines</p>
  </td>
  <td width=118 valign=top style='width:88.75pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:17.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>(OCed) 564/564</p>
  </td>
  <td width=120 valign=top style='width:1.25in;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:17.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal>6522</p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style='height:26.25pt'>
  <td width=93 valign=top style='width:70.05pt;border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  border-top:none;padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:26.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal><b>Omega5.10a</b></p>
  </td>
  <td width=151 valign=top style='width:113.3pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:26.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal><b>Connect3d x800gto vivo @ 16 pipelines</b></p>
  </td>
  <td width=118 valign=top style='width:88.75pt;border-top:none;border-left:
  none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:26.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal><b>(OCed) 579/579</b></p>
  </td>
  <td width=120 valign=top style='width:1.25in;border:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
  padding:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;height:26.25pt'>
  <p class=MsoNormal><b>6726</b>
  </td>
 </tr>
</table>
<br><hr>
System:

Amd64 3000+ Venice 2.2ghz
htt 245 mhz
1.5gb ram (2x512 + 2x256) 333mhz
dfi lanparty ultraD nf4
Windows 2000 sp4
Psu: Ultraconnect 500w xconnect 
Hd: Seagate 7200

</html>


----------



## ranigapc (Oct 30, 2005)

My Sapphire GTO2 did not unlock. I ran ATITool and the CONFIG_DIE_FUSES is 0xFFFFBFFF (should be "F" and not "B") and the CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES is 0xFFFFFFF9E (should be "F" and not "E"). I tried flashing it anyways and of course it did not work. Any harm in leaving this bios, or do I need to reflash with the old bios?

I guess the success rate isn't 100% anymore. :shadedshu


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 30, 2005)

Sorry to hear that.  Where did you buy your card?


----------



## thetoad30 (Oct 30, 2005)

Interesting.

Are you sure that it's a GTO2? That would be my only guess as to why it didn't flash... as I have gotten 2 cards now that were fine for flashing, but the first card I got didn't OC worth a damn.

I just received my RMA card and it is running like a champ at 575/591 at 16 pipes. I could go up to 590 on the core but it starts getting a little flaky even though ATI Tool reports no artifacts. Besides, that's 35 MHz over the XTPE speed I was looking for anyway!

Man, does it pull a lot of power at that speed though.

One last question that hopefully someone will answer: What is the danger in taking the memory above 590? I know it's rated for 600, but if it will go higher is that ok? Or will the memory just cook itself? I'm just thinking that if you can overclock the core, why can't you overclock the memory? Unless GPU's are different than CPU/DDR components.

Thank you


----------



## kohan69 (Oct 30, 2005)

ranigapc said:
			
		

> My Sapphire GTO2 did not unlock. I ran ATITool and the CONFIG_DIE_FUSES is 0xFFFFBFFF (should be "F" and not "B") and the CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES is 0xFFFFFFF9E (should be "F" and not "E"). I tried flashing it anyways and of course it did not work. Any harm in leaving this bios, or do I need to reflash with the old bios?
> 
> I guess the success rate isn't 100% anymore. :shadedshu



did u use flashrom16?

is it gto2 LITE?


----------



## mongoled (Oct 30, 2005)

p0lly said:
			
		

> There must be a problem with the contact between your heatsink and core



There dosent *have* to be a problem! Not all cores run the same temperature. My Connect3D GTO with default cooler, fan 100% and AS5 would also run 76C full load, I hope you are not going to tell me that I also have bad contact with the core.

Now if you said 'there *could* be a problem' then I would whole heartedly agree. There seems to be peeps on this brd who are 'scaring' others into thinking their cards will burn-up

 

Oh and just for the record after slapping my block on, my card runs at 44C load, big difference, LOL


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 30, 2005)

Check this out, i ran Aquamark3 just a few minutes ago and got a crash at "Massive OverDraw" with my C3D GTO @16pp 540/560.

http://img493.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aquamarkcrash6bc.jpg

WTF? Everything else works perfect, weird shit dudes, what the hell is that shit?


----------



## JimmyHa (Oct 30, 2005)

Ebola,

Do you have any optimised timings for us poor bastards using C3d X800GTOs?


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Oct 30, 2005)

*C3D best bios?*

I have a connect3d x800gto on order and was wondering... does this card 'only' come with r423 core?. I ask this because some ppl are reporting r480 cores on this card.

Also, Im lookin forward to flashing this card to 16 pipes, but the default bios on the site doesnt change clocks to x800xt specs 

Can anyone recomend a bios that enables 16 pipes & gives x800xt clocks and if possible, keeps 'vivo' enabled.

For £113 I'd be happy with 16 pipes, 500 core/ 1000 mem & vivo!

Great site & Info btw... & of course wot a mod!

Come on ATi!, bring out x1800xt with 32 pp's! and vanquish that nVidia trash!!! lol


----------



## Ebola (Oct 30, 2005)

JimmyHa said:
			
		

> Ebola,
> 
> Do you have any optimised timings for us poor bastards using C3d X800GTOs?


Well those timings are hours of efforts from an XS member, you should try yourself with 2.0ns by decreasing them gradually and check when it becoms stable


----------



## Ebola (Oct 30, 2005)

ranigapc said:
			
		

> My Sapphire GTO2 did not unlock. I ran ATITool and the CONFIG_DIE_FUSES is 0xFFFFBFFF (should be "F" and not "B") and the CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES is 0xFFFFFFF9E (should be "F" and not "E"). I tried flashing it anyways and of course it did not work. Any harm in leaving this bios, or do I need to reflash with the old bios?
> 
> I guess the success rate isn't 100% anymore. :shadedshu


Are you sure you have the Limited Edition and not another one, which name is so close but so different inside ?


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 30, 2005)

I changed the air tunnel whats in my Antec Sonata II Case, and now i got 520/590 clock speeds at 62°

If i put the core on 530 the screen freezes and turn black  Maby if i use Artic Silver 5 now i can get it some higher.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 30, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Check this out, i ran Aquamark3 just a few minutes ago and got a crash at "Massive OverDraw" with my C3D GTO @16pp 540/560.
> 
> http://img493.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aquamarkcrash6bc.jpg
> 
> WTF? Everything else works perfect, weird shit dudes, what the hell is that shit?



AquaMark 3 doesn't work properly with the new ATi Drivers. I will upload the file you need to fix it soon.


----------



## ranigapc (Oct 30, 2005)

I bought it from Page Computers who were selling it as "Retail Lite". It came in a brown box with the card, manuals, cables, and drivers CD. I've had it for almost a month now, but didn't try to unlock it until yesterday. Before I installed the card, I removed the stock heatsink and put a Zalman VF700-cu HSF on it. The stock heatsink looks like everyone elses - says "Sapphire GTO^2 Limited Edition", red colored, etc. The core is R480 and the memory is 1.6ns. I tried flashing with flashrom and the bios provided from this site.

This sucks


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 30, 2005)

Well, try it again.  Make sure you're not making any mistakes.  If you aren't, then this mod isn't 100% anymore


----------



## ranigapc (Oct 30, 2005)

I used Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin and Flashrom. Since it didn't unlock, do I need to reflash with the original bios, or should I be okay the way it is?


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 30, 2005)

Yeah, i got it working, it needed a .dll file hotfix for Aquamark3. So far i got my C3D GTO working guys, 520/520, 540/560, and testing 550/565 right now.

C3D GTO @16PP 550/565 w/ ASRock 939Dual-Sata2 Bios: 04xx
AquaMark3
GFX:11721
CPU:11819
Score:78356

3DMark05: 6426


----------



## mascaras (Oct 30, 2005)

hey guys , i make my 2nd run on 3dmark 2005 now with clocks 530/530- 49c LOAD  >>> 



and here my previously 1run at default clocks (500/500) >>> http://img137.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3dmark0tz.jpg 


and here my temps. default clocks scaning for artefacts( 2minuts - one of the best way to see LOAD temps) >>


----------



## mascaras (Oct 30, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> I have a connect3d x800gto on order and was wondering... does this card 'only' come with r423 core?. I ask this because some ppl are reporting r480 cores on this card.
> 
> Also, Im lookin forward to flashing this card to 16 pipes, but the default bios on the site doesnt change clocks to x800xt specs
> 
> ...


  yep its r423 and im using other bios , not that one that its here , im using the powercolor x800xt bios that change the clocks to defult (500/500)


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 30, 2005)

breethon said:
			
		

> I recevied my Connect3d x800gto from Newegg yesterday, unlocked 16p like a charm!  IT says I have the R480 core...not sure if I do or not.  This is my 3rd try at modding my vid cards.  I had the 9500 non pro, the 9800SE, and now this.  This is the only one that truely worked flawlessly.....ROCK ON!


What bios did you flash to the card?  I'm interested because I've wanted to know whether flashing R480 bioses to an R423 works or not.


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 30, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> What bios did you flash to the card?  I'm interested because I've wanted to know whether flashing R480 bioses to an R423 works or not.


I'm not sure but this off the top of my head I think i have read something about r480 being backwards compatible with r480 i will try to confirm


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 30, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> I'm not sure but this off the top of my head I think i have read something about r480 being backwards compatible with r480 i will try to confirm


You mean r480 being backward compatible with r423?  I posted something about that a little while ago.  I've been curious if it works the other way around, though.  Here's my thread about it:  http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=6081


BTW, does anyone know if there are some X800 GTO cards with R480 chips that are being identified by software as R423?  I know there are some X800 GT cards like this, so I've been curious about the GTOs.  Here is a thread having to do with the Powercolor X800 GT, which is like that:  http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=6056


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 30, 2005)

To the person that has gotten a none 16pp status flash, how did you flash?

Flashrom -f -p 0 (moddedbios.bin) -newbios <----- This worked for me, but after booting into windows, it counted 0pp, so i had to reboot one more time to get the 16pp.

Flashrom -f -p 0 (moddedbios.bin) <---This didn't do a damn thing for me, no matter what i couldn't get the 16pp, only set 12pp.


----------



## kohan69 (Oct 30, 2005)

ranigapc said:
			
		

> I used Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin and Flashrom. Since it didn't unlock, do I need to reflash with the original bios, or should I be okay the way it is?



_LITE_ =  *BAD* 

try using flashrom*16*

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=41687


----------



## mascaras (Oct 30, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> To the person that has gotten a none 16pp status flash, how did you flash?
> 
> Flashrom -f -p 0 (moddedbios.bin) -newbios <----- This worked for me, but after booting into windows, it counted 0pp, so i had to reboot one more time to get the 16pp.
> 
> Flashrom -f -p 0 (moddedbios.bin) <---This didn't do a damn thing for me, no matter what i couldn't get the 16pp, only set 12pp.




i only  rename the powerclor x800xt bios to  "XTbios.bin"  and then use :  " -f  -p 0 XTbios.bin"   , and it works for me  and i didnt have to flash back to original bios.


----------



## ranigapc (Oct 30, 2005)

Do you mean I should download flashrom16p.zip? Should I use the same bios (Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin)?  And is there really a point in trying if ATITool already says it can't be unlocked? Thanks


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 30, 2005)

ranigapc said:
			
		

> And is there really a point in trying if ATITool already says it can't be unlocked? Thanks



Answer me this ranigapc.  Do you want an extra four pixel pipelines?  Do you want to get X850XTPE performance out of a $200 card?  I sure did.  If I was in your situation, I would find a way to make the mod work, or prove it can't.  You are a very special person to this community.  You supposedly have the only heard of unmoddable X800GTO2.  We need your results 

BTW:  I'm ordering my Zalman VF700-CU LED Cooler TODAY I SWEAR.  I am also getting an Enermax Liberty 620WATT Modular PSU and I am sleeving it myself with Ogre Sleeving and UV Green Heatshrinks.  I will also be putting an ACRyan UV Blue/Green 120mm LED Fan in it.  I'll post pix and details when I get modding.

Enermax Liberty:







Ogre Sleeving (on Antec NeoPower 480 with ACRyan UV Green Fan):


----------



## ranigapc (Oct 31, 2005)

Okay, I'll do it, but please give me detailed instructions on what I should do and what tools I need because I am a total newbie at all of this. Also, this card is in a computer I built for my dad, which he uses for business, so I don't want to screw it up.


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 31, 2005)

The detailed bios flash instructions are provided in W1zzard's article (the first post of this thread).  I hope that it works for you, but in that article, specifically the "Is my card moddable" section, he says that only cards with fuse configuration strings containing "F" in the noted positions are moddable.  You have already noted that your card doesn't have that.  Yours is actually the first report I've seen of a GTO2 with different strings from those shown in the guide.  Both of my cards had the configuration shown in the guide and modded easily using the exact steps from W1zzard's article.  Please let us know what you decide to do and how it turns out.  Good luck.

Edit: It's interesting to note that when I scanned the fuse configuration reporting thread I saw that the people who reported the same configuration strings as you had Sapphire X800GTO (not GTO2).


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 31, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> You mean r480 being backward compatible with r423?  I posted something about that a little while ago.  I've been curious if it works the other way around, though.  Here's my thread about it:  http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=6081
> 
> 
> BTW, does anyone know if there are some X800 GTO cards with R480 chips that are being identified by software as R423?  I know there are some X800 GT cards like this, so I've been curious about the GTOs.  Here is a thread having to do with the Powercolor X800 GT, which is like that:  http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=6056


yeah thats what i meant sorry


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 31, 2005)

ranigapc I saw your posts on FatWallet!

Oh and atacom finally shipped my card


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 31, 2005)

Well my card comes in on wensday. In the mean time can someone give me the exact code used to flash in flashrom?

Thanks


----------



## BlackPearl (Oct 31, 2005)

Here is W1zzard's bios flash guide.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 31, 2005)

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5215

Zalman VF700-CU LED, TechFlex Ogre Sleeving Kit, Enermax Liberty 620W PSU, and ACRyan ToolX PSU Modding Tools ORDERED.  HOOAH! (sry I'm an America's Army player).


----------



## ranigapc (Oct 31, 2005)

Maybe they mislabeled it and sent me a GTO, instead of a GTO2. The stock heatsink; however, says "GTO2 Limited Edition". Also, I reflashed the bios using atiflash and the original bios and now it says "X800 GTO" under Device Manager.

I've used flashrom16 as well as atiflash 3.09 (using -newbios) along with the bios provided on the first page of this thread. Neither worked. I don't think there is much else I can try. Oh well, it's stable at 507/1040, so at least I got a X850 Pro out of it.


----------



## DanishDevil (Oct 31, 2005)

Yeah without the 4 pixel pipelines.  Oh well.  I guess we can conclude that this mod is no longer 100%


----------



## Megatron (Oct 31, 2005)

Megatron said:
			
		

> Ordered a connect3d, will post results when I get the card.



Ive just installed my c3d x800gto - ran 3dmark2k5 with 12pipe to check for any problems. I flashed it to 16-pipes using the techpowerup! guide and ran 3dmark2k5 again 5147 stock clocks. Beats the x800gt powercolor clocked at 595/530 @ 8pipes, was 47xx.

12pipes was 4590   400/980Mhz
16pipes 5147          400/980Mhz

Check my sig for details.


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 31, 2005)

I bought  Artic Silver 5, and put it on my GPU. Its allready 8° lower then before, and on their webby it says that after 200 its at its full cooling power, so it can go even lower! 

*Edit*

Card is running at 530/610 now, with 60° Max Load. If I put core on 540 screen turn black  Will get the mem some higher later


----------



## HousERaT (Oct 31, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Well my card comes in on wensday. In the mean time can someone give me the exact code used to flash in flashrom?
> 
> Thanks


Here's another guide I wrote up if you still don't get it.
http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php?p=4029036&postcount=272


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 31, 2005)

Cubewood said:
			
		

> I bought  Artic Silver 5, and put it on my GPU. Its allready 8° lower then before, and on their webby it says that after 200 its at its full cooling power, so it can go even lower!
> 
> *Edit*
> 
> Card is running at 530/610 now, with 60° Max Load. If I put core on 540 screen turn black  Will get the mem some higher later


Try the mem timings from xs. I had my gto2 at 554 614 and 3dmark05 was 6118 twaeked the memory timing and my clock went lower to 552 600 but my 3mark05 score was higher at 6224 got an extra 3 to 5 fps on all test..


----------



## Dynamic (Oct 31, 2005)

It seems as if some of those GTO2 from Sapphire won't hit XTPE core speeds, but there is no problem with 590 frequencies on the memory modules. I got my C3D GTO at 550/565. I will get artifacts at 570 on the memory, i guess 2.0ns usually hits around here. I do have the ZALMAN VF700-CU cooler on along with the heatsinks for the memory, but didn't notice any different in overclock for the memory or core i guess. I did see temps go down though. Also when i flashed to 16pp i didn't lose any core/memory speeds either. weird, hehehe since most of you have and the articles around the web have also.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Oct 31, 2005)

My GTO2 is one that didn't change temperatures or overclocks after flashing to a 16 pipeline modified bios.


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 31, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> Try the mem timings from xs. I had my gto2 at 554 614 and 3dmark05 was 6118 twaeked the memory timing and my clock went lower to 552 600 but my 3mark05 score was higher at 6224 got an extra 3 to 5 fps on all test..




What do you meen with "Try the mem timings from xs" ?


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 31, 2005)

Cubewood said:
			
		

> What do you meen with "Try the mem timings from xs" ?


use ati toolhttp://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=55485
TRCDRD: 7
TRCDWR: 3
TRP: 5
TRAS: 13
TRRD: 4
TWR: 6
TR2W: CL+2
TW2R: 4
TR2R: USE TWR RULE
TR2R: 2
WR_LATENCY: 1.5
CAS_LATENCY: 7
CMD_LATENCY: 0
STR_LATENCY: WR LATENCY
REFRESH_RATE: 0x75
TRFC: 23


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 31, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> use ati toolhttp://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=55485
> TRCDRD: 7
> TRCDWR: 3
> TRP: 5
> ...


Damn i did this, and now i keep getting artifacts, can someone give me the old settings?


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 31, 2005)

Cubewood said:
			
		

> Damn i did this, and now i keep getting artifacts, can someone give me the old settings?


yeah you need to reduce your clocks trust me even though your clocks are lower ,performance is still better cause its more efficient try lowering your clocks and test with 3dmark05 its free if you dont have it..... and if you art not satisfied just reboot your computer factory settings will be restored


----------



## Biggeley (Oct 31, 2005)

I have a Sapphire GTO2.  I have only been able to hit 525/615 stable, even with an Arctic 5 rev 2 on it.  The Arctic cooler didn't seem to gain me any additional headroom in overclocking.

I'm fairly disappointed that I can't overclock the core any faster, even with the super-duper cooler. Volt-modding to 1.4v only make things worse... Temps stay below 57c the whole time.

I pulled the pre-built computer apart and discovered that the power supply is a 300w max rated. I keep wondering if an inadequate power supply could be limiting my success with the card...  Does anybody think a better power supply could lead to stable performance at higher speeds?


----------



## Ombracol (Oct 31, 2005)

Biggeley said:
			
		

> I have a Sapphire GTO2.  I have only been able to hit 525/615 stable, even with an Arctic 5 rev 2 on it.  The Arctic cooler didn't seem to gain me any additional headroom in overclocking.
> 
> I'm fairly disappointed that I can't overclock the core any faster, even with the super-duper cooler. Volt-modding to 1.4v only make things worse... Temps stay below 57c the whole time.
> 
> I pulled the pre-built computer apart and discovered that the power supply is a 300w max rated. I keep wondering if an inadequate power supply could be limiting my success with the card...  Does anybody think a better power supply could lead to stable performance at higher speeds?


very possible cause as you increase clocks the card is gonna draw more watts and if your psu cant supply enough power it will decrease your performance all i know ati recomends 350 or better.... but you do have to realize not all cards are equal these are cores that did not meet specs for the high end x850xtpe so it is sometime based on luck....also check your case temp i got a big increase by getting my case 10 degrees cooler .....when my case was at 38-39 idle ic ould only clock 520/588..... cranked up my fans got case to idle at 30 now i get 552/600 i can go higher with out the tweaked memory timing but those seem to work better for me... remember 57 is a good temp but it is still a great amount of heat so the cooler the air in the case the heat sink will cool down better so that 57 degrees can transfer to the heat sink better..... hope it makes since


----------



## Cubewood (Oct 31, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> yeah you need to reduce your clocks trust me even though your clocks are lower ,performance is still better cause its more efficient try lowering your clocks and test with 3dmark05 its free if you dont have it..... and if you art not satisfied just reboot your computer factory settings will be restored



Ok no Artifacts at 530/600 now, will try 3DMARK05 now and check if i get a higher score.

*Edit* got 6471 now, and before i had 6392. So looks nice


----------



## kohan69 (Oct 31, 2005)

Megatron said:
			
		

> Ive just installed my c3d x800gt - ran 3dmark2k5 with 12pipe to check for any problems. I flashed it to 16-pipes using the techpowerup! guide and ran 3dmark2k5 again 5147 stock clocks. Beats the x800gt powercolor clocked at 595/530 @ 8pipes, was 47xx.
> 
> 12pipes was 4590   400/980Mhz
> 16pipes 5147          400/980Mhz
> ...



*Connect3d GT or connect3d  GTO ????*


----------



## Trevor (Oct 31, 2005)

thetoad30 said:
			
		

> Hi all, it's me again!
> 
> Ok, I RMAed my last card and got a cross-ship. I now have another GTO2 and I have left everything stock. I immediately put the memory up to 591 since I know the card can handle that.
> 
> ...


Toad, I had the EXACT same problem! 
Not quite sure why =/


----------



## Trevor (Oct 31, 2005)

thetoad30 said:
			
		

> Ok here goes.
> 
> One more question: How do I tell that its definately a GTO2 card and not a GTO? I know that by being able to mod it should "tell" me, but the sticker on the card says its just a regular one, where the box says GTO2. Is that perhaps a problem?
> 
> Thank you for all your help.


Toad... the cover of the GTO2 (on the actual card itself) (the cover on top of the aluminum HS/F device) will say what the card really is.


----------



## Dr.D (Oct 31, 2005)

Biggeley said:
			
		

> I have a Sapphire GTO2.  I have only been able to hit 525/615 stable, even with an Arctic 5 rev 2 on it.  The Arctic cooler didn't seem to gain me any additional headroom in overclocking.
> 
> I'm fairly disappointed that I can't overclock the core any faster, even with the super-duper cooler. Volt-modding to 1.4v only make things worse... Temps stay below 57c the whole time.
> 
> I pulled the pre-built computer apart and discovered that the power supply is a 300w max rated. I keep wondering if an inadequate power supply could be limiting my success with the card...  Does anybody think a better power supply could lead to stable performance at higher speeds?



Do you have a dell by any chance?


----------



## Megatron (Nov 1, 2005)

kohan69 said:
			
		

> *Connect3d GT or connect3d  GTO ????*


2nd option


----------



## riotsquad (Nov 1, 2005)

I was able to get my connect3d gto up to 16 pipes. 
Current specs
core 551
mem 551
temp 42 idle  
I have had them both up to 570+ but it runs a little hot on stock cooling.

3d mark-6344
3000 venice @ 2160mhz
2.5 3 3 6 ram @ 200
dfi lanparty ultra


----------



## Reservoir_Dog (Nov 1, 2005)

Hi

I already have a x800pro VIVO succesfully modded to a X800XT Pe. (full 16 pipes)

Is it worthwile to go for the x800GTO2 and mod it to a X850XT pe?
Or is the X850XT pe not faster then my X800XT pe 520 560?

Greetings!


----------



## p0lly (Nov 1, 2005)

Reservoir_Dog said:
			
		

> Hi
> 
> I already have a x800pro VIVO succesfully modded to a X800XT Pe. (full 16 pipes)
> 
> ...


the stock 850XTPE speeds are 540/590...  if you were to up your current speeds to those, they should perform very similar if not identical.  because of your question, i assume you are new to OCing (WELCOME!!!)...  you could increase your speeds two ways (1) use atitool in windows starts up, or (2) modify your current bios to reflect the new speeds and re-flash (you obviously know how to flash)

cheers


----------



## p0lly (Nov 1, 2005)

WEIRD ATITOOL ISSUE!!!

I ran "find max core" (for the first time) yesterday on my GTO2 and went for dinner.  came back and it was at 644 stable at 60C on stock cooling (artifact free) and still going!  now this is WITHOUT a voltmod...  THERE IS NO WAY THAT IS CORRECT!!!  i then ran it at that speed for an hour without a problem and my heat never went above 60C.

is this a problem in 0.24???  has anyone ever experienced incorrect reporting of the core???  my fan also turns off every now and then for no reason - another issue???


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 1, 2005)

Reservoir_Dog said:
			
		

> Hi
> 
> I already have a x800pro VIVO succesfully modded to a X800XT Pe. (full 16 pipes)
> 
> ...


No, it would not be worthwhile.  While benchmark scores could improve a little, you would be very unlikely to notice a difference in games.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 1, 2005)

Reservoir_Dog,
 There is not much difference in speed when you compare the X800XTPE to the X850XTPE, only in benchmarking within 50-70 points difference or more. Just like BlackPearl has mentioned, you won't notice any difference in games either. 
BlackPearl,
 Just out of curiosity, do you have an ASRock 939Dual-Sata2 or get on OCWorkbench.com? I thought i've seen you around or even mentioned to you that you can mod your Connect3D GTO card once in that forum, let me know.


----------



## kohan69 (Nov 1, 2005)

p0lly said:
			
		

> WEIRD ATITOOL ISSUE!!!
> 
> I ran "find max core" (for the first time) yesterday on my GTO2 and went for dinner.  came back and it was at 644 stable at 60C on stock cooling (artifact free) and still going!  now this is WITHOUT a voltmod...  THERE IS NO WAY THAT IS CORRECT!!!  i then ran it at that speed for an hour without a problem and my heat never went above 60C.
> 
> is this a problem in 0.24???  has anyone ever experienced incorrect reporting of the core???  my fan also turns off every now and then for no reason - another issue???



u got lucky

nope, u got lucky one guy hit 630core, 670 w/ voltmod
try again  and 60c is too high

vga fan turns off when card is cool


----------



## Cubewood (Nov 1, 2005)

60° for max load isn't high.


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 1, 2005)

p0lly - I can't say whether ATITool is wrong, but if it's not those are amazing clocks.  As far as I know I never had a problem with temp reporting, but I use 0.25beta7.  Also, I don't think that 60C under load is high at all, but I've never had the gpu fan shut down.  The default fan speed according to ATITool is 54% and from the utility you can set other fixed or dynamic fan speeds.

Dynamic - yes, I'm using the Asrock board and been on the OCWB forum from time to time.


----------



## p0lly (Nov 1, 2005)

kohan69,

60 is a good temp...  if you look at the temps that x800's put out strait from the box, 75 should be your max temp to keep the card running well.  i have seen quite a few threads that ask what is a good temp...  if you want a reference point, go with what the manufacturer gave you - anything lower is better.

back to my core issue...  there is no way i'm running those speeds without artifacts... has anyone encountered that problem before (atitool giving the wrong info)?

EDIT: BlackPearl,  I'll try the beta and see what happens...


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 1, 2005)

p0lly,

Run 3DMARK05 for me and see what kind of score you get.  The fan issue stems from what I beleive a bad fan choice for the card (and the power of the extra pipes combined with the shitty included power adapter).

I'll see if switching over to a diff. pwn adaptor helps later today.  My Enermax Liberty is here!!!


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 1, 2005)

DanishDevil,
 So you're not using the PCI-E power connector from the GTO2 box anymore? Are you using the six wired connector from your PSU now? Three wires wasn't enough since it might of caused that problem for you?

Polly,
 Those are some insane frequencies, it's got to be a bug or something, dude don't miss with that shit, hehehe.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 1, 2005)

I will be once I get my Enermax Liberty 620W sleeved and modded.

Also, I would be finding the max OC with the new memory timings, but I'm waiting on my Zalman.  The friggin video card fan died on me, so I literally pried off the aluminum cover off the video heatsink to expose the fins, and i stuck a Vantec UV Fan Card under it.  40 Idle 65 Load (on lowest setting cuz I can't stand noise).

*100+ POSTS IN UNDER A MONTH! HOOAH! -sry bout the random outburst *


----------



## Biggeley (Nov 2, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Do you have a dell by any chance?



Nopers.. It's an emachines.. Has good hardware (pc 3200, athlon 64 3500+, ati rs482 mobo) but just a not great power supply.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 2, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> p0lly,
> 
> Run 3DMARK05 for me and see what kind of score you get.  The fan issue stems from what I beleive a bad fan choice for the card (and the power of the extra pipes combined with the shitty included power adapter).
> 
> I'll see if switching over to a diff. pwn adaptor helps later today.  My Enermax Liberty is here!!!


Yes, do that and post your score and what gpu/memory clock speeds were in use.  Maybe even post a screenshot of it with the score.  The score you get I think should at least approach or exceed 7000 with those clock speeds.  Mine gets 6250 at 520/600 and about 5000 at stock 400/490.


----------



## XeoNoX (Nov 2, 2005)

Got my Connect3d GTO 256MB PCIx today and modded it. Got the R423 Chip. I got the core up to 560 before i stopped it because the temperature of 76 with stock cooling was scaring me and i got the memory up to 550. Im gonna need to buy better cooling. Im gonna get the zalman fan. But what ramsinks do you guys reccomend? Since im lazy, how many ram sinks should i buy?

3DMARK05 Scores Below
_____________
5419 with a x800 XL that i returned back to bestbuy
4590 with C3D x800 GTO stock speeds
5172 with C3D x800 GTO 16 Pipe mod at stock speeds
6277 with C3D x800 16 Pipe mod Overclocked to 520/540
???? (unknown) with overclocked to the max cuz i have to buy better cooling 1st!


----------------------------
System Specs
----------------------------
Athlon 64 3500+ Venice (939 Pin) 
ECS Nforce4-A939 Motherboard  (Cheap)
420W Power Supply (Cheap)
Connect3d X800 GTO 256MB Modded (what a Deal if i ever heard one)


----------



## funkioto (Nov 2, 2005)

*Connect3d GTO*



			
				XeoNoX said:
			
		

> But what ramsinks do you guys reccomend?



Just came back to ask the exact same question! 

are these decent?  http://www.zalman.co.kr/upload/product/zm_rhs1_c_p.jpg

thanks


----------



## noneed4me2 (Nov 2, 2005)

*Connect3d x800gto mod*

 Hey wWizzard and to all other potential modders Locutus12's iso/bios mod for gto's worked flawlessly on my C3d x800gto card. Now have 16 wonderful pipes of lovin. Just thought everyone should know.  PS i used this iso because my new pc has no floppy and was having difficulties unlocking my bios using the flashrom from other boot options after following the techpower's guide.


----------



## p0lly (Nov 2, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Yes, do that and post your score and what gpu/memory clock speeds were in use.  Maybe even post a screenshot of it with the score.  The score you get I think should at least approach or exceed 7000 with those clock speeds.  Mine gets 6250 at 520/600 and about 5000 at stock 400/490.


I don't know how to take a screenshot but i just ran 3D05 @ 625/590 and got 6487.  i'm kinda scared to run it at the speeds that ATItool says.  i'm gonna try the 0.25 beta and see what kinda clocks i get with that... HOPEFULLY something a little more realistic.


----------



## XeoNoX (Nov 2, 2005)

what zalman fan is everyone getting, i see they have my boy fatal1ty http://www.3gplaza.com/estore/control/Computer3G/productdetails?id=44272&srccode=PW

and they got these http://castle.pricewatch.com/s/search.asp?s=VF700-CU

and do they come with the ram heat sinks?


----------



## kohan69 (Nov 2, 2005)

p0lly said:
			
		

> kohan69,
> 
> 60 is a good temp...  if you look at the temps that x800's put out strait from the box, 75 should be your max temp to keep the card running well.  i have seen quite a few threads that ask what is a good temp...  if you want a reference point, go with what the manufacturer gave you - anything lower is better.
> 
> ...




60c on load is ok for _stock_ when IM ocing (c3d 16p 580/580) at 63c it crashes/freezes 

*620+mhz on core is NOT a mistake of atitool*
Some other ppl got it too:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1087538#post1087538

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1087569#post1087569

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1097399#post1097399

        


ad here's a guide i made for noobs 

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1114939#post1114939


----------



## noneed4me2 (Nov 2, 2005)

*great deal*

unless you want to go the mod route wth the gtos, this card is a great deal even without the rebate http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1476859&CatId=0, in case the link doesn't work its the Connect3d X800 XL for 229.00 minus $100 rebate $129.99 at tigerdirect.com while supplys last. Kinda wish they had this when i got my card but at least i got the vivo option.


----------



## Pourya (Nov 2, 2005)

*Stuck at 12 pipes!*

I flashed the BIOS with both the AtiFlash and the modded FlashROM. I am still getting 12 Pipes in the ATI tool. I had the F numbers in the correct spots. The retail box of the card says GTO2.

In DOS after I flash it with the -f switch (which I had to do) it tells me the following

ROMID=12
FlashType = ST M25P05/c
SSID=0x1600
DeviceID=0x5d4F

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

please contact me by email, AIM or repost here.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 2, 2005)

Get the Zalman VF700-Cu.  It comes with some of the best ramsinks you can buy.

GL Guys!

Danish

PS: Still waiting on my VF700-Cu.


----------



## dpadmore (Nov 2, 2005)

noneed4me2 said:
			
		

> unless you want to go the mod route wth the gtos, this card is a great deal even without the rebate http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1476859&CatId=0, in case the link doesn't work its the Connect3d X800 XL for 229.00 minus $100 rebate $129.99 at tigerdirect.com while supplys last. Kinda wish they had this when i got my card but at least i got the vivo option.



Uh-huh. Only small problem you seem to have missed is that to qualify for the rebate you need to purchase a X-fire master card at the same time as the X800XL. That makes it a tad more pricey. There is a box on the right hand side of the page breaking this good news. Dont forget that a std XL R430 core will only be really happy at less than 450MHz and your R423 core should be a much better clocker so I wouldn't pine after an XL too much if I were you. My C3D GTO arrived 10 mins ago and once modded my bbATI XL is going straight to ebay.


----------



## Cubewood (Nov 2, 2005)

Hi last time someone gave me this mem settings: 



			
				Ombracol said:
			
		

> use ati toolhttp://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=55485
> TRCDRD: 7
> TRCDWR: 3
> TRP: 5
> ...



And i saved it but i keep getting artifacts now. If I reboot my comp i still got the same settings, and I tryed reinstaling ATItool, but it wont help.
Can someone plz give me the normal settings from the GTO² ?

Thnx.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 2, 2005)

GUYS:

Just like memory, when you tighten up the timings, you have to lower the frequency.  Set the memory to 490MHz and then find Max Mem with the new timings.  The result will be much lower, but you will get more performance out of it.


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 2, 2005)

Cubewood said:
			
		

> Hi last time someone gave me this mem settings:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


you shouldnt be getting the same timings when you reboot... because timings are inside bios. atitool just changes them for the time windows is running its just like when you change your clocks when you reboot clock go to stock... you might be loading a saved profile thats why you might get the same memory timings as for artifact a slight temp chang in air temp can cause artifacts since you are overclocking to its peak...I wish i had the stock but i dont Ii do have most of them i just not sure about the refresh rate cause the bios editor that i have does not show me but i can garuntee you when you reboot you are getting stock timings ...


----------



## Excalibur800GTO (Nov 2, 2005)

*Excalibur 800 GTO mod try*

Hi Guys,

I shall be trying to mod my Excalibur 800 GTO IceQ II. I could not read details of memory since there is a RAM heat sink glued on it (comes with card). Card comes with overclocking software so I will first see how far I can go without mods. 

Any other tries on other GTO cards?

Cheers

AP


----------



## mascaras (Nov 2, 2005)

hi guys , more good news , i install the omega drivers modified and i won 230k more in 3dmark2005 with same cloks its unbelivble:

  >>> older drivers (560/560) >>>>  




>>>modified drivers (560/560)>>>>


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 2, 2005)

I don't know for some reason i can't get the OMEGA DRIVERS to work with my setup. I don't even know why he still has "FASTWRITE" options on there since over majority of people are on PCI-E which doesn't have anything to do with GART or FASTWRITE anymore. When i install it and come back it does the same thing, still looking for the drivers even though it's installed, oh well, i'll just settle for original 5.10 Catalyst. Strange though...


----------



## kohan69 (Nov 2, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> I don't know for some reason i can't get the OMEGA DRIVERS to work with my setup. I don't even know why he still has "FASTWRITE" options on there since over majority of people are on PCI-E which doesn't have anything to do with GART or FASTWRITE anymore. When i install it and come back it does the same thing, still looking for the drivers even though it's installed, oh well, i'll just settle for original 5.10 Catalyst. Strange though...




uninstall all drivers

get drivercleaner 3.3
remove any trace of ati

instlal latest omega's

NO fastwrite


----------



## Maksim (Nov 2, 2005)

Hey guys, anyhow im trying to OC my Sapphire GTO, mine is the AGP version and as far as i can tell it is not capable of being unlocked to 16 pipes (running 12 pipes now), the stock mem is 400mhz and mem is 490, ive seen on most forums that people can push the core to 500+ range but mine craps out around 473mhz, my screen goes black and the monitor blinks as if it is turned off with no video signal but i think windows is still running, i checked the temp and whenever it would go out the temp was never higher then 50c the fan is set to 100%, the memory i can push to 520 succesfully i have not tried pushing it any higher, as of right now it is 460/520. I am wondering if the core is not getting enough power when i OC it, i have a 300w PSU but i only have a HD and a CD drive hooked up besides the GTO (it does require a molex connector which i did hook up) so i dont know if i dont have enough juice or if the the R430 core (ati tool shows it as a r430 core i have not yet taken off the heat sink and fan to look at the GPU verify) is not that great of an overclocker. I also tried using the Trixx software that came with the GTO and whenever it tests maximum core and mem it pushes the core all the way to 540mhz and the computer is fine and does not freeze up but once it reaches 50% on the test it drops down to the default 400mhz, it does the same thing for the memory as well it will get up to about 530mhz and then go back down to 490mhz, and then i get the message that "Under extreme settings your max core is 399.98 and Mem 490" why does it give me that message if it can push both the mem and the core higher, and why doesnt it make my computer lock up like ATI tool? Ideas anyone?

P.S. went from a radeon 9800 pro and my 3dmark scores went from 5568 to 9982..


----------



## Excalibur800GTO (Nov 2, 2005)

*Excalibur 800 GTO 525/525*

Hi Guys,

Excalibur 800 GTO IceQ can not be modded for 16 pipes. Its a great card though, I am running it at 525/525!!

Cheers

AP


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 2, 2005)

Maksim - congratulations on your new card.  If your GTO has the R430 core and 2.0 ns memory, I don't think that your o/c numbers are terrible.  Since that core and memory are also used in XL's, I think that you could expect similar o/c performance.  That said, it sounds like your PSU could be minimum for your rig so it may be possible to squeeze more from the card with an improvement there.  In any event, you already have great performance.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 2, 2005)

Obviously not 3DMARK05.  Thanks for letting us know Excalibur.

I have received my sleeving, and it looks awesome.  Keep an eye on my post in the worklog forum the next few days.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 2, 2005)

kohan69,
 I don't think it makes a difference really. Since i've changed the ID/Frequency of my GTO to X800XT might have something to do with it. I've installed/Uninstalled drivers for so long that i was shocked when the Omega 5.10a drivers wouldn't work. Which would be the "Radeon Omega Drivers 2.6.75a (Catalyst 5.10a)" and i used Cat Uninstaller, but i'll try what you suggested, but i know it wouldn't matter, quite fishy to be honest.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 3, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> kohan69,
> I don't think it makes a difference really. Since i've changed the ID/Frequency of my GTO to X800XT might have something to do with it. I've installed/Uninstalled drivers for so long that i was shocked when the Omega 5.10a drivers wouldn't work. Which would be the "Radeon Omega Drivers 2.6.75a (Catalyst 5.10a)" and i used Cat Uninstaller, but i'll try what you suggested, but i know it wouldn't matter, quite fishy to be honest.


What kind of GTO?  One that has an R480 core or R423/430? (you've probably mentioned it, but I don't want to search for it right now)  If it is one with an R480, you'll take a performance hit simply by identifying it as an X800 XT.


----------



## mascaras (Nov 3, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> kohan69,
> I don't think it makes a difference really. Since i've changed the ID/Frequency of my GTO to X800XT might have something to do with it. I've installed/Uninstalled drivers for so long that i was shocked when the Omega 5.10a drivers wouldn't work. Which would be the "Radeon Omega Drivers 2.6.75a (Catalyst 5.10a)" and i used Cat Uninstaller, but i'll try what you suggested, but i know it wouldn't matter, quite fishy to be honest.



dynamic not that omega drivers use this one 5.9 modified   >> http://downloads.guru3d.com/downloadget.php?id=1196&file=4&evp=49eb488273abb6256db7e6d0ba7b13c4 >>> you gona have a big surprise when you run 3dmark


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 3, 2005)

Okay, i feel like an idiot;guess? Okay the procedures for installing Omega worked, but very unstable for me so i just went back to Catalyst 5.10 after having a big crash in Call of Duty which i haven't had since i got my GTO stable. Just like the Author said, don't use "ATI TOOL" because it may interfere with the tweaks he has in the Omega drivers. Either that or the things that he has done to the drivers doesn't work for my particular setup. Beside i get no gain anyway in the benchmarks, at least 3DMark05 since that's the only one i've tried. Forget it!

Connect3D X800 GTO
R423 Core and 2.0ns Samsung memory @16pp 550/565 stable with 5.10 ATI Catalyst Drivers


----------



## mascaras (Nov 3, 2005)

try that ones that i sayd >>>>  http://downloads.guru3d.com/downloadget.php?id=1196&file=4&evp=49eb488273abb6256db7e6d0ba7b13c4


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 3, 2005)

New clocks with modified memory timings:

522/583 (vs. 522/618)


----------



## mascaras (Nov 3, 2005)

i can get 570 in core but in the memory only 585 with my conect3 d but nothing of modified memory timmings( i dont even know what that is )


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 3, 2005)

Don't worry about it.  It's only for the X800GTO2.

My card is getting really shitty frames now.  I'm just gonna take it easy until my Zalman arrives.


----------



## Dr.D (Nov 3, 2005)

Need help guys:
I checked and my card is unlockable when I try to flash it I get a error like this

Serial ROM
"gto2.bin" File Open error

ERROR 0FL01 Press "1" to continue [I get a beep to]


I am typing this:

flashrom -f -p 0 gto2.bin

P.S I finally got my card from ATACOM, Oh and I a using my floopy drive for my boot disc
the name of my bios file is really "gto2.bin"


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 3, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> I don't know for some reason i can't get the OMEGA DRIVERS to work with my setup. I don't even know why he still has "FASTWRITE" options on there since over majority of people are on PCI-E which doesn't have anything to do with GART or FASTWRITE anymore. When i install it and come back it does the same thing, still looking for the drivers even though it's installed, oh well, i'll just settle for original 5.10 Catalyst. Strange though...


same issue here only now i cant intall anything except the 5.8 driver that comes in the sapphire cd it wont let me intall catalyst says canot complete install try using standard vga driver


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 3, 2005)

Ombracol,
  That's strange, cause i went right back to my old drivers "Catalyst 5.10". Did you uninstall your drivers, reboot, then use Driver Cleaner? I don't understand why you have to use 5.8, check it out, should work man. Make sure you clean all the drivers out, ATI, ATI WDM, CCC, ect... Good Luck.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 3, 2005)

mascaras said:
			
		

> try that ones that i sayd >>>>  http://downloads.guru3d.com/downloadget.php?id=1196&file=4&evp=49eb488273abb6256db7e6d0ba7b13c4



Hey i have a feeling that something is going to be not right with any of the Omega drivers. Now is the 5.10a only for X1800, no? You can use any version really, but it has more impact on the X1800 since it fixed the OPENGL at high res aa/af issue. I'll just stick with the Cat 5.10, thanks anyway. Maybe i'll give it a try later but i'm really tired of installing/uninstalling drivers right now, hehehe.


----------



## Muk (Nov 3, 2005)

Maksim said:
			
		

> Hey guys, anyhow im trying to OC my Sapphire GTO, mine is the AGP version and as far as i can tell it is not capable of being unlocked to 16 pipes (running 12 pipes now), the stock mem is 400mhz and mem is 490, ive seen on most forums that people can push the core to 500+ range but mine craps out around 473mhz,



Those are good clocks for a R430.  Which bios did you try flashing to?  Since its AGP, it might need a bios from a similar AGP card...  Youre the first Ive seen to try this mod on an AGP.  Thanks.


----------



## XeoNoX (Nov 3, 2005)

Even after buy the Zalman VF700-CU fan and using arctic 5 paste for my C3D x800 GTO card, my temperature was still around 45C idle and went as far up to 77c and i had to stop the finding of my max core. After thinking what to do i came to the conclusion of trying a "Coolmaster 2500 RPM 80x80x25mm" (about $7.00) regular case fan that was laying around and stuck it next to the video card. Boy was i surpised. My idle is now at 34c and my Load never went past 67c, average load was about 63C. That was a 13c plus drop in temerature!!! Pictures of what i did below.













Anyways, after all that hassle, it was worth it as i got to find out my max!!!

618 Core / 555 memory!!


To be on the safe side i dropped everything by 15.


3DMARK05 Scores Below 
______________________
5419 with a x800 XL that i returned back to bestbuy
4590 with C3D x800 GTO stock speeds
5172 with C3D x800 GTO 16 Pipe mod at stock speeds
6803 with C3D x800 16 Pipe mod Overclocked to 600/540


AND IM STILL USING DDR 2100!!!!


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 3, 2005)

XeoNoX,
 That's a great idea, i would post a picture of the setup on my rig, but don't have my Digi with me right now. I got a 120mm High speed fan just right above the PCI-E slot. So it's actually hitting CPU, RAM, CHIPSET, and ram's on the back of video card with the Zalman heatsinks i got on there. At first i had my mind set on the CPU, Ram overclocking, as you can read i've missed a very important factor, but i have 2x80mm fans in the front that's bringing nice cold air to my video card as we speak. *It really shines when the temps are low here where i live and you can feel the breeze behind you from the window*, hehe.

_CPU:26c Chipset:25c Power Regulators:26c GPU:31c GPU Envir:29c all on IDLE_...6 Fan Case for yeah!


----------



## Maksim (Nov 3, 2005)

Muk,

I didnt do a bios flash for my card, but im wondering if i do one i could increase the voltage for the GPU and maye it would stop crapping out, but seeing as it is an XL core ( i still have not taken off the heatsink to confirm this but seeing the default clock speeds they do match the XL) i doubt i would still be able to push it as far, it seems i can push my memory now to around 530mhz and i bumped up my core to 465, still smokes my old radeon 9800 pro. Now the X800 XL where exactly does it fall in the X800 Line up?  I looked at ATI's web site and it's above a X800 Pro and below a X800 XT, would it be viable for me to get a XL bios and possibly this would let me push my GTO clock speeds higher? The only problem being that the XL is 16 pipes and mine is 12.....ahh the agony...


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 3, 2005)

Maksim said:
			
		

> Muk,
> 
> I didnt do a bios flash for my card, but im wondering if i do one i could increase the voltage for the GPU and maye it would stop crapping out, but seeing as it is an XL core ( i still have not taken off the heatsink to confirm this but seeing the default clock speeds they do match the XL) i doubt i would still be able to push it as far, it seems i can push my memory now to around 530mhz and i bumped up my core to 465, still smokes my old radeon 9800 pro. Now the X800 XL where exactly does it fall in the X800 Line up?  I looked at ATI's web site and it's above a X800 Pro and below a X800 XT, would it be viable for me to get a XL bios and possibly this would let me push my GTO clock speeds higher? The only problem being that the XL is 16 pipes and mine is 12.....ahh the agony...



X800XL Specs: 16PP 400 Core and 500x2 Memory, i thought. By the way on that AGP card you don't have a Molex connector for power do you? If you don't i don't think you can do anything with it, since it would be useless without that extra power it needs to function how you want it. Good Luck though...and here is the line up for the Radeons...

Radeon X850 XT PE 	R480 	256MB 	DX 9.0b 	540 	1180 	256 bit        16
Radeon X850 XT 	         R480 	256MB 	DX 9.0b 	520 	 1080 	 256 bit 	16
Radeon X850 Pro 	 R480 	256MB 	DX 9.0b 	507 	 1040 	 256 bit 	12
Radeon X800 XT PE      R423 	256MB 	DX 9.0b 	520 	1120   256 bit 	       16
Radeon X800 XT 	        R423 	256MB 	DX 9.0b 	500 	 1000 	256 bit 	16
Radeon X800 Pro 	R423 	256MB 	DX 9.0b 	475 	  900 	 256 bit 	 12
*Radeon X800 XL 	        R430 	512MB 	DX 9.0b 	400 	 1000 	256 bit 	16*
*Radeon X800 XL 	        R430 	256MB 	DX 9.0b 	400 	 1000 	256 bit 	16*
Radeon X800              R430 	256MB 	DX 9.0b 	390 	  700 	  256 bit 	  12


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 3, 2005)

I personally would stick with buying the Connect3D X800GTO or the Sapphire X800GTO2 cards.  These are the only cards that we offer modded BIOSes for, and are *almost* guaranteed to work.

Happy OCing!
-=DaNiSh+DeViL=-


----------



## mascaras (Nov 3, 2005)

hi guys ,  dont forget that  you have to instal framework 1.1 , or you could get freezes and other prblems , i only remind of this now but its never too late so get framwork 1.1 and isntall it .


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 3, 2005)

*C3D Failure rate up to 6!!!*

omg, C3D x800 gto failure rate up to 6 fails!
anyone have an idea of why they been failing?
Ive got one on order and would like to be prepared.

are there batches comin thru with unlockable cores? or is it down to trouble with flashing tools, bioses etc?

Thanx to anyone who can answer me


----------



## mascaras (Nov 3, 2005)

i think the fails its ppl who not doing the MOD correctly .


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 3, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Ombracol,
> That's strange, cause i went right back to my old drivers "Catalyst 5.10". Did you uninstall your drivers, reboot, then use Driver Cleaner? I don't understand why you have to use 5.8, check it out, should work man. Make sure you clean all the drivers out, ATI, ATI WDM, CCC, ect... Good Luck.


after trying so hard to get 5.10 drivers  my pc gave out and didnt want to boot anymore had to do a system restore...... thank god for backups lol i did loose my complete 1 thru 16 seasons of the simpsons took me a whole week to download damn you omega


----------



## JLBENEDICT (Nov 3, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> omg, C3D x800 gto failure rate up to 6 fails!
> anyone have an idea of why they been failing?
> Ive got one on order and would like to be prepared.
> 
> ...




When did these new six failures get reported?
I noticed on Newegg the other day that the Connect3D card was out of stock.. but this was only some short time...  
Now do you think its possibly, on the next shipment from the manufacturer, that there is apparently a bad batch in circulation?  Its definately a possibility..


----------



## mascaras (Nov 3, 2005)

JLBENEDICT said:
			
		

> When did these new six failures get reported?
> I noticed on Newegg the other day that the Connect3D card was out of stock.. but this was only some short time...
> Now do you think its possibly, on the next shipment from the manufacturer, that there is apparently a bad batch in circulation?  Its definately a possibility..



no , yesterday just arrived more conect3d in a shop near my house and all of them no problem with MOD ,  and they put them to seel without MOD = 208 euros nd already moded =225 euros with shop garanty (smart arent they?)


----------



## mascaras (Nov 3, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> after trying so hard to get 5.10 drivers  my pc gave out and didnt want to boot anymore had to do a system restore...... thank god for backups lol i did loose my complete 1 thru 16 seasons of the simpsons took me a whole week to download damn you omega


 i told you to install omega 5.9 modified drivers and not the omega 5.10  i even put the link directly to the download .  , with that drivers i almost get 7k  3dmark 2005 >>  

  ---  (560/575)


----------



## kohan69 (Nov 3, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> omg, C3D x800 gto failure rate up to 6 fails!
> anyone have an idea of why they been failing?
> Ive got one on order and would like to be prepared.
> 
> ...









 

 

i bet $20 all connect3d gtos, as of now unlock to 16pipes.
People need to s/t/f/u and Read :shadedshu


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 3, 2005)

If you asked a question and received a response like that would you think it was polite, helpful or even funny?


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 3, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> after trying so hard to get 5.10 drivers  my pc gave out and didnt want to boot anymore had to do a system restore...... thank god for backups lol i did loose my complete 1 thru 16 seasons of the simpsons took me a whole week to download damn you omega



Well, i know i had to re-install my Audigy card since using DriverCleaner took the WDM drivers i needed with the sound card. Next time, please explain what you did step by step, cause it sounds like some sort of a conflict when you installed or uninstalled the Omega drivers and tried your original. As far as i know, i paid $186 (GTO) plus $37 (Zalman VF700-cu) and i got the 16pp plus the core is 10mhz faster then the XTPE, but my memory is set at 565 and that's the highest it goes. Now i'm very happy even though i have to do different things then most of you to keep the card stable on my machine, not sure why BlackPlear doesn't have the same problems as me, but getting near or higher performance then a X850XTPE for only $223 i'm damn happy with my results. This is a guy that use to throw money out like an idiot example: spent $500 and over for a motherboard/ram/cpu from Outpost.com and you know they are greedy with their prices and since now i've done a great job saving lots of money.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 3, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg,
 Just get it and try it and if it doesn't work which i doubt then return it. It's that simple. I got mine "Connect3dX800GTO" modded to 16 Pixel Pipelines and the core/memory is at 550/565. The core can benchmark at 565 but will give artifacts and the memory is just right on the edge there at 565. With my system overclocked and the specs that i've given you for my GTO i'm getting a nice 6424 score on 3DMark05, so just be patient and keep trying never stop. We should be polite and nice troubleshooting in this forum, not insult others.


----------



## mongoled (Nov 3, 2005)

mascaras said:
			
		

> i told you to install omega 5.9 modified drivers and not the omega 5.10  i even put the link directly to the download .  , with that drivers i almost get 7k  3dmark 2005 >>
> 
> ---  (560/575)


Hey i tried those drivers out but got a negligable difference (lost abt 15 points), this is from using original 5.10's


----------



## XeoNoX (Nov 3, 2005)

Can some people please post their GPU temperatures at full load using ati tool's scan for artifacts for about 3 or 4 minutes and post their temperatures.

 mine is like 63C which is about 148F, i think thats kinda hot at full laod. (yes i have the zalman fan properly installed)


----------



## kotetu (Nov 3, 2005)

kotetu said:
			
		

> I ordered from Allstarshop on the 24th and the card arrived today.  Cost me $286US though. >_<
> 
> 
> Oh well!  With luck it will perform like it's $500 brother. ^__^




I had no trouble with the bios.  Running the catalyst drivers off the ATI website, 16 pipes open, I have no artifacting with the stock Sapphire cooler at these combinations of speeds (so far)

500/590
520/540
550/560

Everything looks great!  I've got a new Dell 9100 3Ghz Pentium D with 1GB of memory.  Doom 3 is really nice looking and smooth!


----------



## mascaras (Nov 3, 2005)

XeoNoX said:
			
		

> Can some people please post their GPU temperatures at full load using ati tool's scan for artifacts for about 3 or 4 minutes and post their temperatures.
> 
> mine is like 63C which is about 148F, i think thats kinda hot at full laod. (yes i have the zalman fan properly installed)









clocks: 500/500(default) 49c while scaning for artefatcs (Watercooling)


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 3, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Well, i know i had to re-install my Audigy card since using DriverCleaner took the WDM drivers i needed with the sound card. Next time, please explain what you did step by step, cause it sounds like some sort of a conflict when you installed or uninstalled the Omega drivers and tried your original. As far as i know, i paid $186 (GTO) plus $37 (Zalman VF700-cu) and i got the 16pp plus the core is 10mhz faster then the XTPE, but my memory is set at 565 and that's the highest it goes. Now i'm very happy even though i have to do different things then most of you to keep the card stable on my machine, not sure why BlackPlear doesn't have the same problems as me, but getting near or higher performance then a X850XTPE for only $223 i'm damn happy with my results. This is a guy that use to throw money out like an idiot example: spent $500 and over for a motherboard/ram/cpu from Outpost.com and you know they are greedy with their prices and since now i've done a great job saving lots of money.


i was seeing a conflict with the video driver and my chipset but window would not let me change the resources it alo started cause i did not unintal catalyst center when i first installed but its all good ended up getting rid of a bunch of junk files


----------



## Dr.D (Nov 3, 2005)

Alright I fixed my problem, I had ".bin" in the file name 

3DMark05
4405 stock
4913 unlocked

I plan to OC it when I get better cooling


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 3, 2005)

the wierdest thng.....so i had the x850xtpe bios right so we all know about the fan problem....so i hat to flash back to the gto bios to keep the fan running while i was reinstalling ....so i put clocks to what i had them before and i was getting artifacts so i flashed to xtpe no artifacts it probably was the mem timings cause i loaded the timings before checking for artifacts but........gonna test some more!!



flashe to gto2 and stock timings no artifacts but if i change timings i get artifacts but with x850xtpe bios no artifacts with tweaked timings anyonelse experiecing this...???


----------



## Dr.D (Nov 3, 2005)

I need help on ideal temps


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 3, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> I need help on ideal temps


 lower the better but mine never goes over 61 and thats just with artifact scaning playing games never over 55


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 3, 2005)

i never use the fin max in atitool but if i wanna find max mem do i do it with the max core or default core?


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 4, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> i never use the fin max in atitool but if i wanna find max mem do i do it with the max core or default core?



What I suggest is:

Find Max Core until you get a PERFECTLY stable clock.

Then, Find Max Mem.  Keep your core at the stable clock.  Also, change your mem timings like I did before you do either.  It works great.




			
				mascaras said:
			
		

> i told you to install omega 5.9 modified drivers and not the omega 5.10  i even put the link directly to the download .  , with that drivers i almost get 7k  3dmark 2005 >>
> 
> ---  (560/575)




YOU PLAY AA BRO? WHAT UP? Add me to ur AAOTracker: -=DaNiSh+DeViL=-


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 4, 2005)

ati should be coming out with there new drivers soon with the 35% gain in opengl games i dont want to go thru that hassle again with the omega drivers so i am not sure i mean i am very happy with performance all my games play great and igf i get extra point in 3d mark ai really dont notice a difference cause there is only really 3 games that make use of the cards power doom3 quake 4 fear and some other games but not as much as those and they play great on my card


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 4, 2005)

XeoNoX,
 Those are the temps i'm getting too with my Zalman. Okay one thing i've noticed is that ATI TOOL puts *ALOT* of pressure on our video cards compared to the games we play. So you notice when you play Q4, Doom 3, or F.E.A.R your temps aren't that high? I was playing Quake 4 or Call of Duty 2 and my temps would be around 55c instead of the 64c i get trying to scan for artifacts with ATI TOOL .24 I can't remember if you were the one that put a 80mm fan right next to your video card or not. An efficient way would be water cooling really, cause with air this is the best it gets i guess. 

ATI TOOL "Scan for Artifacts...
GPU:62-64c
GPU ENVIR: 40-42c
Same thing dudes, don't worry my 9800xt use to hit 74c w/o Silencer 3 and when i got it would shoot down around 65 i think.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 4, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> ati should be coming out with there new drivers soon with the 35% gain in opengl games i dont want to go thru that hassle again with the omega drivers so i am not sure i mean i am very happy with performance all my games play great and igf i get extra point in 3d mark ai really dont notice a difference cause there is only really 3 games that make use of the cards power doom3 quake 4 fear and some other games but not as much as those and they play great on my card



Damn dude, chipset drivers, hmm... you must of been using your Windows XP for a long time. I usually reformat every 3-4 months, but going back to the Catalyst from Omega i only had to re-install my Sound Blaster Beta drivers, that's it. I thought 5.11 was suppose to implement the opengl fix, so what is this three drivers you're talking about?


----------



## mascaras (Nov 4, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> What I suggest is:
> 
> Find Max Core until you get a PERFECTLY stable clock.
> 
> ...



danish in AA i am the -=[uP]EX_DOOM3D


----------



## Trevor (Nov 4, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Alright I fixed my problem, I had ".bin" in the file name
> 
> 3DMark05
> 4405 stock
> ...


xD
so it was .bin.bin?  I did the same thign


----------



## Trevor (Nov 4, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> XeoNoX,
> Those are the temps i'm getting too with my Zalman. Okay one thing i've noticed is that ATI TOOL puts *ALOT* of pressure on our video cards compared to the games we play. So you notice when you play Q4, Doom 3, or F.E.A.R your temps aren't that high? I was playing Quake 4 or Call of Duty 2 and my temps would be around 55c instead of the 64c i get trying to scan for artifacts with ATI TOOL .24 I can't remember if you were the one that put a 80mm fan right next to your video card or not. An efficient way would be water cooling really, cause with air this is the best it gets i guess.
> 
> ATI TOOL "Scan for Artifacts...
> ...


I noticed the EXACT same thing..
Load temps in ATiTool are around 10Cs higher then normal temps when playing games for hours.
But hey, that's good--Means it'll keep stable


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 4, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Damn dude, chipset drivers, hmm... you must of been using your Windows XP for a long time. I usually reformat every 3-4 months, but going back to the Catalyst from Omega i only had to re-install my Sound Blaster Beta drivers, that's it. I thought 5.11 was suppose to implement the opengl fix, so what is this three drivers you're talking about?


i was talking about games there only three games that make you of all the performance of the card and asks for more  i think there is still a lack of good graphical games out there that make usee of any topend card


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 4, 2005)

got fan to work with xtpe bios you have to disable vivo with the bios editor for some reason i am not getting as high on my oc with the gto bios so after i edited the bios and disabled the vivo my fan kick on with out atitool


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 4, 2005)

Ombracol,
 I apologize, must of read through it really fast. Which games are you playing anyhow? I got Quake4, F.E.A.R, Doom3 (Not installed yet), Call of Duty 2, and Call of Duty. COD:1600X1200 4AA8AF, COD2:1024X768 High, Q4:1280x1024 High Quility, F.E.A.R:1024x768 @32bits pretty much maximum/medium settings. I'm quite happy with this mod, saved me alot. Thank you everyone and Wizzard.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 4, 2005)

*Vivo? Encoding/Decoding....?*

BTW, is anyone using their Vivo yet? I see two "Ati Vivo" in my sound drivers, but haven't gotten a clue how they work or perform. So what's the yellow connector next to the PCI-E connector? Do we connect anything to it? I know i can just google this and find out, but i want to hear it from you guys and see what you guys know.


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 4, 2005)

Well Dynamic thanks to bittorrent I am pretty much playing all latest games Doom 3 i can play quake doom 3 at maximum quality but without aa i can but my frame rates are low with aa i play all games at 1280x1024  if you tweak the config file on fear you c also play it at 1280 1024 kept soft shadows off and aa at 2x and af at 8x worked real good but saw some frame drops whenever any parts of the game was out in bright light wich was more towards the end of the game and call of duty 2 i use what ever settings it detects and frames are reall goood at 60 fps and plays real good and then all other game full quality all the way


----------



## kohan69 (Nov 5, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> Well Dynamic thanks to bittorrent I am pretty much playing all latest games Doom 3 i can play quake doom 3 at maximum quality but without aa i can but my frame rates are low with aa i play all games at 1280x1024  if you tweak the config file on fear you c also play it at 1280 1024 kept soft shadows off and aa at 2x and af at 8x worked real good but saw some frame drops whenever any parts of the game was out in bright light wich was more towards the end of the game and call of duty 2 i use what ever settings it detects and frames are reall goood at 60 fps and plays real good and then all other game full quality all the way




whats ur system?


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 5, 2005)

kohan69 said:
			
		

> whats ur system?


3.2 ghzht Sony Vaio Ra 800mhz fsb  1.5 gb pc3200 400mhz ddr mem
400 gig hd Intel 915p chipset wIN xP MEDIA cENTER
rEALTEK aLC880 hd AUDIO 5.1 OPTICAL SOUND
the cpu came with a heat  pipe so fan spin real low sow it is real quiet but after i put my gto2 in i cranked the fan real high so the case and cpu run real cool
on a cold morning I can have my cpu at 38C for a couple hours but normal temp is 43 45 
never over 50 on max load am i missing any spec.....I wanna get a new motherboard so I can crank up the cpu to 3.6ghz any recomendations it has to be micro atx thats the only down fall i oly have i pci port unoccupied cause I only have 4 slots


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 5, 2005)

Lol, on a hot day with my CPU on load for 6 hours I can keep it under 39C  And with a little fooling, I got it to 216X11=2376MHz

My suggestion would be to get a whole new system.  Upgrading a mobo in a pre-built system can be tough, especially if you don't have a retail or OEM copy of Windows XP (Pro).


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 5, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> Lol, on a hot day with my CPU on load for 6 hours I can keep it under 39C  And with a little fooling, I got it to 216X11=2376MHz
> 
> My suggestion would be to get a whole new system.  Upgrading a mobo in a pre-built system can be tough, especially if you don't have a retail or OEM copy of Windows XP (Pro).


pentium 4s run hot as ell.....but i spoke with microsoft they said to talk to them when i upgrade the mobo but if i cant use the same copy i will buid my own cause i have alot of good software from sony cause a mob is only 150 tops for a decent one we will see what happens ...before i had my fans up all the way i saw the pentium hit 60 durring the summer under load


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 5, 2005)

If you end up building your own, and don't know much about it, send me a PM.  I am currently building systems for 4 friends, so I should be able to help you out.


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 5, 2005)

thanks danish Ican put a pc together but I dont really know what hardware to get so if you can recomend some stuff that would be good....


----------



## Muk (Nov 6, 2005)

Maksim said:
			
		

> Muk,
> 
> I didnt do a bios flash for my card, but im wondering if i do one i could increase the voltage for the GPU and maye it would stop crapping out, but seeing as it is an XL core ( i still have not taken off the heatsink to confirm this but seeing the default clock speeds they do match the XL) i doubt i would still be able to push it as far, it seems i can push my memory now to around 530mhz and i bumped up my core to 465, still smokes my old radeon 9800 pro.



The XL is positioned above the 800 Pro and x850 pro, below the x800XT.  If you do have a R430 core, I believe the GTOs are using the same PCB as the XL/XT, so flashing an XL bios might give you some luck.  Even the ones for the PCIe cards might work, since Rialtos transtation is supposed to be transparent to the card.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 6, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> thanks danish Ican put a pc together but I dont really know what hardware to get so if you can recomend some stuff that would be good....


Just toss me a PM when you're ready.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 6, 2005)

I'll hopefully be able to sleeve my new PSU soon, and then I can see if using a true 3X12V+3XGnd PEC Power Cable helps vs. the adapter.

I assume it does.  The adapter provides the card with one +12V lead and two grounds.
The "normal" one provides THREE +12V leads and THREE grounds.  I guess we'll see.

BTW: Does anyone know what PCI-E Frequency actually does?  I have mine set to 115MHz vs. the stock 100MHz.


----------



## sh0ck (Nov 6, 2005)

**

IF I GOT:

CONFIG_DIE_FUSES  0xFFFFDFFF
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE 0xFFFFFF9E

I can't modd my card ?

why ? whats the 'CONFIG_DIE_FUSES' & 'CONFIG_SUBSTRATE' ??

this values cannot be changed ?

i got Sapphire x800gto 256/256


----------



## Vergo (Nov 6, 2005)

You should've bought the GTO²..
It doesn't have the 480core


----------



## decline (Nov 6, 2005)

this is one of six c3d x800 gto unlockables  







any idea?...


----------



## sh0ck (Nov 6, 2005)

On this card i can unlock 4 pipelines ? (i have 12, i want more)


----------



## Megatron (Nov 6, 2005)

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5215

Read the "Is my card moddable?" section.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 6, 2005)

decline said:
			
		

> this is one of six c3d x800 gto unlockables
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's a Connect3d X800 GTO?  Well, if as it is there it does not have 16 pixel pipelines, then your card truely isn't unlockable by flashing the bios.  With the CONFIG_ROM_FUSES value you have there, it should have 16 pipes if it was unlockable that way.  The last digit of that value means the number of pipeline quads that are locked in the bios, so none are currently locked in the bios.


----------



## z00m (Nov 6, 2005)

*freeze and restart...*

hi, im having a problem with my sapphire gto2 freezing and restart right around 520 core. For the memory i can go around 620. I dont know for some reason when i use atitool to try to find the max core it freezes when it gets to around 520+, but my gpu temp is only at 48c.

i got the sapphire gto2 successful unlocked to 16p.


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 6, 2005)

*C3D Success! hooah!*

I recieved my c3d x800 gto...
...checked for the required 'F''s with Ati tool, they were present!
...flashed it with the modified flashrom & connect3d 16 pipes bios!, no problems 16 pipes in ati tool
...then I thought, wait a minute, this an x800xt with 2.0ns memory,
...so I flashed it with atiflash to the powercolor x800xt 2.0ns bios from the database

and viola! an x800 xt! yeeehaaa!!!

...that'll do nicely, an XT for £113! cheapest upgrade I ever made!
Great job guys!

Sorry to hear that some are c3d's are comin thru locked or with different cores, but hey!, it could have been my one!


----------



## jammer8 (Nov 6, 2005)

*my flash*

I got my connect 3d GTO yesterday.  i had already made a bootable cd with all the nescessary stuff on it.  it was the easiest flash i've ever done.  my question is im getting some pretty high scores on the 3dmar05 and was wondering if they're valid  my system is as follows:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (venice core, stock)
Epox 9NPA+ Ultra (very nice board)
1 GB cosair memory  (2.5)
36GB WD Raptor (system disk)
250 GB (Hitachi SATA, storage)
SB Audigy
Antec server tower w/430 watt power supply
Connect 3D GTO (modded 16P)

here are my scores all w/ 16P

400/490:  5061
450/400:  5438
500/510:  5831
520/520:  6058
540/530:  6233

I have screenshots also, but didn't post them.  the highest my card gets it 59 degees C on stock cooling.  i haven't tried to go faster yet, but will soon.

has anyone else got scores like these?  if anyone wants I can send screenshots in powerpoint or word.


----------



## decline (Nov 6, 2005)

yes it is, the card was flashed following this guide and bios Connect3D.X800GTO_16P.Samsung20.bin without luck


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 6, 2005)

Sorry to hear that.  Where did you buy your card?


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 7, 2005)

z00m said:
			
		

> hi, im having a problem with my sapphire gto2 freezing and restart right around 520 core. For the memory i can go around 620. I dont know for some reason when i use atitool to try to find the max core it freezes when it gets to around 520+, but my gpu temp is only at 48c.
> 
> i got the sapphire gto2 successful unlocked to 16p.



Then keep it under 520! DUH!


----------



## decline (Nov 7, 2005)

I bought it from a belgian distributor


----------



## kohan69 (Nov 7, 2005)

decline said:
			
		

> I bought it from a belgian distributor



does it look like this?


----------



## ages (Nov 7, 2005)

*GTO2 modded successfully*

 I acquired this card last week, updated the bios as recommended, and now running as x850XT at 16p, gaining a 30% performance and maintaining temperatures. Amazing.


----------



## decline (Nov 7, 2005)

exactly like that


----------



## pr0p (Nov 7, 2005)

i had the same problem of decline i flashed the card with the bios on the site, the x800xt (500/500) but none of if worked, they flashed but the card remained 12pp.

kind of desperated i found a bios at xtremesys and it worked...

try it


bios

KoHaN69@xtremesys



> Connect3d x800 gto (for sapphire, replace the bios files)
> 
> Floppy Technique:
> 
> ...


----------



## dpadmore (Nov 7, 2005)

Well add one more to the success column for the C3D 16 pipe flash. Got it from ebuyer in the UK for about GBP120 delivered. Card now craps out at 560/560 which I reckon it plenty. I notice that people have mentioned using the Powercolor X800XT bios to get 500/500 as default, wont this lose you the VIVO functionality?


----------



## sew333 (Nov 7, 2005)

Kohan69 i have a question.  I am buying this card,like you present on the picture.
THis is moddable version? Or i have to change the card??


----------



## decline (Nov 7, 2005)

my card has a lasercut 




I connected the two dots and it failed to unlock the extra pipe so... i think it's a waste of time :shadedshu


----------



## Bushwacker (Nov 7, 2005)

dpadmore said:
			
		

> [...] I notice that people have mentioned using the Powercolor X800XT bios to get 500/500 as default, wont this lose you the VIVO functionality?



No, it seems the Powercolor XT is a VIVO card too. I checked the Powercolor site in advance and used Rabit to verify that VIVO is enabled in the BIOS per default.


----------



## jammer8 (Nov 7, 2005)

Bushwacker said:
			
		

> No, it seems the Powercolor XT is a VIVO card too. I checked the Powercolor site in advance and used Rabit to verify that VIVO is enabled in the BIOS per default.



I have the Connect3d card.  so i guess i can flash to this bios?  also what benefits will i receive with this am already running 540/530 and getting 6233 on 3dmark05, the only game i've tried so far is sims2 with everything maxed.  getting fear, quake4, black & white 2 and some others this week....


----------



## sew333 (Nov 7, 2005)

Hey guys. I have a question. Connect3d X800gto ,all of this cards are moddable? 
Is there not moddable versions? 
For 2 days, i will have the card. 
I want to know. Is there 100% chance to mod the COnnect3d X800GTO? 

Second question. This card will work with power supply MODECOM 350GTF (ATX 1.0)??????????????


----------



## mascaras (Nov 7, 2005)

jammer8 said:
			
		

> I have the Connect3d card.  so i guess i can flash to this bios?  also what benefits will i receive with this am already running 540/530 and getting 6233 on 3dmark05, the only game i've tried so far is sims2 with everything maxed.  getting fear, quake4, black & white 2 and some others this week....




i flash mine conect3D  with that bios (x800XT) and work fine , clocks default(500/500) and dont loose VIVO, just with the MOD and no OC  you get at least 6000/6100  3dmaks  and with OC you can get  7000 3damrks or  more.


----------



## jammer8 (Nov 7, 2005)

mascaras said:
			
		

> i flash mine conect3D  with that bios (x800XT) and work fine , clocks default(500/500) and dont loose VIVO, just with the MOD and no OC  you get at least 6000/6100  3dmaks  and with OC you can get  7000 3damrks or  more.




thanks, i am on stock cooling too, do you recommend certian fan/ramsinks.  i am not going to watercool.  thanks again.  

Also, where can i get this bios? and is it the same type of flash as the unlock?


----------



## mascaras (Nov 7, 2005)

if you have the stockcooler  you should flash with the GTO2 bios not ith XT bios cause  the default clocks with XT bios is 500/500 the card its more hot with the xt bios, if you flash with XT bios i recomend a zalman vf700 .


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 7, 2005)

decline said:
			
		

> my card has a lasercut
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What way did you do it? Did you follow one of those guides for that?  What I recall from reading those a while back is that you can't just connect that, but you have to actually scrape between until there is copper exposed, or something like that.  You probably don't want to go by just what I said, though.  Find one of those guides (I'm not sure where to have you look to find one).


----------



## afropuff (Nov 7, 2005)

*Core*

How do you know what core you have?

Are we to assume that if our Connect3d cores do not say "R480" on them than they are not R480 and an R423?

How do we even know it is an R423? 

I just recieved my C3D GTO today and took off the heatsink to apply some AS5. First off, I've never seen so much thermal grease on a stock config before. Mounds of it. 

So when I got the HSF off, there is no mention of "R423" on the core, only a bunch of codes.

Also, how do we physically check to see if any of the pipelines have been cut?

-fro


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 7, 2005)

mascaras said:
			
		

> if you have the stockcooler  you should flash with the GTO2 bios not ith XT bios cause  the default clocks with XT bios is 500/500 the card its more hot with the xt bios, if you flash with XT bios i recomend a zalman vf700 .


It may not be a good idea to flash the C3D card with a GTO2 bios.  It's probably better to use W1zzard's modified C3D 16p bios from the article.


----------



## mascaras (Nov 7, 2005)

BlackPearl said:
			
		

> It may not be a good idea to flash the C3D card with a GTO2 bios.  It's probably better to use W1zzard's modified C3D 16p bios from the article.



yes its that bios i want to say ,sory .


----------



## mascaras (Nov 7, 2005)

afropuff said:
			
		

> How do you know what core you have?
> 
> Are we to assume that if our Connect3d cores do not say "R480" on them than they are not R480 and an R423?
> 
> ...


  with The ATITOOL you can see  what core you have and how many pipelines.


----------



## HousERaT (Nov 7, 2005)

afropuff said:
			
		

> How do you know what core you have?
> 
> Are we to assume that if our Connect3d cores do not say "R480" on them than they are not R480 and an R423?
> 
> ...


I would love to see this no name core..... can you snap a pic of it?


----------



## jammer8 (Nov 7, 2005)

i flashed mine with the modified bios, and runs great, it does have 16P and runs real fast with my system stock, atleast that's what 3dmark05 says.

right now i have it at 510/500 until i get a cooler(should I lower that).  so you guys think i should get the zalman cooler with the ramsinks that come with it?

it's only running at 63 degrees Celcius at full load, is that good?


also i have the mod on cd if anyone wants the iso i can send it to them


----------



## afropuff (Nov 7, 2005)

HousERaT said:
			
		

> I would love to see this no name core..... can you snap a pic of it?



JeffereyRyan on page 78 of this thread (I think) posted this pic of his C3D:







That is basically what mine looks like. Ordered from Monarch when they had their rebate.

JefferyRyan was able to unlock his card to 16 pipes.

-fro


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 7, 2005)

Jammer - 63C under load should not be a problem.  The Zalman would certainly reduce that and possibly allow a better o/c.  Also it's quiet, unlike the stock cooler at 100% fan speed.


----------



## decline (Nov 7, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> What way did you do it? Did you follow one of those guides for that?  What I recall from reading those a while back is that you can't just connect that, but you have to actually scrape between until there is copper exposed, or something like that.  You probably don't want to go by just what I said, though.  Find one of those guides (I'm not sure where to have you look to find one).




yes, i did it the right way   .  I scraped and used some silver conductive paint to bridge out the laser cut but only 12pipes in atitool  
I suppose that will be locked on die


----------



## z00m (Nov 7, 2005)

my gto2 core is maxing out at 510/630 and i want more... should i just get another one and return this one for a restocking fee of 15%? what do you guys think?


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 7, 2005)

Well, you might get a worse one.  It's all a gamble.  Let me tell you, you got some GREAT memory chips (mine got to 618 with the stock timings).  Some cores won't even go past 490, so all I can say is, if you decide to do it, GL to ya.


----------



## jammer8 (Nov 7, 2005)

BlackPearl said:
			
		

> Jammer - 63C under load should not be a problem.  The Zalman would certainly reduce that and possibly allow a better o/c.  Also it's quiet, unlike the stock cooler at 100% fan speed.



thanks, i thought that was a good temp. and the fan is kinda loud


----------



## z00m (Nov 7, 2005)

hehe i see, well i guess ill take the gamble than ima run to the store and pick one up for 264 plus tax = 286. ill be back in like an hour to let yall know the result.


----------



## aviator (Nov 7, 2005)

*Another GTO2 mod (just !)*

To quote an earlier post -


> Originally Posted by edge929
> Another successful mod here.
> One thing I wanted to point out that the guide doesn't mention. For me, I HAD to use the -f command to force the flash (as the SSIDs didn't match).



I had the same problem.  In case it helps anyone out there, I also HAD to use -f to force the flash, which then proceeded ok, but very nervous at boot up.
Interestingly, when I booted-up the screen display after flashing - the display was terrible and the ATI Control Panel couldn't start.
Uninstalled the ATI Control Panel using the utility via Add/Remove Programs and downloaded Catalyst 5.9 from the Sapphire site (seems to be same drivers irrespective of whether you opt for drivers for X800 GTO or X850 GT). Installed these, re-booted and all is well.
AtiTool now shows 16 pipes.

No idea whether it makes any difference as have no means yet of testing, but I can see my screen well enough


----------



## z00m (Nov 8, 2005)

ok, i just picked the card up. should i run it at normal speed for awhile than oc it? i read somewhere that you should run it for awhile first before overclocking it. any ideas?

oh yeah, btw the card at my local shop is only 264.99 plus free shipping. thats like the cheapest place you can find online. http://store.yahoo.com/directron/x800gto2.html


----------



## satire (Nov 8, 2005)

Is there really only 1 version of the Sapphire GTO2 card? I have flashed my bios and I now get green artefact. I have flash back with the original firmware on this site, I get the same result. my GTO2 OEM part numbner is 102-A47487-10-AT purchased at NCIX.COM in Canada two weeks ego. does anyone have an original bios for this exact card? please email it me at lbouchard@stas.ca


----------



## XeoNoX (Nov 8, 2005)

this is the cheapest place i found it  http://www.paguito.com/cgi-local/So...60.html?L+scstore+bvks0872ff559255+1131431260

you wont find it cheaper anywhere else, i just ordered mine today, will get here in 2 weeks the guy said.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 8, 2005)

BlackPearl said:
			
		

> It may not be a good idea to flash the C3D card with a GTO2 bios.  It's probably better to use W1zzard's modified C3D 16p bios from the article.





			
				mascaras said:
			
		

> yes its that bios i want to say ,sory .


You used that bios and it worked?  Hmm, thanks for the little bit of insight into my research on this thread: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=6081  It may not be a sure thing, though.  Does anyone know if all chips for X800's not marked with R480 are not R480?


----------



## Slicky (Nov 8, 2005)

jammer8 said:
			
		

> I got my connect 3d GTO yesterday.  i had already made a bootable cd with all the nescessary stuff on it.  it was the easiest flash i've ever done.



Where did you get the bootable CD?  I have the exact same card on its way to me.  Is it in the bios section on this board?


----------



## emkubed (Nov 8, 2005)

Mark another Sapphire success, unlocked, running at XT speeds, waiting on the winter to kick in to go a tad higher.

When I game I flirt with 70 degrees on the stock cooler, in a quiet case. CPU-wise, that's closing into BIOS-alarm-hot, doesn't seem to bother the vid card though.


----------



## killiedel (Nov 8, 2005)

*x800 connect3d gto pcie*

hi i have tried to open the extra 4 pipelines on this card, but it does not show any change after i have flashed the bios. 
Is this the correct way to do it? 
I am using atiflash, and the connect3d x800gto 16p.sa.....bin. 
In dos i type "atiflash -f -p 0 x80016p" (the dos name for my bin file) 
Then i rebbot and check using atitool, but it still show 12 pipelines. 

I have tried using different bios but windows only detects a new card, and the pipelines stay at 12. 

My fuses are the correct type for flashing - config die fuses 0xeff7ffff, config substrike fuses 0xffffff9f 

Anyone any ideas on whats wrong. 

p.s. the card  comes up as a pro version, is this right?

3dbenchmark03 std - 9534, with x800xt bios 10626
Thanks


----------



## Groggy (Nov 8, 2005)

he he if you read all the postings you will find your answer.   
ok i think you should use the -newbios option

Type: atiflash -p 0 bios.bin -f -newbios

And then tell us what happend


----------



## sew333 (Nov 8, 2005)

Hey. ON COnnect3d X800gto is a 100% chance to mod bios to X800XL?
OR not?
THis is 100% chance??


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 8, 2005)

sew333 - the correct rate is in the first post of this thread and it's not 100%.

killiedel - try following the instructions from the first post of this thread exactly.  You say that you're using atiflash while W1zzard says "You MUST use the modded Flashrom, other flashing utilities will not change your pipeline configuration".  Also, try reinstalling catalyst drivers after the mod - some report that's necessary though it wasn't for me.


----------



## jammer8 (Nov 8, 2005)

Slicky said:
			
		

> Where did you get the bootable CD?  I have the exact same card on its way to me.  Is it in the bios section on this board?




i actually followed the guide on this website and added the nescessary files. 

also i typed

flashrom -p 0 gto16p.bin

where the file i renamed to gto16p.bin, you have to type .bin, remember it's dos.
also you have to use flashrom, not atiflash


----------



## afropuff (Nov 8, 2005)

I was able to flash fine, but now I can't change my resolution. It is stuck at 60hz.

It is actually set @ 100hz in properties, but it stays at 60. No matter what I set it to or what resolution I'm in it stays at 60.

Anyone else have this problem?

I even used refresh force for the XP 60hz problem, and it is still stuck at 60.

Suggestions?

C3D GTO


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 8, 2005)

Is your display an LCD?  If so, there's no problem with the 60Hz refresh rate.


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 8, 2005)

emkubed said:
			
		

> Mark another Sapphire success, unlocked, running at XT speeds, waiting on the winter to kick in to go a tad higher.
> 
> When I game I flirt with 70 degrees on the stock cooler, in a quiet case. CPU-wise, that's closing into BIOS-alarm-hot, doesn't seem to bother the vid card though.


What systen you got


----------



## killiedel (Nov 8, 2005)

*connect3d 16pipelines*

good news, got the other 4 pipelines open.
3dmark03 went from 9534 to 10345.

What should i do next?

Should i find max settings using atitool, or flash another bios for a xt card.
If another bios, what method should i use?

Thanks for all your help


----------



## afropuff (Nov 8, 2005)

BlackPearl said:
			
		

> Is your display an LCD?  If so, there's no problem with the 60Hz refresh rate.



CRT

Dell Trinitron 19''

Never had this problem in the past.

hmmmm nm, some reason it stopped doing it. Must not have changed the resolution enough or something for refresh force to take effect?! weird.

-fro


----------



## satire (Nov 8, 2005)

Please HELP ME... HELP ME... HELP ME... I need original bios file for Sapphire GTO2, I have samsung 1.6 memory. the bios file from this web site does not work for me and I lost my backup. email to lbouchard(at)stas.ca

thank you


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 8, 2005)

killiedel said:
			
		

> What should i do next?



Whatever you like.  There's really not much reason to flash another bios since ATITool will allow you to set any speeds you want and will even do so at startup if you select that option.  I use the stock speed 16p bios and have various o/c's memorized in ATITool so they can be loaded when I want extra performance for gaming.  Until then, the card stays cool and quiet.

Congratulations on the successful flash.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 9, 2005)

satire said:
			
		

> Please HELP ME... HELP ME... HELP ME... I need original bios file for Sapphire GTO2, I have samsung 1.6 memory. the bios file from this web site does not work for me and I lost my backup. email to lbouchard(at)stas.ca
> 
> thank you


I sent you an e-mail with the bios from mine.


----------



## satire (Nov 9, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> I sent you an e-mail with the bios from mine.



Thank I received the file, but it does not work on my card.
I need original BIOS for Sapphire GTO2 Limited Edition purchased at NCIX.COM
part number 102-A47487-10-AT

my email is still lbouchard(at)stas.ca
I prefer to received email from 100 people than nothing.

Thanks


----------



## z00m (Nov 9, 2005)

man this gotta suck... my first gto2 was runnning at 510/630 than i went out to buy another to see if it overclocks better. the new result is a little disappointing... 600/530 have anyone's ram crap out at 530? hmmm... which one should i keep?


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 9, 2005)

That's a tough call - #1 has good mem clock, #2 has good core clock but unfortunately neither has great combined gpu/mem performance.


----------



## afropuff (Nov 9, 2005)

*Success*

Just wanted to report success in flashing another C3D GTO to 16 pipes.

Ordered from Monarch.

-fro


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 9, 2005)

The one with the better GPU clock.  It will ultimately give you better performance.  You could also try sticking zalmans on either of them.


----------



## sew333 (Nov 9, 2005)

YEah, I get moddable CONNECT3D X800GTO... COOL.
I have the F in right positions.
YEAH!!!!I am right? See this screen.Here:


----------



## RatusNatus (Nov 9, 2005)

afropuff said:
			
		

> I was able to flash fine, but now I can't change my resolution. It is stuck at 60hz.
> 
> It is actually set @ 100hz in properties, but it stays at 60. No matter what I set it to or what resolution I'm in it stays at 60.
> 
> ...




You can lock your resolution with Ati Tool....search, you'll find it!


----------



## z00m (Nov 10, 2005)

both of them are water cooled... oh well, the new card i bought, the fan isn't working so ima go and exchange it. i hope this time it will be a better card, maybe the third time is a charm.


----------



## afropuff (Nov 10, 2005)

The 6800GS overclocked seems to be performing pretty closely with our GTO mods.

I'm keeping my C3D GTO, but just something else to consider for those still wanting to upgrade.

-fro


----------



## Maksim (Nov 10, 2005)

To bad my MB is AGP, as for the 6800GS, the only reason i would ever consider getting it is SM3.0 support on it, besides that its pretty much the same as the GTO


----------



## sew333 (Nov 10, 2005)

Hey. I post this screen and tell me , my card is moddable? YEs or not. THx
Screen with atitool:: http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=modowana4sd.jpg
NExt i please, that somebody give me 1000000% good instructions to mod my card.
Thx


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 10, 2005)

sew333 said:
			
		

> Hey. I post this screen and tell me , my card is moddable? YEs or not. THx
> Screen with atitool:: http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=modowana4sd.jpg
> NExt i please, that somebody give me 1000000% good instructions to mod my card.
> Thx


Your card is indeed moddable.  Which GTO is it?  The Connect3d GTO?  If so, there is a modded bios for it here: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5215  If it isn't the Connect3d GTO, post your bios so that I can mod it for you.


----------



## sew333 (Nov 10, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Your card is indeed moddable.  Which GTO is it?  The Connect3d GTO?  If so, there is a modded bios for it here: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5215  If it isn't the Connect3d GTO, post your bios so that I can mod it for you.




I have CONNECT3D X800GTO
The flashroom and bios for my card, must be in the same folder in DISK A ???
For sample: A:\FLASH\

and i must type: flashrom -p 0 gto16p.bin   ????

When i mod card to 16p is any chance to get artifacts?(the bad pipelines)or not?


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 10, 2005)

sew333 said:
			
		

> I have CONNECT3D X800GTO
> The flashroom and bios for my card, must be in the same folder in DISK A ???
> For sample: A:\FLASH\
> 
> ...


Yes, put them in the same folder.  If you aren't too familiar with DOS, don't put them in a folder on the disk, just put them in A:\  Also make sure you give the bios file a short name, like x800gto.bin or something like that (the part before the period must be 8 characters or less).  Be sure to save your original bios, too.  The command would be something like

flashrom -s 0 oldbios.bin

Or you can just save a backup of it by using the dump bios feature of ATITool.

There is a chance you may get artifacts with the unlocked pipelines, but I think it is very unlikely.


----------



## sew333 (Nov 10, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Yes, put them in the same folder.  If you aren't too familiar with DOS, don't put them in a folder on the disk, just put them in A:\  Also make sure you give the bios file a short name, like x800gto.bin or something like that (the part before the period must be 8 characters or less).  Be sure to save your original bios, too.  The command would be something like
> 
> flashrom -s 0 oldbios.bin
> 
> ...



THXX i have modded my card to 16p. HEre is the screenshot: 
http://img111.imageshack.us/my.php?image=16potokow4rv.jpg


----------



## Soulsurfer (Nov 10, 2005)

I have recently put together my new system and it contains the Connect3D X800 GTO (PCIe). After reading this thread I would like to mod my card too but I have no idea as to the risks involved in doing so. If you don't mind I have some questions for you:

1.What's the worst that can happen to my card assuming the flash goes to plan?
2. If I find the 4 extra pipes are defective can I flash back to having just 12 pipes active? (

I can't afford to buy a replacement card should this one fail (it's only 3 days old and the wife would kill me )

3.Would I be better off leaving the card 'as is' or are the risks in flashing not to to great?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Soul


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 10, 2005)

1. If the flash works, nothing bad will happen 
2. You can always flash back to 12 pipes, and the extra 4 pipes will do nothing but give you a lot more performance.  They won't be defective.
3. Flash it by all means!

Good Luck and Have Fun!
-=DaNiSh+DeViL=-


----------



## z00m (Nov 11, 2005)

man this gotta suck... i got the gto2 replaced and now the clock is at 525/610 i was hoping for higher clock speed. i guess this will be fine. now im gonna have to resturn the other one.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 11, 2005)

*ATI CATALYST 5.11 Final (Out Thursday @TweakTown.com)*

Get it while you still can ladies, cause it won't be up on the ATI site until 3pm tomorrow. This is the CCC only. Anyhow check it: http://www.tweaktown.com/news/5262/ati_catalyst_5_11_final/index.html

2.43g Memory @221MHz (DDR441) 2225-1T 3.4v
GTO@16PP 550/565
05:5.11:6496/5.10:6426
03:5.11:13105/5.10:13012
01SE:5.11:26213/5.10:26431(Drop slightly in 5.11)
Notes:I then checked A.I. to "Advanced",then enabled "Triple Buffering" and "Geometry" and got this:
05:6510
03:13140
01SE:27276(Picked up nicely)


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 11, 2005)

CCC uses up too much system ram and too many system resources, while it is kinda cool.  Is there a version on TweakTown without CCC?

I'l prolly just wait until it comes out on ATi's site then.

PS: How the heck did you get your vDRAM to 3.4v?  The OCZ DDRBooster isn't compatible with that mobo is it?  Or did you do some voltmodding?  I only ask this because we bought the same RAM


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 11, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> CCC uses up too much system ram and too many system resources, while it is kinda cool.  Is there a version on TweakTown without CCC?
> 
> I'l prolly just wait until it comes out on ATi's site then.
> 
> PS: How the heck did you get your vDRAM to 3.4v?  The OCZ DDRBooster isn't compatible with that mobo is it?  Or did you do some voltmodding?  I only ask this because we bought the same RAM



Yeah, i got the OCZ DDR BOOSTER on this sucker. It works like a charm, let me tell ya! You're right about the CCC using alot of resources. I never liked it very much, but just wanted to test it out anyway. I don't think you can tweak the 5.11 cp drivers like the ccc. Did you see how my score jumped when i enabled couple of settings in ccc?


----------



## funkioto (Nov 11, 2005)

Got my Connect3D today and it went straight to 16 pipes 

Getting warm tho, put it on 500/500 and it was going to around 65.
I've got a zalman here to chuck on it, thanks for the tips guys


----------



## afropuff (Nov 11, 2005)

funkioto said:
			
		

> Got my Connect3D today and it went straight to 16 pipes
> 
> Getting warm tho, put it on 500/500 and it was going to around 65.
> I've got a zalman here to chuck on it, thanks for the tips guys



keep us informed on temps w/the zalman and how the install went.

Thanks!!

-fro


----------



## killiedel (Nov 11, 2005)

how do you check the gpu temp?


----------



## funkioto (Nov 11, 2005)

killiedel said:
			
		

> how do you check the gpu temp?



use ATiTool


Zalman install was fine (except for the tiny text in the manual) 

Temps are lower but still more testing to do!

Just by unlocking to 16 pipes I gained 500 3dmarks so I'll do another run in a minute on the OC.


12 pipes 4534
16 pipes 5022


----------



## funkioto (Nov 11, 2005)

this is great 

I'm on 530 / 540 with 3dmark getting 6124 and max temp was 56.8


edit: finished up on 550/590  -  3dmark = 6341  -  max temp = 58.6

rolled it back a few clocks and very happy!
faster than a stock x850 XT PE!


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 11, 2005)

Nice result.  I need to order the Zalman cooler to improve my load temps.


----------



## HousERaT (Nov 11, 2005)

Zalmans are good for about 5-10°.  Might not help out the overclock but it will cool the core better.


----------



## anomen (Nov 11, 2005)

just did the 16 pipeline BIOS mod on my Connect3D GTO card from Monarch Computer.  works fine.  i'm running well at 520/540 clocks (default XT speeds) too, which is a nice added bonus.  ATITool tested my card to ~550/570, but i'll keep the slightly lower speeds for now; no need to get greedy with my <$160 after MIR card that is now running as a $300+ XT...

time for some Chronicles of Riddick...

thanks, OP.


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 11, 2005)

Good result - and 520/540 is X800XTPE speed!


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 11, 2005)

Zalman is installed along with my Enermax PSU.  I am now perfectly stable at 522/579 with enhanced timings.  Scores coming soon.  Idle 33C load 55C.  Used AS5 and thermal tape for GPU Cooler and ramsinks.


----------



## XeoNoX (Nov 11, 2005)

New Catalyst Drivers v5.11 ***FINAL***

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=640

this is NOT beta


----------



## Zebo (Nov 12, 2005)

Thank you wizzard 

Connect3D from monarch worked!!

*but something very strange those "failing" may be interested in: At first I thought it did'nt work..flashed it about 8 times and rechecked ATI TOOL each time unsucessfully. Finally I thought just to reinstall drivers and then ATI-Tool showed 16 pipes!!! Weird huh?

Edit: can someone  please link up Monarch Rebate for me and serveal others at Anandtech.. Monarch took it down


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 12, 2005)

So how did everyone's score in 3DMark improve with the 5.11 drivers that ATI release today?

Cat 5.11 CP
3DMark05:6497 from 5.10's 6426
3DMark03:13112 from 5.10's 13012
It's not going to improve much in old generation cards, but alot in X1000 cards!


----------



## afropuff (Nov 12, 2005)

Zebo said:
			
		

> Thank you wizzard
> 
> Connect3D from monarch worked!!
> 
> ...



http://monarchcomputer.com/rebates/1905332.pdf


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 12, 2005)

NFS Most wanted rocks Play very good on my GTO2 got setting at maximum..... graphics are big improvement over underground frame rate is solid at 35 to 40 but they take a hit for some reason when i use the hood camera view but having qaulity is what i like and 35 fps aint to bad i lowered quality to get 50 fps but it sucked everything was jagged and looked worst


----------



## omega_prime (Nov 12, 2005)

OK ... add another successfully moded connect3d gto to the score


----------



## Conlan (Nov 12, 2005)

I have followed the C3D mod article to the letter and cannot get flashrom or atitool to work in DOS, any help??


----------



## omega_prime (Nov 12, 2005)

is it normal, that my connect3d makes some strange shirping noises while running 3dmark 2005 ?


----------



## Conlan (Nov 12, 2005)

NM i got it. I had to extract the flashrom files to the desktop, then send them to the floppy one at a time. Booted into DOS and unlocked 4 pipes. I ran Doom3 timedmeo:

12 Pipes........62 fps

16 Pipes........74 fps

I'll run 3d mark and post those scores.


----------



## mascaras (Nov 13, 2005)

ok i change my  wc blok of my conect3d for a new innovatek im very happy with it , now im with 24c idle and 40 full  and 44c scaning for artefacts for 1.30m  

IDLE(500/500)>>> 




IDLE(500/500)>>>



SCANING ARTEFACTS (500/500)>>>


----------



## JLBENEDICT (Nov 13, 2005)

mascaras said:
			
		

> ok i change my  wc blok of my conect3d for a new innovatek im very happy with it , now im with 24c idle and 40 full  and 44c scaning for artefacts for 1.30m
> 
> IDLE(500/500)>>>
> 
> ...




How did you get the ATI Overdrive tab in the Windows display drivers??

Thanks


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 13, 2005)

I beleive he flashed an X800XT BIOS onto the X800GTO2.


Coming soon ladies:

Catalyst 5.11 CP vs. Catalyst 5.11 CCC.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 13, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> I beleive he flashed an X800XT BIOS onto the X800GTO2.
> 
> 
> Coming soon ladies:
> ...



There isn't much of a difference since i've posted scores already in this thread i think. BTW, you can call me MA'AM, you hairy beast! 

*5.11CCC w/A.I. "Advanced", Triple Buffering:*
05:6510
03:13140
01SE:27276
*5.11CP:*
05:6497
03:13112
01SE:26234
*5.10CP:*
05:6426
03:13012
01SE:26431

Note:If you don't use A.I. in Advanced mode, the scores are identical as the CP edition. Hey you beast, why don't you run CP with the ATI TOOL A.I. in High and let us know what you get?


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 13, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> I beleive he flashed an X800XT BIOS onto the X800GTO2.
> 
> 
> Coming soon ladies:
> ...



Yeah, he flashed an X800XT PowerColor on his "C3D X800 GTO" not GTO2, shon!


----------



## nealh (Nov 13, 2005)

does the Artic Silencer 5 rev 2 that works on X800XL work on Connect 3D X800 GTO


----------



## Jangofett (Nov 13, 2005)

*His X800gt 12pp??*

Hi to all 

Just a Question: 
I have a HIS X800GT 256mb with 423 Core an 8 Pipelines activ, is it possible to activate the 4 remaining Pipes on this card ????
Thx for the help


----------



## Conlan (Nov 13, 2005)

nealh said:
			
		

> does the Artic Silencer 5 rev 2 that works on X800XL work on Connect 3D X800 GTO




Yup


----------



## mascaras (Nov 13, 2005)

i flashed my conect3 x800GTO with powercolor x800xt bios ,  and the overdrive comes with catalyst 5.9 classic  drivers , i like this drivers heres the link >>> http://downloads.guru3d.com/downloadget.php?id=1188&file=4&evp=42af45d033860e42f5f7974b4278f26e


----------



## nealh (Nov 13, 2005)

Conlan said:
			
		

> Yup


thank you


----------



## mascaras (Nov 13, 2005)

Jangofett said:
			
		

> Hi to all
> 
> Just a Question:
> I have a HIS X800GT 256mb with 423 Core an 8 Pipelines activ, is it possible to activate the 4 remaining Pipes on this card ????
> Thx for the help




NO


----------



## Jangofett (Nov 13, 2005)

well   näää   its fast enugh  for the moment but THX for the fast answer 

Put a little bit money on the side and then i buy me a x1800 
so i wil downt have any problems if i can activate remaining Pipes


----------



## sew333 (Nov 13, 2005)

Ok here is some news. I bought moddable COnnect X800gto to @ 16p. 
Here are some scores:


16p  550\1100- 3dmark 05






16p 550\1000-3dmark 03


----------



## mascaras (Nov 13, 2005)

sew333 said:
			
		

> Ok here is some news. I bought moddable COnnect X800gto to @ 16p.
> Here are some scores:
> 
> 
> ...




what CPU you have?? that score are not very good , maybe something wrong wiht driveres i hit 6608k- 3dmark 2005(560/560)///6891(560/575) and  13659   3dmark 2003 (560/560)
try run 3mark 2005 with(560/560) and see what your score, maybe im wrong.

3dmark 2005(560/560) catalyst 5.9 >> 






3dmark 2005(560/575) omega 5.9 >> 






3dmark 2003 (560/560) catalyst 5.9 >>


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 13, 2005)

Keep in mind, once a card is overclocked too far, scores will decrease.  And those scores look fine.


----------



## sew333 (Nov 13, 2005)

550\1100
3dm 05





550\1000
3dm 03




i have catalyst 5.11
Cpu: Athlon 3000+ (1,8ghz)
But when i was changed my Nvidia to this C3Dx800gto, i dont formatted disk. Maybe this scores ,are from this.
But hmmm, i have only 300points low in 3dm05 than you mascaras.You have 560\560 i have 550\550.
Maybe i must overclock like you to 560.

DanishDevil look , my scores are good or i must change the clocks down?Screens are up.


----------



## mascaras (Nov 13, 2005)

yep , i change from a 6600gt too , but i formated my hard drive when i instal x800


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 13, 2005)

No, the reason why some users here have a higher score then others, is because of the CPU/RAM overclocks. I probably would of gotten a score similar to yours around 63xx but i have my CPU "3000+ @2.43g" and my ram "DDR400 @DDR441 2225-1T", so i would have a slightly higher score then normal.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 13, 2005)

mascaras,
 So you got a WC system on your GPU. Now what about your memory? What are you using to cool down the memory modules on your GTO?


----------



## mascaras (Nov 13, 2005)

i have that scores with 3200venice@2500mhz and my ram ddr400@cl2-2-2-5 1T , the 3dmark 2005 score has almost nothing to do with CPU or RAM only 3dmark 2001 and 2003 have diference with computers  OC  .  The GTO  memorys im using   8 ramsinks of  the zalman vf700


----------



## Soulsurfer (Nov 13, 2005)

I'm having trouble with my start up disc, I get this each time I boot from floppy:

Invalid setting in the MSDOS.SYS file: ---------
Starting...

Type the name of the command interpreter (e.g., C:/WINDOWS/COMMAND.COM)
A>_

I used the 'create Msdos start up disc' in windows but I get the above message every time. What can I do about it?

Also when I ran 3dmark05 on a clean install of everything I get a score of 4491 which to me seems very low. My system is:

(everything is running at stock speeds)
Win XP Pro SP2
Direct X 9.0C
Cat5.10
P4 640 3.2Ghz Socket 775 800fsb 2mb cache
Gigabyte GA-8GPNXP-DUO PCIe mainboard
Connect3D Radeon X800 GTO
Audigy 2 sound
Maxtor 80Gb 7200 ATA/133 HDD
Antec True blue 480W PSU
1GB Twinmoss PC3200 RAM

Also when I use ATI tool to find max core, I get errors at 440Mhz which I find very dissapointing after seeing most people reach in excess of 500Mhz 
Any help appreciated...


Soul


----------



## mascaras (Nov 13, 2005)

Soulsurfer said:
			
		

> I'm having trouble with my start up disc, I get this each time I boot from floppy:
> 
> Invalid setting in the MSDOS.SYS file: ---------
> Starting...
> ...




you have to format the flopy disk first , then create a msdos flopy  you cant compare your  3dmark score  with ours 3dmark scores  while you dont unlock the pipelines cause this scores are with the MOD already done .


----------



## sew333 (Nov 13, 2005)

You must manually change the clocks of the card. The automatic max core or memory is not good. I have the error in 440 core. BUt when i change manually to 550 i have no errors.
Just manually change and test for artifacts.


----------



## dr.bling (Nov 13, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Yes, put them in the same folder.  If you aren't too familiar with DOS, don't put them in a folder on the disk, just put them in A:\  Also make sure you give the bios file a short name, like x800gto.bin or something like that (the part before the period must be 8 characters or less).  Be sure to save your original bios, too.  The command would be something like
> 
> flashrom -s 0 oldbios.bin
> 
> ...




first time poster.  i got the connect 3d gto card but dont have a floppy drive and cannot figure out how to make a cdrw bootable, above you say to just put the files in a:/, is that the hard drive ? and load them from that without booting into dos ? if someone wants to take the time to give me step by step instructions to flash my bios it would be greatly appreciated as i am dos iliterate.


----------



## sew333 (Nov 13, 2005)

I have a question. Test artifacts in ATITOOL is better than 3dmarks ? 
I have running ARtifact test for 1:30:00 H and no errors, so i must check 3dmark 03,05 too for stability or not?


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 13, 2005)

I would check stability with 3dmark, yes.


----------



## VTwedge (Nov 14, 2005)

*any ideas about this?*

have my c3d gto modded for a month now and i have it running at 520/520 completely stable. i was experimenting a bit this week and i flashed the xt bios on it. while i had the original bios i was running stable 520/520 however with the xt bios i couldn't even run 500/500 it was causing random lockaps in games and in 3d mark. any idea why i can run 520/520 with my c3d bios modded to 16pipes and only 500/500 with the xt bios?


----------



## VTwedge (Nov 14, 2005)

*oh and another*

as for maskaras's saying that 3d mark 05 doesn't take into account the cpu or ram your sorely mistaken my friend cause i run my card on 2 processor settings one was 1.8 ghz on my sempron 3100 and the other was when i overclocked it to 2.25ghm and it gave me 300 points more on 3dmark 2005 so there ya go.


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 14, 2005)

VTwedge - did you flash with an XT bios for 2.0 ns memory (like the Powercolor)?


----------



## VTwedge (Nov 14, 2005)

yeap flashed the powercolor x800xt bios, been running my own bios now with 16 pipes at 520/520 after i flashed it again over the powercolor x800xt bios and been benchmarking and playing nfsmw for 3 hours and its rock stable, when i had the x800xt bios at 500/500 it was unstable...weird huh?


----------



## mbd1475 (Nov 14, 2005)

Hi all!  This is my first post to the forums.  I received my Connect3d GTO last week, and easily unlocked to 16 pipes using the BIOS/directions in the article.  Here are my 3dMark05 scores on stock cooling:

16 Pipes (stock speed):  5058
16 Pipes (510/550 @ 62.9 degrees load): 6054

My system setup (just built) is as follows:
AMD 3200+ Venice, Stock
DFI nf4 Ultra Infinity
2x512 GEiL 2.5,4,4,8 , Stock
250GB WD SATAII (3/G) 16MB cache
RaidMax Virgo 811 Case with (2) 120mm and (1) 80mm fans
Aspire 520W PSU

After reading these forums and reviews on Newegg, I am strongly considering purchasing a Zalman VF700 cooler for my card.  Can someone please relay to me their experience in removing the stock cooler on the GTO and replacing with a Zalman?  Is it hard?  What is involved?  Thanks!


----------



## mascaras (Nov 14, 2005)

dr.bling said:
			
		

> first time poster.  i got the connect 3d gto card but dont have a floppy drive and cannot figure out how to make a cdrw bootable, above you say to just put the files in a:/, is that the hard drive ? and load them from that without booting into dos ? if someone wants to take the time to give me step by step instructions to flash my bios it would be greatly appreciated as i am dos iliterate.




here you go >>> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=how+to+make+a+bootable+cd


----------



## mascaras (Nov 14, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> yeap flashed the powercolor x800xt bios, been running my own bios now with 16 pipes at 520/520 after i flashed it again over the powercolor x800xt bios and been benchmarking and playing nfsmw for 3 hours and its rock stable, when i had the x800xt bios at 500/500 it was unstable...weird huh?




i flashed mine with powercolor bios  i have no problems of stability , no artefacts till 573/590 .Thats weird .


----------



## BlackPearl (Nov 14, 2005)

mbd1475 -  putting the Zalman on a C3D GTO couldn't be easier.  Remove 3 screws to get the stock cooler off, only 2 screws are needed to mount the Zalman.  See the installation flash movie at zalmanusa.com.


----------



## Ethos (Nov 14, 2005)

My max stable overclock (C3D X800 GTO) is 600/560 16p.
No other overclocks.

I am also using the VF700-Cu (12V) with a casemodded SN25P.


----------



## mascaras (Nov 14, 2005)

my friend past the 7000k(7040) with conect3d with zalman vf700 , he can hit better clocks with zalman vf700 than me with watercooling  . >> http://img486.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gto70409gf.jpg    -- Clock´s 573/600.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 14, 2005)

mbd1475 said:
			
		

> Hi all!  This is my first post to the forums.  I received my Connect3d GTO last week, and easily unlocked to 16 pipes using the BIOS/directions in the article.  Here are my 3dMark05 scores on stock cooling:
> 
> 16 Pipes (stock speed):  5058
> 16 Pipes (510/550 @ 62.9 degrees load): 6054
> ...


If you buy some ArctiClean (by Arctic Silver), cleanup of the thermal compound on the gpu will be easy.   If you get some of that, I'd also recommend cleaning the memory with it before applying the ramsinks (probably only with the #2 bottle, since there is no thermal compound on the memory chips of that card).

After that, the rest isn't really very hard; well, except for that you may possibly have to bend or clip off one of the fins on one of the ramsinks to get it to fit right.  If you have some pliers, bending that fin won't be hard.  Since you have a different card than me, the chips may be positioned in such a way that you don't need to do that, though.


----------



## Soulsurfer (Nov 14, 2005)

Another successful C3d X800 Gto mod here  530/570 16 pipes 3Dmark 6110.


----------



## omega_prime (Nov 14, 2005)

i now found the time for some o/c tests. the first artefacts apear at 570/ 560
so for now i wil use 550/540. it gives me around 6400 3dmark05.
i use a zalman heatsink on my c3d ...


----------



## sew333 (Nov 14, 2005)

omega_prime said:
			
		

> i now found the time for some o/c tests. the first artefacts apear at 570/ 560
> so for now i wil use 550/540. it gives me around 6400 3dmark05.
> i use a zalman heatsink on my c3d ...



Where do you have this artifacts? In atitool or 3dmarks??


----------



## alroot (Nov 14, 2005)

Hi, I´m writing from Spain (sorry if I don´t write properly)
I´m having problems with the Zalman.
At 12v works fine, but at 5v the card is hot (45º in Iddle, 85º!!! when pasing 3DMARK 05 520/540).
 Yes, I have installed tha Zalman Twice, cleaning the gpu, so I´thinking in buying an ARTIC Cooling 5 rev2 and using it with the Ati Tray Tools.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 14, 2005)

I wouldn't.  I don't have a problem with ATi Tray Tools, but just use the Zalman at 12V, either that, or if noise is a problem, get a fan controller and just turn it down until it's quiet enough.

The Zalman is a high performance cooler with the option of being quiet.  When things get quieter, they get hotter.  Pick one or the other, or join them both with fan control.


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 15, 2005)

*Not going well*

I just installed my Sapphire X800 GTO2.  I started by running 3DMark05.  Results were 4600.  Not impressive considering the rest of my system.  I then successfully flashed the bios and ATITool verified that all 16 pipes are open.  I then began OCing it to see what it would do.  Unfortunately, the max the core will do without artifacts is 420.  The memory will do about 606.  I have the fan running a 100% and temps are at about 58C under load so I don't think that's it.  3DMark05 results were only 5665.  I used the bios file on the 1st page of this thread and atiflash.  I also tried a Sapphire X850XT bios and modded it so that the default clock settings were 420 and 590.  The results were no different.  I used the PCI X connector from the power supply and also tried the adapter that came with the card with no difference.  Is this the worst core to be seen or is something else going on?

System specs:
Asus A8N SLI Premium
Athlon64 X2 3800+ (260x10 @ 1.45V)
Thermalright XP-120 w/Sunon 120x38 on rheostat
2 X 1GB OCZ Dual Channel Platinum PC3200
Sapphire X800 GTO2
Eneremax NoiseTaker 470W "AX" v2.0
36GB WD Raptor - Boot Drive
4x MaxLine 10 300GB 16MB Cache - RAID 10 - Storage & Backup
Sound Blaster Audigy2
Leadtek Winfast TV2000 XP TV Tuner/ Video Capture Card
Antec Full Tower Case w/lots of fans


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 15, 2005)

You could have just gotten a bad core.  Give me some info on your previous gfx card and what kinds of scores it received.  Is it possible to grab another card and do some benchmarking?


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 15, 2005)

I just reinstalled my 6600GT.  3DMark05 score was 3665.  I bought the X800GTO2 from AllStar.  I've submitted an online RMA and am awaiting approval.


----------



## anomen (Nov 15, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> yeap flashed the powercolor x800xt bios, been running my own bios now with 16 pipes at 520/520 after i flashed it again over the powercolor x800xt bios and been benchmarking and playing nfsmw for 3 hours and its rock stable, when i had the x800xt bios at 500/500 it was unstable...weird huh?



how'd you make your own BIOS?  any links to instructions/software?  thanks.



			
				blsnelling said:
			
		

> I just reinstalled my 6600GT.  3DMark05 score was 3665.  I bought the X800GTO2 from AllStar.  I've submitted an online RMA and am awaiting approval.



you are going to RMA a video card for not overclocking well (above 5%)?  interesting...


----------



## omega_prime (Nov 15, 2005)

sew333 said:
			
		

> Where do you have this artifacts? In atitool or 3dmarks??



with atitool. 
the test was with the zalman at 5V ... at the moment it is running on 7V cause the fan has also to cool my NB47J chipset cooler ( i have a asus a8n-e motherboard. i had to bend 4 of the vf700 fins to fit them together. the NB is quite near the PEG slot on the a8n-e).
a fan control would be an option ... i will think about it !
also i have to test wether the 7v improve the clock speed i can use ...

my primary goal is a quiet computer. i just made some major changes to my setup to archive this. i now use a chieftec mesh big tower with 2 yate loon 12 cm fans (on 5v) in the back, a sonic tower cpu cooler with another yate loon at 5v and a papst 92mm (on 5v) fan for cooling my 2 harddiscs. this setup is noticable less noisy than my old one (and my old one was with noise insulation) and at the same time noticeable faster. (old cpu: atlon xp 2500+@3200+ new cpu: athlon64 3200+ (sucessfully run at 3800+ without increasing the voltage) but at the moment the cpu runs only at 3200+ untik i have time for serious testing of stability ...)

only problems so far: 
- some wired problems with my sata harddiscs when running linux ... but maybe it was the sata cable ... (changed it and it didn't happen again since then)
- NB chipset cooler is getting to hotwith the passiv NB47J eben with the zalman vf700 realy near to it ... maybe it will work better when my additional papst fans arrive to blow some air in the case at the hight of the chipset and grafic card ...


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 15, 2005)

You can edit your own BIOS with RaBiT Bios Editor v1.7.


----------



## Soulsurfer (Nov 15, 2005)

blsnelling said:
			
		

> I just installed my Sapphire X800 GTO2.  I started by running 3DMark05.  Results were 4600.  Not impressive considering the rest of my system.  I then successfully flashed the bios and ATITool verified that all 16 pipes are open.  I then began OCing it to see what it would do.  Unfortunately, the max the core will do without artifacts is 420.  The memory will do about 606.  I have the fan running a 100% and temps are at about 58C under load so I don't think that's it.  3DMark05 results were only 5665.  I used the bios file on the 1st page of this thread and atiflash.  I also tried a Sapphire X850XT bios and modded it so that the default clock settings were 420 and 590.  The results were no different.  I used the PCI X connector from the power supply and also tried the adapter that came with the card with no difference.  Is this the worst core to be seen or is something else going on?
> 
> System specs:
> Asus A8N SLI Premium
> ...



Atitool was reporting artifacts on my C3D X800 GTO at core 440. However the card runs stable now at 540/580 in every game I play, I've had no problems or artifacts at all so far. Scored 6110 In 3Dmark05. I just need to get me a Zalman cooler now to reduce the temps which are hitting 70+ at times .


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 15, 2005)

I forget what the setting was but it garbled the entire screen and locked up at something way less than 500 on the core.  A stock score on 3DMark05 of 4600 on my system seems way less than par.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 15, 2005)

It's not just your video card then.  Your computer gets TERRIBLE scores.  I got equivalent aquamark scores with my overclocked 128MB 6800 as I do with my stock X800GTO2.  Are you sure your X2 OC is completely stable?  I'd drop it down to stock, bench, and OC by 5MHz on the RAM and bench after every 5.  The SECOND your score drops, you've gone too far.

Good luck with the RMA.  Hope you get a better core!


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 15, 2005)

How can that be?  I'm running an X2 processor at 260x10 with 2GB of memory on one of the best gaming boards out.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 15, 2005)

Like I asked, IS YOUR OC STABLE?

Also, with all those hard drives and your X2, you might need a mightier PSU.

JUST the items listed in your signature consume a MINIMUM of 365 Watts at peak utilization.  I assume you have some CD Drives and such as well.

Let's say you have what's in your sig, a dvd drive, dvd burner, floppy drive, sound blaster card, a couple of USB devices, a fan controller, 2 120mm fans, 2 92mm fans, all leds, and 2 cold cathodes.  That's EXACTLY 470 Watts right there.  You're pushing it with your PSU. Your CPU consumes 137 Watts and your HDDs 65, and that X800GTO2 about 100.

I suggest the Enermax Liberty 620W PSU.  I sleeved mine and should have some pics up soon.  With all the  stuff you're using there, you really need some juice for that system.  I have a feeling that will help your scores, if not at least provide a failsafe to make sure you don't fry any of your components.

My system only uses about 361Watts at peak, but I still went for the 620W PSU.  You know why?  It's future proof, I can rest assured that it's rock solid, and I can have confidence that I won't be buying another PSU for a LONG time


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 15, 2005)

omega_prime said:
			
		

> i now found the time for some o/c tests. the first artefacts apear at 570/ 560
> so for now i wil use 550/540. it gives me around 6400 3dmark05.
> i use a zalman heatsink on my c3d ...



Put your memory to 565, then test your core going up from 550. You might get lucky at 555 or 560. Your memory should be good at 565, let me know, good luck!


----------



## sew333 (Nov 15, 2005)

Hey
I have 570\1140 my C3D X800GTO

So can i overclock to 600? Or it is impossible?


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 15, 2005)

My OC is totally stable.  It'snot maxed out.  I am running 2 optical drives, 1x120mm, 1x92mm, & 3x80mm fans on rheostats.  I also have the SB Audigy 2 and a tuner/capture card.  The following are on USB ports: scanner, printer, card reader, & keyboard/mouse.  My voltages are stable even under load.  Whatcha think?

Also, I did bring the memory down and try to work the core up with no better results.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 15, 2005)

You can have the BEST CPU/MotherBoard combo, but your PSU should be the most important factor when it comes to powering them together. If not you'll have lockups, reboots, crash with sound loops just like you've mentioned. Why don't you try disconnecting some of those hd's and just keep your Raptor. Try shooting for higher clocks and see if it's stable with games. If it still does it, then take the GTO2 over to one of your buddies and see how it works over there. With any results, you should know what you need to do, right? Good Luck!

Note: y0 try this site and tell us how much watt's you're using from your PSU, okay?

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=AMD

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp (This one is better)

If neither one suites you do a search for a better one....


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 15, 2005)

What cooling are you using for your GTO? How are you testing it anyhow? I can't get mine any higher then 550core/565memory. With an R423 anything is possible, you can do a volt mod, but  seriously how much performance can you get out of this card when there are cards like GTX 512 or X1800XT that are out right now that you probably desire more then GTO @16pp 600/600 and beside i think the higher you go without proper cooling and voltage you scores drop or doesn't go higher at all.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 15, 2005)

570/570 on a GTO w/stock cooling is pretty damn good kid. How are you testing that beast? Did you leave the ARTIFACTS running for like 5-6 hours on it yet? hehehehehe. No, that's probably nuts, well i don't know you have to take risks in life right? Well, at least tell me this, have you had any crashes or artifacts in your games with this so far? If no, then try 580/580. hahaha.


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## omega_prime (Nov 15, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Put your memory to 565, then test your core going up from 550. You might get lucky at 555 or 560. Your memory should be good at 565, let me know, good luck!



ok ... i will try it. but i doubt that i find the time for this before thursday. i will keep you updated !


----------



## sew333 (Nov 15, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> 570/570 on a GTO w/stock cooling is pretty damn good kid. How are you testing that beast? Did you leave the ARTIFACTS running for like 5-6 hours on it yet? hehehehehe. No, that's probably nuts, well i don't know you have to take risks in life right? Well, at least tell me this, have you had any crashes or artifacts in your games with this so far? If no, then try 580/580. hahaha.




Yeap, no crashes, no artifacts in any games or 3dmarks. Totally stable at 570\570 on w\stock cooling. Hmm maybe go to 590? BUt is too much risk.
MY friend have 575\575 on the same card , with w\stock cooling too.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 15, 2005)

blsnelling said:
			
		

> My OC is totally stable.  It'snot maxed out.  I am running 2 optical drives, 1x120mm, 1x92mm, & 3x80mm fans on rheostats.  I also have the SB Audigy 2 and a tuner/capture card.  The following are on USB ports: scanner, printer, card reader, & keyboard/mouse.  My voltages are stable even under load.  Whatcha think?
> 
> Also, I did bring the memory down and try to work the core up with no better results.




486 Watts my friend.  You are in deep shit when it comes to that PSU.  Get the Enermax Liberty 620Watt.


----------



## mbd1475 (Nov 15, 2005)

*My OC'ed Rig w/ Screenshot*

Hi guys, back with an update.  I am running:

A64 3200+ Venice @ 2.35Ghz
DFI nf4 Ultra Infinity Mobo
Connect3d X800GTO @ 16 Pipes and 510/550
1GB (2x512) GeIL DDR400 Value Ram @ 392mhz and 2,3,2,7
250GB WD SATAII (3GB/s) 16MB cache
RaidMax Virgo 811 Case with (1) 120mm and (1) 80mm fan
Aspire 520W PSU w/ 3 fans

3dMark05 Score:  6234

This is all with stock cooling.  I have ordered:
Another 120mm fan for the front of the case
Another 1GB of the GeIL RAM
Zalman VF700-Cu 2 Ball VGA Cooler Fan
Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu LED 2 Ball LED Light Cooling Fan
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Cooling Compound

I know I can go higher on the video card, but I'm afraid to with stock cooling.  I'll be sure to give updates when I get my new stuff installed...

Here is a screenshot:


----------



## Star (Nov 15, 2005)

hey i can't find my post in this GIANT thread LOL. i found it before i rebooted and flashed my card again, but it's been over 15mins i've been searching this. oh well lol. wanted to say thanks to whoever suggested to use RaBit to edit my bios. worked great  "Found New Hardware" "ATi Radeon x800XT"


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 16, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> 486 Watts my friend.  You are in deep shit when it comes to that PSU.  Get the Enermax Liberty 620Watt.


If you put CPU and Vid Card at 100%, I'm at 513W!!!!!  Might be time for an upgrade???!!!


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 16, 2005)

Yeah I assume so.  Like I suggested, the Enermax Libery 620W PSU is a GREAT power supply, and would be perfect for your rig.


----------



## omega_prime (Nov 16, 2005)

have i said that my computer runs on a "be quiet !" 370W psu ? 
(totaly stable !)


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 16, 2005)

I have the exact same power supply as blsnelling, but I have far less extra components in my computer, so it is just fine for mine.   BTW, does that Enermax Liberty 620W PSU have active PFC or not?

I know for certain that on my system, it uses far less than 485 watts.  I have my system connected to a battery backup that is only for 410 watts and I also have my 17 inch monitor and a satellite receiver connected to it.  When I'm not overclocking my CPU, the only time the overload light goes on is sometimes when I turn my monitor on.  This happens even with the computer off when turning on the monitor.  When overclocking the CPU, the overload light does sometimes go on while the system and the monitor are already running, but it rarely happens even at load when overclocking the CPU and video card.

According to http://www.extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp my system would use about 350 watts at full load when overclocked, about 307 at full load with nothing overclocked, and 317 with only video card overclocked (I selected X800 XL for non-overclocked speed and X850 XT PE for overclocked speed).


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 16, 2005)

I hadn't ever calculated it before, but I figured I was probably pushing it.  I'm probably getting by because I could never use all the components at one time.  I monitor my voltages on my LCD and they are always steady.  I may still look into replacing it.  It's just a pain to rewire everything with so much in my system


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 16, 2005)

Well, you do have more in your system than I'll probably ever have in mine.   I actually have a pretty good margin on mine right now; 350 watts max used on a 485 watt power supply.  That leaves a little over 25% unused even when overclocking.


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 16, 2005)

This is primarily a Photoshop/video editting machine since I do photography on the side.  That's why I have the large RAID10 array and 2GB memory.  PS is a memory hog.


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 16, 2005)

*C3Dgto with 16 pipes unlocked & on Powercolor x800xt bios... problems (*

I have a connect3d gto unlocked and on the above bios...
The card plays nearly all games, is fast, doesnt overheat, never crashes and is at the default x800xt, 500 core & 1gig memory.

However, in some games I get the most awful corruption, like a broken mirror effect... Ive noticed it in...
 -Americas Army, bridge crossing map
 -F.E.A.R. but only when I go for the renaming of fear.exe to anything.exe which is supposed
  to give better performance
 ...and most annoying of all...
 -In the actual catylist control centre itself, where it shows you the car going along the road

is anyone else experiencing these or similar problems? with this setup?

I just wanted to run at x800xt speeds without having to manually overclock, but it looks as though I may have to go back to original c3d bios but with 16 pipes & manually overclock from there... ( Bummer!

My Systems is...
-Athlon64 3200+ @ default 2 gig
-Asrock dual sata2 with Uli chipset (the one that does Pci-E & Agp)
-512 of twinmos ddr 400 cl 2.5 (yeah I know I need more & better!)
-74Gb WD Raptor
-C3D gto @ 500 core, 1000 mem on Powercolor x800xt bios
-with no other mods or overclocking


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 16, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> I have a connect3d gto unlocked and on the above bios...
> The card plays nearly all games, is fast, doesnt overheat, never crashes and is at the default x800xt, 500 core & 1gig memory.
> 
> However, in some games I get the most awful corruption, like a broken mirror effect... Ive noticed it in...
> ...


First use ATITool to find out if your card can even handle those speeds.  If it can, you could use RaBiT 1.7 to set the default speed for your card's own bios rather that having to use another card's bios.

Also, if your card can handle certain speeds with a certain bios (like your original bios, for exampe), that doesn't necessarily mean it can handle those speeds when using a different bios.


----------



## thetoad30 (Nov 16, 2005)

Not to offend anyone, but no one ever needs more than a 350W power supply, and that's for SLI.

These guys have pretty good equipment for testing power. Give it a look before you spend hard-earned cash on a power supply that has way more output than you will ever need.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article28-page4.html

Buy a power supply that is BETTER, not BIGGER. I personally use a SeaSonic S12-500W. Why 500? Because it comes with the PCIe power connectors that the newer video cards use. That's the only reason. Other than that, if the 430W or even the 350W PSU had that I would have probably gotten that for my system instead.


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 16, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> First use ATITool to find out if your card can even handle those speeds.  If it can, you could use RaBiT 1.7 to set the default speed for your card's own bios rather that having to use another card's bios.
> 
> Also, if your card can handle certain speeds with a certain bios (like your original bios, for exampe), that doesn't necessarily mean it can handle those speeds when using a different bios.



my card hits 80c stable in ati tool whilst doin artifact scan, cat control centre says that this is just short of amber/red on the scale, so Im not concerned too much with that, and it didnt make an error after 30 mins of artifact scan. Not interested in o/c over x800xt speeds...

Thanx for your comments, they seem to be the way to go  
like I say, most games are fine, but its a bit of a worry it occurs in cat control centre animation


----------



## VTwedge (Nov 16, 2005)

had the same problems as you with the x800xt bios on my c3d gto it would cause hangups in some games or throw me back to desktop at 500/1000, when i flashed my own bios over it again 520/520 is stable so yeah shadowflare is probably right if it can handle 520/520 with my bios it doesn't mean it can handle even 500/500 with another


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 16, 2005)

*best bios/settings for C3D gto?*



			
				VTwedge said:
			
		

> had the same problems as you with the x800xt bios on my c3d gto it would cause hangups in some games or throw me back to desktop at 500/1000, when i flashed my own bios over it again 520/520 is stable so yeah shadowflare is probably right if it can handle 520/520 with my bios it doesn't mean it can handle even 500/500 with another



Hmmm, I flashed to c3d gto 16 pipe bios @ 500/500 usin rabit... still corrupt in cat control centre...

I flashed to c3d gto 16 pipe @ 400/490 default... still corrupt in cat control

Im begining to think that the last quad of 16 pipes is faulty, the one I enabled with the mod?!!!
...hmmm, is my r423 out of the rubbish bin? or the surplus parts bin? lol
...any ideas?

on the games front the card plays BF2, FEAR & Americas Army(except bridge) superbly, on powercolor x800xt bios...


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 16, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> Hmmm, I flashed to c3d gto 16 pipe bios @ 500/500 usin rabit... still corrupt in cat control centre...
> 
> I flashed to c3d gto 16 pipe @ 400/490 default... still corrupt in cat control
> 
> ...


Have you tried overclocking with your original 12 pipe bios?


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 16, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Have you tried overclocking with your original 12 pipe bios?


Yeah, thats where Im goin next...

just to try and erradicate cat control centre 'car' corruption...

...after that, I may go back to the pwrcolor x800xt bios or rabit'ed C3D16pp@500/500 & go through my game collection to see how many games it is 'actually' gonna corrupt.
...wished I'd gotten the 7800gt I'd promised myself now


----------



## mbd1475 (Nov 16, 2005)

*Rabit?*

Hey guys, what are you talking about when you refer to "Rabit" mods?  Link, anyone?


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 16, 2005)

mbd1475 said:
			
		

> Hey guys, what are you talking about when you refer to "Rabit" mods?  Link, anyone?



http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=872



			
				ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> BTW, does that Enerman Liberty 620W PSU have active PFC or not?



Yes, it does.  Here are some specs:



> Full compliance with the highest standard to desktop power requirements. Split 12V rails provide most stable current to CPU, GPU , MB and drives.
> 
> Full support of Dual Core systems (incl. Pentium D EE and Athlon 64 X2) & Dual CPU systems.
> 
> ...





			
				kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> -F.E.A.R. but only when I go for the renaming of fear.exe to anything.exe which is supposed
> to give better performance



What is this renaming that you speak of?  Does it work for the demo too???   I kno, I'm a cheapass when it comes to buying games.  That's why I love my America's Army.



			
				kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> my card hits 80c stable in ati tool whilst doin artifact scan, cat control centre says that this is just short of amber/red on the scale, so Im not concerned too much with that, and it didnt make an error after 30 mins of artifact scan. Not interested in o/c over x800xt speeds...



That's a bit hot.  If you plan on upgrading your video card within the next year, that should be fine, but that card running that hot won't last more than a year or so.


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 16, 2005)

Danish Devil:
   That's a bit hot. If you plan on upgrading your video card within the next year, that
   should be fine, but that card running that hot won't last more than a year or so...

Hmmm, it only runs 4oC lower on stock bios??? 400/490
I feel an xt cooler coming on... lol or is it a gf7800gt? after I flash this hunk of junk to 12 pipes & sell

Also, Ive been die hard ati since the big 9700 pro event, but they're dissappointing at the moment... x1000 range is pants apart from over priced, unavailable flagship!
nVidia is the daddy jus now, parts can be bought when announced, 
ati need 2 get theyre act together cos Im OFF to 7800 land!!

Rabit lets you doctor a bios prior to flashing it onto your card... its on this site somewhere in downloads of all places... lol, from there, u can find it yourself, Im to tired to find it 4 u


----------



## Warlocker (Nov 17, 2005)

Just got a Connect3D GTO and it looks moddable through ATITool however when I try, it stays at 12 Pipes. Any ideas?


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 17, 2005)

Did you use the -f in the flash?  Are you using the correct flash utility?  Did you follow the instructions exactly?  Do the fuse characters match?


----------



## Warlocker (Nov 17, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> Did you use the -f in the flash?  Are you using the correct flash utility?  Did you follow the instructions exactly?  Do the fuse characters match?




I was able to get 16 to show after using -f command and the PowerColor x800XT BIOS. I then flashed it back to the original BIOS until I get a better cooling fan.

Thanks


----------



## mbd1475 (Nov 17, 2005)

*Can I go higher with better cooling?*

To anyone:
I am running my C3d GTO at 540/540 stable (no artifcacts and 3dMark05 does not crash).  Anything higher, and 3dMark crashes.  However, during 3dMark my GPU temp never gets above 61.8 degrees.  Do you guys think that my Zalaman VF700 will help me go higher, once I receive it?


----------



## funkioto (Nov 17, 2005)

Soulsurfer said:
			
		

> I'm having trouble with my start up disc, I get this each time I boot from floppy:
> 
> Invalid setting in the MSDOS.SYS file: ---------
> Starting...
> ...



I found the EASY way is to make a bootable dos CD in Nero.
Just go to 'boot cd' and select the nero dos loader thingy.
then chuck the bios + flashrom on it and BAM, easy as that


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 17, 2005)

*C3D Gto Temperatures?*

what kind of temperatures should be aimed at for with this card? (and dont jus say low lol!)
These cards seem to have the same heatsink/fan assy. as the x800xt on which they are based, & yet Im getting 79oC when playin games or doin artifacts check... on the default bios.

Has anyone on here had, or currently have an x800xt so we can find out what temps they are supposed to run at... unmodded, Ati reference stylie?

Cos', I really cant b R'sed buying a card cooler, I'd rather jus buy somethin better


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 17, 2005)

nfs most wanted is my hottest runnig game it runs at 60c that right at my threshold cause my card is oc so hi it blacksout at 63c i get no artifacts ever but it just givesout at 63 552/600 with tweaked memory timings
I wonder how hot my x300 gets cause it doesent have a fan just plastic heatsink but i can get the core up to 500 and memory upto 290 using the x550 bios


----------



## mascaras (Nov 17, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> Yeah, thats where Im goin next...
> 
> just to try and erradicate cat control centre 'car' corruption...
> 
> ...





you nedd to instal framework 1.1 or else you have corrupt CCC  .


----------



## sew333 (Nov 17, 2005)

Hey. If i run the bios from POwercolor XT , the card will be better overclockable?

In this moment, i have a bios C3D X800GTO SAMSUNG. And OC 560\560.
If i change to POWERCOLOR XT the clocks may higher overclock?For sample: 580\580 

OR not ????????????


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 17, 2005)

*C3D .Net Framework?*



			
				mascaras said:
			
		

> you nedd to instal framework 1.1 or else you have corrupt CCC  .



I have .net framework 2.0? does it have 2b 1.1?
also, I found, some time ago, that without 1.1 it doesnt run at all


----------



## -=X=- (Nov 17, 2005)

I've found this in my "local" shop (PCI-E slot):







It is supposedly just an x800 GTO (not ²) though it says on the site that it has the r480 core and 1.6ns memories. Could this core possibly be unlocked with a simple bios flash?


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 17, 2005)

From everything I've read, no.  Yes it may have an R480 core but only the GTO2 and Connect 3D can be unlocked to 16 pipes and the Connect 3D is a R423 core.


----------



## foggy (Nov 17, 2005)

sorry to be a pain

Whilst flashing my sapphire X800GTO2 i recieved the following message in DOS

Serial Rom
bios device = 0x5D4F
asic device = 0x5D4F
existing SSID =0x1600
new SSID = 0x0302 error 0FL01 

it then ask`s if i want to force flash.....

1.... is this correct?  


If all goes well which driver`s do i then use, the original or drivers for the x 850 or others

thx


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 17, 2005)

Yes.  The proper command uses a -f and forces the flash since the device ids are different.  The way you're doing it is fine.


----------



## anomen (Nov 17, 2005)

foggy said:
			
		

> which driver`s do i then use, the original or drivers for the x 850 or others



aside from hacking/custom drivers, like Omega's drivers, *ALL* Radeon's use the same drivers, from the 7000 series to the just released x1000's...  just go to ATI and download the one's for your OS.


----------



## foggy (Nov 17, 2005)

well i flashed but the pipe lines went down to 8 and catalist complained i had no drivers installed so i flashed it back

All is ok except i still only have 12 pipe-lines


----------



## tigergenerals (Nov 17, 2005)

*EASY BOOTABLE CD for no floppy!*



			
				funkioto said:
			
		

> I found the EASY way is to make a bootable dos CD in Nero.
> Just go to 'boot cd' and select the nero dos loader thingy.
> then chuck the bios + flashrom on it and BAM, easy as that



Actually, funkioto... you are half way there.

After messing around with several google links (a lot of which I didn't understand cause I'm a simpleton and many of which were outdated or dead), I discovered what funkioto is suggesting, that I can make a bootable cd with Nero.

At first, I also did what funkioto suggests, choose the bootable cd option and dumped my files onto the cd.  However, booting up in dos, it does not recognize the files since the cd is read as an image and the files are not part of that.  I tried twice to be sure there were no errors and still no gold.

However, I figured that since booting up in dos allows me access to all my drives still, that I could just create a folder with the new bios and flashrom util.  So I created a new dir with these files in it in my base C:\.

I rebooted in dos where my C:\ was switched to D:\ (so depending on how you have paritions set up, you'll have to do some searching) and went to the dir I made with the modified bios and flashrom utility... and flashed without forcing and was successful on the very first try.

Most of you reading this forum probably had a much easier time than I, but for simpletons out there like me, I hope this helps!


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 17, 2005)

On the topic of temperatures, if you have GOOD case ventilation, and I mean like a great kind of good, nothing much over 60C.  For cases with poor cooling, I can't say.  I've never had poor airflow in my case.  I jerryrigged 3 80mm fans into my first dell (Pentium III 933-trust me that was the SHIT).

GL to all the guys with the new modded cards.  Remember, because we're tweaking, these cards won't last too too long.  Only push as far as you are willing to risk.


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 17, 2005)

True Danish we are difenitly reducing the cards life but by then I will be a console guy again when ps3 Comes out ....and then I will wait and see what the end of next year will bring for pc with the multi processor cpus and the physics card that will be coming out by the our gtos will be what 9800  are now


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 17, 2005)

*What size is your psu Danish*

Danish What size is your psu I'm having trouble finding one for my case my original psu is about 5 and a quarter tall


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 18, 2005)

Maybe it's time for a new case bud.  Get the Themaltake Armor (Mine)






Enermax Liberty 620W PSU Dimensions:
W150 x H86 x D140 (mm)
W5.9 x H3.4 x D5.5 (in)


----------



## VTwedge (Nov 18, 2005)

i tried for the armor devil its the sweetest case i could find but its around 100 english pounds so its over my badget now damn i drool just looking at that case i got a coolermaster centurion its good enough for now. im running the stock cooler on my c3gto at 520 520 the core is 38C idle and 60 under load and im tryin to get a new fan to replace the stock one, do u guys think the zalman vf700 alcu is better ot the arctic cooling ati silencer 5 rev 2?im leaning towards the arctic cooling for now any suggestions?


----------



## dr.bling (Nov 18, 2005)

need help please as i am a dos newbie

i got my cdr to boot into dos with the files 

FLASHROM CHG
FLASHROM EXE
FLASHROM BIN
CONNECT3D BIN

now what do i do with them ?
what order do i boot them up in ?
how do i get the connect3d bin to boot ?

thanks in advance


----------



## kohan69 (Nov 18, 2005)

ALL NOOBS GO HERE:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1114939#post1114939


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 18, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> i tried for the armor devil its the sweetest case i could find but its around 100 english pounds so its over my badget now damn i drool just looking at that case i got a coolermaster centurion its good enough for now. im running the stock cooler on my c3gto at 520 520 the core is 38C idle and 60 under load and im tryin to get a new fan to replace the stock one, do u guys think the zalman vf700 alcu is better ot the arctic cooling ati silencer 5 rev 2?im leaning towards the arctic cooling for now any suggestions?



Get the Zalman unless you're a guy with bad case ventilation.  The Zalman will outperform the AC in every test unless you need to get rid of hot air anyway (which you wouldn't want surrounding your card anyway).


----------



## tigergenerals (Nov 18, 2005)

Nuts, the Zalman won't fit with my card and particular motherboard!

And for some reason my temps stay pretty high even at default.  I'm at 61 right now at default settings... what temp should I ease off at?

When I was doing artifact checks, it would get up to 80 C.  Any help?


----------



## omega_prime (Nov 18, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Put your memory to 565, then test your core going up from 550. You might get lucky at 555 or 560. Your memory should be good at 565, let me know, good luck!



so ... did another try with he zalman at 7v ... it don't look good. i can't put the memory over 550 ... 
but hey ... a card for 170 Euros which runs on 16 pipelines and 550/540 is just fine 
i didn't look whether i can o/c the core further .. .i will test this later ...


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 18, 2005)

*C3D gto findings*

Im gonna start with something important:
I studied the original mod article closely prior to makin mods, but Im pretty sure that nowhere did it say I had to set my C3D's fan to permanently 100% using Ati Tool!!!

I would have deemed this erm, Rather Important, seeing as my card ran at 80oC prior to the above mod!, it now runs at half that!!!

Is anyone getting corruption in the cat control centre?, ie. the little red racing car animation
Mines looks like its being drawn in two different positions, alternately, & some of the road is up in the sky!!! lol.

its really strange, cos all my games play absolutely spot on now, with the exception of some older titles, ie Americas Army- Bridge Map, MotoGp1

Games that I like which exhibit absolutely no corruption on the system are...
Battlefield2
Americas Army 2.5 (All Maps except the bridge ones)
Need4Speed- Most Wanted
F.E.A.R.

I cant decide whether the card is 'fried' in some way or is it because Im on .net 2.0 instead of 1.1 (for CCC I mean) or is it issues between the motherboard & Grphx card 

Another wierd one is that the latest version of CPU-z reads my memory as running at 133 Mhz :shadedshu 

I'd be greatful for 'ANY' ideas from anyone who has this or a similar setup...

My System...
Ath64 Venice @ 2 Gig Not o/c
Asrock Dual Sata 2
Connect3D Gto on 16 pipe original bios 'rabit'ed to 500/500 (never gets above 60oC now/ Fan @ 100% via Ati Tool)
512mb of rather crappy PC3200 memory
WD Raptor 74Gb


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 18, 2005)

tigergenerals said:
			
		

> Nuts, the Zalman won't fit with my card and particular motherboard!
> 
> And for some reason my temps stay pretty high even at default.  I'm at 61 right now at default settings... what temp should I ease off at?
> 
> When I was doing artifact checks, it would get up to 80 C.  Any help?



Yeah, I got caught with this too man, Ati Tool>Fan Control>100% Pleeeese!
Problem solved... but is the damage done?

Hey man, is the little car in Cat Control Centre displaying correctly? lol


----------



## tigergenerals (Nov 18, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> Yeah, I got caught with this too man, Ati Tool>Fan Control>100% Pleeeese!
> Problem solved... but is the damage done?
> 
> Hey man, is the little car in Cat Control Centre displaying correctly? lol



I don't think I saw that fan thing, I will be sure to try it.  That would help out a lot.  In that case, should I also try to bump up my case fan to 100% as well?  It gets freak loud.

The car runs fine in Catalyst.  I have done artifact checks, and no errors.  I don't think my card is fried... I only had lock ups when I was toying with the mem above 570 with the core at 520.  I'll probably drop both by 20 to be on the safe side.

What's the default XT PE clocks again?

And does changing the speeds in ATI Tool keep the clock?  Cause in Catalyst Graphics Hardware properties, it still says I'm at defaul 400/490 speeds.  

Thanks.


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 18, 2005)

540/590 I believe.


----------



## VTwedge (Nov 18, 2005)

i think its 540/560


----------



## anomen (Nov 18, 2005)

tigergenerals said:
			
		

> I don't think I saw that fan thing, I will be sure to try it.  That would help out a lot.  In that case, should I also try to bump up my case fan to 100% as well?  It gets freak loud.



The fan properties are under Settings -> Fan Control

Crank up your case fans if you need.  I'd really only recommend it during intense 3D action, ie game-time, cause for normal computer use, ie surfing and pr0n, your computer shouldn't be working that hard and generating much heat anyway.



> What's the default XT PE clocks again?



default clocks can be found on page 1 of this thread:
standard clocks of 400 Mhz core and 490 Mhz memory
XT speeds of 520 MHz / 540 MHz
XT PE speeds of 540 Mhz core and 590 MHz memory


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 18, 2005)

X800 XT PE is 520/560
X850 XT PE is 540/590


----------



## VTwedge (Nov 18, 2005)

shadowflare is right as always lol


----------



## tigergenerals (Nov 18, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> X800 XT PE is 520/560
> X850 XT PE is 540/590



Any advantages to flashing to X800 XT PE bios or X850 XT PE bios?

Drawbacks?


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 18, 2005)

tigergenerals said:
			
		

> Any advantages to flashing to X800 XT PE bios or X850 XT PE bios?
> 
> Drawbacks?



If its a Sapphire Gto2 yes, if its a C3D Gto erm, nah, I wouldnt b doin that, cos of slower 2.0ns memory on later...
From wot Ive read you'll get corruption city on C3D with anything other than powercolor x800xt bios which is rated for 2.0ns memory


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 18, 2005)

I keep getting this gay message like .net framework has caught an unexpected error.  I'll post a pic on here in a second.


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 18, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> I keep getting this gay message like .net framework has caught an unexpected error.  I'll post a pic on here in a second.



Oh Really!, My card is great apart from this in cat control centre...

see attached jpg


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 18, 2005)

I think it has something to do with my Videora program (converts movies to the ipod video format).  Here is the shot:






and the test of the Details:


```
See the end of this message for details on invoking 
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at VideoraConverter.02a04fb4e6760e36.1274e629368eaa38(String cdaeea7afaf570ff)
   at VideoraConverter.02a04fb4e6760e36.1bf5e5805116330e(Object e0292b9ed559da7d, EventArgs fbf34718e704c6bc)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnLoad(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnCreateControl()
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl(Boolean fIgnoreVisible)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl()
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
VideoraConverter
    Assembly Version: 1.0.2141.24358
    Win32 Version: 1.0.2141.24358
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/VideoraiPodConverter/VideoraiPodConverter.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
VideoraUI.Controls.ListViewEx
    Assembly Version: 1.0.2084.32710
    Win32 Version: 1.0.2084.32710
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/VideoraiPodConverter/VideoraUI.Controls.ListViewEx.DLL
----------------------------------------
PieChart
    Assembly Version: 1.2.0.3
    Win32 Version: 1.2.0.3
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/VideoraiPodConverter/PieChart.DLL
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
ttnhqonu
    Assembly Version: 1.0.2141.24358
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
    <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.
```

If I try to continue, I get another error like that that messes up videora, and if I quit, everything seems to be fine.  Hasn't really caused problems except I have to click quit every goddamn time.  I have manually removed .Net Framework 1.1 and 2.0 and windows updated them, and it didn't help.  I'mma try reinstalling videora now.  I'll let u all kno if it helps.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 18, 2005)

OK I just reinstalled videora, so no worries it's all working well.  I'm not sure what the whole problem is with CCC tho.

Is there any way to force 0x AA and AF instead of app controlled thru CCC?


----------



## traveler (Nov 18, 2005)

tigergenerals said:
			
		

> Any advantages to flashing to X800 XT PE bios or X850 XT PE bios?
> 
> Drawbacks?




How about a survey on what people think is the optimal flashing strategy for the GTO2?

1)	Original article method with Flashrom and the linked bios, enabling all 16 pipelines, keeping default clock speeds.  OC manually when desired.
2)	Two step flash method using ATIFlash, 1st step enabling all 16 pipes, 2nd step going back to the original bios but with all 16 pipes remaining enabled.  This also keeps default clock speeds.  OC manually when desired.
3)	Flash to x850XT or x850XTPE bios.  This enables all 16 pipes and defaults to higher clock speeds, but seems to mess up stock cooling.  It is also necessary to customize the bin file with Rabit if using Sapphire bios to disable VIVO which is part of Sapphire’s x850XT cards but not on the GTO2
4)	Some other permutation.  For example, I’m used the first method, but after verifying OC capability on my card, modified the linked bios with Rabit to default to x850XT clock speeds and re-flashed.  Card appears to run at 45C idle and <60C under moderate load with stock (automatically adjusting) cooling.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 18, 2005)

I have done some tests on some of the Catalyst Control Center 3D Options.  Click the link below to download the Word Document.

ATi Catalyst Control Center Tests

Enjoy!

-=DaNiSh+DeViL=-


----------



## Ombracol (Nov 19, 2005)

I dont know about others but i get A higher oc using the x850 xtpe bios
What do you guys know about the crossfire bios think that would work ? I've heard croosfire uses software diferent 
from nvidia witch is hardware enabled


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 19, 2005)

Crossfire cards versus regular cards (referred to as "slave" cards in crossfire) have a different back panel connector.  Therefore, you cannot flash a non-crossfire card to a crossfire bios.

I might try out the X850XTPE BIOS.  My core won't handle 540 though.


----------



## Dr.D (Nov 19, 2005)

Alright I wanted to post my my specs in hope of finding more about tempratures

*System:*(Dell 8400 )
P4 530@3.0Ghz
160GB HD
1GB DDR2 533
X800GTO2                  (Use to be X300SE )
2 DVD drives
350W PSU

*3DMark05 Scores:*
X300SE - 1118
X800GTO2 Stock - 4405
X800GTO2 Unlocked - 4913

*Tempratures:*
X300SE - Unknown
X800GTO2 Stock - Forgot

_X800GTO2 Unlocked:_
39-43C Idle
63C Max while playing games

Any thoughts on my tempratures? Should they be lower? Are they fine? Average? Comment on anything else if you like

-Thanks


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 19, 2005)

That load temp is fine, but are you using the fan control on ATI TOOL? You should use the fix function when you load games. Sound like you're using it because if you weren't then you temp would of hit around 70c. I got a Zalman VF700-cu and my idle/load temps are 30/55.


----------



## Dr.D (Nov 19, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> That load temp is fine, but are you using the fan control on ATI TOOL? You should use the fix function when you load games. Sound like you're using it because if you weren't then you temp would of hit around 70c. I got a Zalman VF700-cu and my idle/load temps are 30/55.



Yeah I am using it, I have it set so my fan is 100% all the time


----------



## anomen (Nov 19, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> my fan is 100% all the time



noisy!


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 19, 2005)

Dr.D said:
			
		

> Alright I wanted to post my my specs in hope of finding more about tempratures
> 
> *System:*(Dell 8400 )
> P4 530@3.0Ghz
> ...




Your temps are fine.  I get a 60C LOAD when running F.E.A.R. for 3 hours with my Zalman.

Get a new case, a new PSU, and . . . 















NEVER BUY A DELL AGAIN!


----------



## mbd1475 (Nov 19, 2005)

*Find Max*

Hey my 3dMark05 won't do a Find Max Core.  It just sits there on the same temperature.

Anyone know what could be wrong?

BTW, running at 545/560 on a Zalman VF700... never gets above 55.9 degrees under load


----------



## JE (Nov 19, 2005)

*C3D success.*

Hey folks, reporting another success on unlocking the additional 4 pipes with the C3D. Just beginning my OC venture as I write this, will report more extensive findings later.  I do have a question though, as this is the first vid card I've actually oc'd from stock settings - does OC'ing shorten the life of the card, if proper cooling is used? It seems to me, if temperatures stay in-line with what they should be, then there should be no shortening of the card's life - is this method of thinking incorrect?

Thanks in advance!


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 19, 2005)

You are still stressing the card.  Hypothetically, you could prolong the life of a component by underclocking it.  The harder you make your hardware work, the sooner it will fail you.



			
				mbd1475 said:
			
		

> Hey my 3dMark05 won't do a Find Max Core.  It just sits there on the same temperature.
> 
> Anyone know what could be wrong?
> 
> BTW, running at 545/560 on a Zalman VF700... never gets above 55.9 degrees under load



3DMARK05 is a benchmarking program.  Find Max Core is in ATiTool.  Which are you asking about?


----------



## afropuff (Nov 20, 2005)

For those that used the stock HSF at 100% fan speed for a while and THEN bought a Zalman.

How loud is the Zalman @ 12v 100% compared to the stock HSF @ 100% ??

-fro


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 20, 2005)

JE said:
			
		

> Hey folks, reporting another success on unlocking the additional 4 pipes with the C3D. Just beginning my OC venture as I write this, will report more extensive findings later.  I do have a question though, as this is the first vid card I've actually oc'd from stock settings - does OC'ing shorten the life of the card, if proper cooling is used? It seems to me, if temperatures stay in-line with what they should be, then there should be no shortening of the card's life - is this method of thinking incorrect?
> 
> Thanks in advance!



Well, dont forget to turn fan to 100% in ati tool!!! Before you do ANYTHING ELSE
I too unlocked my C3D gto to 16 pipes, but didnt see or know 'bout above detail!
I assumed that the card would increase fan in line with temp... not so, the result is a rma!.
I'm starting to believe that these cards have been made with x800xt chips that were'nt up to scratch in the 1st place, or perhaps x800 pro grade r423 (12 pipes)...

I'm gonna buy wot I should have 2 start with... an nVidia 7800gt!


----------



## mbd1475 (Nov 20, 2005)

Sorry I meant AtiTool


----------



## tigergenerals (Nov 20, 2005)

*Suggestions for cooling?*

As I had posted earlier, the Zalman VF700 does NOT fit with my mb (http://support.gateway.com/s//MOTHERBD/Intel2/104572/104572nv.shtml) due to a little coil conveniently  right above the PCIE slot.  

So I've taken suggestions about pumping up my stock fan to 100%.

I think my card is running kinda hot, but what do you all think?

C3D unlocked to 16 pipes at 500/550.  
3DMark05 = 5728
GPU min/max/avg during 3DMark05 run: 48.3/85.5/70.4 (I think this last number is kinda skewed because my dynamic settings for my fan running at a certain percentage above a certain temp didn't kick in, so now I'm just at 100% full time...)
GPU environment 45/64/56.9


Catalyst 5.11 drivers
XP Media Center
Intel (Cortez) 945G Motherboard
Pentium Dual Core 2.8ghz
2 gigs ddr2 4200
250, 400 SATA

Suggestions, comments?  Pleaseness...


----------



## khurios2000 (Nov 20, 2005)

anybody knows the memory setting for C3D X800GTO?

Tried 
TRCDRD: 7
TRCDWR: 3
TRP: 5
TRAS: 13
TRRD: 4
TWR: 6
TR2W: CL+2
TW2R: 4
TR2R: USE TWR RULE
TR2R: 2
WR_LATENCY: 1.5
CAS_LATENCY: 7
CMD_LATENCY: 0
STR_LATENCY: WR LATENCY
REFRESH_RATE: 0x75
TRFC: 23

and lowered the max memory to 524mhz


----------



## JE (Nov 20, 2005)

Yeah, that makes sense, thanks guys.  I do have another odd question, related to ATITool - I notice ATITool skyrockets temperatures during 3d mode viewing and scanning for artifacts, etc.   upwards of 70c at 440/540 core/mem, yet during CoD2, Q4, 3DMark '05, etc. temperatures don't exceed 44c. is that some sort of error, or is that normal for ATITool?

For reference, using the C3D GTO @ 16 pipes.


Thanks in advance, as always!


----------



## afropuff (Nov 20, 2005)

JE said:
			
		

> Yeah, that makes sense, thanks guys.  I do have another odd question, related to ATITool - I notice ATITool skyrockets temperatures during 3d mode viewing and scanning for artifacts, etc.   upwards of 70c at 440/540 core/mem, yet during CoD2, Q4, 3DMark '05, etc. temperatures don't exceed 44c. is that some sort of error, or is that normal for ATITool?
> 
> For reference, using the C3D GTO @ 16 pipes.
> 
> ...



ATItool stresses the GPU a lot more than games

-fro


----------



## JE (Nov 20, 2005)

ah, nod. so, probably more realistic to base heat/stability off of games/3dmark/etc as opposed to ATITool? Since ATI tool stresses GPU far beyond anything you'll do in a real world scenario?


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 20, 2005)

ATiTool is meant to stress your GPU enough so that, in a hot or strenuous environment, your games and or benchmarking will not fry your GPU core.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 20, 2005)

afropuff said:
			
		

> For those that used the stock HSF at 100% fan speed for a while and THEN bought a Zalman.
> 
> How loud is the Zalman @ 12v 100% compared to the stock HSF @ 100% ??
> 
> -fro



It's a lot quieter.  Probably somewhere around 8-15db quieter.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 20, 2005)

Can we maybe get this added to the first post in here for reference?:



> Stock X800GTO2 Memory Timings:
> 
> TRCDRD: 7
> TRCDWR: 4
> ...



Coming soon: Performance Differences btwn Max Mem @ Stock Timings and Max Mem @ Enhanced Timings.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 21, 2005)

OK Guys, here's the story on the Enhanced Memory Timings:

I was at 525/615 with stock timings.  I ran AQM3, and I got this score:

GFX: 10,962
CPU: 10,433
Total: 71,898

Then, I dropped the Memory to stock, input the timings, and found a max memory frequency of 582MHz, just under X850XTPE speeds (although my core crashes above 525).

So, running at 525/582 EMT (Enhanced Memory Timings) I got this score:







Not too shabby eh?  Finally got a GFX score in the 11k range.


----------



## Ponz (Nov 21, 2005)

hi all

i have buy an x800GTO GeCube 12pipeline with r480 chipset




from atitool ---> setting is not visible configuration of CONFIG_DIE_FUSE , CONFIG_SUBSTRATES_FUSES and CONFIG_ROM_FUSES ecc.. but on "use device" is visible R480, my question is: is possible to flash bios for update @ x850xl ? or unlock to 16pipeline ? or some other alternative ? my x800gto have samsung memory ( i think samsung 2.0)

I attend one your trusting answer thanks

sry for my bad english


----------



## Benjie (Nov 21, 2005)

*gto bad fuse data*

First post so hello to everyone 

Just taken delivery today of a C3D gto, the fuse data doesnt match that of the ones that are moddable, is there nothing that can be done in the way of different bios flashes or am i stuck with 12 pipelines?

Ive stuck the card in my xqpack with a biostar 6100-939 board and sent ati tool off to find the max core, it topped out at around 580 so im pretty happy, havent had a chance to do the mem yet, had to run out here to do 2hours of radio!

Cheers

Benjie


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 21, 2005)

Ponz said:
			
		

> hi all
> 
> i have buy an x800GTO GeCube 12pipeline with r480 chipset
> 
> ...



y0 you have to hold down the shift button first before going into those settings. Beside i don't think you can mod that card anyway, since the card comes with only 12pp but the frequencies have been raised for the core and the mem to match a 16pp 400/490 GTO in benchmarks. What are the speeds anyhow on your core/mem?


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 21, 2005)

Benjie said:
			
		

> First post so hello to everyone
> 
> Just taken delivery today of a C3D gto, the fuse data doesnt match that of the ones that are moddable, is there nothing that can be done in the way of different bios flashes or am i stuck with 12 pipelines?
> 
> ...



You really don't have those numbers listed like the modded ones? Where did you buy your C3D GTO? Maybe the pipelines are lazer cut in your situation? You can connect them i think. Why don't you still go ahead and mod it and see what happens...i mean you bought the card and were so excited, why not?


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 21, 2005)

Does anybody get corruption of the 'little car' in cat control centre?
especially if your on Asrock dual sata2 with C3D Gto...

Apart from that my car seems to be excellent...
its doin my head in!


----------



## Benjie (Nov 21, 2005)

when i get back home i will post up the numbers i have, got a 3E on the first line and something else on the second one. Not enough F's for my liking. Might have a crack at flashing it tonight, got the bios backed up so its not like im gonna kill it!

edit : bought it from savastore coz it was only £120.

Also if there is a lazer cut i can get hold of a conductive pen easily  aslong as its "safe" to do so


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 21, 2005)

Benjie said:
			
		

> when i get back home i will post up the numbers i have, got a 3E on the first line and something else on the second one. Not enough F's for my liking. Might have a crack at flashing it tonight, got the bios backed up so its not like im gonna kill it!



...be ready with a second graphx card (pci)


----------



## Benjie (Nov 21, 2005)

got that covered mate 

cheers for the heads up though!


----------



## Ponz (Nov 21, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> y0 you have to hold down the shift button first before going into those settings. Beside i don't think you can mod that card anyway, since the card comes with only 12pp but the frequencies have been raised for the core and the mem to match a 16pp 400/490 GTO in benchmarks. What are the speeds anyhow on your core/mem?



actually have this setting:


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 21, 2005)

Ponz,

  What score do you get in the FutureMark benchmarks at stock and at those overclocked settings? Good luck on the modding, but i don't think it's going to happen.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 21, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> Does anybody get corruption of the 'little car' in cat control centre?
> especially if your on Asrock dual sata2 with C3D Gto...
> 
> Apart from that my car seems to be excellent...
> its doin my head in!



I have an ASRock board and a C3D GTO, but aren't using the CCC, just the cp version. I did install the 5.11 CCC before and didn't notice any corruption. What are your specs on your system and video card pp/core/mem?


----------



## Benjie (Nov 21, 2005)

ok, went ahead on a suicide run and flashed the card anyway. im still here so thats a good sign, however the card is still on 12 pipelines, would this suggest to everyone that my last 4 pixel lines are cut or they are just shafted? Or if they have been laser cut would it be because they are shafted? 


Cheers

Benjie

ps what sort of speeds are people getting from the c3d gtos? Using ati tool mine can find up to 570 on the mem and 580 on the core. not gonna be stable at those speeds but im needing ideas as to roughly what i should be aiming for!


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 21, 2005)

Every card is different.  There is nothing to aim for.  Keep your temps below 65C and you're fine.  I would suggest some aftermarket cooling though.  Get the VF700-CU from Zalman.

PS: Those a very nice OCs, especially on the core.  I have a Sapphire X800GTO2 ($230) and I can't get more than 525 on the core.  I get 618 on the memory, but hey, it's a totally different card.  You have an extrordinary R423 core my friend.


----------



## Benjie (Nov 21, 2005)

if i can run it at about 540/540 day in day out in the xqpack maybe with a zalman attatched i will be happy, would be even nicer if its rock solid at 580 on the core though lol.

Shame i cant get those last 4 pipelines, but im sure with the core that high the difference between 12 and 16 will be negligable!


----------



## Dr.D (Nov 22, 2005)

I am using FRAPS to see my frams everyonce and a while my frams drop down to the 20s AND they turn Red

Why's that?


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 22, 2005)

I ordered the full retail version of the X800 GTO2 a little earlier.  When I get it I'll let everyone know how it is; whether it unlocks or not and how well it overclocks.


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 22, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> I ordered the full retail version of the X800 GTO2 a little earlier.  When I get it I'll let everyone know how it is; whether it unlocks or not and how well it overclocks.


Where'd you order it from?


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 22, 2005)

blsnelling said:
			
		

> Where'd you order it from?


I ordered it from Newegg.

I also bid on one on eBay and currently have the winning bid with 35 minutes to go.  I'm sure someone will outbid me during that time period since it's already at my max bid. 

-EDIT-

Haha, unexpectedly I actually got the winning bid even though my max was only 1 cent higher than the second highest bid.   That persion gave up just a little too soon.   I guess I'll have two GTO2's coming in.   I'll likely sell the two that aren't as good out the three (three since I already have one).


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 22, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> I have an ASRock board and a C3D GTO, but aren't using the CCC, just the cp version. I did install the 5.11 CCC before and didn't notice any corruption. What are your specs on your system and video card pp/core/mem?



My Specs are...
Athlon64 3200+@2.0gig not o/c
Asrock dual sata2 bios 1.4 (corruption also seen on 1.2 original)
512 twinmos pc3200@2T 2.5,3,3,8 (yeah I know! on a budget tho)
C3D gto 16pp@ 400/490 (core speed/mem speed or pixel pipe changes have no effect on the corruption I'm seeing (
WD Raptor 74gig

It plays all the latest games absolutely superbly, shows some corruption in older titles like AmericasArmy-bridge map & motogp1. Plays AA-Bridge SE perfectly though!

Im right on the edge here... to RMA or NOT to RMA this is the question? lol
Here is a pic of what Im seeing in CCC!

If no-one has seen this then I think I will rma!, cos I wont be able to sell this 2 anyone later


----------



## at2wooden (Nov 22, 2005)

The articles are great, but they are a bit over my head yet.

I checked ATITOOL settings (on shift) and I have F's where they need to be to have a modable X800 GTO2 card. The card overclocks well. 
Even put on the Artic Cooler Silencer 5 V2.

Sure could use a little step-by-step to get me started unlocking those extra 4 pipes.

The other day I downloaded the flash mod and clicked on it and within a day I got the blue screen of death.
Had to completely reload OS and all my programs.

Am I supposed to DL the flash to a floppy and load during post like the raid set up? ARRRGH!!


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 22, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> My Specs are...
> Athlon64 3200+@2.0gig not o/c
> Asrock dual sata2 bios 1.4 (corruption also seen on 1.2 original)
> 512 twinmos pc3200@2T 2.5,3,3,8 (yeah I know! on a budget tho)
> ...


Flash back to 12 pipelines and see if you get the same corruption in the 3d graphics in those same programs.  If so, then you should definately RMA that card, in my opinion.


----------



## ATVkid (Nov 22, 2005)

Using a Sapphire GTO²:
I just used the modded flashrom, according to the article, and flashed it. However, when I boot it back up, I get a blank screen, monitor light's yellow (standby). I used the following command in the modded flashrom utility:

flashrom.exe -p 0 newbios.bin r -f

newbios.rom being the modded GTO² bios, and 0 being the card's location. Can anyone help me to fix this?


----------



## ATVkid (Nov 22, 2005)

Bump...Cmon guys, need some help.


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 22, 2005)

at2wooden said:
			
		

> The articles are great, but they are a bit over my head yet.
> 
> I checked ATITOOL settings (on shift) and I have F's where they need to be to have a modable X800 GTO2 card. The card overclocks well.
> Even put on the Artic Cooler Silencer 5 V2.
> ...



Hmmm, how did you get this far into this forum topic without reading the initial article?, did you just look at the pretty pictures?!!! The article is step-by-step!


----------



## ATVkid (Nov 22, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg, any way you could give me some help with the issue I'm having?


----------



## at2wooden (Nov 22, 2005)

gee that was less than helpful.
Did I mention that the first time I tried this it ended up with me reloading windows?
This is my first build. Cut me some slack.

Come on guys, hold the flames and lend a hand to a rookie.


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 23, 2005)

ATVkid said:
			
		

> kapeeteeleest_peeg, any way you could give me some help with the issue I'm having?



the command in my experience is as follows...

flashrom -f -p 0 gto16p.bin

(the 0 is a zero)
...the gto216p.bin is the name of the bios file your tring to flash onto your card. If your bios name is different, type its name instead

To get out of your current hole... you need to get your hands on a pci graphics card... Check the local refuse tips, charity shops etc. lol, cos these are really old now. Most cards have been AGP format since 1997!!!
Once fitted, u boot into bios, make sure that 'init display first' is set to 'pci' instead of 'pci-express', save the settings by hitting 'f10' and reboot...
Boot into windows, make up your flash floppy with the bios file that you want... then restart
Boot onto floppy now & type in the flashrom command...

That should work, but good luck finding a pci grphx card...


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 23, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> My Specs are...
> Athlon64 3200+@2.0gig not o/c
> Asrock dual sata2 bios 1.4 (corruption also seen on 1.2 original)
> 512 twinmos pc3200@2T 2.5,3,3,8 (yeah I know! on a budget tho)
> ...



I'm not sure how you are getting those corruptions in your CCC. Sorry to ask but which version of Catalyst are you running, the newest one right? 5.11?


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 23, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg,
 Are you using the Fix Percentage at 100% on the Ati Tool for your fans speed on your GTO? What is the temp. in your room and your computer temp. specs? It probably doesn't have anything to do with the temp does it? I'd say RMA it, there might be something wrong with the GTO, it shouldn't do that at all unless something is faulty with your overclocks CPU/RAM and motherboard? Which card did you have before you got your GTO? Did the old card "AGP or was it PCI-E" do the same thing or you really didn't notice at all?

Note: I forgot to ask you, you're probably lucky that the GTO hasn't locked your system up on that ASRock board dude. I had to use Rabit 1.7 to change ID and Frequencies and run the GTO at 350/350 2D mode and 550/565 3D mode. If i didn't do that i would get a freeze somewhere along with the frequencies high.


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 23, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> kapeeteeleest_peeg,
> Are you using the Fix Percentage at 100% on the Ati Tool for your fans speed on your GTO? What is the temp. in your room and your computer temp. specs? It probably doesn't have anything to do with the temp does it? I'd say RMA it, there might be something wrong with the GTO, it shouldn't do that at all unless something is faulty with your overclocks CPU/RAM and motherboard? Which card did you have before you got your GTO? Did the old card "AGP or was it PCI-E" do the same thing or you really didn't notice at all?
> 
> Note: I forgot to ask you, you're probably lucky that the GTO hasn't locked your system up on that ASRock board dude. I had to use Rabit 1.7 to change ID and Frequencies and run the GTO at 350/350 2D mode and 550/565 3D mode. If i didn't do that i would get a freeze somewhere along with the frequencies high.



Oh, now I'm gettin corruption in FEAR... right thats it!, get in the box, your goin' back!!!
Yeah, Ive had enough of Ati for the momment... its gettin' rma'ed!.
Im either gonna get an nVidia 6800gs, 7800gs or a 7800gt... nVidia got a card for every budget now... Ati looks very silly this xmas!!!, the cards worth getting are over priced & unavailable!!!


----------



## Ethos (Nov 23, 2005)

You do not need a PCI graphics card to fix it, as long as you have a backup of your old bios on the same disk you used to do the previous flash.

Just do a blind flash  
1. Let the computer boot up off the floppy even though you can't see it (wait until there is no more reading)
2. Blindly type "flashrom -f -p 0 oldbios.bin" where oldbios.bin was your old bios
3. Now you should have some reads going for the next couple minutes, but I wouldn't reboot for 5 minutes to be safe (if you didn't have some good reads to the floppy for about 30s - 1min after typing the command, you typed it wrong)


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 23, 2005)

Ethos said:
			
		

> You do not need a PCI graphics card to fix it, as long as you have a backup of your old bios on the same disk you used to do the previous flash.
> 
> Just do a blind flash
> 1. Let the computer boot up off the floppy even though you can't see it (wait until there is no more reading)
> ...



Hmmm, that sounds like a lot of fun! A leap of faith! lol


----------



## Ethos (Nov 23, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> Hmmm, that sounds like a lot of fun! A leap of faith! lol



Yup, especially if you are like me and only have PCI-E slots on your motherboard (1 - x16, 1 - x1)


----------



## JE (Nov 23, 2005)

Hey Dynamic,

In Rabit 1.7, where do you set respective 2d/3d frequencies? I'm starting to have lockup issues with the same setup - C3D GTO/ASRock Dual SATA-939, etc.

(something tells me I already made a post asking you this, but I checked and didn't see it. sorry in advance if this is a double post!)


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 23, 2005)

JE said:
			
		

> Hey Dynamic,
> 
> In Rabit 1.7, where do you set respective 2d/3d frequencies? I'm starting to have lockup issues with the same setup - C3D GTO/ASRock Dual SATA-939, etc.
> 
> (something tells me I already made a post asking you this, but I checked and didn't see it. sorry in advance if this is a double post!)



JE- do me a favor & load CCC 5.11...

check 2 c if u get any corruption in the 3d preview 'little sports car' animation?
let me know wot u c pleese


----------



## Tugger (Nov 23, 2005)

*Help??*

I got my new Saphire X800 GTO2 card installed.
ATI tool says Default Core: 400 / Mem:490

New Egg listed it as 400 / 980.

Is somethig wrong here?? 

Thanks
Tom


----------



## foggy (Nov 23, 2005)

on flashing my Sapphire X800 GTO" i found that removing ati catalist solved my problem of the flash-rom not working

otherwise i just did as w1zzards article says, and now running stable at 519 /573 using stock cooling


----------



## tigergenerals (Nov 23, 2005)

Can anybody recommend a fan other than the Zalman VF700 that will help to cool the c3d but doesn't take up an extra slot like the Zalman?


----------



## Ethos (Nov 23, 2005)

Tugger said:
			
		

> I got my new Saphire X800 GTO2 card installed.
> ATI tool says Default Core: 400 / Mem:490
> 
> New Egg listed it as 400 / 980.
> ...



DDR...and if that doesn't make sense, you should think twice about flashing.  

I am not saying that you are dumb. I just think if you have a problem while flashing, a user that can fix their problem would know about DDR mem clocks.


----------



## Tugger (Nov 23, 2005)

"I am not saying that you are dumb. I just think if you have a problem while flashing, a user that can fix their problem would know about DDR mem clocks."

You got that right! ("Dumb" I've been called worse.)  
That's why I'm trying to learn something in these forums.
I would love to flash this card, but not till I understand what I'm doing
alot more than I do now.

Thanks for the reply. (DDR mem)
T


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 23, 2005)

Tugger said:
			
		

> I got my new Saphire X800 GTO2 card installed.
> ATI tool says Default Core: 400 / Mem:490
> 
> New Egg listed it as 400 / 980.
> ...



erm, the memory is ddr (double data rate) ie... you have to double the 490 to get the 980
...get it?


----------



## Tugger (Nov 23, 2005)

Thanks!
SEE, I learned something already!


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 24, 2005)

JE said:
			
		

> Hey Dynamic,
> 
> In Rabit 1.7, where do you set respective 2d/3d frequencies? I'm starting to have lockup issues with the same setup - C3D GTO/ASRock Dual SATA-939, etc.
> 
> (something tells me I already made a post asking you this, but I checked and didn't see it. sorry in advance if this is a double post!)



I only changed the ID and frequencies in Rabit, but used 3D detection from Ati Tool .24 for lunching games going from desktop 350/350 to games 550/565. This strategy works in most cases, but look out when you run PCMARK applications though. Since the applications stays on desktop i've actually had it freeze on PCMark05 before. I can't remember where in Rabit, but it would say something about frequencies/clocks and it would have 400/490 just change those two to 500/500. The ID for the X800XT is 5D57, so i just saved you alittle step here. I hope you know what you're doing, because you have to flash with that modified bios you used on Rabit. Then hopefully if i works out, install Ati Tool unless you already have it and go into *Settings* from the drop menu box, go all the way down to *3D DETECTION* and i'll let you understand everything else from there. Remember some games might not detect, so make sure you add them to the *Exception List*, okay? Good Luck!


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 24, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> erm, the memory is ddr (double data rate) ie... you have to double the 490 to get the 980
> ...get it?



So did you RMA that card yet? I think you should if you see corruption in game play or with that CCC video. I never saw such things unless i overclocked it too high then i would notice major artifacts. Good Luck and let us know. BTW, why don't you try out Monarchcomputers.com they don't charge tax, so you'll only pay $179 for the card i think that's how much it still is going for and shipping. It's like Heaven, i hate TAXES!


----------



## omega_prime (Nov 24, 2005)

Tugger said:
			
		

> Thanks!
> SEE, I learned something already!



yeah .. .you see ... it's maínly a marketing gag ... the same thing why most memory seller say PC400 to 200 Mhz rams ....
it's to blind some customers ...


----------



## MegaViper (Nov 24, 2005)

*X800GTO2 to X850XTPE MOD my fan PROBLEM*

Hello,

I have done the mod with no problems, I have the Sapphire X800GTO2 card, I overclock no problems 540/590, 550/600 if I push it.  (Nice mod BTW thanks)

But my fan is running backwards after I installed the Arctic 5 silencer Version 2.  My card stays cool enough but why does it suck air into the case instead of blowing it out?

Thanks for any help you can give.


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 24, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> So did you RMA that card yet? I think you should if you see corruption in game play or with that CCC video. I never saw such things unless i overclocked it too high then i would notice major artifacts. Good Luck and let us know. BTW, why don't you try out Monarchcomputers.com they don't charge tax, so you'll only pay $179 for the card i think that's how much it still is going for and shipping. It's like Heaven, i hate TAXES!



cheers mate, no I have'nt rma'ed yet, I'm trying to source a cheap or free card for use in the meantime b4 rma-ing.

I was a diehard Ati fan but...
Im gonna get a nV 6800gs or 7800gs or gt, depending on financies...
cos Ati have lost the plot...
All these cards are more than a match for x850xtpe... without modding & hastle

Still a good article though... I was just unlucky


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 24, 2005)

MegaViper said:
			
		

> Hello,
> 
> I have done the mod with no problems, I have the Sapphire X800GTO2 card, I overclock no problems 540/590, 550/600 if I push it.  (Nice mod BTW thanks)
> 
> ...



not sure, but I think you may have the fan connector back to front, causing it run backwards?
just a guess, but seems feasable...all electric motors run the other way if polarity is reversed.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 24, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> cheers mate, no I have'nt rma'ed yet, I'm trying to source a cheap or free card for use in the meantime b4 rma-ing.
> 
> I was a diehard Ati fan but...
> Im gonna get a nV 6800gs or 7800gs or gt, depending on financies...
> ...



Okay, try to shoot for the 7800GS, might be a mod potential there, plus it over clocks pretty nice and matches the performance of the 7800GT in 3DMark05, not sure about the others since it's lacking of PP's. Furthermore, i'm not sure when it will be available though, some site confirmed something about the locked pipelines and they tried opening it with RivaTuner, but weren't successful. They did say maybe it might work with a mod or soft mod, i don't know. Good Luck!


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 24, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Okay, try to shoot for the 7800GS, might be a mod potential there, plus it over clocks pretty nice and matches the performance of the 7800GT in 3DMark05, not sure about the others since it's lacking of PP's. Furthermore, i'm not sure when it will be available though, some site confirmed something about the locked pipelines and they tried opening it with RivaTuner, but weren't successful. They did say maybe it might work with a mod or soft mod, i don't know. Good Luck!



Yeah, 7800GS sounds gr8, but gt would be even nicer 
its crazy how many cards nVidia have out now for gamers...
puts Ati to shame.

Wish gs would come out so I can see the price...
anandtech has benchmarks for it...
fortunately, it'll be on the shelves as soon as its announced, not like...
A.vailability T.otally I.nconsistant lol


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 25, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> Yeah, 7800GS sounds gr8, but gt would be even nicer
> its crazy how many cards nVidia have out now for gamers...
> puts Ati to shame.
> 
> ...



Yeah, Nvidia is still the king of the hill again with their GTX 512 card. Yeah, not knowing when the 7800GS is going to be out, but it's going to be prices between the 6800GT and the 7800GT. Anyhow HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY, HAR HAR HAR, going to eat right now.


----------



## Dr.D (Nov 25, 2005)

I am using FRAPS to see my FPS, everyonce and a while my FPSs drop down into the 20s AND they turn Red

Why's that?


----------



## omega_prime (Nov 25, 2005)

you know: i am still feeling very satisfied when i see what 3d performance i got for 170 euros ... 
maybe the 7800gs is way better, but it is also at least 60 or 70% (or even more) more expensive. if i had money to buy such a card ... ok ... maybe i would it (but normaly i don't buy grafic-cards over 150-180 euros) ... but i havn't the money ... and i as i sayed: i am very satisfied with the performance ...


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 25, 2005)

*C3D x800 gto mod fail (my theory)*

for anyone thats been following my c3dgto adventure, here is my theory on the corruption I'm seeing in my games & lately BSOD's even when I flashed the card back to 12 pipes!!

I think that my card came with a bios that locked a particular quad of 4 pipes.
(each batch of 4 pipes is arranged into quads on the Gpu)
Now that Ive flashed to 16 pipes, then back to 12, maybe the bios on this site locks a different quad of pipes, thus the defective quad is still enabled & one good quad is disabled.

If there is foundation in what Im saying and I'm not talkin utter nonsense, then how cool would it be if this site had 4 bioses for C3D gto, one to disable each quad!...
is that feasable w1zzard?

Food for thought?, or just verbal dihorrea? lol

This is just incase total idiots like me, dont save original bios... can anyone send me thier original C3D bios, so I can try it?

oh, btw, another anomally with this board is that it on auto mem settings it reports my memory as being 133/ddr266, even though its 2x512 pc3200 twinmos 2.5,3,3,8. This board is also turning into a be-atch!
I have to force ddr200 in bios & disable 'flexability' option! to get ddr400...

Of course this could also be the cause of grphx problems!, but I dont think so. Gto is equally crap @ ddr266 &400


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 25, 2005)

*original c3d bios?*

dynamic, your bios?, where?


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 25, 2005)

Right here...


----------



## JE (Nov 25, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> JE- do me a favor & load CCC 5.11...
> 
> check 2 c if u get any corruption in the 3d preview 'little sports car' animation?
> let me know wot u c pleese



Kapeepteeleest_peeg,

Sorry for getting back to you so late. No corruption in CCC panel 3d preview.  I'd suggest RMA if you haven't already.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 26, 2005)

For some reason, no matter what program I download to edit BIOSes, I can never open the files.  I keep getting goddamn errors when I try to open the bin files.  I've tried RaBiT and ATi BiosEdit.  Any suggestions on programs or diagnoses?


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 26, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> For some reason, no matter what program I download to edit BIOSes, I can never open the files.  I keep getting goddamn errors when I try to open the bin files.  I've tried RaBiT and ATi BiosEdit.  Any suggestions on programs or diagnoses?



Not sure why you're getting errors, my editing in Rabit 1.7 went well for the ID/Freq changes. I really don't know much, so you're on your own M8, sorry.


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 26, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> For some reason, no matter what program I download to edit BIOSes, I can never open the files.  I keep getting goddamn errors when I try to open the bin files.  I've tried RaBiT and ATi BiosEdit.  Any suggestions on programs or diagnoses?



Sorry to sound like Dr Doom, but what your describing sounds real bad...
rabbit 1.7 worked fine for me & I thought I had the bitchiest rig on here! lol
Anyway... what kind of error messages are you getting?
Are you sure your only getting errors when trying to open bios files? and not randomly any where in your OpSys?
Are you deffo trying to open *.bin files with it?
...more info needed

Sounds dodgy, cos all your doing is opening a basic, tiny file with a custom but very basic editor... Im thinkin memory/harddisk corruption or maybe some 3rd party software interfering... anti-virus etc?
Have you tried other versions of rabit? Have you tried different bioses?

You'll have to describe exactly whats happening...


----------



## kapeeteeleest_peeg (Nov 26, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Right here...



Thanks for the bios dynamic...
but...................................it didnt work, still super corrupt in ccc 

Cheers anyways!


----------



## Oilsmoke (Nov 26, 2005)

I just flashed my C3D gto to 16 and ATITooled found 563 core and 546 mem.  I set it to 540/540, Seams stable.
I can run IL2 Forgotten Battles AEP At FULL details ,with Pefect Water at 3 in the INI. For over 2 hours with No Problems.
Temp with stock cooling is at 77 to 80c In this game, Is this to hot?

Note to kapeeteeleest_peeg  I sent you a MP.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 26, 2005)

Oilsmoke said:
			
		

> I just flashed my C3D gto to 16 and ATITooled found 563 core and 546 mem.  I set it to 540/540, Seams stable.
> I can run IL2 Forgotten Battles AEP At FULL details ,with Pefect Water at 3 in the INI. For over 2 hours with No Problems.
> Temp with stock cooling is at 77 to 80c In this game, Is this to hot?
> 
> Note to kapeeteeleest_peeg  I sent you a MP.



My GTO idles/load temps are 30/55 on the GPU and 28/38 on the GPU Envir. So you tell me if those temps are bad or not? Yes, they are high, once your GPU Envir hits well over 40 it will slightly decrease in performance. Why don't you set your fan speed with ATI TOOL to 100% fixed percentage, in the fan options, it helps.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 26, 2005)

*GFX Temps...*

First off, it's a C3D x800 GTO by the way, so don't get fooled by the ID. That's my idle temp on my video card, and trust me those go up to about 54/38 on a good day on full load.


----------



## Dynamic (Nov 26, 2005)

kapeeteeleest_peeg said:
			
		

> Thanks for the bios dynamic...
> but...................................it didnt work, still super corrupt in ccc
> 
> Cheers anyways!



Yeah, i figured that it wouldn't work. RMA that sucker! Something wrong with it bro...


----------



## mascaras (Nov 26, 2005)

ok guys, with the coming of winter you can overclock more your cards , now with this cold laltly , i have 23/24c idle, 35/36c playing and 40c scaning for artefacts  with (530/530) and WC .


>>> 




16c-CPU//24c-GPU >>> 

 


WINTER AND OC ARE FRIENDS   WELCOME WINTER


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 26, 2005)

OK I've got it working with RaBiT 1.7.  Thanks for the indirect tip Dynamic and kapeeteeleest_peeg (was using RaBiT 1.5 before).


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 26, 2005)

OK now this is scaring me.  RaBiT and ATiTool think that my GPU is a different core than one another.  Any ideas?






Also, the max clocks that can be set by RaBiT SUCK!  Is this what you guys are getting too?






PS: Using a Sapphire X800GTO2 sucesfully modded to 16P and OCed with EMT to 522/582.


----------



## mascaras (Nov 26, 2005)

thats normal , some programs also detect in conect3d the r480 and they real have the r423


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 27, 2005)

Roger that.  It sucks that it won't let me clock the core past like 500MHz tho.


----------



## Oilsmoke (Nov 27, 2005)

Dynamic

Your Case cooling is better than my I am Sure. I did max the Fan and Drop 9c at idle.
My CPU is 42 and GPU is 43 at idle
PC environment 29   gpu envrionment is 41 at idle..

SO you only gain 2c from Idle to Load? Man that is good. I don't a great System.  But it only $1000 system and Does OK..

AMD XP3200+ 2.19 GHZ
1024 Samsung pc3200
C3dX800gto  I got it 
Audigy 2 ZS

I do have one open slot I will get a duel fan PSU and Slot fan also. That should cool things down alittle.

Any brand better than other? PSU and Slot fan?


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 27, 2005)

Get the Enermax Liberty PSU.  Go here:

http://extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp

and calculate your system wattage, and get the PSU with at least 70 Watts more than your system uses at Peak Utilization.  Here are the links to the Liberties:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&Category=0&minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

As for slot fans, I don't use any, but Antec and Vantec are good makers of slot fans from what I've heard.  I used to use this on my AIW9600XT with a fanless Zalman cooler:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835888112

Works great.  PWM and pretty UV Blue glow.  The Enermax Liberty and Vantec Spectrum Fan Card would be my two choices.


----------



## VTwedge (Nov 27, 2005)

danish overclock to 506mhz and max memory with rabbit, save your mod bios, open it again it will let you overclock it more. rabbit just has a safety 100mhz something feature on each over clock so u went from 400 to 500 on the core u passed it, now if u open the modded bios u saved with the 500 u can get it to 600 thats wot i did


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 27, 2005)

Got it!  Thanks VTwedge!


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 27, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> OK now this is scaring me.  RaBiT and ATiTool think that my GPU is a different core than one another.  Any ideas?


That's normal.  RaBiT just doesn't ever show R480 there.


----------



## gigat (Nov 28, 2005)

Another success story of unlocking extra pipes in connect3d x800 gto. But I was a little bit pissed off since after one day I bought it, newegg had it for $149.... (could have bought this $30 cheaper if I waited it just one day...urgggg ..)
Anyway, I was able to O/C up to 550/550 w/o any artifacts (could have gone higher but didn't) with stock cooling, but the temps are too high in my opinion. When I run artifacts and 3d viewing on atitool the max temp is 78C. (Is this normal? or too dangerous to play at 550/550 if atitool shows that temp?). I only use o/c clock whenever I'm playing games, and the temps are around 65 and 68 (550/550). Is this too hot? But I realized that the temps are pretty much the same rather I play at 500/500 or 550/550. it's only about 3-5 degree difference. And yes I put my fan control to 100%. I scored 6300 w/ 550/550 stock cooling. I just need some advice on temp control since I don't want to burn my card just after couple weeks of using it.


----------



## omega_prime (Nov 28, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> My GTO idles/load temps are 30/55 on the GPU and 28/38 on the GPU Envir. So you tell me if those temps are bad or not? Yes, they are high, once your GPU Envir hits well over 40 it will slightly decrease in performance. Why don't you set your fan speed with ATI TOOL to 100% fixed percentage, in the fan options, it helps.



you're a masochis, right ? 
i don't build  a halfway quiet rig to but a hair-drier in it
zalman @ 5 or 7 V is the way


----------



## RatusNatus (Nov 28, 2005)

How many C3D cant be unlocked?how many sucess? Where is the numbers?


----------



## blsnelling (Nov 28, 2005)

Look at page one.  It was updated Nov 23.


----------



## satans_pet_penguin (Nov 28, 2005)

My Connect3D card will be here soon and i'm going to attempt to flash it. My only question is.

If the extra 4 pipelines can't be unlocked, will the card still work and let me reboot to change back to 12 pipelines or will it be broken? Or if they can be unlocked, but the 4 lines are defective, will it still work and let me go back to 12?


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 28, 2005)

Here's the solution to your problem satans_pet_penguin:

Make two floppy disks:

1. Connect 3D Card with 16 Pipes
2. Connect 3D Card with 12 Pipes

Try to flash to 16 pipes.  If it fails, then just re-flash to 12 Pipes.

Good Luck and Have Fun.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 28, 2005)

gigat said:
			
		

> Another success story of unlocking extra pipes in connect3d x800 gto. But I was a little bit pissed off since after one day I bought it, newegg had it for $149.... (could have bought this $30 cheaper if I waited it just one day...urgggg ..)
> Anyway, I was able to O/C up to 550/550 w/o any artifacts (could have gone higher but didn't) with stock cooling, but the temps are too high in my opinion. When I run artifacts and 3d viewing on atitool the max temp is 78C. (Is this normal? or too dangerous to play at 550/550 if atitool shows that temp?). I only use o/c clock whenever I'm playing games, and the temps are around 65 and 68 (550/550). Is this too hot? But I realized that the temps are pretty much the same rather I play at 500/500 or 550/550. it's only about 3-5 degree difference. And yes I put my fan control to 100%. I scored 6300 w/ 550/550 stock cooling. I just need some advice on temp control since I don't want to burn my card just after couple weeks of using it.



I personally don't like anything getting above 65C.  If it doesn't go over that in games, you should be OK.  I would HIGHLY recommend some aftermarket cooling though.  Zalman VF700-CU is my choice.  Here's the cheapest price ive found:

http://www.xoxide.com/zalman-vf700culed-vga-cooler.html


----------



## VTwedge (Nov 29, 2005)

quick  question: is the arctic coolin ati 5 rev 2 better or the zalman vf700-cu better? common guys quick answer


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 29, 2005)

VF700-CU. by a LONG SHOT.  Only exception is if you have an EXTREMELY POORLY ventilated case (Pentium III 933 Dell with only a PSU fan), then the fact that the hot GPU air is being expelled out of the case, it will lower your other temps.  If you have a crappy dell case with no cooling, then you are a very ignorant BIOS flasher and overclocker (no offense, but come on guys...)


----------



## breethon (Nov 29, 2005)

I just built a new system (this is my second connect3d mod card).  I had to flash the bios multiple times to get it to work.  I first flashed it to the powercolor x800xt bios, then tried the unlocked connect3d bios in this article.  I then flashed back to the powercolor with no change in pipes.  I then tried the x800gto2 bios - got an error, so I flashed it back with the powercolor bios (one last time crap shoot) and it worked the last time.  Not sure why, I flashed it the same way everytime.  WEIRD?  Any ideas?  Sorry if this is confusing, but if you have tried to flash it and it didn't work, try, try again.  You never know.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Nov 29, 2005)

Yesterday I received the X800 GTO2 that I ordered from Newegg.com.  It is the full retail boxed version.

It has the same fuses shown in ATITool as the other X800 GTO2s, so it did unlock to 16 pipes.  Unlike my first which would quit above 520 MHz gpu, this one could at least achieve 540.  Also, unlike the first, it would actually get to the point where it would get artifacts when going above the max stable overclock, not just crash.  Max memory clock seem about the same (around 600).

Since this one can achieve X850 XT PE clocks and the other couldn't quite make it to that, I'll be selling the first one.  I'm likely going to sell it on eBay, but if anyone wants to pay me about $260 or $270 for it, I'll just not put it up on eBay (actually, I might still put it up on eBay as a buy-it-now item and give the link to whoever it is that would want to buy it).


----------



## sinner33 (Nov 29, 2005)

*High temps!*

I've got temperatures of idle 40 and under load, 68 degrees celsius! I even switched the heatsink for the GTO2 with a zalman fatality700 (which is by the way the same copper one everyone is mentioning.) 

I was wondering if maybe I didn't install it tightly enough or something? Cause at these degrees, I don't think i changed my temps a thing from stock. I'm running the card at 540/609 but the temps don't drop much even if I run at XT speeds. 

Anyone's input to solve my troubles would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 29, 2005)

No, it is not the same cooler that everyboady has been mentioning.  The Fatal1ty version is painted red, has red LEDs, and spins at a higher RPM for both "Quiet" and "Silent" modes, and therefore is louder.

Make sure you use Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste for the GPU.  Use the supplied thermal tape for the RAM.  Zalman's thermal paste isn't up to par with Arctic Silver's (about 7C difference).

Also, if your case has bad ventilation, that's the culprit.

GL,
Danish


----------



## nanamiSpecial (Nov 30, 2005)

Hi, is it true the later connect3d gto´s not being able to unlock pipes ???


----------



## DanishDevil (Nov 30, 2005)

I wouldn't say that.  There have been a few accounts of possibly un-modabble cards, although this could always be due to user error.  If it's in your price bracket, go for it!


----------



## sinner33 (Nov 30, 2005)

For process of elimination, I am using arctic silver, I am not using the power connecter to the vga card itself, but to a fan controller/monitor. My case has ventilation. I got an empty pic slot open for air intake directly beside the vga, and a antec vcool blowing outside air in on top the card, and an powercolor heatbuster exhaust to push out beneath the card.

I'm going to try skimming the amount of arctic silver for now... =/


----------



## RatusNatus (Nov 30, 2005)

nanamiSpecial said:
			
		

> Hi, is it true the later connect3d gto´s not being able to unlock pipes ???



There's a lot of C3D unlockable reports in fuses data... 

I'm geting mine in 10 days...


----------



## Kcomp (Nov 30, 2005)

I received a locked C3D X800 GTO card this week. I made the mistake of ordering from somewhere that had just received fresh stock. It has the following fuse data:

CONFIG_DIE_FUSES 0xEFF37FFF
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES 0xFFFFF71E
CONFIG_ROM_FUSES 0x861

After flashing nothing happens except the 0x861 turns into 0x860.

In my opinion I would not recommend getting one from somewhere that has just got new stock in. If at all possible get one from somewhere that you know has had unreplenished stock for a while, or at least a place with a liberal return policy.


----------



## HousERaT (Nov 30, 2005)

Kcomp said:
			
		

> I received a locked C3D X800 GTO card this week. I made the mistake of ordering from somewhere that had just received fresh stock. It has the following fuse data:
> 
> CONFIG_DIE_FUSES 0xEFF37FFF
> CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES 0xFFFFF71E
> ...


Any idea if it's core related?  What core does it have? R423 or R430?


----------



## Kcomp (Nov 30, 2005)

I am too chicken to take the heatsink off to look at the core since I am selling it (the person knows about the 12 pipes and is getting a bargain). 

However, poster v7100, in another thread (post 488) has the exact same fuse data and has provided a picture showing a core like his showing it as a R430: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5367&page=49


----------



## nanamiSpecial (Dec 1, 2005)

thanks, any idea which vendors have older cards? monarch right??


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 1, 2005)

No clue.  Toss them an e-mail and ask them.  Either that, or go for the R480 X800GTO2


----------



## l33t_c0w (Dec 1, 2005)

*locked bios I guess*

I seem to have gotten a card with a locked bios as well. I tried to flash it, seemed successful, rebooted, and ATITool is still showing 12 pipes. rebooted with the bootdisk again and did a "flashrom -l 0" and it said my bios was locked. 

Fuse data thingies is:
CONFIG_DIE_FUSES              0xEFF3DFFF
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES   0XFFFFF71E

I should have known better than to think I could get a spiffy neat deal like that. Got too excited.  

edit: does that fuse data mean I've got an r430 w/ only 12 pipes? Or is there a chance I can do something to it to cause the bios to be flashable?

 
Green = fate
Yellow = me


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 1, 2005)

I mentioned earlier that I had bought 2 X800 GTO2 cards recently, one from newegg.com (full retail) and one from someone selling on eBay (oem).  Both were able to unlock to 16 pipelines, but the full retail one I got from newegg.com clocked higher on the core than the other I bought.  Both would get memory speeds of at least around 600, but one could reach 540 without artifacts when the temperature was lower and could go up to almost 560 before it would crash; the other would get artifacts as it approached 520 and would crash at a little bit higher clock speed.  With better cooling, that one may or may not be better than my original one that would never get artifacts before crashing and would eventually crash on any speed about 5-10 higher than 520.

If anyone wants either of the two ones that I don't want, let me know if you are interested in buying either of them.  The original one I got has a Zalman VF700-AlCu on it and the ramsinks that come with it, so I will charge extra for that.

BTW, the one I bought from someone selling it on eBay seemed to have been flashed to the modded bios provided on this site.  However, when I tried to run ATITool when the card had that bios, it would always crash and I could never get into it.  I've never had that problem on any card in the past.  I flashed the card to my own modded bios that I had been using and then ATITool worked just fine.

I'll probably later be installing a Zalman VF700-Cu on the card that I'm keeping (unless there is something better that someone would recommend and isn't too noisy).  I'll post my overclocking results when I do.  Since this one does get artifacts before getting to the point that it crashes (the artifacts appear at speeds that my other card couldn't ever run at), the max overclock probably will go up, unlike my previous one that never had artifacts on gpu overclocks and where the heat wasn't the limiting factor.


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 1, 2005)

l33t_c0w said:
			
		

> I seem to have gotten a card with a locked bios as well. I tried to flash it, seemed successful, rebooted, and ATITool is still showing 12 pipes. rebooted with the bootdisk again and did a "flashrom -l 0" and it said my bios was locked.
> 
> Fuse data thingies is:
> CONFIG_DIE_FUSES              0xEFF3DFFF
> ...



If your fuses don't match, then you can't perform the mod.  The X800GTO from Connect3D is still a very good overclocker and a very good card.  You are already getting all the performance you payed for, and you will get more with overclocking.

If I were you, and had an extra $50, I would return your Connect3D X800GTO and get a Sapphire X800GTO2


----------



## l33t_c0w (Dec 1, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> If your fuses don't match, then you can't perform the mod.  The X800GTO from Connect3D is still a very good overclocker and a very good card.  You are already getting all the performance you payed for, and you will get more with overclocking.
> 
> If I were you, and had an extra $50, I would return your Connect3D X800GTO and get a Sapphire X800GTO2



I can scrape together an extra $50, so I'll definately think about doing that. What of the attempted bios flash though? It said that it succeeded I thought. I'd feel sort of nervous returning a card to newegg that I'd tried to modify. Or is it a certainty that I failed to change the bios?


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 1, 2005)

So now some of these C3D GTO cards are going to be like this eh? That's so messed up dudes. I got mine at MonarchComputers.com like about 2 months ago and it's been working just fine with the opened pipes. I'm sorry to hear about the users having problems with theirs. I guess Connect3D ran out, and now are using the R430 instead of the unlockable R423, BOOOOO!


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 1, 2005)

Another thing that i've noticed is that some of these GTO2 from Sapphire are coming with different Model Numbers, "SAPPHIRE 100130SR Radeon X800GTO2". I don't remember seeing SR, but i'm guessing this will still work since some of you dudes have bought recently from Newegg.com and unlocked successfully right? This is it right here....for $240.

Note:Yeah, it used to have an "L" instead of the SR. Weird? 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102634


----------



## satans_pet_penguin (Dec 1, 2005)

Today i built my new pc and managed to unlock to 16 pipes on my Connect3D card. Bought the card from ebay.co.uk, btw (new not used) not tried overclocking yet, doubt i will actually, it's a really nice card just at stock with 16 pipes, running all the new games just fine. Don't see the point shortining it's life until its really needed


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 1, 2005)

satans_pet_penguin said:
			
		

> Today i built my new pc and managed to unlock to 16 pipes on my Connect3D card. Bought the card from ebay.co.uk, btw (new not used) not tried overclocking yet, doubt i will actually, it's a really nice card just at stock with 16 pipes, running all the new games just fine. Don't see the point shortining it's life until its really needed



In the benchmark world you're only gaining 900 points increase from 12pp to 16pp in 3DMark03. Also an increase of almost 600 points in 3DMark05 just with the extra pipelines. Now if you were to overclock that card w/16pp to lets say 540core/565Mem you'll gain almost 2000 points more in 3DMark03 and 1200 points more in 3DMark05. I know you're concerned about the life of your product, but by the times if even you notice any problems you would have enough money for something much better and faster that will be needed for your future games anyway. Besides, why don't you do this, just use the 3D Detection on ATI TOOL .24 and configure your games to run on the overclock frequencies and when you're on your desktop or browsing the net use lower frequencies. Much smarter i think, then running your frequencies at full blast all day everyday right? Just a thought in the pond for you users worried about things like this. I hope this helps and good luck.


----------



## satans_pet_penguin (Dec 1, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> In the benchmark world you're only gaining 900 points increase from 12pp to 16pp in 3DMark03. Also an increase of almost 600 points in 3DMark05 just with the extra pipelines. Now if you were to overclock that card w/16pp to lets say 540core/565Mem you'll gain almost 2000 points more in 3DMark03 and 1200 points more in 3DMark05. I know you're concerned about the life of your product, but by the times if even you notice any problems you would have enough money for something much better and faster that will be needed for your future games anyway. Besides, why don't you do this, just use the 3D Detection on ATI TOOL .24 and configure your games to run on the overclock frequencies and when you're on your desktop or browsing the net use lower frequencies. Much smarter i think, then running your frequencies at full blast all day everyday right? Just a thought in the pond for you users worried about things like this. I hope this helps and good luck.



Am i right in thinking the C3D GTO unlocked to 16 pipes is identical to the x800XL? I searched for the XL speeds and they appear the same as the GTO (400/490) the only difference being pipes. I admit it would be nice to go higher and maybe get the X800XL PE speeds (520/560) if my card is able to get that high or near (and i will lower the max speeds by about 10% or so just to be safer) and only run those speeds in-game (usually 2 hours at a time is the max im on a game) then use stock speeds when on my desktop, do you think that would atleast give me a years use out of it?


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 1, 2005)

satans_pet_penguin said:
			
		

> Am i right in thinking the C3D GTO unlocked to 16 pipes is identical to the x800XL? I searched for the XL speeds and they appear the same as the GTO (400/490) the only difference being pipes. I admit it would be nice to go higher and maybe get the X800XL PE speeds (520/560) if my card is able to get that high or near (and i will lower the max speeds by about 10% or so just to be safer) and only run those speeds in-game (usually 2 hours at a time is the max im on a game) then use stock speeds when on my desktop, do you think that would atleast give me a years use out of it?




If you take a look at my specs, i got mine @16pp 550Core and 565Mem with a Zalman VF700-Cu at 10v (Full RPM). I'm using the 3D Detection as well because there is a problem with my motherboard and this GFX for some reason. I'm not sure how long the card will last, everything is different remember that. Some cards will last longer then others, i don't know. I think you should overclock it to get the best out of it. Hope this helps, good luck once again.


----------



## W1zzard (Dec 1, 2005)

based on the last three or four "failure" emails i'm getting it seems that newegg has new stock of c3c gto's which can not be modded .. if this trend continues i will put up a notice on the main article


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 1, 2005)

Newegg's new stock of Sapphire X800 GTO2 cards are unlockable, though.  I just ordered one last week and received it Monday.  It is the full retail version, so you get 4 games to try out for an hour each and get to have the full versions of two of them.

I noticed the resisters and stuff like that are arranged the same, but are a different color than previous versions (yellow instead of black).  When I put in the card, I immediately saved a copy of the bios and looked through it.  They put a newer bios on the full retail version, dated 9/15/2005.  Fuses data is the same as all other GTO2 cards.  I modded the bios that was on it to 16 pipes and flashed the bios and it unlocked just fine.  The one I received can overclock to at least 540/600 stable, but this one seems like it could go higher if I installed better cooling - if I test at higher speeds while the temps are lower rather than letting it gradually get to that speed, it doesn't get artifacts as soon.


----------



## Migons (Dec 1, 2005)

More info about Connect3D GTO: in ATITool's Substrate_Fuses parameter:

0xFFFFF71*F* = bridge *not* cut
0xFFFFF71*E* = bridge cut

Like you all know, if the parameter ends with F, softmod should be possible.


----------



## sc00by71 (Dec 1, 2005)

Another failed Connect3d x800 gto. Purchased from Newegg 11/23/2005. I am replacing it with a Sapphire x800 gto2 will see how it does when I get it next week.


----------



## RatusNatus (Dec 2, 2005)

I'v just order my C3D last week... I DONT BELIVE THAT!!!

Looks like this is the END of C3Ds Mods!


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 2, 2005)

Dynamic said:
			
		

> Another thing that i've noticed is that some of these GTO2 from Sapphire are coming with different Model Numbers, "SAPPHIRE 100130SR Radeon X800GTO2". I don't remember seeing SR, but i'm guessing this will still work since some of you dudes have bought recently from Newegg.com and unlocked successfully right? This is it right here....for $240.
> 
> Note:Yeah, it used to have an "L" instead of the SR. Weird?
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102634



I wish Sapphire had a more . . . user-friendly website (tho I'm no noob . . . it's just a pain in the ass to find anything on that site).  Here's what I found:

This is the page with all Sapphire's X800GTO series cards, including our favorite, the *X800GTO2*.  



> RADEON X800 GTO
> 400MHz Engine Clock
> Memory Clock Speeds of 490MHz (256MB version),350MHz (128MB version)
> FireBlade Edition offers possible memory clock speeds north of 560MHz (depending on system conditions)
> ...



This "FireBlade" edition would be interesting to obtain.  It says that it is capable of high clock speeds, but probably no mod.  If anyone would be willing to nab a "FireBlade" edition and do some comparisons, that would be great!  I would if I was on the Sapphire review team.

As is seen here, there are three different X800GTO cards.  The one on the left is the one we want.

No part numbers here!  Can we get confirmation from someone who got the Sapphire X800GTO2 (100130SR) succesfully modded?



			
				satans_pet_penguin said:
			
		

> Am i right in thinking the C3D GTO unlocked to 16 pipes is identical to the x800XL? I searched for the XL speeds and they appear the same as the GTO (400/490) the only difference being pipes. I admit it would be nice to go higher and maybe get the X800XL PE speeds (520/560) if my card is able to get that high or near (and i will lower the max speeds by about 10% or so just to be safer) and only run those speeds in-game (usually 2 hours at a time is the max im on a game) then use stock speeds when on my desktop, do you think that would atleast give me a years use out of it?



I am running my card at 520x580EMT 24/7.  This card will last me about 2-3 years at least.  OCing shortens the life of your card, but ATi products are so well built, that if you take care of them (especially heat-wise) they will last for over 5 years stock.



			
				ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Newegg's new stock of Sapphire X800 GTO2 cards are unlockable, though.  I just ordered one last week and received it Monday.  It is the full retail version, so you get 4 games to try out for an hour each and get to have the full versions of two of them.
> 
> I noticed the resisters and stuff like that are arranged the same, but are a different color than previous versions (yellow instead of black).  When I put in the card, I immediately saved a copy of the bios and looked through it.  They put a newer bios on the full retail version, dated 9/15/2005.  Fuses data is the same as all other GTO2 cards.  I modded the bios that was on it to 16 pipes and flashed the bios and it unlocked just fine.  The one I received can overclock to at least 540/600 stable, but this one seems like it could go higher if I installed better cooling - if I test at higher speeds while the temps are lower rather than letting it gradually get to that speed, it doesn't get artifacts as soon.



Could we possible get a picture of the board?  I would also LOVE a copy of the BIOS.  I just modded my own BIOS for my card (Memory Timings and Frequencies, etc.)

I'd like to do a comparison of Wizzard's BIOS and the one you are using.  Maybe Wizzard could mod the new BIOS to 16 pipes and send me a copy?


----------



## omega_prime (Dec 2, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> I am running my card at 520x580EMT 24/7.  This card will last me about 2-3 years at least.  OCing shortens the life of your card, but ATi products are so well built, that if you take care of them (especially heat-wise) they will last for over 5 years stock.



i run my card at stock clock as long as i don't play. i only o/c them with atitool, when i start a game.


----------



## Migons (Dec 2, 2005)

A little corrective:

DIE_FUSES = ends with F if pipes are moddable, E if not moddable
SUBSTRATE_FUSES = ends with F if bridges not cut, E if cut

Both need to end with F to successful mod. I'm not 100% sure if hardmod is possible, when DIE_FUSES ends with F but SUBSTRATE_FUSES end with E... If DIE_FUSES ends with E, the modding won't work in anyway.

That's how I've understood it.

|EDIT| At great per centage, the hardmod is not possible - even if DIE_FUSES would end with F.

|EDIT 2| Sorry, in DIE_FUSES it's the fourth (4.) letter from right that needs to be F. Check the image:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/fuses.gif


----------



## HousERaT (Dec 2, 2005)

satans_pet_penguin said:
			
		

> Am i right in thinking the C3D GTO unlocked to 16 pipes is identical to the x800XL? I searched for the XL speeds and they appear the same as the GTO (400/490) the only difference being pipes. I admit it would be nice to go higher and maybe get the X800XL PE speeds (520/560) if my card is able to get that high or near (and i will lower the max speeds by about 10% or so just to be safer) and only run those speeds in-game (usually 2 hours at a time is the max im on a game) then use stock speeds when on my desktop, do you think that would atleast give me a years use out of it?


Some of the Connect3D cards come with the R430 core which is used on the X800XL however the flashable cards seem to use the R423 core which is used for X800XT cards.  I've seen reports of flashed C3D cards clocking up to 580 on the core and XL cards couldn't do that in their wildest dreams.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 2, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> No part numbers here!  Can we get confirmation from someone who got the Sapphire X800GTO2 (100130SR) succesfully modded?


The one that I posted about above is exactly that one; the one on Newegg.com right now is moddable.  BTW, the price has gone up a little bit since I bought it a week and a half ago.



> Could we possible get a picture of the board?  I would also LOVE a copy of the BIOS.  I just modded my own BIOS for my card (Memory Timings and Frequencies, etc.)
> 
> I'd like to do a comparison of Wizzard's BIOS and the one you are using.  Maybe Wizzard could mod the new BIOS to 16 pipes and send me a copy?


OK, I'll take a picture of it with my digital camera while I'm taking pictures of the two I'm selling.  I'll probably have the pictures up either later today or tomorrow.  The one I'm keeping (the full retail one) is clearly superior to the other ones I have.  It's max stable gpu overclock is about 20 to possibly 40 MHz higher than the other two (540 MHz, likely 560 or higher with better cooling).

I'll also post the bios, possibly sooner than the pictures.  BTW, neither of the two bioses I have are exactly the same as the one W1zzard posted (one from OEM, one from full retail).



> This "FireBlade" edition would be interesting to obtain. It says that it is capable of high clock speeds, but probably no mod. If anyone would be willing to nab a "FireBlade" edition and do some comparisons, that would be great! I would if I was on the Sapphire review team.


I only saw it mention something about the memory clocks.  The GTO2 is already basically like a type of "FireBlade" edition, since like the FireBlade card, it is also guaranteed to have the 1.6 ns memory chips and has better cooling for the gpu than the standard GTO (although probably not as good as the FireBlade edition).


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 2, 2005)

That's what I though.  So for those of you not following, it goes:

X800GTO
X800GTO FireBlade Edition
X800GTO2 Limited Edition

In order from worst to best.

Looking forward to the pics and BIOS.


----------



## mascaras (Dec 2, 2005)

heres in portugal there are more GTO2 in the shops and less conect3d GTO ,  i find at least 4 shops with saphire GTO2  in stock -- 250€ and 255€ .


----------



## blsnelling (Dec 3, 2005)

FINALLY!!  I first tried a Sapphire X800GTO2 which unlocked but the core would only do 420.  I then tried a X850 Pro VIVO which wouldn't unlock.  I finally bought the el-cheapo Connect3D X800 and BINGO.  It unlocked and does 567/567.  3DMark05 score is a sweet 6757.  It wasn't my PS as some suggested.  I'm a happy man.  Who says you get what you pay for.  Not this time.  Go with the C3D and be done with it!  I bought mine from NewEgg and used the BIOS in the article and the latest driver from ATI.  BTW, this is on stock cooling with the fan at 100%.  I have a ATI Silencer 5 I'm fixing to slap on.  We'll see how that affects things.


----------



## blsnelling (Dec 3, 2005)

The ATI Silenser's on and it's only been 30 minutes since my last post.  Max temp with the stock cooler was 69C.  I'm now setting at 52C.  That's an insane difference.  I'll retest for max stable OC and check back.


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 3, 2005)

Cool.  Glad it finally worked out for ya!


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 3, 2005)

geez i hate it when people slug the c3gto. whoput the fire blade  above the gto as better? guys wake up i moded my gto when this article had like wot 9 pages long? and it worked as for the whose better thats completely objective! clock for clock the r423 is BETTER than the r480 u have on the saphire gto2 im running a sempron 3100 1.8 overclocked to 2.25ghz and my c3gto unlocked at 520/520 at stock cooling and i get 6166 at 3dmark 05. now someone get an athlon 3200 at 2.2 put their gto2 at 520/520 run the benchmark and come  back at post their scores, currently waiting for my arctic cooling silencer 5 to overclock more..any takers on the bet that at the same frequency the gto2 is gonna score lower?when all else is the same?


----------



## nspot (Dec 3, 2005)

Hi.  I purchased my card, a C3D X800 GTO from Monarch Computer the first week of November.  After running ATI tool, I get the following data:

CONFIG_DIE_FUSES = 0XEFF7FFFF
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES = 0XFFFFFF9F
CONFIG_ROM_FUSES = 0X860
GB_PIPE_SELECT = 0X3FE4

After running the modded 16 pipe flash, the only thing that changed was that the rom fuses was 861.  I read in earlier pages of this thread that as long as the first two fuses matched (F), then the mod would work?  Does anyone have an explanation for my situation?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.


----------



## Kcomp (Dec 3, 2005)

Hello nspot,
Have you tried uninstalling then reinstalling your video card drivers?


----------



## SorANET (Dec 3, 2005)

I use Connect3D X800GTO. It can mod to 16pp. 

But Anyone know. Can I flash it to X850 XT PE? Because My card work correctly at X850 XT PE  speed (540/590) on Water Cooling.

Thank you.


----------



## skane (Dec 3, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Newegg's new stock of Sapphire X800 GTO2 cards are unlockable, though.  I just ordered one last week and received it Monday. ...
> 
> I noticed the resisters and stuff like that are arranged the same, but are a different color than previous versions (yellow instead of black).  When I put in the card, I immediately saved a copy of the bios and looked through it.  They put a newer bios on the full retail version, dated 9/15/2005.  Fuses data is the same as all other GTO2 cards.  I modded the bios that was on it to 16 pipes and flashed the bios and it unlocked just fine.



Hi, I just got a retail GTO2 from NewEgg on 11/30. How did you review and mod the bios?  Did you do the 3-step save, flash to x850xt pe w/-newbios, and flash over orig w/out -newbios, or actually mod a copy of the stock bios?  I've been reading through this thread and would prefer having a modded bios using the original bios from my card as a base, since it appears there are different versions of these BIOS for the card.  I want to avoid having anything back-leveled using an earlier modded GTO2 bios, or having residue from a X850XT PE flash hanging around in the BIOS.


----------



## l33t_c0w (Dec 3, 2005)

Migons said:
			
		

> A little corrective:
> 
> DIE_FUSES = ends with F if pipes are moddable, E if not moddable
> SUBSTRATE_FUSES = ends with F if bridges not cut, E if cut
> ...




Interesting.  Could anything bad happen from bridging the cut? (Assuming, of course, that it's done correctly  )

Also, it seems like the newer gto2 ending with 'SR' comes with two games, and the one ending in 'L' doesn't. Perhaps that's the only difference?

edit: I was unable to copy my bios before flashing, as i ran flashrom from a cd. Now I'm wondering if I should have. Are all the Connect3D GTO bios's the same? (I do have the one from the article)


----------



## Migons (Dec 3, 2005)

nspot said:
			
		

> Hi.  I purchased my card, a C3D X800 GTO from Monarch Computer the first week of November.  After running ATI tool, I get the following data:
> 
> CONFIG_DIE_FUSES = 0XEFF7FFFF
> CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES = 0XFFFFFF9F
> ...



Oh, well, the _X800GTO2 to XT PE article_ says 0xEFF7*F*FFF need to be F (bold letter), and that should be correct. And last letter from SUBSTRATE_FUSES needs to be F. And you have both F, so did something go wrong in flashing (wrong bios)?


----------



## Migons (Dec 3, 2005)

l33t_c0w said:
			
		

> Interesting.  Could anything bad happen from bridging the cut? (Assuming, of course, that it's done correctly  )



Propably not, I've heard bridging should restore the resistance values, but it doesn't help in unlocking the pipes ('cause they're locked inside the core).


----------



## dkdent (Dec 3, 2005)

Hi you all,

i got a sapphire x800gto² graphics card and tried to do the flash, but after entering 

'flashrom -p 0 newbios.bin' (the renammed file from the guide)

im getting a flashing red errormessage, that the SSIDs doesn't match
original SSID: 0x1600
new bios SSID: 0x0302

can anybody tell me what i have to do to solve my lil prob??

thx a lot,

dk


----------



## Kcomp (Dec 3, 2005)

I think you need the -f switch in there too i.e. flashrom -p -f 0 newbios.bin 

You might be better off getting 'Locutus12's' iso from here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17481933 which automates the whole process and works very well.


----------



## Ombracol (Dec 3, 2005)

dkdent said:
			
		

> Hi you all,
> 
> i got a sapphire x800gto² graphics card and tried to do the flash, but after entering
> 
> ...




You have to force flash   flashrom -f -p 0 newbios.bin
I'm not trying to be rude but when you dealing with sensitive stuff like this you really need to read instructions thruly twice if you have to you dont want to loose your hardware cause you skipped thru some sentences...


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 3, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> geez i hate it when people slug the c3gto. whoput the fire blade  above the gto as better? guys wake up i moded my gto when this article had like wot 9 pages long? and it worked as for the whose better thats completely objective! clock for clock the r423 is BETTER than the r480 u have on the saphire gto2 im running a sempron 3100 1.8 overclocked to 2.25ghz and my c3gto unlocked at 520/520 at stock cooling and i get 6166 at 3dmark 05. now someone get an athlon 3200 at 2.2 put their gto2 at 520/520 run the benchmark and come  back at post their scores, currently waiting for my arctic cooling silencer 5 to overclock more..any takers on the bet that at the same frequency the gto2 is gonna score lower?when all else is the same?


I can try it out for you.  I'll post the results when I do.



			
				skane said:
			
		

> Hi, I just got a retail GTO2 from NewEgg on 11/30. How did you review and mod the bios?  Did you do the 3-step save, flash to x850xt pe w/-newbios, and flash over orig w/out -newbios, or actually mod a copy of the stock bios?  I've been reading through this thread and would prefer having a modded bios using the original bios from my card as a base, since it appears there are different versions of these BIOS for the card.  I want to avoid having anything back-leveled using an earlier modded GTO2 bios, or having residue from a X850XT PE flash hanging around in the BIOS.


Open up Catalyst Control Center, go to Information Center, then Graphics Hardware.  Is the BIOS version 009.010.001.011, BIOS part number 113-AA78000-100-PC, and the BIOS date 2005/09/14?  If so, then you have the same BIOS as me and could use the modded bios attached to this message.  I've also attached the original for anyone who wants it.  BTW, unlike the previous version, this one is 64 KB.


----------



## Viperman5686 (Dec 3, 2005)

LAME.  I got a Connect3D GTO.  It has the R423 core, but it doesn't work.  The fuses aren't the same.

Does anyone know if the bridges really are cut on this version, or is it just some kind of change that's messing it up?


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 3, 2005)

dkdent said:
			
		

> Hi you all,
> 
> i got a sapphire x800gto² graphics card and tried to do the flash, but after entering
> 
> ...


The reason that happens with the bios in the guide is that the one W1zzard put up isn't based on the exact same X800 GTO2 bios (it's a prerelease bios).  Actually that bios won't even make the card identified as a RADEON X800 GTO.  The modded bios I've attached will not require you to force the flash and will have the card showing as a RADEON X800 GTO.  Of course, if you have the full retail version (which is a newer revision of the card), you would use the bios I posted in the above message.  If you don't have the newer revision card, you could still use the newer bios anyway, if you want to.


----------



## skane (Dec 3, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Open up Catalyst Control Center, go to Information Center, then Graphics Hardware.  Is the BIOS version 009.010.001.011, BIOS part number 113-AA78000-100-PC, and the BIOS date 2005/09/14?  If so, then you have the same BIOS as me and could use the modded bios attached to this message.  I've also attached the original for anyone who wants it.  BTW, unlike the previous one, this one is 64 KB.



ShadowFlare, thanks for the response.  Yes, my Sapphire GTO2 retail has same BIOS version, BIOS part number, and BIOS date as yours.

Will this work?
1)  Make a copy of *Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.256.Samsung16_050914.bin* to *gto16p.bin*  ** i.e. use shorter filename for bios to flash

2)  *atiflash -s 0 gto12p.bin*  ** save a copy of my bios in case need to backout

3)  *atiflash -p 0 gto16p.bin -newbios*    ** assuming i need to use -newbios parm to update the pipeline setting

if #3 doesn't flash, force the flash *atiflash -f -p 0 gto16p.bin -newbios* 

or will I need to use the modified flashrom?  Sorry in advance for my noobie questions, but I just want to do this once


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 3, 2005)

skane said:
			
		

> ShadowFlare, thanks for the response.  Yes, my Sapphire GTO2 retail has same BIOS version, BIOS part number, and BIOS date as yours.
> 
> Will this work?
> 1)  Make a copy of *Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.256.Samsung16_050914.bin* to *gto16p.bin*  ** i.e. use shorter filename for bios to flash
> ...


Yes, that is exactly how you should do it.  One more recommendation for you, though (and for anyone flashing their video bios): download both utilities in case one of them doesn't work right (as in says that there was an error writing the bios).  If that happens, then you will have the other utility ready to try out without rebooting.  I've heard of this happening to someone once.  Luckily, they had both utilities ready to use.


----------



## Migons (Dec 3, 2005)

Viperman5686 said:
			
		

> LAME.  I got a Connect3D GTO.  It has the R423 core, but it doesn't work.  The fuses aren't the same.
> 
> Does anyone know if the bridges really are cut on this version, or is it just some kind of change that's messing it up?



What are the fuses (screenshot etc)?


----------



## Kcomp (Dec 3, 2005)

Does anyone have the original retail bios for the (locked) connect3d gto cards with the following fuse data (please post it if you do)?

CONFIG_DIE_FUSES : 0xEFF37FFF
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES : 0xFFFFF71E
CONFIG_ROM_FUSES : 0x861

Or if its the same as the 12 pipe one in the article could someone please confirm so? Many thanks.


----------



## nspot (Dec 3, 2005)

Thanks Kcomp.  I guess it was the wrong bios I was flashing it to.  But I finally got the 16 with my C3D GTO.  Awesome.


----------



## Viperman5686 (Dec 3, 2005)

Migons said:
			
		

> What are the fuses (screenshot etc)?



The fuses are wrong; did I get an R423 with cut pipelines?


----------



## Migons (Dec 4, 2005)

Viperman5686 said:
			
		

> The fuses are wrong; did I get an R423 with cut pipelines?



I guess you did. And because DIE_FUSES isn't F (you've B), the pipelines seem to be locked inside the core.


----------



## Viperman5686 (Dec 4, 2005)

Migons said:
			
		

> I guess you did. And because DIE_FUSES isn't F (you've B), the pipelines seem to be locked inside the core.



So they're physically cut?


----------



## Roybin (Dec 4, 2005)

Viperman5686 said:
			
		

> The fuses are wrong; did I get an R423 with cut pipelines?


 

Hi, I have exactly same fuses data as yours. It is also not moddable to 16 pipe. It is a pity. 
How many core and memory frequency did you overclock to? I got 560/520 max


----------



## Viperman5686 (Dec 4, 2005)

Roybin said:
			
		

> Hi, I have exactly same fuses data as yours. It is also not moddable to 16 pipe. It is a pity.
> How many core and memory frequency did you overclock to? I got 560/520 max


I only got 565/515.


----------



## skane (Dec 4, 2005)

Reporting back...  Flashed my card with the 09/14/05 modded bios from ShadowFlare.  Got the 16 pipelines.
With 12 pipelines, max. artifact-free clocks looping 3DMark03 Mother Nature was 537 / 639.  After the flash to 16 pipes, I had to back down to 519 / 610 for clean runs in 3K03 Nature, and ATITool artifact tester.

Score comparisons, 12p vs. 16p.  Stock VC cooling, stock Opteron 148.

3DMark03
12p, 537 / 639 = 11877
16p, 537 / 639 = 12966  (artifacts)
16p, 519 / 610 = 12688

3DMark05
12p, 537 / 639 = 5766
16p, 537 / 639 = 6514 (artifacts)
16p, 519 / 610 = 6293

I'll probably install a Zalman vf700-cu to maybe get a boost on the core clocks, and at least bring down the temps (~ 64C load).  The Opty 148 will also get OC'd after I put it under a waterblock.

Much thanks to W1zzard and ShadowFlare for sharing their knowledge!


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 4, 2005)

SorANET said:
			
		

> I use Connect3D X800GTO. It can mod to 16pp.
> 
> But Anyone know. Can I flash it to X850 XT PE? Because My card work correctly at X850 XT PE  speed (540/590) on Water Cooling.
> 
> Thank you.



No you cannot.  The Connect3D X800GTO has a different core than the X850XTPE (R480 on the X850XTPE).  If you try, you will fry your card or render it useless.


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 4, 2005)

still waiting for your results danish


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 4, 2005)

From?  If it's from the Enhanced Memory Timings, they're here:

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=46422&postcount=1192


----------



## p00lb0y (Dec 4, 2005)

*Newer Card Serial Numbers*

Would some of those who have received cards that are now locked please care to post all or perhaps the trailing portions of the serial numbers for those cards?  This might allow others, including me, to make a better guess whether to open the packages that will be delivered soon, in my case, from NewEgg.

Thanks in any case.

p00lb0y


----------



## p00lb0y (Dec 4, 2005)

*Moddable Sapphire GTO2*

Is this the correct video card to purchase that is able to be unlocked to the 16 pipes?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102634

Thanks again for any and all replies.

p00lb0y


----------



## Migons (Dec 4, 2005)

Viperman5686 said:
			
		

> So they're physically cut?



Yeah...


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 4, 2005)

p00lb0y said:
			
		

> Is this the correct video card to purchase that is able to be unlocked to the 16 pipes?
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102634
> 
> ...


Yep, that's the one.  I got one of those exact ones from there just recently and it did unlock and did overclock fairly well (up to around 540/600, possibly to 560/600 with better cooling since it didn't crash before that point).  Plus, with that one since it is the full retail version, you get games with it.  When you get the card, use my modded bios which is dated 09/14/2005 (posted just a little earlier in the thread).  I think I may make a thread for bios mods.  If I do, then you could more easily find it there than having to look through the pages here.


----------



## Ombracol (Dec 4, 2005)

*not ati related*

any one have experience with hosting your own webserver and php?
iam using apache got it working put trying to configure php to do rss audio feeds when i acess my server from a reemote computer and click on the rss link instead of addinf a rss chanell it opens up the script anyhelp anyone sorry its not ati related but looking for help anywhere i can


----------



## john57 (Dec 5, 2005)

*connect3D X800*

I got lucky that my card from NewEgg was unlocked and I was able to unlock all 16 pipes. It had all the right F's in the right places.


----------



## p00lb0y (Dec 5, 2005)

*Connect 3D Unlocked*



			
				john57 said:
			
		

> I got lucky that my card from NewEgg was unlocked and I was able to unlock all 16 pipes. It had all the right F's in the right places.



Would you share the date you ordered your card?  Any sort of revision or serial information you might care to share would help [me] decide if the one I have on the way is a lesser serial number which [might] allow me to infer what to expect.  

Thanks in any case.

p00lb0y


----------



## john57 (Dec 5, 2005)

*connect3*

I did had a lot of trouble in getting the Zalman cooler to stay flat on the GPU betting all copper and just two screws holding it. I not going to pull the card out again but I will show a picture on the back. ordered on 11/15


----------



## cLy_eVo (Dec 5, 2005)

*Sapphire x800 gto HYBRID*

CONFIG DIE FUSES            0XFFFF*D*FFF
CONFIG SUBSTRATE FUSES 0XFFFFFF9*E*
CONFIG ROM FUSES           0X261
GB PIPE SELECT                0XAD46

mine is a gto.  its an r480 chip. the chip look exactly like in the manual with the samsung gc16 ram. can the quad be unlocked.

if it cannot be done by softmod/bios flash. is there any other way. hardmod? connect the fuses w/ pencil?


----------



## RatusNatus (Dec 5, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> No you cannot.  The Connect3D X800GTO has a different core than the X850XTPE (R480 on the X850XTPE).  If you try, you will fry your card or render it useless.



I don't think so.


He is water cooled and he said: The card suport the 850 clock. So, take care with your memorys! Have a heatsink?


cheers


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 5, 2005)

John, you need to bend the end of the backplate slightly so that the ramsink will fit under the bracket.


----------



## john57 (Dec 6, 2005)

DanishDevil

I looked at the Connect3D X800 card  closely and did find the heat sink had too much play and sagging under the weight of the cooler. I solved this issue by replacing the rubber O rings under the standoffs to fiber washers to give it more stability and the heat sink maintain good contact. Remember that the card heat sink is usually upside down in a typical tower case.


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 6, 2005)

Gotcha.  I thought you were talking about the Zalman VF700-CU and the X800GTO2.  My bad.

How are the temps now?


----------



## hagen (Dec 6, 2005)

Got the Sapphire GTO2 last weekend. Flashing's piece of cake, 16p, on you go. 

3DMark03, running on an Athlon 3700 San Diego, 1G Kingston Value Ram:
- Standard clock: ~10700
- OC, core ~460, mem ~560: ~11900

The OC settings turned out to run stable for approx. 1 hour, then the system crashes while running full load, I guess it's caused by too much heat. 

What is the max. temp. the core should get to?


----------



## ShinyG (Dec 6, 2005)

Just got the all-famous Connect 3d X800 GTO. What a beauty!
Here are my results in 3dmark05 so far:
Stock:     12pipes, 400 core/ 980 mem                  ~4400
Flashed:   16pipes, 400 core/ 980 mem                  ~5000
Cloked:     16pipes, 500 core/ 1100 mem                ~6000

The rest of my config is under my system specs!


----------



## blsnelling (Dec 6, 2005)

Don't stop there.  Mine does 567/567.  Have you tried any higher?


----------



## ShinyG (Dec 6, 2005)

Nope, tried that and then hurried up to post here!  
I'll buy a Silencer soon and try harder...


----------



## blsnelling (Dec 6, 2005)

Use ATITool and set your fan to 100%.  The max mine saw was 69C.  That won't hurt anything.  With the Silencer I am down to a high of 53C.


----------



## Sasqui (Dec 6, 2005)

*Connect3D X800 GTO - The BOX?*

Weird question - Has anyone seen the Connect3D X800 GTO in a box with a picture on it _*other*_ than the lady with the funky blue tech suit?  I saw two versions on Tomshardware article about the GTOs.

I got lucky with a Newegg Connect3D X800 GTO card, 16 pipes 553/540!  ATITool reached a core of 596 multiple times, no artifacts before crashing.   Benchmarks @*553/540*: 3DMark05 = *~6500*  3DMark03 = *~13800*, no visible artifacts.   This is in an ABIT AG8 i630 CPU @ 250 FSB ~3.8 Ghz, mem 1:1. 

The card I got had the "blue lady" on the box.  I'm just wondering if there is some correlation in manufacture/supplier.  Probably a stupid thought, but who knows?


----------



## Sasqui (Dec 6, 2005)

*Duh*

*Nix that last question* - I went back to tomshardware.com and realised it wasn't a picture of the box I was looking at!  If you are interested in the article, here it is:

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20051125/index.html

Even without 16pipes, it's a darn respectable card at a great price.  A/R I paid $149.


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 7, 2005)

ati silencer5 rev2 installed on connect3d gto temp dropped from 44c idle to 32c idle and at load the temp dropped from 82c in ati tool to 54C. running 520/520 3d05= 6170 score. not bad heh?


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 7, 2005)

Just look at the latest update on the failed cards not modding, 68? That is some messed up crap. I was happy with my purchase from Monarchcomputers.com on my C3D GTO that i modded to 16pp 550/565, but need something faster now. Don't have money, but need to save cause i want to shoot for Nvidia GT/GTX not sure, maybe even the GTX 512.

Note: So as Wizzards says buying from Newegg.com is a risk dudes, as always, MONARCH is the place to be!


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 7, 2005)

lol dynamic u switch cards every 2 months?


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 7, 2005)

I wish i could dude, i get tired of components really fast, hehe. I'll have to work like an animal for the next couple of weeks to save up for the GTX 512. That's what i'm going to shoot for even though i got a nice X850XTPE steel with the GTO.


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 7, 2005)

how about u save slowly not get the gtx512 yet and wait and see in a couple of months what the r580 brings to the market? u dont want a 24 pipline nvidia card now only to find out that one month later ati has a 24 pipeline card out too do ya?


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 7, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> geez i hate it when people slug the c3gto. whoput the fire blade  above the gto as better? guys wake up i moded my gto when this article had like wot 9 pages long? and it worked as for the whose better thats completely objective! clock for clock the r423 is BETTER than the r480 u have on the saphire gto2 im running a sempron 3100 1.8 overclocked to 2.25ghz and my c3gto unlocked at 520/520 at stock cooling and i get 6166 at 3dmark 05. now someone get an athlon 3200 at 2.2 put their gto2 at 520/520 run the benchmark and come  back at post their scores, currently waiting for my arctic cooling silencer 5 to overclock more..any takers on the bet that at the same frequency the gto2 is gonna score lower?when all else is the same?


As you mentioned, I tried setting my Athlon 64 3200+ to 2.2 GHz, then set my GTO2 to 520/520.  Here are the results:





A full 200 points lower than what you mentioned.  I did notice that the Connect3d GTO's bios shows different memory timings in RaBiT.  Could you please post the memory timings as shown in ATITool so I don't have to change the timings in the bios to test them?


----------



## hagen (Dec 7, 2005)

Latest News...

GTO2 doesn't seem to work stable after flashing. GPU 460 / Mem 560 with fan@100% gives approx. 20 minutes lifetime, then the system will definitiy crash. Temperature near 55°C. I've logged temperature with ATITool, GPU ist at 44-45°C max. with standard settings 400/490. Without overclocking the GTO2 crashes after ~1 hour, maybe one and a half (constant 100% 3d load)

Just tried to overclock with the TRIXX-Tool provided by Sapphire, automode... overclocked up to 570mem, 470 GPU -> crash. 

CPU at 100% near 44°C... 

It seems there is a WIDE range in quality of the used r480-GPUs. By now, I can not recommend this card.


----------



## matrlx (Dec 7, 2005)

*Heh, too slow ? *

I dont get it man, why would you need anything faster, except for the sake of getting high 3mdark score?

I've oc'ed my card C3D x800 GTO to 570/570, and also unlocked the 4 pipelines, which gives me 6800 in 3dmark 05. Furthermore, every single game I've tried I can max out to 1280*1024, which is my TFT 19" max resolution. 

*Games I've played includes.*
Quake 4
Fable Lost Chapters
FEAR
Need For Speed Most Wanted (man this game looks good! 
GUN etc.
Half Life 2 (max antialiasing, max anistrophic as set as default by the game )

The only game that weren't perfect was Starship Troopers, but who cares anyways. The game sux, and is badly programmed. 

Nah, can't see why u'd wanna upgrade now  There aren't even that many great games out now either, not new anyway (which sux cause I wanna game with mah good stuff?!?! )




			
				Dynamic said:
			
		

> Just look at the latest update on the failed cards not modding, 68? That is some messed up crap. I was happy with my purchase from Monarchcomputers.com on my C3D GTO that i modded to 16pp 550/565, but need something faster now. Don't have money, but need to save cause i want to shoot for Nvidia GT/GTX not sure, maybe even the GTX 512.
> 
> Note: So as Wizzards says buying from Newegg.com is a risk dudes, as always, MONARCH is the place to be!


----------



## RatusNatus (Dec 7, 2005)

Sasqui said:
			
		

> I got lucky with a Newegg Connect3D X800 GTO card, 16 pipes 553/540!  ATITool reached a core of 596 multiple times, no artifacts before crashing.   Benchmarks @*553/540*: 3DMark05 = *~6500*  3DMark03 = *~13800*, no visible artifacts.   This is in an ABIT AG8 i630 CPU @ 250 FSB ~3.8 Ghz, mem 1:1.
> 
> The card I got had the "blue lady" on the box.  I'm just wondering if there is some correlation in manufacture/supplier.  Probably a stupid thought, but who knows?




Glad to know... when did you boght this one?


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 7, 2005)

blsnelling said:
			
		

> Use ATITool and set your fan to 100%.  The max mine saw was 69C.  That won't hurt anything.  With the Silencer I am down to a high of 53C.



That is TOO HOT.  You really don't want your card going over 65C.



			
				VTwedge said:
			
		

> ati silencer5 rev2 installed on connect3d gto temp dropped from 44c idle to 32c idle and at load the temp dropped from 82c in ati tool to 54C. running 520/520 3d05= 6170 score. not bad heh?



Thank Jesus VTWedge.  82C will run that card for about a week, then it'll fry itself like an egg in the goddamn Sahara.



			
				hagen said:
			
		

> Latest News...
> 
> GTO2 doesn't seem to work stable after flashing. GPU 460 / Mem 560 with fan@100% gives approx. 20 minutes lifetime, then the system will definitiy crash. Temperature near 55°C. I've logged temperature with ATITool, GPU ist at 44-45°C max. with standard settings 400/490. Without overclocking the GTO2 crashes after ~1 hour, maybe one and a half (constant 100% 3d load)
> 
> ...



I bet you got a bad card.  I would RMA if I were you.


----------



## blsnelling (Dec 7, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> That is TOO HOT.  You really don't want your card going over 65C.
> 
> Thank Jesus VTWedge.  82C will run that card for about a week, then it'll fry itself like an egg in the goddamn Sahara.


Where did you get this information?  69C is not too hot.  Of course cooler is better but 69 is not going to hurt your card.  In fact, ATI's specs are as follows:

Thermal Parameter Value temperature 
Maximum recommended ASIC case (or center of die backside for flip chip) 105°C 
Absolute maximum rated junction temperature:  125°C 
Minimum ambient operating temperature 0°C 

 Please don't post misinformation.  No info is better than bad info.  This happens all too often on the forums here.


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 7, 2005)

I'm saying that if your card is going over 65C, you are baking the card.  The card will not last as long, and if overclocking, you want to watch your temps.  125C is where the card gets so hot, it can't perform at stock frequencies.

I just don't want people new to the flashing and overclocking scene frying their cards.  I am encouraging them to get some aftermarket cooling (which every person in this topic that is OCing should get) which will make them even more knowledgable of the subject of overclocking.

And also, "No info is better than bad info."?  I think you mean that no info is worse than bad info.


----------



## blsnelling (Dec 7, 2005)

69C isn't any where close to max temps.  It's not going to fry your card.  Yes, I meant that no info is better than bad info.


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 7, 2005)

shadowflare here are the memory timings for c3d gto as requested. and on the subject im not new to overclocking either lol this card been running like this for 2 months or more lol.plus only atitool took it to 82, nfs after 8 hours was 62c with stock cooler


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 7, 2005)

First off when your GPU temp is high as 69c the GPU Envirnment would hit the fan as well which isn't a good thing. I've noticed performance loss when my GPU Envir was high before. One thing you people need to understand is that with high temps you are killing your card slowly so the card will not last you as long. I don't know what someone says about how ATI cards are better with high temps then Nvidia which will have further lifetime, not true. Every component is different in the computer world. 
Now the reason why i want to upgrade is because i don't like the performance with my current setup. I play COD2, F.E.A.R, Q4, Far Cry (CPU bound) with my modded GTO is not what i expected. Even though i get a 6550 score on 3DMark05 i'm getting drops in FPS from 40-25 in Q4. Call of duty 2 runs wack, god knows what you are talking about even if you had a FX57 cpu with any MODDED GTO ain't going to do jack with COD2. I'm running Q4 @ 1280x1024x32 High Quility and get under 25fps in action scenes! I got a 19" CRT and i want to run my games at that res, i don't care. ATI blows with OpenGL anyway, you all know that? What go get the X1800XL for $350 so i can have a better performance boost with OpenGL w/5.11 drivers, no that's wack! I go and spend all this money for a CPU, RAM, M/B, PSU, and GFX only to have this performance boost with my overclock, NO! The board i even got i thought would be a nice overclockers dream @Budget price, but it's wack! Look at specs, maybe you know what i'm talking about. I think my OCZ Modstream can handle the GTX 512, and i'm sick and tired of not being able to play the games at decent quility. I use to have an 9800XT AGP running COD1 @1280x1024x32 no AA/AF and would run like shit when the map got more intense on the server. Now i've noticed the performance boost in COD1 with my GTO at that Res w/4XAA and 8XAF (Tri), but i just bought COD2, i don't know what it is but maybe they need to come out with a new patch because i can't be running the fucking game at DirectX 7 rendering because the game hits shitty fps. There is always going to be something faster coming out, so what. I know this GTX 512 will last me since i have the SLI option for the near future. Yeah i have to get an SLI board, so what. Personally i think Nvidia is giving ATI a hard time and with all these GTX 512 reviews i've seen i'm better off getting one now and another one with SLI later PERIOD!


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 7, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> shadowflare here are the memory timings for c3d gto as requested. and on the subject im not new to overclocking either lol this card been running like this for 2 months or more lol.plus only atitool took it to 82, nfs after 8 hours was 62c with stock cooler



You know that those timings are for a 2.0ns ram and the dude is running a GTO2 which has a 1.6ns. His timings should be tighter theoretically and those are not all the timings anyway, you'll have to scroll down more and copy them manually to a notepad then post, correct me if i'm wrong?


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 7, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> As you mentioned, I tried setting my Athlon 64 3200+ to 2.2 GHz, then set my GTO2 to 520/520.  Here are the results:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



The FutureMark Series scores vary from computer component to component. He doesn't have Dual Channel running like we do, but i think his GTO is faster then a GTO2 with the same Pixel Pipelines and frequencies. I mean why is it that the R480 loses the overclock ability that it had after the mod? I don't know has anybody notice their GTO decreased in frequencies after the mod? The R423 is faster then the R480. Remember guys, CORE speed is for resolution and Memory speed is for AA/AF performance.


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 8, 2005)

i dont have dual channel ram either man lol im running an nforce4-4x and a socket 754 sempron overclocked to 2.25ghzoverclockability is lost after flash cause your stressing your gpu more. more pipelines=more work for the gpu


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 8, 2005)

That's what I would assume.  Then, why do the Connect3D cards not love OCability after the mod?


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 8, 2005)

VTwedge,
 I know you don't have a dual channel setup on a 754 socket, that's what i said in that sentence, read it again if you can? So did you lose any frequency in your core/memory after the mod? I know I sure didn't, but who cares. What its going to do 2-3fps in high resolution in some games, big deal.  
DanishDevil,
 I didn't lose any overclock ability after the mod. Every review i noticed different frequencies on the C3D GTO, but never a mod done or was successful for some odd reason. These were the first few cards we're talking about so i don't know if the Aurthor knew what he was doing or not. Anyhow how much do you guys think i should sell my C3D GTO w/Zalman VF700-Cu for? I got it stable at 550/565 with the 16 Pipelines along with the box/invoice for both the card and cooler for repackaging if i sell it.

Note:Another thing i wanted to say to you guys, sorry if i came on to strong with some of my pointers in the last few posts, i just get out of hand once inawhile, I apologize.


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 8, 2005)

No need to apologize.  I say somewhere just under $200 or just above it.  You can get the card for $150 on sale now, and the VF700-CU is about $30 shipped.

Be careful when selling it.  Don't guarantee those frequencies.  If someone buys it and tosses it in a POS dell with no ventilation, and it gets artifacts from overheating, you're in big trouble.


----------



## hagen (Dec 8, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> I bet you got a bad card.  I would RMA if I were you.



RMA should be a bit tricky with a flashed mod-bios, I guess. Is it possible to reflash with the original, i.e. switch back to 12 pipes? Would there be traces of the card being modded?


----------



## bldegle2 (Dec 8, 2005)

i have tried to read as much of this thread as possible.  running with a Sapphire GTO2 right now............

i got adventurous after the pipe unlockage and clockage testing, thinking that the XT bios with higher default clockage would now be the ticket.  so i tried the 500/500, great, then the 520/540, still great, what the hey, flashed with the XTPE bios, now defaults are 540/590 and there is still more in the tank as per ATI tool.  in fact, ATI tool boots the card @573/621, i have to hit defaults to get it back to 540/590.

nice, two for two now, Opty 148 @3003 and GTO2 wanked to the high end..........

so, Sapphire GTO2 to Sapphire XTPE and pipe unlockage just for doing some bios flashing

baldy


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 8, 2005)

DanishDevil,
  Yes, I'm well aware of this, thank you. I don't know, maybe i'll keep it and upgrade my lil' brothers pc soon. The poor kids got an Abit IT7 P4 3.06, 1Gig DDR266 w/9800xt AGP running COD/COD2.


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 8, 2005)

bldegle2 said:
			
		

> i have tried to read as much of this thread as possible.  running with a Sapphire GTO2 right now............
> 
> i got adventurous after the pipe unlockage and clockage testing, thinking that the XT bios with higher default clockage would now be the ticket.  so i tried the 500/500, great, then the 520/540, still great, what the hey, flashed with the XTPE bios, now defaults are 540/590 and there is still more in the tank as per ATI tool.  in fact, ATI tool boots the card @573/621, i have to hit defaults to get it back to 540/590.
> 
> ...



I'm curious if you've done any benchmarking with that setup? It would be nice to see the results, thanks.


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 8, 2005)

hagen said:
			
		

> RMA should be a bit tricky with a flashed mod-bios, I guess. Is it possible to reflash with the original, i.e. switch back to 12 pipes? Would there be traces of the card being modded?



You can't find any traces of SOFTMOD on a video card. The only way they would know if you've messed around with it is if you've done physical modification to the card itself, like volt mods and sticker misplacement (Serial numbers and what not). Just flash back and RMA that sucker, you'll be fine. Good Luck!


----------



## Sasqui (Dec 8, 2005)

RatusNatus said:
			
		

> Glad to know... when did you boght this one?



I put the order in at NewEgg the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it arrived on Tuesday Nov 29.  I definitely got lucky - amazing to hear someone is running thiers at 570/570 (wow!).

Strange, when I put everything into my Koolance case, I can't get the CPU over 250 FSB, so I'm at 244 (about 3.7 ghz), I also bumped the card down to 547/533 just to be a little nicer to it.  3DMark05 = 6380.  

OT - My cpu never gets over 37c.  The only difference I can attribute it too is either the different power supply (Antec TP 430), or application of thermal paste (may be a bubble?).


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 8, 2005)

They have the full retail boxed GTO2 at Newegg now for $219!  I should have waited to buy my second one so I could save $15 on it.   That's the cheapest that card has been for a long time.  They even have free shipping on it right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102634

BTW, I'm using one on those ones right now and it was unlockable.


----------



## blsnelling (Dec 8, 2005)

Christmas special


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 8, 2005)

I guess I'll be waiting a little while before I sell my other GTO2 cards.  BTW, the OEM version is back on Newegg.com, but it is still set at a price of $269.  Who would buy it at that when the full retail one costs $219 and still can unlock to 16 pipelines?  Maybe they are hoping some people don't realize that the full retail one is still unlockable and that they buy the OEM one?


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 8, 2005)

*ATI Catalyst 5.12 [OUT TODAY!]*

Well, if you haven't noticed the new 5.12 drivers no longer supports the original Control Panel, but i have some good news? I JUST SAVED A BUNCH OF MONEY ON MY CAR INSURANCE BY SWITCHING TO GEICO! No, but really i don't think CC is available anymore with 5.12, only CCC version now. I thought i knew when the CP version was coming to an end, but forgot it was going to be on the 5.12 version. Anyhow anybody installed this beast yet and post some benchmarks on this thread soon?

New Features

The Catalyst® 5.12 software suite introduces dual core support for CPU bound cases. This feature provides improved graphics performance for DX 9 supported graphics adapters installed in systems running the Windows XP and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating systems.
Performance Improvements

Catalyst 5.12 improves a variety of CPU-bound performance cases when an ATI product is installed in conjunction with a dual-core or hyperthreading CPU. Performance gains include:

    * 3DMark05 gains as much as 5.7%
    * 3DMark03 gains as much as 3.3%
    * 3DMark2001 SE gains up to 10%
    * Aquamark 3 gains up to 16%
    * Comanche 4 improves as much as 20%
    * Far Cry gains as much as 25% on some product configurations
    * Half-Life 2 performance improves as much as 8%
    * Splinter Cell improves as much as 8% in certain parts of the game
    * Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness runs as much as 10% faster
    * Unreal Tournament 2004 framerates improve as much as 10%


----------



## Ombracol (Dec 8, 2005)

6365 3dmark 05 with new driver running my gto2 at 561/612 with tweaked timing I was able to go up from 552/600 cause i put my computer in my walk in closet with window open I live in ny so its 10degrees f in my little closet my gpu doesnt get hotter than 45c at load idle is 20 also my case is at 20c 15 at some points loving the winter no need to get aftercooling parts


----------



## Dynamic (Dec 8, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> 6365 3dmark 05 with new driver running my gto2 at 561/612 with tweaked timing I was able to go up from 552/600 cause i put my computer in my walk in closet with window open I live in ny so its 10degrees f in my little closet my gpu doesnt get hotter than 45c at load idle is 20 also my case is at 20c 15 at some points loving the winter no need to get aftercooling parts



So how much of a performance difference did you notice from the old clocks and drivers to these? BTW, what are the rest of your system specs, that score seems low? Now you sure you're running 3DMark05 @Default resolution and everything? 

Note:Try changing the Catalyst A.I. in CCC to Advanced then bench. Also install ATI TOOL .25 BETA10 and try the Catalyst A.I. on HIGH and leave it on Normal on CCC, play with it and let us know if you can, thanks. You're probably asking "Why in hell aren't you doing this", well that's because i'm at work right now, hehe.


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 8, 2005)

Good eye shadowflare.  I got mine OEM for about $10 less than that.


----------



## Ombracol (Dec 8, 2005)

I only gained 65 points from previous drivers and 177 points from previous clocks and older driver I have a pentium 4 3.2HT running at 3190 for some reaseon 1.5 gb ddr 400 ram 200 and 120 gb sata drives but they are pretty full and not compressed I think that affects performance a little bit. I will do some benchmarking aand let you know....... what do you get? I've seen people post higher benches with lower clocks but i always taught it was cause of the amd processors or people are just making numbers up and those scores are with catalyst at advanced and mipmap at performance i will tru to bench with mipmap at high performance see how many more points i get....  also when i first unlocked my card i was getting similiar numbers to what are posted in the graph in the article as far as games go all my games play greatand i really dont notice any difference when i have a little higher framerate. the only game i notice is in need for speed underground i can tell when frame rate drops bellow 40 it doesent stutter  its just a smoothness you see in gamplay that changes all my other games i cant tell at all unless frames rate drop below 30 and you see slideshowmode and none of my games drop low but for some reason need for speed most wanted is sensetive to disk fragmentation its wierd i was get frame rate drops and the i defragmented and it smooth right up and when my drive fragments it gets crappy but its do only game that does that wierd huh?

sorry for the typos in a rush


----------



## elhh (Dec 9, 2005)

*x800gto2 vivo*

theres a new revision of the gto2 out in the market.. ones with vivo and dual dvi..

these cards are also from sapphire and use the same chip from the old gto2.

has anyone succesfully modded this card? which bios do we use for it?


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 9, 2005)

Where are you seeing this?  Can we get a link?


----------



## Ombracol (Dec 9, 2005)

*Cleaned up my drives*

ok after doing a drive cleanup and setting ati catalyt settings to optimal performance and clocks at 561 612 tested twice once with regular timing and other with tweaked timing 

regular mem time 6265
 tweaked timings 6438

getting pretty cold tonight so gonna try to go higher on my clocks 
I have my own way of test for high clock its to figure out  how hot my paticular game runs and overclock so that i have no artifacts in that particular temp range sice ati tool runs 10 to 15 c higher than any of my games and then i make sure my game runs stable i'll post any higher clocks....


----------



## Reefa_Madness (Dec 9, 2005)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> They have the full retail boxed GTO2 at Newegg now for $219!  I should have waited to buy my second one so I could save $15 on it.   That's the cheapest that card has been for a long time.  They even have free shipping on it right now.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102634
> 
> BTW, I'm using one on those ones right now and it was unlockable.



One guy posted over in the newegg "customer reviews" that based on information that he had gotten here at TPU, some of these SR models did not unlock.  You've stated that yours does, which is great news because I ordered one yesterday.  I can't help but wonder if he is confusing the GTO2 with the 3D GTO.

Does your retail "SR" have the same 1.6ns DDR3 memory as the OEM?  I'm just curious about whether or not the memory is the same (and I have no reason to believe otherwise, but would love to get confirmation from someone holding an SR model GTO2.

Thanks in advance.

Never mind, just saw an earlier post (page #131) where the reference was made to the fact that this SR clocks as well as any of the others.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 9, 2005)

Reefa_Madness said:
			
		

> One guy posted over in the newegg "customer reviews" that based on information that he had gotten here at TPU, some of these SR models did not unlock.  You've stated that yours does, which is great news because I ordered one yesterday.  I can't help but wonder if he is confusing the GTO2 with the 3D GTO.
> 
> Does your retail "SR" have the same 1.6ns DDR3 memory as the OEM?  I'm just curious about whether or not the memory is the same (and I have no reason to believe otherwise, but would love to get confirmation from someone holding an SR model GTO2.
> 
> ...


That person probably was confusing it with the Connect3d card, as you and others have said.

Because of the clock speeds, I am expecting that I will see 1.6 ns chips when I change the cooling later (probably within the next month or two).


----------



## Reefa_Madness (Dec 9, 2005)

Thanks for the quick reply.

It could hardly be anything but the 1.6s, based on the clocks that you've been getting.


----------



## giloman (Dec 9, 2005)

*Hello*

Hello 
I got yesterday my C3D X800GTO from Monarch (ordered in  Dec 1 ) 
My card  thankfully is modable  to 16P  
Best score with Stock colling - 6423 : 100% stable !


----------



## Shadowkull (Dec 9, 2005)

yeah.. im not gonna read all 100 odd pages of this thing so can someone jsu tell me which gto's are clockable
 and can u plz get me a link to wh ere i can buy them =)


thnks


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 9, 2005)

Shadowkull said:
			
		

> yeah.. im not gonna read all 100 odd pages of this thing so can someone jsu tell me which gto's are clockable
> and can u plz get me a link to wh ere i can buy them =)
> 
> 
> thnks


Well, there's the full retail version of the X800 GTO2 at Newegg.com right now for $219 - only $20 more than the OEM version originally cost and you get two games with it, probably the closest it will ever get to its original price.  I have one of those and it is unlockable.  So far I haven't heard of any of the full retail ones that aren't.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102634


----------



## Shadowkull (Dec 9, 2005)

Thnks Flare


i  you now =)


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 9, 2005)

Hey Hey Hey.  Let's keep it PG-13 here kiddies


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 9, 2005)

Sapphire X800GTO2 down to $209 now guys.  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595


----------



## XeoNoX (Dec 10, 2005)

Connect3D GTO with 16 pipes @ 600/540 with max at 618/552

3Dmark05 score of 7055 running at 600/540 C3D GTO rox!


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 10, 2005)

Great OC XeoNoX!


----------



## Ombracol (Dec 10, 2005)

XeoNoX said:
			
		

> Connect3D GTO with 16 pipes @ 600/540 with max at 618/552
> 
> 3Dmark05 score of 7055 running at 600/540 C3D GTO rox!


 Whhat temps you running


----------



## XeoNoX (Dec 10, 2005)

Connect 3D Gto @ 600/540 although i can get 618/552 out of it, why run that high if i dont have to eh? hehe 600/540 is good enough, and i just turn it on when i play games.

Im using zalman fan/heatsink and it never goes past 67 on the ATI stress test, but i also have a coolmaster 80mm case fan blowing onto the zalman to cool it down even more. After a playing a "normal" game like Counterstrike source, it runs no higher than 56. I noticed without the 80mm case fan it would go up still to like 74 on ati stress test even though i was using zalman fan. pretty weird cooling eh?

Anyone up for a game of counterstrike source?? (a west coast usa server PM me!)


----------



## Peter949 (Dec 10, 2005)

*Sapphire GTO2*

Okay guys...I bought a Sapphire GTO2 from Newegg.  Anyone want to show me how to mod it to a xtpe? and to oc it further after that.  Also if you are reading this and know how to oc a 3200+ xp venice.  Help there would also be apprieciated. I also got the SAPPHIRE PURE Innovation PI-A9RX480 Socket 939 ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 ATX AMD Motherboard.


Thank You!


----------



## XeoNoX (Dec 10, 2005)

you gotta do some reading there buddy. http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/127
thats how u mod the video card. GL

overclocking your CPU is a whole other story, i hope you bought good system memor if you plan to go far on your CPU overclock.


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 10, 2005)

NICE mobo peter.  Mind taking some pics for us?  I was thinking of getting the Sapphire CrossFire Pure Innovation when it comes out, as long as it has the ULi SB.


----------



## Peter949 (Dec 10, 2005)

Sorry don't have a camera available.  I was going to buy a Crossfire board but none out are any decent.  Newport Beach?  Irvine here


----------



## seatiger (Dec 11, 2005)

elhh said:
			
		

> theres a new revision of the gto2 out in the market.. ones with vivo and dual dvi..
> 
> these cards are also from sapphire and use the same chip from the old gto2.
> 
> has anyone succesfully modded this card? which bios do we use for it?



anyone know?

here is the linkhttp://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=17166&vpn=102-A47466-11-AT%20(21067-01-20)&manufacture=SAPPHIRE


----------



## Falco_Bird (Dec 11, 2005)

I have a x800 gto vivo from c3d, and it says on the box that it is supposed to have 16 pipes enabled, but i only have 12. i checked the fuses and they are not modable from the looks of it. should i email c3d and tell them my card is missing 4 pipes?\

the really sad part is that the x800 gto non moded gets about as good performance in games as my x700...


----------



## DanishDevil (Dec 11, 2005)

seatiger said:
			
		

> anyone know?
> 
> here is the linkhttp://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=17166&vpn=102-A47466-11-AT%20(21067-01-20)&manufacture=SAPPHIRE



I'm not sure.  I bet it's a misprint.



			
				Falco_Bird said:
			
		

> I have a x800 gto vivo from c3d, and it says on the box that it is supposed to have 16 pipes enabled, but i only have 12. i checked the fuses and they are not modable from the looks of it. should i email c3d and tell them my card is missing 4 pipes?\
> 
> the really sad part is that the x800 gto non moded gets about as good performance in games as my x700...



As for you my friend, it shouldn't say that it has 16 pipes on the box.  Pics maybe?


----------



## elhh (Dec 11, 2005)

DanishDevil said:
			
		

> I'm not sure.  I bet it's a misprint.



it isn't a misprint.. sapphire has shipped these cards to many retailers.. but so far, i can't find any links to their moddability yet.


----------



## ShinyG (Dec 11, 2005)

Falco_Bird said:
			
		

> I have a x800 gto vivo from c3d, and it says on the box that it is supposed to have 16 pipes enabled, but i only have 12. i checked the fuses and they are not modable from the looks of it. should i email c3d and tell them my card is missing 4 pipes?\
> 
> the really sad part is that the x800 gto non moded gets about as good performance in games as my x700...



As far as I know, the C3D X800 GTO mod does not involve any fuses! You only have to hange the BIOS to unlock the aditional pipes...
As for the 16 pipes box, I think it's a mistake, but mine says the same thing....  

As for the performance part, what's the score that you get on that X700 in 3dmark05? More than the 4500 i got on the stock X800 GTO?


----------



## shreaker (Dec 11, 2005)

elhh, don't forget to let everyone know if the new version gto2's have r480 and 1.6ns under the hood  I might even get another one


----------



## Falco_Bird (Dec 11, 2005)

well, the exact wording is "The RADEON X800 series features SMARTSHADER HD, the most advanced pixel shader engine with up to 16 paralel pixel pipelines capible of over 8 gigapixels/second fill rate in full precision!"

there is no star or anything indicating to the contrary of having 16 ppl...if they did indeed perminantly cripple the card to only 12 ppl, that would be very shady business IMO. I appologise that i cant provide an image as my scanner is very grumpy.


again i appologise, i do not have benchmark scores for my x700 pro, but indeed when i was playing the opening chapters of HL2, there was only a slight performance increace that i noticed. i dont know, maybe i just had high expectations of the card, and got let down, but w/e.


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 11, 2005)

it says it has up to 16 parallel pixel pipelines.....it doesn't say that it HAS 16 pipelines. they are right the x800 can have up to 16 but those are the general specs. taken from connect3d's website "World's Most Advanced 3D Architecture
The RADEON X800 GTO features SMARTSHADER™ HD, the most advanced pixel shader engine with 12 parallel pixel pipelines capable of over 8 gigapixels/second fill rate in full precision! With six programmable vertex
shader pipelines, capable of over 750 million vertices per second and an overall capability of over 200 billion floating point operations per second (GigaFLOPS), the RADEON X800 series delivers the most beautifully rendered high-definition 3D animation for the ultimate in intense, interactive game play."

what u read on the box was the abilities of the x800 series in general not on the gto specifically. your box says gto so u should have done your homework on the gto better my friend i got a connect3d gto and mine was moddable...i modded it when this article was like 5 pages long and it was one of the first non gto2 cards to be modded i took a risk modding it anyways hope that solved your questions


----------



## Falco_Bird (Dec 11, 2005)

if i flashed it anyway would there be any performance gain? and also, just for clarification, if your card is lazer cut on the top of the core, you cant just bridge it with a pencil or something...right?

i'm going to replace the dumb stock tinfoil heatsink with my aerocool vm101 with a 80mm fan attached, and see if i cant get some higher overclocks on the card. 70c load is not acceptable IMO


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 11, 2005)

sure there will be if its moddable. if its not u might end up screwing your card. mine was and my 3dmark score went from 4500 to 6160 after it was flashed to 16p and o/c to 520/520. with the arctic cooling silencer 5 rev2 im getting temps of 35 on the core and 40 for the chips when idle and around 54 on the core and 47-50 for the chips when running full loads. gl! and yeah if its cut u cant bridge it with a pencil


----------



## Falco_Bird (Dec 11, 2005)

i took my card out to replace the cooler, and i noticed there is a tiny jumper switch on the back of the card  with "ON KE" printed on it. the jumpers are labled 1 and 2 and they are both down...

my memory says:
samsung 452
k4j55323qf- gc20

i'm too lazy to tell what speed it is at  but i can guess its 2.0ns

this thing has one of the worst designed stock coolers i have ever witnessed. damn whoever made it. probably the only reason it doesnt burst in flame is because of its only saving grace- the fact it is made of copper. it looks like a child sweatshop worker made this. it has a grand total of maybe 17 fins. wow. lame heatsink + thermal tape = lame

after taking off my heatsink, i can verify that my core is deffinitely laser cut. there is even a nice burn mark surrounding the cut :shadedshu
how many laser cuts do they do at the factory to disable it? if it is just that one cut on the top it should be relatively simple to bridge it again. but if there are multiple cuts then i can see where it would be perminant


----------



## ShadowFlare (Dec 11, 2005)

For those of you who ordered a full retail X800 GTO2 from Newegg.com on December 8th or later, there is a $20 rebate for it here: http://images10.newegg.com/UploadFilesForNewegg/rebate/SH/SAPPHIRE13MIRsDec08Dec3105Jw92.pdf
It expires on the 31st.  Too bad I didn't get mine later; I could have had a full $40 off.  ($15 off, free shipping, $20 rebate)

Right now it's not really worth getting the OEM version from Newegg.com, since for $5-$10 more you can get the full retail version (depending on whether you opt for the free shipping or not).  In addition to that, there is a $20 rebate which you can't get if you order the OEM version, so you could actually save $15 compared with the OEM version.


----------



## ShinyG (Dec 11, 2005)

You what's good about this GTO: everyone stopped talking about that "best-buy" 6600 GT.   The X800 GTO is definitely this winter's hit!

Some retailers from Romania found out that the Connect3D X800 GTO is modable and increased it's retail price with something like 20$. (I was lucky and got mine before that!  )


----------



## Falco_Bird (Dec 11, 2005)

what the  
i just replaced the heatsink on my card, and i reboot into windows, start up ati tool as normal, and guess what? FULL ARTIFACTS!?!? 
you can tell i was pretty upset, but i started up hl2 anyway. 
i just got finished playing an entire chapter of water hazard, (with full fps mind you) and it was perfectly fine  
but then i go back to artifact scan in ATI tool and i still get full artifacts  
full artifacts for me means a completely yellow box with yellow lines strewn all accross it. 

do you think it could be because i unpluged the fan from the card?

when i go to 3d view in ati-tool it works perfectly fine also. 

and i'm not a idiot, so i am sure i didnt like, cut a trace or anything on the pcb by accadent...
i have no idea whats going on.

i will include pics


----------



## Lux770 (Dec 11, 2005)

*X800GTO² to X850 successful but...*

Hi,
I modded my X800GTO² into X850 and it works fine.
Next, I wanted to add a little performance so I replaced the stock cooler with an Arctic Cooling Silencer 5 rev. 2. Temps immediately dropped to 30°C and the silence was impressive.
I let Ati Tool detect max core and memory values with fan speed at 100% and they are 546 / 560, which I am quite happy with.
The problem is although Ati Tool does not detect any artefact, and despite temperatures staying below 50-55°C, in games and 3DMark05, I get blinking textures and strange polygons out of nowhere.
Even with slightly lower values (520/540), I get this problem. It does not seem to be temperature related, and I never performed an overclocking before, so would anyone be able to help me?
Thanks


----------



## XeoNoX (Dec 11, 2005)

Falco Bird, i would tune down the core and mem a little if you are getting that, its not good for the card, you will eventaully end up damaging the card. I would lower the core and mem by 10 to be safe. That would equal to like a 5 fps loss on most new games, rather than a $200 video card loss.


----------



## XeoNoX (Dec 11, 2005)

Lux770, the "strange polygons " you are getting are artifacts, it means somethings getting too hot for the video card to handle, or you overclocked too much, or you might have already damaged your card. If you set back to default core and mem speed and still get the "strange polygons" in defferent games using the offical ATI drivers then the chances are you already damaged your card. If that is the case try using a different video card and see if the same thing happens or not to make sure its your video card. (try using the latest offical ATI drivers 1st before u do anything (availaable from www.ati.com


----------



## Lux770 (Dec 11, 2005)

XeoNox, thanks.
I already have the lastest drivers and at default clock and memory speeds I don't get any artifacts (so that's what they look like!)
I don't understand however why I am getting these with very reasonable temperatures. Am I missing something?


----------



## Falco_Bird (Dec 11, 2005)

XeoNoX said:
			
		

> Falco Bird, i would tune down the core and mem a little if you are getting that, its not good for the card, you will eventaully end up damaging the card. I would lower the core and mem by 10 to be safe. That would equal to like a 5 fps loss on most new games, rather than a $200 video card loss.


i already did that, in fact i UNDERclocked the card, and it was still happening. i underclocked it so far i was getting artifacts . but when i artifact scanned it around 300 core and 300 memory, it still went FULL artifacts.

the thing i dont understand is why it only gives massive artifacts when i am artifact scanning, but not when i am just in 3d view or in games?


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 11, 2005)

cause games dont load the card as much as ati tool does...im playng call of duty 2 with full effects and AA at 1024X768 and im getting 45C while in atitool when artifact scanning im getting up to 54C


----------



## Falco_Bird (Dec 11, 2005)

ok...but then how do you explain artifacting on the underclock?


----------



## Falco_Bird (Dec 11, 2005)

ok that is deffinitely strange...

i rebooted with the old fan pluged in (because the heatsink i replaced it with is passive), and now it is working 100% fine lol 
maybe the card was just angry i unpluged the fan, but regardless it is perfectly fine now... anyway thanks for the help


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 11, 2005)

u replaced the fan with a heatsink with no active cooling??your gonna burn everything down!


----------



## Falco_Bird (Dec 12, 2005)

VTwedge said:
			
		

> u replaced the fan with a heatsink with no active cooling??your gonna burn everything down!


no no, it is a passive heatsink but i have attached a 80mm fan via string () to the heatsink part of it. what i meant was that the 80mm fan is not physicly pluged into the card, but rather is directly pluged into the power supply. 
not only that, but i have another 80mm fan that is blowing on the opposite side of the card so i think i have things down in the cooling department


----------



## XeoNoX (Dec 12, 2005)

remember you have to hit "set clock" on ati tools after u are done adjusting the mem and core because if you dont it will NOT apply the settings.

Are you hitting set clock after changing and "under clocking"?

You wouldnt by anychance be overclocking anything else in your computer, like the CPU or something else, would you?


----------



## JimmyHa (Dec 12, 2005)

Two 80mm fans?  That sounds like noisy overkill to me.  I am using one super-quiet panaflo 80mm blowing over the stocker and no probs at 600/600.


----------



## marceli7 (Dec 12, 2005)

Hello!
First to say my Sapphire GTO2 maxed at XT PE clocks and don’t want to go any higher. Well no so sweet oc like some others but good enough for me.
Now... The memory timings THING!

So called "Enhanced X800GTO2 Memory Timings":
TRCDRD: 7
TRCDWR: 3
TRP: 5
TRAS: 13
TRRD: 4
TWR: 6
TR2W: CL+2
TW2R: 4
TR2R: USE TWR RULE
TR2R: 2
WR_LATENCY: 1.5
CAS_LATENCY: 7
CMD_LATENCY: 0
STR_LATENCY: WR LATENCY
REFRESH_RATE: 0x75
TRFC: 23
give me a sweet performance bump and do not punish my RAM clocks too much. Only small step down from 604 to 599. But... How to tell ATIToo to load my new mem settings every boot? Maybe I am missing something but using 0.25b9 I have to load manually from saved profile each system restart. They do not properly apply using "automagic"  

Oh! BTW I found one really strange thing about ATITool and memory settings. It activates those memory settings (as a defaults) on my card:
TRCDRD: 7
TRCDWR: 4
TRP: 6
TRAS: 14
TRRD: 5
TWR: 7
TR2W: CL+3
TW2R: 3
TR2R: Use TWR Rule
TR2R: 2
WR_LATENCY: 1.5
CAS_LATENCY: 7
CMD_LATENCY: 0
STR_LATENCY: WR Latency
REFRESH_RATE: 0x3E
TRFC: 27

but reading those settings from my card bios (by Rabit) I see rather different values:
TRCDRD: 8
TRCDWR: 6
TRP: 8
TRAS: 14
TRRD: 6
TWR: 4
TR2W: CL+1clock
TW2R: 5
TR2R: USE TW2R RULE
TR2R: 3
What’s up doc? It looks obvious that ATITool knows more about my card then me but maybe someone could drop a line about it? I am sure that W1zzard could use his magic but I suppose  he is too busy now working with new X1000 series.

BTW: ATITool + SysTool = DreamTools


----------



## Sasqui (Dec 13, 2005)

Lux770 said:
			
		

> Hi,
> I modded my X800GTO² into X850 and it works fine.
> Next, I wanted to add a little performance so I replaced the stock cooler with an Arctic Cooling Silencer 5 rev. 2. Temps immediately dropped to 30°C and the silence was impressive.
> I let Ati Tool detect max core and memory values with fan speed at 100% and they are 546 / 560, which I am quite happy with.
> ...



I've seen the same thing - most notibly, occasionally large quick light/dark triangles.  ATI tool reports no artifacts, but I run 3Dmark05 and there they are (every once in a while).  I drop the speed down and bingo they're gone.  So, it has to do with clocks... and I assume it's in the core, not the memory as it seems to have something to do with processing errors, not neccessarely corrupt data from memory (I could be wrong about that...)


----------



## Sasqui (Dec 13, 2005)

*Straight from the Connect3D Main PAGE!!!*

Surprising that Connect3D would quote this on the MAIN PAGE of their website!  And, according to W1zzards stats, they're quite wrong about "100%".

http://www.connect3d.com/

"...  X800 GTO review on www.sweclockers.com

“ If you modify the board, then it is a very good board. By modify the board you activate 4 more pixel pipelines. So far it seems like Connect3D X800GTO board is the only board out there were it is 100% possible. In case you don’t modify the board, then maybe you should consider the more expensive 6600GS instead. If you modify your board, then it is a bargain. “ [More] ..."


----------



## Moruem (Dec 13, 2005)

I've received a connect3D x800gto from NCiX.com, it's core r423, but it's lasercut...  And fusedata isn't all F's...  Errr...
I'll write to connect3D RMA dept to see what's up, if I can RMA because it's not moddable, as stated in their "pub".. 
Pretty disappointed here..


----------



## VTwedge (Dec 13, 2005)

lol they wont rma it cause its not moddable man. they never said that it is 100% moddable in the first place ita a chance u take..i bought one of the first ones when they first came out unlocked to 16 and running 520/520 core can do 555 and mem 575 but im not stressing it guess ati decided to lasercut finally eh?


----------



## Moruem (Dec 13, 2005)

Yeah I know, but they put it front page like a pubucity.. I take chances..
It isn't a great o/c neither.. around 555mhz on the ram, and got like 445mhz on the core..
Oh well...

Your's seems to clock like my ax800xt, before I voltmoded..  I hoped this one unlocked to compare with the agp one..
Now.. do I return it or I vmod it..


----------



## Sasqui (Dec 13, 2005)

*Horizontal "Tearing" - Connect3D GTO*

OK is this off-topic? 16p 540/540 Connect3D GTO... stellar 3DMark05 scores (6400+)  I get an annoying slight "tearing" effect in some 3D scenes, almost like the screen is broken into two or three horizontal sections and they are sometimes slightly out of sync during large scene motion.  I saw this with my old Sapphire 9500np card.
Anyone experience this or know of anyway around it.  I'm on Catalyst 5.11.  Send me to another forum if I'm way off on a tangent!  Cheers.


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## john57 (Dec 14, 2005)

try turning on the verical sync just to see if that would improve on this. When you overclock your card your FPS may run higher than your refresh rate and may cause tearing in some images.


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## shreaker (Dec 14, 2005)

Update on the new GTO2... as mentioned earlier, it's got dual-dvi and and VIVO, R480 core, 1.6ns GDDR3, and *16 pipelines out of the box*!  Will post a pic soon


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## Tyte (Dec 14, 2005)

Hello. I recently bought the x800 GTO from Connect3d. I'm going to be blunt, I have no idea what to do to install the card properly. Do I have to uninstall the drivers? If I do will the card no longer be usable while it is in the tower? Also it saids I need a 6-pin power connector. I can't find a 6-pin on my power supply. The box comes with something that looks like 6-pin but it only has 2 cables coming out of it. I'm totally lost, someone help!


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## Mr_Torch (Dec 14, 2005)

Falco_Bird said:
			
		

> what the
> i just replaced the heatsink on my card, and i reboot into windows, start up ati tool as normal, and guess what? FULL ARTIFACTS!?!?
> you can tell i was pretty upset, but i started up hl2 anyway.
> i just got finished playing an entire chapter of water hazard, (with full fps mind you) and it was perfectly fine
> ...



Turn off Alternate Pixel Center on the Catalyst Control Center, this is a known problem.


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## Dav5049915 (Dec 14, 2005)

I bought my connect3d x800gto from newegg for 149$ after rebate.

i (believe) i found this site that also had a link to another site that had the very nice guide to modding it to the x800xt.

the mod turned out successfull.

stock the card ran at about 4500 3dmark05
unlocked to 16pipes it runs  5000 3dmark05
and overclocked 530/550 is 6000 3dmark05

i've been reading through the posts around the 110-120 page mark in this thread.  

all i have to say about the temp problems people are having is:

80c is waaayyyy too high of a temp to have on a video card.  mine runs at 60c (full load with atitool)  with stock cooling.   

also, setting the fan to 100% all the time just seems dumb, unless you have like 5 other fans that run at 50dB.

I set the fan control in ATITOOL to vary its speed based on the cores temp. 

my core idle is around 30c with the fan @ like 30%   when i run the core under full load,  it jump up temp real fast and the temperature levels out at around 60c with the fan running at about 80%

and during gaming (CS:S  BF2  BF2S) the core never sees above 42c.

i MIGHT buy the aticooler thing,  but then again, i like my fanspeed to spool down when its time to watch a dvd or browse the internet.

i've also not had the car problem or any problems at all with this awesome card.

(i upgraded from an AIW 9800 pro)  

also, havne't seen if its been posted yet or not,  but i read rumors that the newer GTOs are REALLY locked down now, and you can't unlock their pipes.  is this true?


edit:  and then i read the title of the thread : DOH! :

it should still all apply to the GTO2 as well i'd think. (at least the temp part)


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## Mr_Torch (Dec 14, 2005)

Yes the Connect3D X800GTO My Fiance' just got from Newegg on December 1st is LOCKED.....we took a gamble, but it's a good card she is not disappointed.


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## Sasqui (Dec 14, 2005)

Dav5049915 said:
			
		

> all i have to say about the temp problems people are having is:
> 
> 80c is waaayyyy too high of a temp to have on a video card.  mine runs at 60c (full load with atitool)  with stock cooling.
> 
> ...



I agree, 80c = too hot!  Its interesting that ATITool defaults to 100% only when GPU is at 98c!  I set mine as follows:

0c = 25%
45c = 50%
50c = 75%
60c = 100%

Not much noise diff between 75% and 100%, but my temps never get over 67c now, before they were up to 78c at core of 553.


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## Dav5049915 (Dec 14, 2005)

i started off with setting my fan for idle temps.  

i turned the fan down to like 5-10% and the temps hovered around 35-40c

with the fan at 100% it idles at around 28,  so i upped the speed so that its at like 20% for anything above 20c and 30% for anything above 30c.   i have the rig in a cold basement, so it still idles around 29-31c

then i moved to the higher end (full load via ATITOOL)   i have it set to like run  anything over 50 runs it at 70%  anything over 60c run at 80%  and 70C is 90% and so on.   works quite nicely

(i'll have to get the exact #s when i get home.


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## Lux770 (Dec 14, 2005)

I have an arctic cooler on my unlocker GTO² and it's very quiet.
However as I said, although my temperatures never go above 55°C, I get artefacts as soon as 520MHz memory (stock value is 490).
What happens? I thought the Samsung 1.6n was good for 600.


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## XeoNoX (Dec 14, 2005)

JimmyHa, my 2 80mm coolermaster fans @ 2000 rpm do just fine for me, to my surprise it seems like they even make fans like that now, this company pretty much stole my IDEA!!!  http://guru3d.com/article/cooling/300/
as you can see in the review though, it works good if you got a cheap case like me, if you have one of those epensive cases i guess it wont make much difference, i guess my case value just went from $30 to $40!! hehe,. its not that loud at all, my stock AMD athlon 64 fan makes more noise!

btw: i did something similar to the above link, and it lowered my connect3d gto card from 70c+ to about 60c at full load on ATI tool.


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## Ombracol (Dec 17, 2005)

Lux770 said:
			
		

> I have an arctic cooler on my unlocker GTO² and it's very quiet.
> However as I said, although my temperatures never go above 55°C, I get artefacts as soon as 520MHz memory (stock value is 490).
> What happens? I thought the Samsung 1.6n was good for 600.


Try flashing the x850 xtpe bios might get higher oc I did


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## Sasqui (Dec 19, 2005)

Lux770 said:
			
		

> I have an arctic cooler on my unlocker GTO² and it's very quiet.
> However as I said, although my temperatures never go above 55°C, I get artefacts as soon as 520MHz memory (stock value is 490).
> What happens? I thought the Samsung 1.6n was good for 600.



*It's luck of the draw* - I have 2.0ns memory on my Connect3D GTO X800, and I can get up to 546 before artifacts - seen some people posting 570+.  Remeber too that overclocking the core can also affect memory addressing... i.e., if your core is overclocked, it may affect your memory speed limit.


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## shreaker (Dec 19, 2005)

Lux770 said:
			
		

> I have an arctic cooler on my unlocker GTO² and it's very quiet.
> However as I said, although my temperatures never go above 55°C, I get artefacts as soon as 520MHz memory (stock value is 490).
> What happens? I thought the Samsung 1.6n was good for 600.


You're right, it is rated at 600mhz. Have you tried putting arctic silver 5 and some ramsinks on? Could be your memory is not getting the cooling it needs... even with the stock "aluminium sheet" cooler on the back i got 590mhz mem with as5...


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## Professa Oak (Dec 21, 2005)

I know my card is moddable and I'm pretty sure I'm making the bootable CD correctly. But I keep getting a flashrom error when I type in flashrom -s 0 gto12.bin
I used UltraISO to create the CD and put the modded GTO .bin on the CD, then unzipped the flashrom file and put the files from there on the CD (.exe .rom .chg). Burnt it and booted up off the CD. What am I doing wrong?


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## Peter949 (Dec 21, 2005)

*GTO2 mod to xt pe*

O.k. finally got around to modding my gto2 to xtpe running currently on 540/590.  Temp hangs around 60s though.  Think the temp is too high?  Idle is 60 running ati 3dview its 68.


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## Ombracol (Dec 21, 2005)

Professa Oak said:
			
		

> I know my card is moddable and I'm pretty sure I'm making the bootable CD correctly. But I keep getting a flashrom error when I type in flashrom -s 0 gto12.bin
> I used UltraISO to create the CD and put the modded GTO .bin on the CD, then unzipped the flashrom file and put the files from there on the CD (.exe .rom .chg). Burnt it and booted up off the CD. What am I doing wrong?




You need to force flash put a -f infront of -s 0 gto12.bin

but when i flashed it it was -p not -s is it cause you are booting from cd-rom?


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## Ombracol (Dec 21, 2005)

Peter949 said:
			
		

> O.k. finally got around to modding my gto2 to xtpe running currently on 540/590.  Temp hangs around 60s though.  Think the temp is too high?  Idle is 60 running ati 3dview its 68.


its a little high normaly under 60 is the best but these cards can withstand upto 90 but obviously the lower the better and more performance and life you will get out of your card i keep my pc in my farthest room of my aprtment that I close the door and run cables to my monitor cause I leave the window open and the room gets real cold my card idles at 15 and peaks at 45c and i can get it up to 567/624 on real cold nights my case temp idles at 5 to 10

Thats another thing your case needs to be cooler and it will help in performance so try to do something on keeping it cool and youll see better performance


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## Professa Oak (Dec 21, 2005)

Ombracol said:
			
		

> You need to force flash put a -f infront of -s 0 gto12.bin
> 
> but when i flashed it it was -p not -s is it cause you are booting from cd-rom?



The numbers stand for different actions you want to take. F causes a flash that is forced, p i believe performs a regular flash and s saves your current Video Bios. I just can't flashrom to work.


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## ShadowFlare (Dec 21, 2005)

Professa Oak said:
			
		

> The numbers stand for different actions you want to take. F causes a flash that is forced, p i believe performs a regular flash and s saves your current Video Bios. I just can't flashrom to work.


Hmm, you are trying to save your existing bios, right?  You can't do it from a bootable CD unless you have some kind of disk or hard drive to save it to.  If you want to save your bios but don't have something to save it to that you can access in DOS, use ATITool to do it.


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## enigmaxp (Dec 22, 2005)

For some odd reason, I wasn't able to unlock my pipes from 12 to 16 on my Sapphire GTO2 (version 100130SR) using the guide's bios. I was however able to get it to 16 using the 850xt and 850xtpe bioses. I'm happy at least it works.

I'm running it with Artic Cooling ATI Cooler 5rev2 but PE speeds seem to cause artifacts even at about 30 deg. Celcius.  So for the time being I'll stick with the 850xt bios and overclock from there.  Anyone with ideas?  Maybe I should use artic silver instead of the thermal paste on the card?


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## Silver-Arrow (Dec 22, 2005)

Anyone have trouble OCing their Sapphire X800 GTO2?  I successfully unlocked the 4 extra pipelines but I can't OC the core pass 480Mhz.  As soon as I set it pass 480Mhz, my PC will just freeze and ATI VPU recovery will kick in.  This happens with stock GTO2 memory speed.  I've tried ATITool and ATI Tray Tool to OC and both will do the same thing.  I did use Driver Cleaner Pro before installing the new Cat 5.12 driver.

I did manage to OC to 480/590 and the temperature was hovering around 55C under full load and 33C during idle.  No artifacts at all and I scored 6102 on 3DMark05.  The memory is OCing nicely as expected.  The core speed is nowhere near the speed everyone else is getting.

PC Specs:
Intel P4 3.4Ghz
Intel P915PGN motherboard
1GB of 533mhz DDR2 ram
550W Antec TruePower supply

Any ideas as to what's happening?


----------



## Peter949 (Dec 22, 2005)

*OCED GTO2 to XT PE - Heat problem*

Can I use something like artic silver 5 to keep temps down? and where would a apply it to?


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## enigmaxp (Dec 22, 2005)

For the application of Artic Silver, I'm guessing clean up the thermal paste on the gpu and then apply it directly onto the gpu chip.


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## Justin1983 (Dec 22, 2005)

I have the Sapphire GTO2 and the store I bought it from had a link to the article here on modding the bios but I can't for the life of me get it to unlock the extra pipes. I used the unlocked BIOS from the article here but it says its the wrong one and if I force it nothing changes pipe wise. Any more clues or newer unlocked BIOS'es? Thanks.


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## Justin1983 (Dec 22, 2005)

Update, just tried the bootable ISO cd by Locutus and while I didn't have to force it, I couldn't unlock the extra pipelines either.


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## enigmaxp (Dec 22, 2005)

Justin1983 said:
			
		

> I have the Sapphire GTO2 and the store I bought it from had a link to the article here on modding the bios but I can't for the life of me get it to unlock the extra pipes. I used the unlocked BIOS from the article here but it says its the wrong one and if I force it nothing changes pipe wise. Any more clues or newer unlocked BIOS'es? Thanks.



I had the exact same problem.  The bios on the website didnt do anything even after the flash.  The only way I could get the card to unlock to 16 pipes was to use the sapphire 16pipe enabled 850xt or 850xt pe bios from the the ati bios collection here at techpowerup.

http://www.techpowerup.com/bios/

I'm not sure what's the easiest way to push on the bios but i used flashrom from the article

boot from a boot disk
flashrom -s 0 oldbios.bin <---- for saving a backup copy of old bios
flashrom -p -f 0 newbios.bin <---- for writing new bios by force


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## Silver-Arrow (Dec 23, 2005)

Silver-Arrow said:
			
		

> Anyone have trouble OCing their Sapphire X800 GTO2?  I successfully unlocked the 4 extra pipelines but I can't OC the core pass 480Mhz.  As soon as I set it pass 480Mhz, my PC will just freeze and ATI VPU recovery will kick in.  This happens with stock GTO2 memory speed.  I've tried ATITool and ATI Tray Tool to OC and both will do the same thing.  I did use Driver Cleaner Pro before installing the new Cat 5.12 driver.
> 
> I did manage to OC to 480/590 and the temperature was hovering around 55C under full load and 33C during idle.  No artifacts at all and I scored 6102 on 3DMark05.  The memory is OCing nicely as expected.  The core speed is nowhere near the speed everyone else is getting.
> 
> ...



Can someone help?


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## Ombracol (Dec 23, 2005)

Silver-Arrow said:
			
		

> Can someone help?


Its all about luck my friend these are bottom of the barrel 480 chips ones that didnt meet spec or leftovers of some sort not every gpu is equal but i can tell you this try flashing the x850 xtpe bios you should get a higher oc I know cause i was have same problem and tried the xtpe bios and got it nice and high mine is running at 564/613 with tweaked memory timing but thats cause my case is at a cool 15 to 20 c idle so also check your case temp for evey 10 degrees you can drop you can roughly go up 10 mhz when my case was 40c idle the highest i could go was 552/600 with tweaked timings tweaked timeings give you a lower oc but higher performance if you dont know wht they are i'll post them .


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## Sasqui (Dec 23, 2005)

Silver-Arrow said:
			
		

> Can someone help?



Yep - totally luck of the draw...  I've seen many CPU processors that won't OC more than 5%, others up will go to 50% in some cases.  If you've ever hear of "binning", it means they test each proccessor before branding it/modifying/separating the physical chip package before it goes into a market product.

OTH - you could have a shitty HS or Thermal goop installation - if you are desparate, buy a high performance HS and give that a whirl.  Myself included, I've read about many who can go much higher with better cooling.


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## Silver-Arrow (Dec 24, 2005)

I went out and picked up another Sapphire X800 GTO2.  The version I got is a little different.

Old one:
Sapphire Radeon X800 GTO2 256MB 256BIT GDDR3 PCI-E VGA DVI TV-OUT OEM Video Card
New one:
Sapphire Radeon X800 GTO2 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI VIVO OEM Video Card 

The VIVO version comes with 16 pipelines stock.  No need to flash or anything.  ATITool detects the core as an R430 though.  I was able to get to X850XT PE speeds (540/590) without any issues.  ATITool started detecting artifacts pass (550/600).  Temperature was under 60C during full load and around 34C idling.  Would it be possible to OC to X850XT PE speeds if the core is in fact an R430 core?

Someone that bought the VIVO took the fan/heatsink off and said that it is an R480 core.  I don't want to take mine apart to find out.  Could be detecting as an R430 because of the different bios?


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## Duncan (Dec 24, 2005)

*Connect 3d Unlocking*

Well, i bought a Connect 3d x800GTO on the 13th from Ebuyer and will be installing it in a whole new system on the 25th / 26th. I was happy to see this card was unlockable to 16 pipelines but after reading about the failures, my happyness diminished.

If i attempt to flash it, and it doesnt work, whats the consequences. Do i just flash the original BIOS back and itll work? I read that if it fails to unlock after flashing the new BIOS, you wont be able to see anything on your monitor, so you cant flash back to the old BIOS.

Thanks for any replys.


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## Sasqui (Dec 24, 2005)

Silver-Arrow said:
			
		

> I went out and picked up another Sapphire X800 GTO2.  The version I got is a little different.
> 
> ...
> 
> Someone that bought the VIVO took the fan/heatsink off and said that it is an R480 core.  I don't want to take mine apart to find out.  Could be detecting as an R430 because of the different bios?



You probably do in fact have an R580 core... I *think* it depends on what you are using to detect it - but I'm no expert on that subject.   

I was lucky to mess with two separate X850XT PE cards, and one core could reach 590, the other under 560 - and those were both "Built by ATI" OEM cards with the massive OTES heatsinks.   So dude, if you are 550 for the core, you are, in fact above XT PE speeds (memory too - at 600).  The highest retail PE ones I've seen are 540/590.  The "good" one I messed with reached 590/610.  Huyabusa.


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## Sasqui (Dec 24, 2005)

Duncan said:
			
		

> Well, i bought a Connect 3d x800GTO on the 13th from Ebuyer and will be installing it in a whole new system on the 25th / 26th. I was happy to see this card was unlockable to 16 pipelines but after reading about the failures, my happyness diminished.
> 
> If i attempt to flash it, and it doesnt work, whats the consequences. Do i just flash the original BIOS back and itll work? I read that if it fails to unlock after flashing the new BIOS, you wont be able to see anything on your monitor, so you cant flash back to the old BIOS.
> 
> Thanks for any replys.



Theoretically, it should still worked with the modified BIOS - but if you are concerned, make sure you have a Legacy PCI graphics card on hand to boot up and flash back to the original BIOS.  I went through this with an AGP MSI RX9800 card to 9800XT mod.  The first BIOS I tried rendered it useless (no post) - I put the PCI Matrox Millenium card in, booted fine, flashed back to the original BIOS on the AGP Card and was off and running.  Eventually, I found the special XT BIOS for the MSI card - that worked like a champ.  Also make sure to use the "save" orignal.BIN switch first and put in on a bootable disk with the flash utility.  I bought the Matrox card on eBay for less than $10 total.  Also, make sure you have your Motherboard BIOS set to search/boot up on legacy PCI FIRST (Usually the default).  Luck


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## Sasqui (Dec 24, 2005)

Duncan said:
			
		

> Well, i bought a Connect 3d x800GTO on the 13th from Ebuyer and will be installing it in a whole new system on the 25th / 26th. I was happy to see this card was unlockable to 16 pipelines but after reading about the failures, my happyness diminished.
> 
> If i attempt to flash it, and it doesnt work, whats the consequences. Do i just flash the original BIOS back and itll work? I read that if it fails to unlock after flashing the new BIOS, you wont be able to see anything on your monitor, so you cant flash back to the old BIOS.
> 
> Thanks for any replys.



Oh yea - Merry Christmas!  Good time to tinker if you don't have kids to tend with


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## Silver-Arrow (Dec 24, 2005)

Sasqui said:
			
		

> You probably do in fact have an R580 core... I *think* it depends on what you are using to detect it - but I'm no expert on that subject.
> 
> I was lucky to mess with two separate X850XT PE cards, and one core could reach 590, the other under 560 - and those were both "Built by ATI" OEM cards with the massive OTES heatsinks.   So dude, if you are 550 for the core, you are, in fact above XT PE speeds (memory too - at 600).  The highest retail PE ones I've seen are 540/590.  The "good" one I messed with reached 590/610.  Huyabusa.



Do you think it would be safe to flash to the Sapphire X850XT PE bios then?


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## Sasqui (Dec 24, 2005)

Silver-Arrow said:
			
		

> Do you think it would be safe to flash to the Sapphire X850XT PE bios then?



No, I don't think so, but who knows.  You want to practice alchemy... it sounds like you are trying to turn a card into something it's probably not.  I'd personally try the W1zzard X800 GTO2 mod first and move on from there.  Again, make sure you have a backup vid card and BIOS.  Let us know how you fair.  Merry Holiday.


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## Super XP (Dec 25, 2005)

*PC does not detect X800GTO2 ??*

I already formated several times, but for some reason my PC detects the GTO2 as a X800 XL with 16 Pipelines. Does anybody have an idea of what the heck is going on?

I can still OC though - GTO2 Core 600MHz /Mem 1200MHz
Thanks,


----------



## Silver-Arrow (Dec 25, 2005)

Super XP said:
			
		

> I already formated several times, but for some reason my PC detects the GTO2 as a X800 XL with 16 Pipelines. Does anybody have an idea of what the heck is going on?
> 
> I can still OC though - GTO2 Core 600MHz /Mem 1200MHz
> Thanks,



Same problem with my GTO2. ATITool and other programs detects it as an X800XL (R430) with 16 pipelines.  I'm able to OC to X850XT PE (540/590) speeds though.


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## Justin1983 (Dec 25, 2005)

One more quick question, do I get any benefit from the unlocked pipelines if I DON'T overclock? If I don't, what's a safe speed to OC to and will I need more cooling? The side of my case is off and my room is quite cool.


----------



## Super XP (Dec 25, 2005)

Silver-Arrow said:
			
		

> Same problem with my GTO2. ATITool and other programs detects it as an X800XL (R430) with 16 pipelines.  I'm able to OC to X850XT PE (540/590) speeds though.



O.K. I found out the problem & solved it. There are many X800GTO2's with the X800 XL bios (R430). I think ATI & Sapphire is crazy LOL, so what I did is "FORCED" flash my GTO2 into a plain 12 pipeline X800GTO2. 

When I did that, the card now reads as a X800/X850 w/ R480 core & believe it or not, full 16 Pipes. I did not even use the mod bios at all. And I flashed it in Windows (Yes, I know, that is taking a big risk LOL).

So, now I have no problems. Everything seems to be working well. How can ATI or Sapphire release cards with the X800 XL bios on them? 

P.S. I checked the card via DOS & seen that it was a R430 by default, but the VPU says R480 on it LOL,

Good Luck,


----------



## Silver-Arrow (Dec 25, 2005)

Super XP said:
			
		

> O.K. I found out the problem & solved it. There are many X800GTO2's with the X800 XL bios (R430). I think ATI & Sapphire is crazy LOL, so what I did is "FORCED" flash my GTO2 into a plain 12 pipeline X800GTO2.
> 
> When I did that, the card now reads as a X800/X850 w/ R480 core & believe it or not, full 16 Pipes. I did not even use the mod bios at all. And I flashed it in Windows (Yes, I know, that is taking a big risk LOL).
> 
> ...



Interesting.  I may flash to the X850XT PE bios once I put a better cooler on it.  How come the number of pipelines didn't go back to 12 when you force flashed it with the stock X800GTO2 bios (I'm assuming you're using the one from the bios collection page and not from the W1zzard's mod tutorial page).  I would've thought that using the stock X800GTO2 bios would lock back up the 4 pipelines.

Is there any performance increase from doing is or is it just for the sake of it showing as an R480 core instead of an R430.


----------



## Super XP (Dec 25, 2005)

Silver-Arrow said:
			
		

> Interesting.  I may flash to the X850XT PE bios once I put a better cooler on it.  How come the number of pipelines didn't go back to 12 when you force flashed it with the stock X800GTO2 bios (I'm assuming you're using the one from the bios collection page and not from the W1zzard's mod tutorial page).  I would've thought that using the stock X800GTO2 bios would lock back up the 4 pipelines.
> 
> Is there any performance increase from doing is or is it just for the sake of it showing as an R480 core instead of an R430.




Well, right now, when I instal the Cat drivers, it is not installing the X800 XL driver, it is installing the X850 driver. About performance, I think there is a little bit, but nothing to go crazy about. Though my system is a lot more stable now with the flash. I too don't know why it says that there is still 16 pipelines, because I used the original unmodded GTO2 bios ?!?!

Well, good luck with it, though you may have to force the bios change. I crossed my fingers LOL, but you really shouldn't worry, because the GTO2 is indead a R480 core & not R430.

I guess I got lucky with the 16 pipelines


----------



## Sasqui (Dec 25, 2005)

Super XP said:
			
		

> Well, right now, when I instal the Cat drivers, it is not installing the X800 XL driver, it is installing the X850 driver. About performance, I think there is a little bit, but nothing to go crazy about. Though my system is a lot more stable now with the flash. I too don't know why it says that there is still 16 pipelines, because I used the original unmodded GTO2 bios ?!?!
> 
> Well, good luck with it, though you may have to force the bios change. I crossed my fingers LOL, but you really shouldn't worry, because the GTO2 is indead a R480 core & not R430.
> 
> I guess I got lucky with the 16 pipelines




WOW.  Thats weird, but COOL...  Kind of indicates that the GPU information comes from the BIOS or drivers, not directly from the GPU - which makes sense in a way.  Maybe the're mapped somehow.  And your clock numbers are out of sight.  

*"Fleece Navy Dad..."*  

(OK, it's a christmas thing if you don't get it.)


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## infrared (Dec 25, 2005)

hmm, that's interesting for me. I've been wandering for a long time if the r430 core is compatible with the r480 bios, and i guess this kinda proves that it is compatible!!! So i can get on with the flashing, using the 'forced flash' option. I'm gonna try flashing it with a x850xt bios, that i modified to have lower clocks that my card can handle. I'm getting an arctic ati silencer 5 rev. 2 for it soon, so the clocks should go even higher. I'm hoping for 6150 points 3dmark05 if the new bios goes well, and if i can bump the clocks up a little higher with the new cooler! Perhaps i'll do a pencil voltmod if i'm feeling luck!


----------



## Silver-Arrow (Dec 25, 2005)

Just kinda curious, you guys that OC'd your card to X850XT or X850XT PE speeds.....do you guys run it at those speeds all the time (the second you turn on your PC) or only when you play games you switch to those speeds?

Btw.....this is for those on stock cooling.


----------



## Super XP (Dec 25, 2005)

Silver-Arrow said:
			
		

> Just kinda curious, you guys that OC'd your card to X850XT or X850XT PE speeds.....do you guys run it at those speeds all the time (the second you turn on your PC) or only when you play games you switch to those speeds?
> 
> Btw.....this is for those on stock cooling.



When I used Air cooling, I always had it OC'ed. Even when I was on the net. But that was because I was used to having everything water cooled. 

But now everything is water cooled again, with a nice 30C on the GPU from it's stock 400MHz to a nice 600MHz


----------



## infrared (Dec 26, 2005)

If you need to use another bios to unlock pipelines or whatever, you can modify the bios using a tool called 'RaBit' (in the downloads section), so that the new bios you flash has the right clock speeds for the card, or whatever you're comfortable with.


----------



## Peter949 (Dec 26, 2005)

*gto2 fan died*

Just info.  Bought my gto2 from newegg a month ago and fan died already.  I had it at 87% 0-50c 95% 50-55 100% 55+.  It's a p.o.s. fan.  I just ordered a artic cooling replacement.  Oh I flashed to a xt pe.


----------



## herbw (Dec 26, 2005)

I just got a Sapphire GTO2 VIVO PCI-X, Dual DVI retail unit from Newegg and running ATITool, it showed that I was already running with 16 pipelines with the default BIOS.

I am curious, would I get any other advantages with the modded BIOS?

So far it has been running great!

Thanks,

Herb


----------



## matrlx (Dec 26, 2005)

*Modded card, shadow "bugs" in Need For Speed MW!*

The shadows of NFS MW seems to be bugged. I'm not sure whether its my card causing it, or the fact that I'm using 2 sets older graphics drivers (omegadrivers). 

I would think it was my card, but when I play HL2, I haven't seen a single graphical bug. So I can't really say its the card causing.

Sure, the card is modded to 16 pipes, but the bugs appear with or without OC'ing enabled in ATI tool.

Have anyone else experienced something similar? I'm gonna try upgrading my drivers soon and see if that helps.


----------



## infrared (Dec 26, 2005)

It's most likely to be the drivers. Modding to 16 pipes, provided they're all good, (which you'd know by not finding artifacts in atitool @ stock speed) will not cause any graphical glitches.

The 5.13 cats are out now, but i've found a few bugs with them that i'll report back to ATI, so go with the 5.12 version of the omega drivers or the standard ATI ones and see what happens!


----------



## Sasqui (Dec 27, 2005)

*VIVO Features on C3D X800 GTO*

Ok, I've got 16pipes on A C3D X800 GTO, 550/540 - everything is working fine, but I cannot figure out how to go about capturing video using this card.  Is there supposed to be software included in the retail bundle? (which I have)...


----------



## infrared (Dec 27, 2005)

It's a VIVO?

hehe, to tell you the truth, i'm still stumped by that as well. There's a little yellow connector by the power connector which you obviously plug something into... but after that, i'm stuck


----------



## Sasqui (Dec 27, 2005)

infrared said:
			
		

> It's a VIVO?
> 
> hehe, to tell you the truth, i'm still stumped by that as well. There's a little yellow connector by the power connector which you obviously plug something into... but after that, i'm stuck



Funny - that was an incidental bonus...  Yea, I saw the video dongle with the SVideo IN and one for OUT (along with RCA too).  And of course, it was listed as VIVO on Newegg and the box.  The documentation from C3D is a joke, how to use it?  If you figure it out let me know - I want to experiment gettting Hi8 footage into digital.


----------



## Sasqui (Dec 27, 2005)

infrared said:
			
		

> It's a VIVO?
> 
> hehe, to tell you the truth, i'm still stumped by that as well. There's a little yellow connector by the power connector which you obviously plug something into... but after that, i'm stuck



Oh, actually I *think* the connector on the card is a second power connector, AFAIK, but NOTHING in thier documents talk about it.  The in/out connectors are on the 4-way cable shown in this pic:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Showi...6MB+GDDR3+PCI+Express+x16+Video+Card+-+Retail

Notice the composite connectors as well, that is out-only.


----------



## uno (Dec 30, 2005)

I have not read through all 151 pages, but...

I got my Sapphire X800 GTO2 today, and ATI-tools says it is a R430 core and 16 pipelines active (by default). Have things changed since the guide was written, and shouldn't the core be R480? Or is it just misidentified?

EDIT:
I saw there was a lot of posts about this just one page back, so I guess I got my answer there. Has anyone flashed one of these "XL" cards with the mod BIOS, and if so, does it make any difference for performance?


----------



## XeoNoX (Dec 30, 2005)

http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4352035?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
 OUTPOST.COM has the x850 XT for 229.00, already has 16 pipes and has an R480 core, pretty much the same thing as the GTO2


If you live close to FRYS ELECTRONICS you can get it for $199.99 http://shopping.ocregister.com/imagehandler/rop-sub/9978412 good for 5 days only so hurry!


----------



## krajicekp (Dec 30, 2005)

hello there, i got Sapphire x800GTO2 (PCX), it has enabled all16 pipes by defaulf and uses X800XL bios (readed by atitool and checked), atitool shows R430, in bios is written "R480 X800 XL BIOS". Ok so i tried to find max clocks, i got stable GPU/MEM 553/594 (with stock cooler - maybe i will later replace it with arctic ati silencer 5r2). I wanted to flash to different bios, i dont wantet to use 850XT PE cos its timings are pretty on egde on what my card can go, insted i tried to flash to X850XT (520/540 clocks). but after flash (succesfull) the fan does not work (chcescek visualy - its stopped and atitool shows 5%). ok i put back original bios, and the fan works again. Which bios shoud i use to get X850XT and working fan ?? thanks


----------



## Tyresian (Jan 1, 2006)

It's been a while since I looked at this thread, but I bookmarked it and am back. I was going to get the Connect3D X800GTO, now I might go with the Sapphire GTO2.

And the recent confusion on the board is because of this. Sapphire has a new GTO2 card out, it has VIVO and two DVI connectors on it. NewEgg says it has 12 pipelines, but people claim it comes with 16 pipelines. Now this is all good, but I have no idea what the 3DMark05 scores are for people, and why is this version of the card cheaper than the other one? (Maybe it's because it's on sale), Anyhow, maybe I'll pick it up, but $210 is alot for me to spend on a video card... Especially with the cost of school and books, you guys think it's worth it, or should I wait for the C3DGTO to go on sale again? (It was onloy $125 after Thanksgiving but my parents wanted to get it for me for Christmas, well, they didn't order it and instead gave me $125, really making me angry since I the card is now $175, lol)


----------



## krajicekp (Jan 1, 2006)

yes, mine is VIVO with 2DVI outputs, scores for default stock speeds are 10800 (3dm03) and 5150 (3dm05), and oc 13000 (almost) and 6600 (almost). Mine specs:
AMD Athlon 64 3200+@ (10x250=2500 MHz/1.45V; 2x208=416 DDR [2.5;3;3;7;1T]) • Epox 9NPA+ Ultra+ • 2x512MB PC400 Kingmax • Sapphire X800GTO2 256MB


----------



## Tyresian (Jan 1, 2006)

Well, those are pretty good scores I guess, and those frame rates are much better than I'm used to (9600XT on old comp, x550 on the current one).

Also your set-up is pretty close to mine it looks like. I have that motherboard, but then an Athlon 64 3000+ Venice Core at 9x250 = 2250, 2 x 512 MB Wintec Ampo RAM @ 250x2 = DDR500 and 3-3-3-8, 2T Timings.

Well... Geez, I don't know if I can afford the $210 for the card, but that is pretty cheap, how's the VIVO on it? Is it fast enough where I could hook up a PS2, Xbox, or GC and play without any problems?


----------



## krajicekp (Jan 1, 2006)

Tyresian said:
			
		

> Well... Geez, I don't know if I can afford the $210 for the card, but that is pretty cheap, how's the VIVO on it? Is it fast enough where I could hook up a PS2, Xbox, or GC and play without any problems?



i never tried vivo on this card, i dont use it and if i need i have Theatrix (i think that ipnut is better - and maybe not), but what the heck, i dont use it anyway.
I got a question, i quite dont understand it, you want to cennect some game console to VIVO to play it on PC and why ?


----------



## Tyresian (Jan 1, 2006)

Because in our household, most of the other television sets are always being used, and it would be nice to be able to just play on my computer monitor, and getting another TV isn't really an option, no room, lol... That's what sucks about being in a small house with a bunch of people I guess... I mean, we have plenty of TVs already, but I usually get stuck without access to one.


----------



## infrared (Jan 2, 2006)

how do you get it to display the input video stream on the monitor? and can you record the video to disk?


----------



## ibew112 (Jan 4, 2006)

*Sapphire GTO2 core speed*

I have a gto2 but can only get my core speed to 500 and 572 on memory. what are the coolers you are using, is there a new bios for faster speeds or different drivers. I want a core of 540


----------



## Silver-Arrow (Jan 4, 2006)

ibew112 said:
			
		

> I have a gto2 but can only get my core speed to 500 and 572 on memory. what are the coolers you are using, is there a new bios for faster speeds or different drivers. I want a core of 540



Each card is different.  My old GTO2 would only go 475/590.  Once the core goes pass 480, my whole PC will freeze and reboot.  I got another GTO2 and this one can do 540/590.  Luck of the draw.


----------



## ibew112 (Jan 4, 2006)

*coooling*

so you are using the stock cooler ? I saw that some of the peeps are using  zalman 70cu ? I think it was, thanks for the reply


----------



## Silver-Arrow (Jan 4, 2006)

ibew112 said:
			
		

> so you are using the stock cooler ? I saw that some of the peeps are using  zalman 70cu ? I think it was, thanks for the reply



Yup, stock cooling for me.  I'm too scared to switch to AC5 LOL.


----------



## mulderx (Jan 4, 2006)

hi~
I just bought Sapphire X800 GTO² and opened successfully 16 pipelines.  However, I can't overclock over 500 for core freq. by atitool,but can 590 for ram freq. I run 3Dmark2005 for testing and find the temperature is about 56C at 500 for core freq. Do you think is the bad core problem or the cooler problem? If I replace the cooler, does it help overclock to higher freq.
Thanks so much.


----------



## RatusNatus (Jan 4, 2006)

Well, another unmodeable C3D GTO from newegg here.
Already send a mail to Wizzard.

cheers


----------



## Locutus_UT (Jan 5, 2006)

Yup, me too!  From newegg.com as well.  Sent email to wizard.  But was still able to overclock to 520/540 and squeaked out a 5700 on 3DMark05!


----------



## RatusNatus (Jan 5, 2006)

Dumb questions here.

Using the modified flash utility should i flash back the original bios?
1- flashrom -f -p 0 BIOS16.bin     to get 4 pipes
2- flashrom -f -p 0 OLD.bin         dont know why should i do that.... will it reduce my pipes?

Is this correct? If i flash back how can i keep the 16 pipes?

Cheers


----------



## Megatron (Jan 5, 2006)

Im pretty sure u dont use the -f command the 2nd time to keep 16 pipes.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Jan 5, 2006)

RatusNatus said:
			
		

> Dumb questions here.
> 
> Using the modified flash utility should i flash back the original bios?
> 1- flashrom -f -p 0 BIOS16.bin     to get 4 pipes
> ...


To do that you have to use something other than the modified flashrom utility, like the regular flashrom version or atiflash.


----------



## RatusNatus (Jan 5, 2006)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> To do that you have to use something other than the modified flashrom utility, like the regular flashrom version or atiflash.


The thing is, in Wizzard's article, he says to click "here" to more instructions but there is just Atiflash instructions.... i didnt find any instructions to do that with the another flash thing.
Do i need to flash back the old bios? Why?


			
				Dynamic said:
			
		

> New method
> 4) after boot, type flashrom -s 0 c3dgto.bin - this will save ur current bios
> 5) flashrom -f -p 0 (modified c3d bios filename)


Will this work to GTO2?

Please Shadow, can you post the commands to do it *with the modified *flash utility.

Many thanks to you and Megatron.

cheers


----------



## Ruthless (Jan 5, 2006)

Bought Sapphire X800 GTO² from ebuyer.com 2 days ago, went to do flash this today only to discover is was already running 16 pipelines. Did some test's to confirm my finding and running 3dMark05 i get a score of 4990 which confirms my 16 pipelines out of box, so now just overclocking to do. Also it has the R430 chip not R480, Thought id report my findings as this was a surprise to me.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Jan 6, 2006)

RatusNatus said:
			
		

> Dumb questions here.
> 
> Using the modified flash utility should i flash back the original bios?
> 1- flashrom -f -p 0 BIOS16.bin     to get 4 pipes
> ...





			
				ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> To do that you have to use something other than the modified flashrom utility, like the regular flashrom version or atiflash.





			
				RatusNatus said:
			
		

> The thing is, in Wizzard's article, he says to click "here" to more instructions but there is just Atiflash instructions.... i didnt find any instructions to do that with the another flash thing.
> Do i need to flash back the old bios? Why?
> 
> Please Shadow, can you post the commands to do it *with the modified *flash utility.
> ...


What I was referring to is that for the steps you mentioned, you would use the modified flashrom for flashing to a 16 pipeline bios, as you mentioned.  However, when flashing back to your old bios, if you want to keep the pipelines you must not use the modified flashrom.  That's the part that I was saying to use the regular flashrom for.


----------



## Sasqui (Jan 6, 2006)

*VIVO Feature with Connect3D GTO???*



			
				Sasqui said:
			
		

> Ok, I've got 16pipes on A C3D X800 GTO, 550/540 - everything is working fine, but I cannot figure out how to go about capturing video using this card.  Is there supposed to be software included in the retail bundle? (which I have)...



Anyone actually tried capturing video with the Connect3D X800 GTO?   I know, who cares... it's all about 16 pipelines and getting XT PE speeds


----------



## RatusNatus (Jan 6, 2006)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> if you want to keep the pipelines you must not use the modified flashrom.  That's the part that I was saying to use the regular flashrom for.



Humm, well, i saw somewhere in this treat, someone telling to flash back to the original bios cus there are some fan problems with the modded bios.
Is there any reason to flash back to the original bios?

I'm asking this cuz I'v made a small tuto in portuguese and this questions will show up soon.
http://www.forumpcs.com.br/viewtopic.php?t=141318&start=0

Sorry, my english is very poor.
cheers


----------



## enigmaxp (Jan 9, 2006)

Regarding the fan questions, I did some research in the past and found out that when overclocked, the voltage sent to the fan to control how fast it is running is sporradic and unstable.  I've heard of a couple people have their artic cooling 5 coolers die this way with the mod.  The solution provided by Artic Cooling was to get power from the fan directly from the power supply unit rather than onbard your 800GTO2.  I'm not sure if this happens only because of the mod or if it affects all GTO2 Units.

You can do this by following the directions

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=61&data=6&disc=

The actual way I used was to take the power plug from a case fan which had a 3pin to molex connection adapter.  I connected the corresponding artic silencer connector to the 3pin side and plugged the molex into a connector from the power supply. no cutting required! Hope this helps somebody.

Oh yeah, as for the clock speeds...everyone's cores is different...hence the reason why they didnt make it as production chips for x850xt and x850xt pe's. Like everyone else is saying, its truly the luck of the draw.  I was able to get mine only to 520 for the core, but have no problems pushing my memory clock speed 600 and beyond.


----------



## RatusNatus (Jan 10, 2006)

enigmaxp said:
			
		

> Regarding the fan questions,



Well, i saw here somewhere that people with the cooler connected directly to a PSU(AC) cant use an specific bios(850XT i think) and people with a cooler connected to the VGA(Zalman) has no problem.
I cant find it anymore. I tryed.
Maybe Shadowflare can tell us more.

Iv find my max OC here. My C3D GTO locked made 5250 with 535 core and 535 mem with no errors.  
Is there a reason to both core and mem reach the same number? I dont care anyway...

cheers


----------



## Teh Gimp (Jan 10, 2006)

I have a Sapphire X800 GTO². For OC'ing I can get stable 585 core/625 mem but I run it at 580 core/620 mem to include possible margin of error. I run stable with stock cooler for hours on end, no lock ups. Temps with stock cooler in my system are at 71-75C GPU load, 40-45C GPU idle. I just tried to unlock my pipes following the article here, and in DOS when I go to start the flashrom program and I type "A:\>flashrom" I get a message "error trying to read flashrom.rom". I made sure I included all the flashrom files that I got from the d/l link. Any ideas? This is my first run, I'm going to re-download everything and try a new CD burn and I'll see if the situation changes.


----------



## VTwedge (Jan 10, 2006)

i have my c3d gto at 520/520 and i score around 6100. i can push it to 520/580 and still be stable. thats over x800xt pe speeds! i wonder why it never made it as an x8--xt pe in the firtst place. oh and am using an AC silencer 5 rev 2 idle temp is 33-35 and max in ati tool is around 55any ideas why this wasn't picked up as an x800xt pe? posted my scores below


----------



## Sasqui (Jan 11, 2006)

*Moddable Connect3D X800 Core Picture*

OK, here's mine 16 PIPE 570/560, bare Connect3D X800 core:






Picture of Koolance GPU cooler (the MEM coolers were cut to accomdate the stock cooler):






Comments and flames welcome.


----------



## infrared (Jan 11, 2006)

Yeah, i was gonna fit ramsinks to my x800xl before i realised the stock hsf overlapped the 4 ram chips on the front, so kinda left it. Getting the AC ATI Silencer for mine, which should be interesting.


----------



## Sasqui (Jan 11, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> Yeah, i was gonna fit ramsinks to my x800xl before i realised the stock hsf overlapped the 4 ram chips on the front, so kinda left it. Getting the AC ATI Silencer for mine, which should be interesting.



I used a vise to gently hold the ram chips and a dremel cutoff wheel to chop off the neccessary HS fins.  The only problem is that the thermal adhesive on these is some clear 3M stuff that resembles rubber cement and started to melt as I was cutting, so I'm not sure if I compromised the interface material - the modified chips "wiggle" with a slight force, while the others on the opposite side don't seem to.  

I did this this for two reasons, one to test the memory speed with the stock HS and second, so I could put the stock HS back on if needed.

I did see an improvement for sure - I was at 546 before adding the ram sinks, now at 560!


----------



## poo417 (Jan 11, 2006)

Hi, My brother has just got the connect 3d GTO from overclockers.co.uk.  Looking at the info in ATI tool it is modable, all F's in the right place.  I will give it a try when I see him next and see how it goes.  What can go wrong with this flash?  Is it just the same as a normal flash?

Poo


----------



## infrared (Jan 11, 2006)

As long as you flash the correct bios, its usually perfectly ok, just like a normal flash like you said! If it does go wrong, and you end up with a blank screen, it's easy to Blind Flash, since there is only 1 short command you'll need to type in to recover the old bios! Just make sure you backup the original bios before flashing! ATITool has this option in the misc section.

Good luck!


----------



## Sasqui (Jan 11, 2006)

poo417 said:
			
		

> Hi, My brother has just got the connect 3d GTO from overclockers.co.uk.  Looking at the info in ATI tool it is modable, all F's in the right place.  I will give it a try when I see him next and see how it goes.  What can go wrong with this flash?  Is it just the same as a normal flash?
> 
> Poo



Ditto to Infared - Plus I keep a Old Matrox PCI card handy just in case.  It saved my ass when I flashed an MSI RX9800 with the wrong BIOS - thankfully I made a backup of the original and got it working fine again in a few minutes, then I finally hunted down the correct BIOS, which wasn't easy to find.

Good luck - make sure to do benchmarks before and after!


----------



## Sasqui (Jan 11, 2006)

RatusNatus said:
			
		

> Iv find my max OC here. My C3D GTO locked made 5250 with 535 core and 535 mem with no errors.
> Is there a reason to both core and mem reach the same number? I dont care anyway...
> 
> cheers



No, but there is some divider or delta that keeps the latency Between the Mem and CPU in some sort of optimal syncronization - there's options in ATI Tool for it.


----------



## hankvb (Jan 12, 2006)

I just flashed the bios of a dual DVI card and lost the second DVI output.  VGA still works on the second DVI with the VGA adapter.  I need the ORIGINAL Bios to reset card.  Can anybody help?  Send bios for a Sapphire PCIe Dual DVI card to jerrytr@bellsouth.net.  I'll investate farther an see if there was an accident in flashing.  This is the first Dual DVI card I flashed, the others were DVI/AGP


----------



## VTwedge (Jan 12, 2006)

*update on scores*

set the memory command rate to 1T and the scores jumped up along with increased bandwidth
heres the new scores:3dmark05:6208 i included the escell file below and a new pic of my aquamark score. card is c3dgto modded to 16pipes running 520/520


----------



## nspot (Jan 12, 2006)

Hi.  I just had a quick question about the PowerColor X800GTO.  Is it able to be flash modded to an X850XT like the Connect3D or the Sapphire models?  It uses the R430 core.  I'm not sure about the fuses on it.  I haven't purchased it yet, but it's on sale at newegg for cheap.  Thanks in advance for any help.

- nspot


----------



## infrared (Jan 12, 2006)

No, the R430 core is way too slow. Though i'm gonna try to flash mine into a X800XT soon. It should be able to handle the speeds with the new cooler, and if not, i'll modify the bios to have lower clocks. The powercolor x800xtos are usually locked at 12PP though. Your best bet would be to go for the sapphire x800 gto2 with the R480 chip. They basically ARE the X850XT's.


----------



## millyons (Jan 14, 2006)

well there is the powercolor x800gto 16 witch comes, and is advertised as 16 pipes but its still 430, so low clocks


----------



## RobTheGob (Jan 16, 2006)

Sasqui said:
			
		

> Anyone actually tried capturing video with the Connect3D X800 GTO?   I know, who cares... it's all about 16 pipelines and getting XT PE speeds



I was able to caputure video just fine with my C3D X800 GTO, using ATI Multimedia Center...


----------



## Rodster (Jan 16, 2006)

Hi everyone great forum. Maybe someone here with a little more knowledge than me can help me out. I followed the instructions on the GTO2 mod to a tee. I'm getting what a previous poster was getting which is Error : OFLO1

I typed the command: fl*ashrom.exe -p 0 sapphi~1.bin* 

The follwing message appears:

Serial Rom
BIOS Device ID = 0x5D4F
ASIC DEvice ID = 0x5D4F
Existing SSID = 0x1600
New SSID - 0x0302

SSID does not match BIOS file "sapphi~1.bin" SSID !
use '-f' to force flashing
Error OFLO1 'press '1' to continue

So next I tried flashrom.exe -f 0 sapphi~1.bin and it accessed my floppy drive no screen messages and then I got the A:\ prompt. I tried it another way flashrom.exe -f sapphi~1.bin and same thing.

I booted into Windows XP brought up ATitools, held down shift key, clicked on settings and I still see 12 pipelines. Based on the mod instructions and the info in ATItools my card is modiable. Or is it?

Is there something i'm doing wrong by chance? Any help would be greatly appreciated !

Thanks


----------



## infrared (Jan 16, 2006)

lol... it's flashrom.exe -p -f 0 [bios name].bin

You've got to keep the -p there!


----------



## Rodster (Jan 16, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> lol... it's flashrom.exe -p -f 0 [bios name].bin
> 
> You've got to keep the -p there!



Thanks bro, you're right lol. I found my answer on another thread. Somebody else did exactly what I was doing and he was corrected as well. I read to type *flashrom.exe -f -p 0 xxx.bin*, I heard the chimes after it was done. I went back to Windows and 16 pipes and my card now reads X800/X850 

I couldn't be happier and thanks for the reply IFR !


----------



## infrared (Jan 16, 2006)

Congratulations man! Glad it worked for ya!


----------



## Waszipa (Jan 18, 2006)

FINALY!

The Sapphire GTO2 arived in Denmark just a week ago 

Me and one of my m8s got these new cards from my DK shop. But bouth card was allready runing 16 pipes... I called the shop and asked about it but they said "Sapphire must have premodet it?!" Does Sapphire do that?

Wizzard do you what this original Sapphire GTO2 whit 16 pipes PREMODET?

Runing 3DMark 05 5200  |  out-of-the-box
Runing 3DMark 05 6638  |  400/500MHz @ 545/621MHz coling: 64 degreas at 55 % fan speed

The skumbag:
AMD 64 3500+ 2.2GHz @ 2.45Ghz
MSI K8N NEO Platium nFroce 4 Ultra
2 x 512 DDR 400Mhz Duel channel
Sapphire GTO2 256 MB GDDR3


----------



## Waszipa (Jan 18, 2006)

Wizzard I of corse meant do you need the BIOS from the crad to examian or something???


----------



## Teh Gimp (Jan 18, 2006)

Woot I used a different boot CD creation method and I was able to get into flashrom no problems! I had to force flash to get it to work, but now I'm officially an owner of a 16 pipe X850 XT PE ++ on the cheap! Thank you Sapphire! 580 core/620 mem at 71-75C load core and 51-57 ambient.


----------



## ChrisMansion (Jan 19, 2006)

*Any luck with flashing HIS x850 PRO VIVO?*

Just dumped into this article right now on the edge of completing my computer-parts-buy at the "local webshop", and came to think of something:

Have anyone had any luck flashing a Hightech Excalibur X850PRO VIVO (AGP) to a X850XT PE? I think of buying either this one, or the X800XL (with more pipelines) from the same manufacturer, but if it will flash, then I suppose the 850Pro will be a better buy? 

Anyone had any experience with this card, or should I go for the X800XL?
Thankful for any response


----------



## roycebayles (Jan 24, 2006)

*R430 NaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHH*

 I've had a D.O.A. and 2 working x800GTO2's now from new eg...g and both came with X800XL recognized bioses and stated that they had R430's I was Heart broken lol but i took the cooler off and IT WAS AN R480 AFTER ALL    SO i flashed it with a x850xt bios cos it wasn't a speed racer 520 core barely stable.Anyway after i flashed it my fan was dead and i didn't know it til my card got 85 deg.C  so i reached in and felt for air none!then i looked in there and fan was out to lunch!So i hooked it up on my X800PRO and it was official it choked.So if your goona Mod and u wanna keep ur stock cooling try a fan or an alternative that is expendable if possible.My new card is 585 core and 639 mem MAXed not stable but it's much better than the 525/589 of my previous one.Haven't flashed it yet cos im scared to loose my fan.


----------



## roycebayles (Jan 24, 2006)

*OK i see now*

I just flashed my gto2 and i used my x800 fan to see if it was going to burn it up!it didn't but i would run for about 4 or 5 seconds then stop,the same with my gto fan.So i got out my ATI sil 5 Rev2 put it on the plug and it kept going!So now im flashed and have a fan on my card I'm happy with that.


----------



## Megatron (Jan 24, 2006)

Why flash the card with a bios that is not meant for it?  You can edit the original bios to 16 pipes and any clock speed, and presumable you would have no trouble with the fans.  There must be some fundamental incompatability because ATItool specifically has an option for x850 PWM (pulse width modulation) fan control.


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## infrared (Jan 24, 2006)

I think they do it just so they can say it's now an x850xt personally. I agree, i'd stick with the original bios and do a little modifying, you'd also save yourself the trouble of having to reinstall drivers.


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## ShadowFlare (Jan 24, 2006)

You can even mod your X800 GTO2 bios for the dual-dvi version to properly say it is R480 if you want, by using the guide I posted here: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=8060

BTW, if you do try it, then let me know if it changes the performance or overclocking ability on your card.  Of course, it is possible that it will only change that it is properly shown as R480.

For my own card, I've modded it to say "RADEON X850 XT Platinum Edition" in Windows.   Of course, since my bios was already R480, there was not even the slightest chance of it changing performance by modding the bios to detect as X850 XT PE.  I just wanted it to have that name.


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## cendien (Jan 26, 2006)

*X80XTPE Bios?*

Just got this card in my new system two days ago. 

Athlon 64 3200+ Venice @ 2.0ghz
1gb (2x 512) DDR 400 RAM
Sapphire X800GTO2 @16P 510/510
EPoX EP-9NPAJ Motherboard

I performed the flash flawlessly using the ISO made by someone (can't remember his name, someone else posted with it though.) The card shows up in ATITool as a x850 series, but as far as i know it wasnt an x850 bios that it was flashed to. 

Ive been trying to overclock the card, and I cant get much better clock speeds than those listed above (510ish on both core and mem). And even that can be pushing it, depending. I've been reading through this thread and I saw a few people mention that flashing to the X850XTPE bios will sometimes allow a higher overclock. (I found this one on the BIOS page here: X850 XT PE (PCI-E) 256 MB. Would that be the correct X850 bios? I do have the PCIE version of the X800GTO2.)

Is this a safe flash to perform on this card? If so, what do you think about how well it will overclock at that point? Also, would it be worth it to upgrade to an AC5 HSF in regard to overclock potential? 

Thanks for your help!


----------



## infrared (Jan 26, 2006)

If you get an ATI Silencer from Arctic cooling, you will be able to achive a much higher overclock, while keeping your graphics card nice'n'cool! As it is, your card isn't running quick enough to support the x850xtpe bios, so you'll need to get a new cooler on it before attempting the flash, unless you modify the clocks of the bios first.

Is the bios in it now the x850xt? If it is, flashing to the x850xt pe will do absolutly nothing for overclocking potential on the core, but might change the timings on your ram, but your unlikely to gain much if any performance.

Congrats on it anyway, nice card!


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## ShadowFlare (Jan 26, 2006)

If you want to have the X850 XT PE memory timings, the settings to change in ATITool for you X800 GTO2 are these:

MEM_TRP - Change to 5
MEM_REFRESH_RATE - 0x1E

Those are the only differences and using those brings my 3dmark05 score up to what it would be with the X850 XT PE bios at the same clock speeds.  Of course, this only has a very minimal impact on performance - it only increased my 3dmark05 score by about 15.


----------



## cendien (Jan 26, 2006)

I dont beleive it is currently X850XT... I'm at school right now and can't  check for sure (Will in about 2 hours..). All I know atm is that it showed up in ATITool somewhere as an X850 series card. Dont know what that means in terms of what Bios is in it, but I think all that is in there is the X800GTO2 with 16P enabled. Anyways, I think I will go ahead and purchase the cooler. What exactly in the card would prevent it from going higher on clock speeds (what creates the artifacts)? Is it the heat that prevents it from being any further overclocked? If so, I guess the cooler would in fact raise the potential. Or is it something else that would prevent it? I just dropped around $650 in this system and dont have much cash to spare, so if buying the cooler isnt going to show much increase in performance I dont know if I want to shell out the money for one right now. That aside, is it very difficult to install the cooler? I'm pretty new to the overclocking world (as I'm sure is evident). 

Compeltely off topic: I tried overclocking my CPU (A64 3200+ Venice) from 2.0ghz to 2.2ghz through the bios. Just raised the frequency from 200 to 220. The system started fine and DXDIAG showed the system at 2.2ghz, but when I loaded FarCry and clicked on the Campaign button the system froze immediately. Tried several times, and troubleshooted for a minute. The only fix was to pull the CPU back down to default settings. Any idea what I did wrong? 

Sorry for going off topic there. Ignore that if you want.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Jan 26, 2006)

cendien said:
			
		

> I dont beleive it is currently X850XT... I'm at school right now and can't  check for sure (Will in about 2 hours..). All I know atm is that it showed up in ATITool somewhere as an X850 series card. Dont know what that means in terms of what Bios is in it, but I think all that is in there is the X800GTO2 with 16P enabled. Anyways, I think I will go ahead and purchase the cooler. What exactly in the card would prevent it from going higher on clock speeds (what creates the artifacts)? Is it the heat that prevents it from being any further overclocked? If so, I guess the cooler would in fact raise the potential. Or is it something else that would prevent it? I just dropped around $650 in this system and dont have much cash to spare, so if buying the cooler isnt going to show much increase in performance I dont know if I want to shell out the money for one right now. That aside, is it very difficult to install the cooler? I'm pretty new to the overclocking world (as I'm sure is evident).
> 
> Compeltely off topic: I tried overclocking my CPU (A64 3200+ Venice) from 2.0ghz to 2.2ghz through the bios. Just raised the frequency from 200 to 220. The system started fine and DXDIAG showed the system at 2.2ghz, but when I loaded FarCry and clicked on the Campaign button the system froze immediately. Tried several times, and troubleshooted for a minute. The only fix was to pull the CPU back down to default settings. Any idea what I did wrong?
> 
> Sorry for going off topic there. Ignore that if you want.


The preinstalled cooler for the GTO2 actually is fairly good.  If you can't really afford to buy a new cooler right now, then that's just fine, you don't really necessarily need one.  What does your card do when going past your max stable gpu overclock?  Does it have artifacts or does it just crash?  If it just crashes, then it is fairly likely that installing a new cooler will not improve gpu overclocking one bit.  I had one that was like this.


----------



## cendien (Jan 27, 2006)

For the purpose of overclocking the card:

When it comes to games, is it better to have a higher memory clock or a higher core clock? I can get my core higher than what ive got if i lower the mem some and of course it works backwards as well.


----------



## amazingmaze (Jan 29, 2006)

*problem*

hi there.

i get an error message when flashing the card:     (sapphire GTO2)  
__________________________________
Flashrom -p 0 Sapphire.bin

Serial ROM

BIOS Device ID =0x5D4F
ASIC Device ID =0x5D4F
Existing SSID   = 0x1600
New SSID       = 0x0302

SSID does not match with BIOS file "Sapphire.bin" SSID !
Use "-f" to force flashing

ERROR 0FL01: press "1" to continue
___________________________________

what should i do?


----------



## infrared (Jan 29, 2006)

use this command line:

flashrom -p -f 0 shapphire.bin

Basically, it's just giving you the warning that the bios is not intended for that graphics card.

Also, as you flash the bios, your card will try to 'preserve' some rom settings, such as ram timings. To get around this, use the following command:

flashrom -p -f -newbios 0 sapphire.bin

If the bios is completely non compatible, or you get a bad flash, and you end up in a worst case scenario (blank scree) Blind flashing is very simple.

restart your computer with the boot disk in the drive, wait until your computer stops loading from the disk. Type "flashrom -p -f -newbios 0 oldbios.bin" <== Assuming you called the original bios 'oldbios.bin'. You may have to ammend the command if it's different.

Cya


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## KGB44 (Jan 29, 2006)

Hey guys...

I have bought my Sapphire X800GTO² two days ago. 

Tried to overclock it with 12 Pipes: 580/630 ( 1260DDR) runs fine!
No Problems, with Standard Cooling.

I have flashed the GTO² with 16 Pipes, running without any problems @ 580/630.

 

But now i want to flash a real Sapphire X850XT PE BIOS, becouse it looks nicer and frequency is @ 540/620 or something. ...Can i do that ?

Can i use Winflash instead of DOS ATIFLASH oder Flashrom?

THX guys


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## infrared (Jan 29, 2006)

It's fine to use the x850xt pe bios, your card can handle the speeds, and is basically the x850xt.

WinFlash should be fine, but there is an increased risk of having a bad flash, in which case, you'll need to know how to flash from dos so that you can blind flash the original back if all should go pair-shaped.

Also, see if you can get hold of an ATI Silencer 5 rev.2, you should get at least 600mhz on the core.


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## Vini (Jan 29, 2006)

Couple days ago I got myself a SAPPHIRE RADEON X800 GTO² card.
Flashed no problem and ATITool is showing 16 pipes.
However overclocking is not going so well. Getting frozen with just a little bit of increase in core speed.

So I was just wondering if it could be because my card does NOT have that black 6-pin power connector that you can see on all of the pictures? In the place where that connector supposed to be there is nothing. I can see 6 holes that are filled with tin where that connector is supposed to be but its just not there.
Smaller white 4-pin connector is there but I don't know what to connect to it.

I also got myself an ATI Silencer 4 (Rev. 2). Local suppliers did not have ATI Silencer 5 (Rev. 2) so I had to go with it since it says that it is supposed to be good for ATI X800 (R420) SE, PRO, XT, XT PE... I haven't tried putting it on yet so I can return it if its no good.
Can ATI Silencer 4 (Rev. 2) be really used on GTO² card? Anybody tried it?

Any ideas why overclocking is so bad?

EDIT: I double-checked on http://www.arctic-cooling.com and it seems that ATI Silencer 4 (Rev. 2) and ATI Silencer 5 (Rev. 2) have the same Compatibility charts. So supposedly ATI Silencer 4 (Rev. 2) should fit on my GTO². I'm just trying to check if anyone has any experience with it.


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## amazingmaze (Jan 29, 2006)

thx     it worked!!!


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## KGB44 (Jan 29, 2006)

Hey 


Thx for reply 

i dont know why, but my stock cooling is not bad. Only 55 or 60°C on running 3D Mark 2003 / 2005. With oc-test (ati tool) no flashing pixels or something. After 1 hour stress test temprature reaches ~ 62°C

...Is this to hot ?


THX


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## leonard_222003 (Jan 29, 2006)

*X800 GTO fireblade question*

Hy , i recently bought a sapphire X800 GTO fireblade , good overclock ( core 580 memory 600 max but i keep them at 570 core and 590 memory) , very loud cooling solution.I came across the "X800 GTO and GTO² to X850 XT Mod" article and i want to try see if i can too have a 16 pipes X800.My card have a R480 , fusses in ati tool are 
CONFIG_DIE_FUSES                0xFFFF7FFF 
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES     0xFFFFFF9E
and here is a screenshot(attachement) of the fuses with ati tool.Can i mod it ?
(excuse my english is not my native language)


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## KGB44 (Jan 29, 2006)

I think the "E" means: no way...


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## KGB44 (Jan 29, 2006)

I must correct me...

if you speak german, you can read here:

http://www.forumdeluxx.de/forum/showthread.php?t=181245


The "E" means: with hardware mod you can reach 16 Pipes...with a little bit luck...


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## leonard_222003 (Jan 30, 2006)

*X800 GTO fireblade*

Thank you very much for the reply KGB44.I'll do some research and try to mod it hardware.I will reply with news if it worked.


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## KGB44 (Jan 30, 2006)

Nice, that i could help you 

I will read again here, if you or another one reply's to my post. 

Stay tuned


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## Lux770 (Jan 30, 2006)

Hi,
I made a stupid mistake: I changed the memory timings in ATITools; thinking that the "reset" button would revert to the default timings, I didn't make note of the original values. Of course the new values generate lots of artefacts so I want to revert to the old ones.
Could anyone give me the default timings please?
My GC is a Sapphire X800GTO², flashed to 16 pipelines.

Thanks!


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## infrared (Jan 30, 2006)

Hi, your best bet is to reflash your bios to restore the original timings. When you reflash, make sure you use the -newbios tag in the command line so the ram timings aren't preserved.

If you havn't saved your bios, you can download it from the ati bios collection.


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## Lux770 (Jan 31, 2006)

thanks, it worked!


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## infrared (Jan 31, 2006)

Cool! I'm glad to hear it!!

lol, i also learnt this lesson the hard way!


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## Lux770 (Feb 1, 2006)

yeah: Never assume an application will do what you expect until you have proof.


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## twinsen (Feb 3, 2006)

*Do these saphire x800gto2 come with 16 pipelines out the box*

I got my x80gto2 on thursday i downloaded the atitool and checked the version and stuff according to the article it had both the red F s but when i looked at the amount of pipelines it already said 16 it also says its chip type is R430. I have used atitool to overclock it to 604Mhz clock and 580Mhz ram. Im going to try it on some 3d apps right now.


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## bwohl (Feb 4, 2006)

I got a GTO2 from ZZF delivered last night. Fired it up and was at 16 pipes already and R430 core. 
Pulled the HS off for my waterblock and sure enough - R430 and the speeds suck.


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## twinsen (Feb 4, 2006)

I got my x800gto2 from here http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X800PCI_Series.html
it was fing advertised as the R480 core and even says its got the modable pipelines.
Im not really complaining though because you can still get an awesome overclock on it. Im running 604 core and 590 mem and its stable. I reckon its running slightly faster than x800XL which costs about £50 more so im not tht fussed. Bloody shame though. 
PS is it worth getting an arctic silencer for it because at the moment im running stock and it gets upto about 68 degrees C.


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## grimerking (Feb 5, 2006)

I've got a Sapphire X800GTO2. I've done the mod, but ATi Tool is showing the GPU to be an R430. 

I've removed the heatsink and the chip is actually an R480. Appart from the potential clock speeds, is there a difference between the R430 and R480 chips? 

Should I use an X850XT bios? Ati Tool claims that X850XT speeds 520/550 are causing artefacts, but I can play games with no problems. 

Any ideas?

Rob


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## twinsen (Feb 5, 2006)

you can only get 520/550 how come i can get 604/580 is it just luck or sumthing


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## grimerking (Feb 6, 2006)

Going above 530 on the core, causes my PC to lock up and the ATi Drivers to reset. 

I haven't really tried taking the memory too high. I've just applied Arctic Silver 5 to the card, so I'll wait a couple of weeks and see how high I can go. 

The core temp never goes above 65 though. Do you think it might be a power issue? maybe the card is not getting enough juice?

Rob


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## twinsen (Feb 6, 2006)

I duno but mine seems to go upto about 75 degrees C after playing css for a few hours. Im using the standrad pcix power connector and my psu is an antec Neo HE 430W.


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## RatusNatus (Feb 15, 2006)

All of this new GTO2 with blue PBC came with 430 core?
There are any blue GTO2 with 480 core?

cheers


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## ShadowFlare (Feb 15, 2006)

RatusNatus said:
			
		

> All of this new GTO2 with blue PBC came with 430 core?
> There are any blue GTO2 with 480 core?
> 
> cheers


To me it sounds like the blue one isn't really worth the price difference between it and the red one.


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## twinsen (Feb 17, 2006)

All i know is mines red so its prob a 480 disguised and maybe there is some mod which saphire have done to make it seem like a 430.



> I've got a Sapphire X800GTO2. I've done the mod, but ATi Tool is showing the GPU to be an R430.
> 
> I've removed the heatsink and the chip is actually an R480.



Mine seems to be running good so im happy


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## Natural_mystic (Feb 20, 2006)

Thank you W1zzard for your valueable Mod 

even if I don't need it. After reading your thread, I choose to take the Sapphire X800Gto² instead of the 850XT and as like some others, my card comes with 16 pipelines from default. And it have a R480 and Samsung 1.6ns, shown as R430 X800XL.

To all other readers for information:

I try some overclocking and 540/590 seems to work without problems. So I flashed (with original Sapphire BIOS) to 850XT PE and it seemed to work fine, but after a couple of hours gameplay, my System crashed sometimes. So I changed cooling, because I've an old Zalman VF700Cu from my 9800pro and temperatures sink about 15-20°C -> from 55-75°C to 33°-58°C. But the problem doesn't go away, so I clock down GPU to 520 and since then, everthing works fine. RAM goes up to 630 without problems. Perhaps it's a problem with my power supply, 'cause I've an (really) old Enermax with 350w and my Venice 1.8Ghz is clocked to 2.4Ghz.

For Guys who think about flashing to 850XT PE and use another cooling solution:

I don't think it isn't worth to give up guarantee. Overclocking doesn't perform better, even if Temperatures are much better with Zalman VF700Cu, but I think the original cooling solution is working good enough for the most cases. Ok, the Zalman@5v is a little bit less noisy, but I don't think it's really remarkable. The original cooling solution is one of the best original cooling solutions that it've ever seen or heard 
And for those guys which card doesn't overclock very well, don't worry, the difference between original clockings with 16pp (400/500) to XT PE(540/590) is very small. In Games, I'am not really able to see any difference. In Furemark05 some hundred points, btw. my System makes 6606 with Asus An8-E, Venice E3 3000+@2.4Ghz (9x270), 1GB & X800GTO²@XT PE@540/590.

Conclusion:
For 190€@my local dealer, really nice performance, a little bit over x850XT and for sure enough for the games I play. With a "low" buget where's no room for 1800XT or 7800GT, best choice.


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## infrared (Feb 20, 2006)

Thanks for the post, interesting to see the temperatures with the old cooler on it. How noisy is it at 100%?

Overclocking makes a huge difference on most cards, but it really depends how everything else in your system is set up, some people see bigger increases than others i guess.

I'm gonna be buying another ATI silencer 5rev.2 to go on mine when i get it, then it's gonna be flashed into the x850xt pe, and maybe i'll modify the bios to overclock it further. But it might be better to just use the 3d detection on atitool.

Can't wait to get one!


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## Natural_mystic (Feb 20, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> Thanks for the post, interesting to see the temperatures with the old cooler on it. How noisy is it at 100%?


I got 4 cooler in a CS601-Case, a modded 80mm@5v in the Enermax, the little 40mm monster@chipset of mainboard which is the most noisy in my system, a Coolermaster Hyper 6 (about 1Kg of Cu) with a 80mm@5v from YStech and the cooling from Sapphire (now Zalman). 
For Sapphire-Fan-control, I used personal values with ATT from Ray Adams:
50%= desktop= not to hear / till 60°
75%= normal gaming= not really remarkable /till 70°
80%= hardcore-benchmarking (like X³/FM05) >15min. /till75° / noisy
100% = yes, makes noise, but without manually start, the fan doesn't work@100%, because temperature never was >75°

Over all, the original Sapphire is very silent. I'am used to change noisy fans, but even as a silent-freak, the Sapphire-one imho doesn't need to be changed. Only if you need deeper temperatures. I think the Zalman @12v= Sapphire-original@75%, Zalman@5v = Sapphire-original@50%



> Overclocking makes a huge difference on most cards, but it really depends how everything else in your system is set up, some people see bigger increases than others i guess.


You always have to look at the weakest point. That means CPU/RAM/GPU/Chipset. The Gto² performance grows over 25% with OC'ing. In the most cases bullshit, enough is enough (btw. good song from Chumbawamba), but sometimes, it's good to have some reserves. Like X³ with 4xAA & 16xAF. 



> I'm gonna be buying another ATI silencer 5rev.2 to go on mine when i get it, then it's gonna be flashed into the x850xt pe, and maybe i'll modify the bios to overclock it further. But it might be better to just use the 3d detection on atitool.


I think the silencer is a good cooler, but I think flashing to x850xt is only cosmetic and overclocking to 99% needless. But I think I understand how you feel, I don't have fun with hardware when I've no possiblity to mod around *g*. 



> Can't wait to get one!


It's a cool stuff of hardware, anyway.

Good Luck


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## steve_bee (Feb 20, 2006)

*Sapphire X800 gto2 limited edition performance issues with x850 bios*

Hi, I`ve been following this site for some time now and reaped the performance increase of the 9800se mod to 9800 pro and thought I would buy an x800gto2- so I did...

I received a Sapphire x800gto2 limited edition with no external power socket...
A lot of you were saying the x800 gto2 would display r430 in atitool and 12 pipes- It did, the fuses displayed were the neccessary fuses required for the mod so I proceeded to flash with the x850 bios...

It booted up ok, when prompted I reinstalled the ATI softmod drivers (x850) and kept the clock settings as standard.
ATITOOL displays R480 core and 16 pipes unlocked but found games like need for speed most wanted skipping frames. I then researched more and found that after modding with x850 bios the fan speed settings sometimes get messed up so I manually overrode the fan settings in atitool and tried playing again but still not smooth even at 1024/768! I tried clocking the card and the core will go up to 430 and the mem 530   even clocked it does not run smooth and my system ran better with my old sapphire gto @ 550/550 which is £30 cheaper.

It is not related to any other components in my system as I have an AMD 4200 x2 with 2gb ram and 2x 200gb running sata2 along with this card all running on an NF4 chipset.

Any ideas? Is it because there is no external power? Is it the stock cooling?Could it be that the ram isnt samsung 1.6ns nor the core a r480? it seems to be a r430 with 2.0ns - oh the fun.

I made the mistake of not saving the cards original bios so If anyone has it please email it to me...
It is a GTO2 Limited edition with 1xvga,1xDVI & 1xSVideo with no external power socket.

Thanks, Steve


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## infrared (Feb 20, 2006)

Wow, the roumours are true. I'd heard about a new x800gto2, with the r430 core, and no power cable, but i wasn't sure if it was true or not.

If you can only clock it up to 430mhz, then it is likely that it is the r430 core, and the memory look like it's 2.0ns memory, as oppsoed to the 1.6ns used in the standard gto2, and the x850xt.

If i were you, i'd send it back, and ask the suppliers if they could check the cards to see if any have the power connector, which would mean that the card is the good gto2 with the r480 core, and 1.6ns memory.

Your pretty much stuck at the lower speeds with that card though. Man i hope i don't get one of those when i order one next.

Good luck.


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## adizonevic (Feb 21, 2006)

Well, here is my wrap-up:
Got myself the Sapphire gto2 - blue PCB, no power connector, 12 pipes and R430 reported in ATITool.
Initial overclocking makes me think it's really an R430 with 2.0 ns RAM (GPU 535, Mem 550)
Fuses looked good for unlocking, so I flashed the card with the modded bios, and got 16 pipes now. Max clock remained the same, however game performace did increase.
The only concern that I've got now is if the modded BIOS is compatible with with R430 and 2,0ns memory?
Thanks...


----------



## grunge (Feb 21, 2006)

*what's the difference?? Well........*

Hi ppl, 

I've been following the Sapphire GTO2 saga for a few weeks now.

I just upgraded from a 9800pro & got a Ath64 3500, DFI mobo & a GTO2 from ebuyer.

it was the blue PCB & no power supply  after a few days research and emails to sapphire it turns out there are 2 variants of the GTO2.

the blue pcb one has indeed got the R430 and only 12 pipelines as standard (it's a x800xl with the gto2 bios) and has the mfr# 21067-00-20. with 1 VGA & 1 DVI output

The red pcb GTO2 with power supply & R480 core is the real deal with 16 pipelines from the off has mfr# *21067-00-21* dual DVI and VIVO

As ebuyer advertised the GTO2 as having the R480 core and the one I got hadn't I RMA'd it with no problem (they've now deleted the R480 reference from their site!).:shadedshu 

I found the real GTO2 on dabs and got it on friday...it's the real deal!  

I've put a AC silencer rev5 on it and using ATI Tool its running 520/540 (too scared to go any higher!) 29c idle up to 47c after 2 hours of CoD2.

I'm considering flashing it to the x850xt bios but I see from earlier posts its not really worth it. (thanks for the info)

I think its' really lame of sapphire to put out 2 versions but, they mention nowhere in their advertising or info the R480 core so, they covered their asses.  

luckily I sorted the differences out before ebuyer changed their site and they had no comeback on my reasons for an RMA.

btw, dabs have over 100 of them left!


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## infrared (Feb 21, 2006)

adizonevic said:
			
		

> Well, here is my wrap-up:
> Got myself the Sapphire gto2 - blue PCB, no power connector, 12 pipes and R430 reported in ATITool.
> Initial overclocking makes me think it's really an R430 with 2.0 ns RAM (GPU 535, Mem 550)
> Fuses looked good for unlocking, so I flashed the card with the modded bios, and got 16 pipes now. Max clock remained the same, however game performace did increase.
> ...



ok, your lucky, 535mhz is way beyond the capabilities of the R430, which maxes out at around 450mhz, but it does look like the ram is 2.0ns.

You should be find to use a standard x850xt bios with it, but make sure you make a backup of the original before flashing.


----------



## adizonevic (Feb 21, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> ok, your lucky, 535mhz is way beyond the capabilities of the R430, which maxes out at around 450mhz, but it does look like the ram is 2.0ns.
> 
> You should be find to use a standard x850xt bios with it, but make sure you make a backup of the original before flashing.



Correction... I can push the GPU to 435 (not 535), so it's r430 for sure...
I did make a backup of the original BIOS (11x-xx600asa-001) and flashed with the modified x800gto2 version (16 pipes). I suppose the modified version comes from R480/1,6ns version, this is why I'm wondering about compatibility.  
Thanks!


----------



## twinsen (Feb 21, 2006)

YAY tht means mine is a proper r480 well i guess it is since i can play css  for >3 hours without a crash. I think there may be a problem with the latest driver though as occasionally games just freeze straight away like when loading. I was using 603 core and 580 mem but temperatures got into 80s so i tuned it down to 530 540. This was done with standard cooling idles at 42 C which is quite high but my old 6800gt idled at 62 so its prob good. How high can these chips take because mine went up to 98 during a long gaming session. But seems to have survived


----------



## infrared (Feb 21, 2006)

Wow, 603mhz on the core is awsome! What cooler does it have? With a decent cooler, you could exceed that by about 30+mhz, and the temps should be a little more comforting!

ATI rates the chips for an absolute maximum of 120c... But 100c will lower the lifetime of the core by a lot! I think the lifetime's halfed for every 10c more? I'm pretty sure i remember that correctly.

Anyway, you've definatly got a nice one.

adizonevic:

Sorry to hear yours is the r430, i'd ask the supplier about getting it changed, but you may not have any luck. Where did you get it?

I emailed the guys at www.tekheads.co.uk , and they gave me some BS reply saying the boxes are factory sealed, so we cannot check what card is in the box, which definatly does not inspire me with great confidence. I think they have checked, but just don't want to loose a sale by telling me they have the rubbish version.

I'm gonna check around and see if any other distributors are more helpful.


----------



## twinsen (Feb 21, 2006)

Im sure they would have recieved all the info for tht batch they probably order them in bulk mayb 30 at a go so they r probably all the same type.

how long is the lifetime of a chip anyway
They usually go for years and years with no probs even if u oc them. Well  im sure it will last the next 2 years.
Its just using the standard cooler at the moment but i will prob get an artic silencer rev 2 x850 model shud provide significant noise and heat loss.

On my first run at overclocking the card my ati tool crashed and i never realised it was running in background. But it put it all the way upto 650 + Then it kinda crappered up ig and big squares stated appearing. Thought id busted it after about half an hours use


----------



## adizonevic (Feb 22, 2006)

Well, I guess I will have to live with my R430, and quite frankly I'm not that unhappy with it.
Managed to push it to 435/570 last night with fan set to 100%. Temp stayed at 57c, no artifacts in atitool
3dmark05 score with stock speed and 16p came up to 5100, and OC'd to 435/570 up to 5650
That's not a bad result I think, somewhere between x800xl and x850xt... correct me if I'm wrong...


----------



## Super XP (Feb 22, 2006)

Well, I will ne throwing my card on eBay soon. All 16 pipelines were already unlocked via factory.

R480 Core
1.6ns GDDR3
OC'ed easy to 600/1260
Already flashed to X850XT 
Dual DVI
VIVO
etc.

Nice card & performs great. Rock stable in other words.


----------



## KGB44 (Feb 22, 2006)

Hey guys, today my new GTO² comes to me, becouse my old one crashes all the time in games. The fan was not as fast as before...damaged i think.


Today, a new card comes, in retail and with all brand new.


The new GTO² has the R480 too, and overclocking is much nicer  

The old card: 567/608

The new one: 608/648 without any modifications and stock cooling


----------



## twinsen (Feb 22, 2006)

My ass do u get 648 for mem you git. i only get 580.


----------



## KGB44 (Feb 22, 2006)

Yes, ca. 1300 MHZ DDR


----------



## infrared (Feb 23, 2006)

Thats incredible... i wander how far it'd go with the vdd/vddq voltmods. You could exceed 700 easy! You got a lucky one 

Be sure to put some benchmark scores in your sig, 3dmark05 would be nice! 

Happy gaming!

~IR


----------



## rocky_balboa (Feb 25, 2006)

well, i just bought a sapphire x800gto card..
looks like a fireblade, cousa it has a second slot cooler..

anyway, it has a r480 core as 12pp
can it be moded?
im afraid do do something wrong and loose the card =(


----------



## KGB44 (Feb 25, 2006)

Download ATI TOOL, open it.

Press and Hold (!)  the "SHIFT" Key and go into the "Settings" Menü in ATI TOOL.

There you can see "fuses"

CONFIG_DIE_FUSES 
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES


Please post your Numbers and Digits...


----------



## rocky_balboa (Feb 25, 2006)

thanx 4 the reply!

CONFIG_DIE_FUSES   0xFFFF7FFF
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES   0xFFFFFF9E


----------



## KGB44 (Feb 25, 2006)

Your Graphic Card is with a little luck modable...

But you can't flash only another BIOS, you must do a Hardware Mod.


You need a little bit time, a sensitive hand  , silver lack or a pencil. But i dont know i a pencil works...


You see the two points on the attached image? You must do a little line around the cut...


The two points must have contact to each other...

If you do that with a pencil, you can't destroy your card i think. If you do it with silver, you must do it good, and without contact to the cut.

...

Happy Modding


----------



## ShadowFlare (Feb 25, 2006)

KGB44 said:
			
		

> Your Graphic Card is with a little luck modable...
> 
> But you can't flash only another BIOS, you must do a Hardware Mod.
> 
> ...


Don't even bother, that doesn't exist on R480's, so there is no reason to take the cooler off unless you are either replacing the thermal compound or changing the cooling.


----------



## lixtek (Mar 1, 2006)

I bought A red GTO2 with powerconnector...as far as good. It came already with 16pipelines without flashing the bios. 
Anyway I am very disappointed, because when I try to find the max. core and memory it just goes until 500/550. 
Would the overclocking abilities better if I flash a new bios like described in wizzards guide?


----------



## KGB44 (Mar 1, 2006)

No, not really...the overclocking is only limited by physical. If you flash another BIOS, you would be able to get 510 MHZ Core and 560MHZ Memory...nothing more without VGPU or VDD Mod...


----------



## Super XP (Mar 1, 2006)

lixtek said:
			
		

> I bought A red GTO2 with powerconnector...as far as good. It came already with 16pipelines without flashing the bios.
> Anyway I am very disappointed, because when I try to find the max. core and memory it just goes until 500/550.
> Would the overclocking abilities better if I flash a new bios like described in wizzards guide?



Well, the only advantage you will have for flashing your bios to a X850XT R480 core is when you instal the drivers for your card. It will auto instal the R480 drivers, not the R430 which is what the card reads @ stock.

I did testing & found that when my card was running @ stock speed but read as a R430 w/ 16 pipelines, I gained a little more performance @ the same speed when I flashed to a R480 bios, but had to downclock to the original speed to find out if that would give it any performance.

Plus I also found that I had more stable OC's when my system read my card as the R480 & not the R430.

This is why I gained 550 core & 1150 Mem on AIR & 610 Core & 1260 Mem on Water


----------



## Azn Tr14dZ (Mar 2, 2006)

Can i benefit from flashing the BIOS or modding an ATI Radeon X800XL R430?


----------



## grunge (Mar 2, 2006)

Excuse my ignorance but, where could I get the bios for the R480?


----------



## lixtek (Mar 2, 2006)

Thanks, for your replies! I hope a biosflash will work! Perhabs KGB44 is right and it is a physical thing...but I have to test it with a biosflash. 
@superxp : I have a gto2 with an r480, which xt bios would you recommend? 
THX for help!


I tried several Bios the 850xt from spphire and powercolor. The problem is my fan always stops working after flashing the bios. Any solutions?


----------



## Mulder (Mar 2, 2006)

I have an HIS X800GTO ICEQII Turbo with a power connector.

Here is the ati tool screenshot:





It also says R480. Can i flash this card to 16 pipes? If so, which bios should I use?

Thanks.


----------



## Migons (Mar 3, 2006)

News from Finland:
ATI has loosen up its restrictions regarding new  X800 GTO cards. It seems that almost every manufacturer's new X800 GTO cards should be moddable to 16pp. Sapphire X800GTO Lite cards even have 1.6ns Samsung memory. And because of this, Sapphire supplies X800GTO2 cards now with 16pp (so nothing to mod anymore). 

That's what I've read, and thought maybe you're intrested too   But this situation seems to be at least in Finland, I don't know about the other countries.

|EDIT| Oh, some of that info is already listed on the article (update 30st Jan).


----------



## grunge (Mar 3, 2006)

lixtek said:
			
		

> Thanks, for your replies! I hope a biosflash will work! Perhabs KGB44 is right and it is a physical thing...but I have to test it with a biosflash.
> @superxp : I have a gto2 with an r480, which xt bios would you recommend?
> THX for help!
> 
> ...



Use ATI Tool to override fan settings and load @ startup via registry key.....sorted!


----------



## ajhtiredwolf (Mar 6, 2006)

So I did the little test of is my card mod capable for my x800 GTO connect 3d card. It looks like it isn't :-(, here are the results. My question is, is there anything else I can do? Is there another way to mod it?


----------



## millyons (Mar 6, 2006)

grunge said:
			
		

> .......the blue pcb one has indeed got the R430 and only 12 pipelines as standard (it's a x800xl with the gto2 bios) and has the mfr# 21067-00-20. with 1 VGA & 1 DVI output
> 
> The red pcb GTO2 with power supply & R480 core is the real deal with 16 pipelines from the off has mfr# *21067-00-21* dual DVI and VIVO.......



Can this be checked on the box or only on the cards themself, thanks......nm you can see the cards in the sapphire boxes, they got the see through window right?


----------



## infrared (Mar 6, 2006)

grunge said:
			
		

> Use ATI Tool to override fan settings and load @ startup via registry key.....sorted!



Flashing the GTO2 sometimes affects the fan control setup on the graphics card, fan control via ATITool doesn't work after this.

The answer is to use a custom modded bios, which will show up as an x850xt pe, have whatever clock speeds you want, and most importantly won't screw up the fan control.

I know your only trying to help out, but try to be patient with people. What i mean is the "......sorted!" part might not go down to well


----------



## grunge (Mar 7, 2006)

millyons said:
			
		

> Can this be checked on the box or only on the cards themself, thanks......nm you can see the cards in the sapphire boxes, they got the see through window right?



There isn't a window on the box, there's a computer printed label on mine with the mfr number, part number etc.

mfr# 21067-00-21 is what you need to look for on the label, these are the R480 core GTO2's.


----------



## brad7777 (Mar 7, 2006)

*Saphire X800GTO 256 AGP*

I ordered a saphire x800gto 256 AGP can i do that mod on a AGP card?

and it said it was a gto2

thanks


----------



## infrared (Mar 7, 2006)

To my knowledge, there is no AGP version of the gto2, it's a gto wrongly labeled.

Anyway, once you get it, open ATITool and show us your fuse data to be sure.


----------



## millyons (Mar 7, 2006)

grunge said:
			
		

> There isn't a window on the box, there's a computer printed label on mine with the mfr number, part number etc.
> 
> mfr# 21067-00-21 is what you need to look for on the label, these are the R480 core GTO2's.




is that label on the box also or just on the card?


----------



## brad7777 (Mar 7, 2006)

*hehe*

i wont get video card untell wendsday ill tell you then i know its AGP

thanks 
brad


----------



## grunge (Mar 7, 2006)

millyons said:
			
		

> is that label on the box also or just on the card?



My apologies, the label is on the box.

I didn't notice one on the card.


----------



## millyons (Mar 7, 2006)

thanks man


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 7, 2006)

brad7777 said:
			
		

> I ordered a saphire x800gto 256 AGP can i do that mod on a AGP card?
> 
> and it said it was a gto2
> 
> thanks


I've noticed there have been quite a few of those recently that have been moddable to 16 pipelines.  You might be lucky and get one of those.


----------



## infrared (Mar 7, 2006)

hey shadowflare,

I just got my x800gto2 through. I havn't tried it yet, since the power connector was missing.

Have you got a modified bios that reads as an x850 without screwing up the fan control? I think i saw one posted, but i can't be bothered to read through 163pages!! 

I'm putting my ATI silencer on it, so i expect it to be able to handle x850xt pe speeds. I'm going to volt-mod it as soon as i have the time as well. Can't wait to see how it performs!! my samsung 2.0 used to do 610mhz, so i wander how far the 1.6 will go!

Thanks


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 8, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> hey shadowflare,
> 
> I just got my x800gto2 through. I havn't tried it yet, since the power connector was missing.
> 
> ...


Which X800 GTO2 is it?  If it is the one with dual-DVI, then I don't have a bios file for that.  I guess I haven't downloaded one from anyone for that yet.  The only bios files I have are for the ones from before they released the dual-DVI + VIVO version.

So what is it you want exactly?  Do you want it saying it is a X850 XT or X850 XT PE?  If so, I could do the mod for you if you want me to.


----------



## infrared (Mar 8, 2006)

I think it's the one with VGA/DVI, and no VIVO.

I'll be home in a few more days, so i'll see what clocks it can do. Hopefully it will be able to handle xtpe clocks.

Thanks


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 8, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> I think it's the one with VGA/DVI, and no VIVO.
> 
> I'll be home in a few more days, so i'll see what clocks it can do. Hopefully it will be able to handle xtpe clocks.
> 
> Thanks


Here's the bios that I currently use for my VGA/DVI, no VIVO R480 GTO2; I'm attaching it to this message.  It is modded to 16 pipelines and with the X850 XT PE name.  No modified clocks or anything else besides the pipelines and name.  I've been using this one for quite a while now with absolutely no problems.  BTW, this is from the retail boxed GTO2.


----------



## infrared (Mar 9, 2006)

Oh cool, thanks 

I'm gonna compare the x800gto2 ram timings to the x850xtpe timings, and have a play around with those in RaBit.

Also, on my gto2, there's a small block with two switches, covered in tape. Do you know what that is? It's begging to be fiddled with!  

Thanks again!


----------



## Frogger (Mar 9, 2006)

[QUOTE:
there's a small block with two switches, covered in tape. Do you know what that is? It's begging to be fiddled with.
    Have seen them before but can't find any one who will tell what they do.  I want to fiddle too!


----------



## ajhtiredwolf (Mar 9, 2006)

Guess that means theres nothing I can do?


----------



## ber.koe (Mar 9, 2006)

*??sapphire GTO² can not be modded??*

I am rather hopeless. I had tried tried to free the 16 Pipelines but atitool and other software reports that it is still 12 Pipelines. Using AtiTool the board hast to be moddable (s. atached jpg-file). I had done the flash as well with flashrom and atiflash using the Bios from http://www.techpowerup.com/articles...P.Samsung16.bin. Also I have try it with the Catalyt and the Omega driver. But no chance to open the 16 Pipelines. Also the 3DMark-Benchmark do not increase. 

As a diagnostic I made a report with the tool of the Omega driver as well with the original and the new bios. These reports are in the atached pdf-document. The differences are marked up in red. I have no idea anymore  I hope that a specialist in this forum can help me. Thanks a lot!!


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 9, 2006)

ber.koe said:
			
		

> I am rather hopeless. I had tried tried to free the 16 Pipelines but atitool and other software reports that it is still 12 Pipelines. Using AtiTool the board hast to be moddable (s. atached jpg-file). I had done the flash as well with flashrom and atiflash using the Bios from http://www.techpowerup.com/articles...P.Samsung16.bin. Also I have try it with the Catalyt and the Omega driver. But no chance to open the 16 Pipelines. Also the 3DMark-Benchmark do not increase.
> 
> As a diagnostic I made a report with the tool of the Omega driver as well with the original and the new bios. These reports are in the atached pdf-document. The differences are marked up in red. I have no idea anymore  I hope that a specialist in this forum can help me. Thanks a lot!!


What did you do to flash the bios exactly?  According to the picture you posted, you can get 16 pipelines, but your bios is still set at 12 pipelines.  You must not have flashed the bios properly, since those fuses show that the bios is still blocking out 4 pipelines. (CONFIG_ROM_FUSES)


----------



## infrared (Mar 9, 2006)

Try using atiflash. It's always worked great for me.

Once you have that, and the new bios on the floppy, reboot, and use this command line:

atiflash -p -f -newbios 0 [bios name].bin     (zero, not o)

You're probably didn't add the -newbios tag. Without that, some of the settings from the original bios will not be overwriten.

Good luck


----------



## ber.koe (Mar 10, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> Try using atiflash. It's always worked great for me.
> 
> Once you have that, and the new bios on the floppy, reboot, and use this command line:
> 
> ...



Thanks a lot. You are right; i do not use the parameter -newbios. I do  it exactly in that way written in the instruction (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles//overclocking/vidcard/34/8). There is no "-newbios" parameter. Is this a new parameter of atiflash/flashrom?? I will try it tomorrow and will report what happens. 

What kind of graphic driver do you prefer? The ATI-Catalyt or the omega driver?


----------



## infrared (Mar 10, 2006)

i use the catalyts, they've always worked well for me. The omega drivers work great as well though. I'll probably have a play with them when i get back home, and run some benchmarks and see if there's any difference.

There is a 'modified flashrom' about, that basically uses the -newbios tag without you having to type it in. It just tells the flashing software to completely rewrite the bios, instead of keeping some settings. I'll talk to a mod and see if i can modify the post.

Good luck


----------



## brad7777 (Mar 11, 2006)

*agp card*

ok there is alot of threads about flashing the bios i just want to make sure i dont mess up a video card i just bought its AGP ati saphire x800gto and here is a photo can i still bios mod it if its agp?

ps trying to post pic hope this works


----------



## infrared (Mar 11, 2006)

Yep, the fuse data indicates that you can flash a bios to unlock the last quad.

When you flash, i recommend using atiflash, and make sure you use this command line:

atiflash -p -f -newbios 0 [biosname].bin

good luck


----------



## brad7777 (Mar 12, 2006)

*flashed*

I flashed just like you had it not your falt now my card does not start up does that mean
i need a pci video card to fix it used atiflash -p -f 0 modbios16.bin could i have done somthing elts wrong or is it because its agp?

thanks brad


----------



## trents (Mar 12, 2006)

Can't answer your question about the agp issue but you definitely will have to get a pci card to reflash the bios; that is unless you can are very good at typing blind. Is there a used computer shop near you where you can buy an old, cheap pci video card? Any will do. You just need it to display ASCI characters on the back and white boot up screen so you can type the flash commands. Hope you saved your old bios file.


----------



## brad7777 (Mar 12, 2006)

*ok*

ya i tryed to get it to boot up start up disk and type blind would not boot
that far and ya lucky me i did back up bios.  do you think its posible i fried the video
card?

thanks brad


----------



## trents (Mar 12, 2006)

It's always possible that you fried the card but I wouldn't jump to that conclusion. The bios you attempted to upgrade to, is it something that is commonly working for other folks? What is it designed to accomplish, just overclocking or opening up more pipes as well?

Try taking the card out of the slot and then put it back in. Maybe it would reset or something. Things inside an atx case often get trickle voltage even when you don't think they are active.

I still would pick up an old pci card if I were you and try it again when you can see what you are doing.


----------



## infrared (Mar 12, 2006)

you can 'blind flash' back to the original bios.

The steps of this are to insert the floppy with atiflash, and your original bios,
turn on your pc, and wait for it to stop loading from floppy
type the following: atiflash -p -f -newbios 0 [biosname].bin
wait for the floppy drive to stop working again,
remove disk, and restart.

Which bios did you use?


----------



## brad7777 (Mar 13, 2006)

*i did woot*

I thought i was out of a ati x800 gto agp.  had to go to bestbuy to get a pci card
and after alot of work was able to fix it with old bios. then used winflash and this bios that
some one posted some where for agp cards and unlocked it.

thanks for all your help guys.

brad7777


----------



## infrared (Mar 13, 2006)

excelent, glad you got it working again!


----------



## ber.koe (Mar 13, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> i use the catalyts, they've always worked well for me. The omega drivers work great as well though. I'll probably have a play with them when i get back home, and run some benchmarks and see if there's any difference.
> 
> There is a 'modified flashrom' about, that basically uses the -newbios tag without you having to type it in. It just tells the flashing software to completely rewrite the bios, instead of keeping some settings. I'll talk to a mod and see if i can modify the post.
> 
> Good luck


  Thanks a lot! The hint with the "-newbios" tag solves the problem. Now it works well.


----------



## elfen (Mar 13, 2006)

Hello, I'm knew around here, i have a GTO2 ..this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102645
It has 16pipes a R480 core and an x800xl bios.
I thoght it should be a x850xt with a x800xl bios and cooler. And i flashed it with the X850xt pe bios... It froze when i opened the spinning cube in atitool. Then i flashed it with the x850xt bios...same problem... Of course, i didn't save my original bios (damn smart). and finally.. i started to read the forums... I wish i did that in the first place. So i ajusted the speeds and i got it working at 505 gpu and 610 mem...
So, is it normal, to be that low ... a mean the gpu. I thougt it could go higher than 540mhz...
What is wrong or what did i do wrong... Does anyone has a modified bios for this type of gto2, or at least an orginal one?

PS: I have an Ati Silencer 5 rev 2....so there's no heating problem


----------



## giorgos th. (Mar 13, 2006)

go to Ati bios collection and pick the suitable bios for your card.


----------



## elfen (Mar 13, 2006)

hmm... i dont' know if the dual dvi bios listed there is the same as my dual dvi+vivo board..


----------



## MoaFun (Mar 14, 2006)

hi

any anyone tell me if this version can be overclocked 21067-00-50

else i ll be buying 21067-01-21 <<(this can be overclocked right ??)


----------



## infrared (Mar 15, 2006)

wtf is it? Serial number?

If it's a graphics card, then yes, they can all be overclocked.


----------



## MoaFun (Mar 15, 2006)

i meant flash it to x850xtpe


----------



## infrared (Mar 15, 2006)

Yes, it's easily done on that card. It has all the same physical components.

For some reason flashing to that bios can cause the fan control to stop working correctly, so there's a modified x800gto2 bios, that will make your card show up as an x850xtpe, while still giving you perfect fan control.

I can send you the bios when you get the card if you like.


----------



## elfen (Mar 15, 2006)

can you get me a bios for this too? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102645


----------



## grunge (Mar 15, 2006)

21067-01-21 refers to the Sapphire manufacturers number. (one of my earlier posts explains the significance of this number)

My gto2 is mfr# 21067-01-21 = R480 core, Red PCB + pwr socket.

I flashed it to an x850xtpe & with an AC Rev5 silencer I'm getting 28C idle & 48C max temps.

I must have used the same bios infrared will kindly send you as I've not had an fan probz.


----------



## infrared (Mar 15, 2006)

Ok, here's the bios.

It's for the Red PCB, R480 core, 1.6ns memory, 1xDVI, 1xVGA, no VIVO.

The vivo feature can be added by opening it in RaBit.
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/ATi-Radeon-BIOS-Tuner.shtml

It uses stock clock speeds for the gto2, but again, they can be changed to whatever you want in RaBit.

Enjoy!

ps: Thanks go to shadowflare for sending me this bios


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 15, 2006)

For the vivo + dual dvi version, it would be better if someone would send me their bios for that and then I could do the same mod on that bios.


----------



## giorgos th. (Mar 15, 2006)

i cannot open Rabit.it says that there is a problem with rabit.sys driver or smth.
what to do?


----------



## giorgos th. (Mar 16, 2006)

ok.i used 1.7 version and it works.


----------



## elfen (Mar 19, 2006)

can someone please send me an original gto2 100130VIVO(dual DVI + VIVO) bios.


----------



## morely (Mar 21, 2006)

Hey guys,

I'm a newbie to this overclocking business.  I just got the GTO2 (Limited Edition) and tried flashing the bios with apparent success.  I rebooted the computer and all 16 pipelines were unlocked. My display driver read as a Radeon X850 series card.

Then I tried testing this out by downloading the demo version of Need for Speed Most Wanted and the image looked messed.  The text was crap, artifacts everywhere, and graphics out of place.  So I rebooted, flashed back to the old bios that I saved, and tried the game again...and voila, it worked.

Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?  I'd love to have 16 pipelines and overclocking at 500+ like everyone else here.

Appreciate any help that comes this way.


----------



## Super XP (Mar 21, 2006)

morely said:
			
		

> Hey guys,
> 
> I'm a newbie to this overclocking business.  I just got the GTO2 (Limited Edition) and tried flashing the bios with apparent success.  I rebooted the computer and all 16 pipelines were unlocked. My display driver read as a Radeon X850 series card.
> 
> ...



Well, your problem may be that your GPU & your GDDR3 memory are both running way too hot or it don't have enough volts. 

If you try going after market cooling, it may work out for you. I never had that problem, & pushed my GTO2 I used to have @ 630MHz GPU & 1260MHz GDDR3 - what more do you ask for with that insane Rock Stable OC  Though I had it water cooled mind you, which helped.


----------



## morely (Mar 21, 2006)

Super XP said:
			
		

> Well, your problem may be that your GPU & your GDDR3 memory are both running way too hot or it don't have enough volts.
> 
> If you try going after market cooling, it may work out for you. I never had that problem, & pushed my GTO2 I used to have @ 630MHz GPU & 1260MHz GDDR3 - what more do you ask for with that insane Rock Stable OC  Though I had it water cooled mind you, which helped.




Thanks XP, I WAS using ATI Tool to test my max speeds before trying the game.  I'll flash it again with the board cool and see what happens.

_Two follow up questions:_ 

1) Does it matter how many times I flash the Bios in DOS? I must've switched back and forth from the old bios to the new one a couple of times now.
2) Is there a modified Bios out there that doesn't change the profile of my card to an x850?


----------



## Super XP (Mar 21, 2006)

morely said:
			
		

> Thanks XP, I WAS using ATI Tool to test my max speeds before trying the game.  I'll flash it again with the board cool and see what happens.
> 
> _Two follow up questions:_
> 
> ...



Well, I must of falshed my card like 15 times LOL, so I really don't think there is a limit of how many times you falsh. "BUT" if anything goes wrong, you can lose your card. So, becarful.

As for the mod bios, you can try using Rabit 1.7 or something to mod the bios yourself. See if that works. Plus is your card a GTO2 ?


----------



## Frogger (Mar 21, 2006)

DOLF noted one one of the other pages that the chip will have a limited #of flashes it will tolerate before it stops runnig but I suspect each chip is different


----------



## morely (Mar 21, 2006)

Super XP said:
			
		

> Well, I must of falshed my card like 15 times LOL, so I really don't think there is a limit of how many times you falsh. "BUT" if anything goes wrong, you can lose your card. So, becarful.
> 
> As for the mod bios, you can try using Rabit 1.7 or something to mod the bios yourself. See if that works. Plus is your card a GTO2 ?



Yeah I flash in DOS to reduce the risk of something going wrong.  I'll keep it to a minimum though.  The box I bought says "GTO2 Limited Edition" and in display properties it says "Radeon x800 GTO"...so I'm assuming it's the right card.

I'm wondering though - how many people out there have their profile change to the x850 after flashing? and how many stay the same (i.e. "GTO" profile)?


----------



## Frogger (Mar 21, 2006)

you can change profile(name of card?) with RABIT1.7  all you have to do is change device ID  read this  .....http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=8060


----------



## morely (Mar 22, 2006)

Frogger said:
			
		

> you can change profile(name of card?) with RABIT1.7  all you have to do is change device ID  read this  .....http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=8060




Thanks Frogger! That's exactly what I needed.

Okay, last question I swear.  What are ideal temps to be running the VPU and board?  I open up Trixx and my VPU Temp shoots up from 35 degrees to 55 degrees without having done a thing.  I mean, what are dangerous temp levels?


----------



## Frogger (Mar 22, 2006)

did the read up on Trixx ,not up on that one, correct if I'm wrong..you flashed 800gto  to an 850 card bios ... ?what speed is card running at before loading Trixx(temp 35c)?... ?when Trixx loads it sees card as 850 and set to default speeds(pro 500/500 xt 520/540  xtpe 540/590)  Gto stock speed 400/490!  IF you still have stock cooling &the trixx prog loads XT or XTPE core/mem  the temps will shoot up even at idle let alone in a game  try useing the ATI tool to check the start up core/mem speeds  post reply will be back F


----------



## jamesmack (Mar 22, 2006)

my temps jump up to usually between 50 -54'c
i think its a normal thing with the trixx software, the same thing happens when you click on show 3d view in atitool. i dont know why it happens though.


----------



## infrared (Mar 22, 2006)

It suddenly increases because the card is under load. 50c to 54c is fine


----------



## twinsen (Mar 22, 2006)

just ordered maself a VF-900CU zalmans latest vga cooler. Only got it cause overclockers didnt have the x850 arctic cooler any1 heard anythiung bout this. Could only find two reviews on net but it looks promising. http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=192&code=013
Might make it a bit quieter and cooler aparently its not due to be released until april. Ill let you guys know wat it dus when i get it.


----------



## Frogger (Mar 22, 2006)

jamesmack said:
			
		

> my temps jump up to usually between 50 -54'c
> i think its a normal thing with the trixx software, the same thing happens when you click on show 3d view in atitool. i dont know why it happens though.


 
  If I read the Trixx software correctly it is an overclocking tool and even when you load it  should not cause temps to run up    IE Ati tool well not cause temps to rise just by loading the app yuo must put the card under stress(3d view) to get the temps to run up  ??? When you run TRIXX does it show a 3d window  ?? does it start to run up the clocks on card??
  It must do somthing to stress the card and cause temps to rise   ??WHAT are your stock speeds now??


----------



## morely (Mar 23, 2006)

Hey guys, thanks for all the feedback. You've been more than helpful.  I flashed my card back to the old bios so it's my plain old x800 again (more on that later).  The temp does indeed increase as soon as the Trixx logo or ATI Tool cube appear.  If 50-54 degrees is normal, then I'm in the clear.

As I said, I flashed back to my x800.  Why?  Because a friend of mine in the tech industry told be that sometimes, there are manufacturing defects in x850 cards...i.e. only 12 pipelines work...and so the manufacturer will rebrand it an x800, even though the specs are the exact same as the x850.  This happens about 20% of the time...and since my card still glitches when unlocking all 16 pipelines, I maybe be one of those unfortunate few.  

Some of you probably already knew that, but it was news to me.  I think I've learned to accept the fact that my card can't be modded.


----------



## Nosada (Mar 27, 2006)

Hello everyone,

After long deliberation I've decided to go ahead and try this GTO² unlocking of pipelines. I did however have a slight problem. I'm currently in the middle of nowhere, and the PC I brought along has no floppy drive installed (I know, "booo!", shame on me). Only today I saw a link in one of the BIOS flashing guides on this very site towards some program that would allow me to flash my video card from windows. So I went and installed ATI's winflash, using the "force" option cause, well, I didn't know any better, and using this websites own GTO bios with unlocked pipes.

Safe to say all did not go as planned. My PC hung on pretty much every 3D app I threw at it and to top it off, the pipes weren't even unlocked. Rolling back to the original BIOS (the one from this site again, I was too enthousiastic to make my own backup) solved most of the problems, although the card still is prone to giving out while doing 3D apps overclocked.

Pre-flash ATItool gave me my first artifact at Core 550~ Mem 620~, so I rolled them back to 520/600 (I tried 540 but it was just not stable enough). Post flash, I can no longer overclock without getting artifacts, so the card is back at it's 400/490 default.

I'm pretty sure both my current problems and the ones directly after the flash are caused by bad flashes, so I'd like to be able to perform a full flash, pipes and all. So my question is this: Can I perform a complete flash (aka -newbios) without absolutely requiring a floppy drive. Can I use winflash in a certain way that it will have the exact same result, or can someone link me to a page that explains (in laymans terms, since I am far from an expert) how to write a bootable CD that will allow me to get into DOS and perform the flash?

Thanks in advance,
Nos


----------



## twinsen (Mar 27, 2006)

mine is always kept under 70deg c and usually under 60 im running at 600/585 with vf900cu which is far far supirior to the standard one temps drop by 10-12 deg and alot quieter.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 27, 2006)

Nosada said:
			
		

> Hello everyone,
> 
> After long deliberation I've decided to go ahead and try this GTO² unlocking of pipelines. I did however have a slight problem. I'm currently in the middle of nowhere, and the PC I brought along has no floppy drive installed (I know, "booo!", shame on me). Only today I saw a link in one of the BIOS flashing guides on this very site towards some program that would allow me to flash my video card from windows. So I went and installed ATI's winflash, using the "force" option cause, well, I didn't know any better, and using this websites own GTO bios with unlocked pipes.
> 
> ...


What does your card look like?  Based on that information, I could give you a bios that would likely be identical to the original.

1) Does it have two DVI-I connections or just one DVI-I and one DSUB (analog VGA) connection?
2) What color is the card overall?
3) Does it have some yellow little parts near the bottom in the back?

These 3 things about the appearance will help me determine what bios you need.  The first is probably the only that matters for determining, though.


----------



## Nosada (Mar 27, 2006)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> What does your card look like?  Based on that information, I could give you a bios that would likely be identical to the original.
> 
> 1) Does it have two DVI-I connections or just one DVI-I and one DSUB (analog VGA) connection?
> 2) What color is the card overall?
> ...



1) One DVI, one analogue.
2) Darkish red.
3) Not that I can see without disassembling the PC (dark room + losta cables)

Will this bios allow for the original setup, or will I be able to use all 16 pipes. Also, can I use this file with Winflash, or is a bootable CD required?

Thanks for the swift reply,
Nos


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 27, 2006)

Oh, forgot to ask.  Is it a retail boxed one?

BTW, are you able to set up your computer to boot with bootable CDs?


----------



## Nosada (Mar 27, 2006)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Oh, forgot to ask.  Is it a retail boxed one?
> 
> BTW, are you able to set up your computer to boot with bootable CDs?



I did purchase the card in full retail.

I can set up the bios to boot from a CD. However, I haven't got the faintest idea on how to write a bootable, let alone one that includes the necessairy files. I do have a cd-burner, empty HDD and USB-stick (that I can't get to boot for the life of me) available.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply,
Nos


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 27, 2006)

Nosada said:
			
		

> I did purchase the card in full retail.
> 
> I can set up the bios to boot from a CD. However, I haven't got the faintest idea on how to write a bootable, let alone one that includes the necessairy files. I do have a cd-burner, empty HDD and USB-stick (that I can't get to boot for the life of me) available.
> 
> ...


OK, just unzip this iso image and burn it to a CD, then you will need to set your bios to be able to boot from it.  It has the flash utilities and the original and 16 pipelines bioses.  There are two versions I put on there, an older one which is from the oem one, and a newer one from the retail boxed one.  The numbers in the filenames correspond with the bios month and day.

http://shadowflare.samods.org/files/GTO2 BIOS Boot CD.zip

You won't actually see the files that are on the bootable part, I just put those others there in case you wanted to have a copy of the files.  To flash the bios, after you have booted from the CD:

1) Type dir and press enter to see what bios files are on there.
2) Type atiflash -f -p 0 _biosfilename.bin_ -newbios (or flashrom -f -p 0 _biosfilename.bin_ if the other doesn't work for you), then press enter
3) Restart the computer to see if it worked. 

Replace _biosfilename.bin_ with the name of one of the bios files. If you want to flash to the non-16 pipeline, original version then add original\ to the beginning of the file name.  I put files them in that directory, but with the same names.


----------



## Nosada (Mar 27, 2006)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> OK, just unzip this iso image and burn it to a CD, then you will need to set your bios to be able to boot from it.  It has the flash utilities and the original and 16 pipelines bioses.  There are two versions I put on there, an older one which is from the oem one, and a newer one from the retail boxed one.  The numbers in the filenames correspond with the bios month and day.
> 
> http://shadowflare.samods.org/files/GTO2 BIOS Boot CD.zip


 I'd never thought I would be helped to this extent anywhere Shadowflare. I'm very grateful for all the help you've provided ... and you just made my day. If this was a bar I'd offer you a  , but it's not, so I'm just gonna
         

Thanks a bunch!
Nos


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 27, 2006)

I have a Windows installation in Virtual PC, so creating the floppy disk image needed to make a bootable CD in Nero is fairly easy.   There are probably other easy ways too that don't involve using that, but it works so I don't care.   All I have to do is make a new floppy disk image, mount it, format it, then put files on it.  I don't even need a real floppy drive or floppy disk.   Then I load that into Nero to make the image of the bootable CD.

Heh, I had to upload it to my personal web space instead of putting it in as an attachment because of the size, though.   It still isn't really huge, though, around 900 KB or something like that.


----------



## Nosada (Mar 27, 2006)

Sadly I don't have any time left to try all of this tonight (past midnight, and I need to get up at 5) but I'll keep you appraised of my progress.

This may not have been a big effort for you, but you saved me alot of trouble, headaches and time Shadowflare.

Again: a big thanks for all of this, you were a great help.
Nos


----------



## Nosada (Mar 28, 2006)

As it turns out, the iso you provided works flawlessly, yet I seem to be doing something wrong.

after entering "atiflash -f -p 0 gt020914.bin -newbios" the program immediately gives an 


			
				PC said:
			
		

> Unable to write to A:\
> Abort? Retry? Fail?


error. I'm guessing this is caused by the fact that one of the commands entered makes atiflash try to backup my original BIOS (could be very wrong on this though).

Is there any way to add or remove a command so the flash proceeds without trying to write to the disk?

EDIT: Turns out I was just using the wrong program. Entering the same line, but using flashrom instead of atiflash, performs the flash as planned. However, no matter which bios file I use, I "always" end up getting 8 pipelines. Even rolling back to the original files is of no use.

Thanks,
Nos


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 28, 2006)

Nosada said:
			
		

> As it turns out, the iso you provided works flawlessly, yet I seem to be doing something wrong.
> 
> after entering "atiflash -f -p 0 gt020914.bin -newbios" the program immediately gives an
> 
> ...


Hmm, post your fuses information from ATITool.  One of the parts I want to see from it is one of them which is a setting in the card's bios.


----------



## Nosada (Mar 28, 2006)




----------



## infrared (Mar 28, 2006)

to that commandline, add this tag: -newbios

So you end up with:

atiflash -p -f -newbios 0 [biosname].bin


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 29, 2006)

Nosada said:
			
		

>


And it says you have 8 pipelines?  According to that information, it really should say you have 16 pipelines.  Maybe try reinstalling the drivers.  From what I've heard, that sometimes happens if the driver didn't install right.


----------



## Nosada (Mar 29, 2006)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> And it says you have 8 pipelines?  According to that information, it really should say you have 16 pipelines.  Maybe try reinstalling the drivers.  From what I've heard, that sometimes happens if the driver didn't install right.


Well I was forced to reinstall drivers every time I did a bios flash, with the "new video card detected" and all. But I had kind of a feeling ATItool wasn't getting the right information, so I went ahead and ran 3DMark2005. The score clearly shows SOMETHING improved drastically.
12 pipes 400/490 = ~4450
12 pipes 540/600 = ~5850
8 pipes  525/600 = ~6450
I'm also seeing a drastic improvement in Oblivion, going from barely playable at max settings (10~15fps during fights) to very playable (no framedrops below 25).

I'll clean my drivers once more and reinstall them to be sure, but as far as I'm concerned, this has been a great succes. I've gained over 2000 3DMarks, and while I'm not a person who has the hots for big numbers, it does give me the feeling that I have a far more potent video card now.

Thanks again for the great help,
Nos


----------



## KicsiPet (Mar 30, 2006)

Hi there. I have a fully moddable Connect 3D x800GTO. It gives me a pretty good score in 3DMark 05 overclocked to 520/540. If I push up the core with 10Mhz I crash. I overclocked more and it worked... funny. Anyways. I have A Zalman VF-700Cu on the card. I thought it will cool the core down enough, but on max load the core is like 62°C, and I thing it is a bit high. In the case the temperature is good. Mostly under 30°C. Or it is common with this card to get a high temperature?


----------



## MoaFun (Mar 30, 2006)

my friend just bought a dual dvi version of gto2.....
the chip was a r430   16 pipelines already unlocked...


anyone know where i can get one with r480 core for sure ?
or is it a gamble everywhere...


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 31, 2006)

MoaFun said:
			
		

> my friend just bought a dual dvi version of gto2.....
> the chip was a r430   16 pipelines already unlocked...
> 
> 
> ...


Are you sure it was R430?  As far as I know, all of the dual DVI versions of the GTO2 have R480 chips and are all identified as R430 in the bios; I have yet to see someone report otherwise.  The red GTO2 cards all so far have been reported to have R480 chips, and I haven't heard of any other color for the dual DVI one.  In fact, the dual DVI version is probably the best to get and not as much of a gamble, since so far only the red R480 version exists for it, whereas if you get the one with one DVI you can possibly get one of those colored ones which does indeed have an R430 chip and without knowing in advance that it is the one you are getting.  And if you buy the dual DVI version and get one of the colored one DVI cards, you should definately be able to request to get a different one since it was supposed to be dual DVI.

Anyway, so the point is that the dual DVI GTO2 is in fact the most likely one to have an R480 GPU. (unless you can have it guaranteed that a one DVI version you are buying is the red one, then it is just as likely to have the R480 GPU)

BTW, if your friend wants to find out whether it is R430 or is actually R480, he can try testing the GPU's overclocking ability a little with ATITool.  Using find max core, if it easily goes above 470 (probably even just 450), then it is definately not R430 but is in fact R480.


----------



## MoaFun (Mar 31, 2006)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> Are you sure it was R430?  As far as I know, all of the dual DVI versions of the GTO2 have R480 chips and are all identified as R430 in the bios; I have yet to see someone report otherwise.  The red GTO2 cards all so far have been reported to have R480 chips, and I haven't heard of any other color for the dual DVI one.  In fact, the dual DVI version is probably the best to get and not as much of a gamble, since so far only the red R480 version exists for it, whereas if you get the one with one DVI you can possibly get one of those colored ones which does indeed have an R430 chip and without knowing in advance that it is the one you are getting.  And if you buy the dual DVI version and get one of the colored one DVI cards, you should definately be able to request to get a different one since it was supposed to be dual DVI.
> 
> Anyway, so the point is that the dual DVI GTO2 is in fact the most likely one to have an R480 GPU. (unless you can have it guaranteed that a one DVI version you are buying is the red one, then it is just as likely to have the R480 GPU)
> 
> BTW, if your friend wants to find out whether it is R430 or is actually R480, he can try testing the GPU's overclocking ability a little with ATITool.  Using find max core, if it easily goes above 470 (probably even just 450), then it is definately not R430 but is in fact R480.



well he can only overclock to 537/600.... cant go further.... seems to be R430...
but what i mean is when he changed vga fan to a zalman on the CHIP itself its written r430...


----------



## ShadowFlare (Mar 31, 2006)

MoaFun said:
			
		

> well he can only overclock to 537/600.... cant go further.... seems to be R430...
> but what i mean is when he changed vga fan to a zalman on the CHIP itself its written r430...


The things you said there kind of conflict with each other.  For the max overclock did you mean 537 or did you really mean 437?  537 is not even remotely possible on an R430 chip, so if that really was the max overclock it must not have said R430 on the chip.

BTW, what color is the card?  Is it red or some other color?

Anyway, as I was saying in the above post, if you get the version with only one DVI there is a chance you could get one of those blue or green ones which seem to always have R430.  So either way, I guess you aren't necessarily guaranteed to get an R480 on it, well, that is as long as you get one that hasn't been taken out of the package and tested.


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 1, 2006)

I still do not understand how to make a bootable DVD image? I don't see any .IMA's or anything.. ?

I'm using Nero 7 Ultra and MagicISO


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 1, 2006)

Alright I just tried and it didn't work. I couldn't locate any of the files on the disc.

Here is what I did:
I opened Nero SmartStart and clicked the advanced checkbox.
I went to the data section and hit create bootable DVD
On the menu that popped up I hit the image file then selected C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero 7\Core\DosBootimage.IMA
I hit new
I dragged the files (Flashrom.exe, Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin, FLASHROM.ROM, FLASHROM.CHG) into the box
I burned the DVD
I booted it up
Let it load into DOS
in the A:\ directory (the default one that it put me in), I typed this exactly:
atiflash -f -p Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin
And it loaded for a second
then it said files not found or dont exist blah blah blah

So I used the cd command and the dir command to explore the disc, but I didn't find anything that I put on there.

what am I doing wrong?


----------



## infrared (Apr 1, 2006)

you need to rename the bios so that it's under 8 characters. EG. X800gto2.bin. Alternatively, while you are in DOS, type 'DIR' and it will list all the files, and you can find out what the bios has been shortened to. It will be something like x800gto~.bin

Good luck


----------



## Ignor_CZech (Apr 2, 2006)

*Pleas help me with X800GTO to the AGP*

Really there is no version X800GTO to the AGP, which it is possible open of all 16 pipelines ???? Bought I some from Sapphire in bulk package, looks exactly like X800GTO2, but in ATI tool has this:

*config_die_fuses                      0xFFFF7FFF

config_substrate_fuses             0xFFFFFF9E*

Pictures stoking.


----------



## Ignor_CZech (Apr 2, 2006)

i have R480


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 2, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> you need to rename the bios so that it's under 8 characters. EG. X800gto2.bin. Alternatively, while you are in DOS, type 'DIR' and it will list all the files, and you can find out what the bios has been shortened to. It will be something like x800gto~.bin
> 
> Good luck


That's my problem! I used the 'dir' command and none of my stuff is in there!


----------



## Frogger (Apr 2, 2006)

in the A:\ directory (the default one that it put me in),  is the cd drive being emulated as the  A:/   or is it still ?:/


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 2, 2006)

Frogger said:
			
		

> in the A:\ directory (the default one that it put me in),  is the cd drive being emulated as the  A:/   or is it still ?:/



It says A:\ Unknown Size


----------



## Frogger (Apr 2, 2006)

when you use the dir comand do you at least see the sys files no the disk


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 2, 2006)

Maybe I should try it again? BRB I'll go reboot that disc and check. I'm 85% sure it's not on there though


----------



## Frogger (Apr 2, 2006)

I dragged the files (Flashrom.exe, Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin, FLASHROM.ROM, FLASHROM.CHG)
atiflash -f -p Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin
if I read this right  you have flashrom on the disk  and are try to use atiflash  or is this a mistake


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 2, 2006)

Frogger said:
			
		

> I dragged the files (Flashrom.exe, Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin, FLASHROM.ROM, FLASHROM.CHG)
> atiflash -f -p Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin
> if I read this right  you have flashrom on the disk  and are try to use atiflash  or is this a mistake



Are atiflash and flashrom different? This is so confusing!

lol

P.S. I just booted to CD and loaded it then used the dir command and found no new files.


----------



## Frogger (Apr 2, 2006)

hey bud just sent you e-mail with new image to try  it should work
on it are both flash rom  & atiflash  you can use either one


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 2, 2006)

Alright, but before I burn it, should I worry about not seeing any of the files I put on there?


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 2, 2006)

I opened the image in magicISO and I noticed that the atiflash.zip and flashrom16p.zip files are still zipped inside the image. Shouldn't they be unzipped?


----------



## Frogger (Apr 2, 2006)

if you used a dvd-rw erase it first or just use a new disk


----------



## Frogger (Apr 2, 2006)

just unzip the one you want to use  you don't have to burn the other  just there for convience


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 2, 2006)

Unzip it inside of the image? Any chance you have AIM?


----------



## Frogger (Apr 2, 2006)

AIM? traslate pls
Unzip it inside of the image?...yes


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 2, 2006)

Alright I unzipped it inside of the image. Now do I just use Nero BurningROM and burn that image?

P.S. AIM=AOL Instant Messenger, I can't believe you've never heard of AIM!


----------



## Frogger (Apr 2, 2006)

yes nero    Aim clicked in my brain after post too many jack daniels tonight i guess don't use any AOL products


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 2, 2006)

Testing now. Thanks for the help.


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 2, 2006)

Which bin should I use?


----------



## Frogger (Apr 2, 2006)

Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P... did you shorten it to 8 letters


----------



## Darkstar02 (Apr 2, 2006)

it worked. 

Although, I was hoping this would make the flickering in games go away. Do you have any idea why there might be flickering in games like Oblivion and Unreal Tournament? I think it has something to do with the textures and the lighting.


----------



## Ignor_CZech (Apr 2, 2006)

*HELOOOO PLEASE !!!... really that nobody knows nothing about AGP version X800GTO ???*



> Pleas help me with X800GTO to the AGP
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> ...


----------



## CybrosisEvolved (Apr 3, 2006)

*Flash Bios*

I was just woundering if you could confirm that the Bios you linked here (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin) 
will work on My Sapphire X800 GTO2. Im trying to Unlock the 16 pipelines but when i went to flash them with Flashrom in DOS, it came up with an error message saying that they do not match, if you'd like I can find the exact parts that didnt match, that were displayed in the error. 

attatched here is 2 screenshots of the ATI tool Specifics. 

I was going to force flash it first but I thought in my own excitement I was making a BIG mistake.  

(BTW its a blue-board with no additonal power connector required. Just to help you catergorise it easier  )


----------



## infrared (Apr 3, 2006)

Yep, that card can easily be flashed Cybrosis. In ATITool, go to miscellaneous settings, and there's a button to save your bios to file, if you could do that, put it in a zip folder, and add it as an attachment, i'll modify it for you. 

Ignor_CZech, i'm afraid your card can't be unlocked, sorry


----------



## infrared (Apr 3, 2006)

Ok, here you go cybrosis. the command to flash it is:

flashrom -p -f -newbios 0 bios.bin.

It's also a good idea to put your original bios on the bootdisk, so you can flash back, should you get a bad flash. Good luck


----------



## Ombracol (Apr 3, 2006)

Darkstar02 said:
			
		

> it worked.
> 
> Although, I was hoping this would make the flickering in games go away. Do you have any idea why there might be flickering in games like Oblivion and Unreal Tournament? I think it has something to do with the textures and the lighting.


 The flickering might be yiour refresh rate cause the card is running at a higher frame rate than your refresh rate of your monitor you can try putting all your settings to the highest quality or turn on vertical sync


----------



## sephiroth99 (Apr 3, 2006)

hi

me too I had the same issue as CybrosisEvolved, ill try the bios you posted infrared, because my gto2 has a blue pcb, to external power and is not dual dvi.

but I have another question, when I backup the bios in dos, the file is only 58kb, but the all the bioses are 64kb on this site, is it because the backup is not working?

thanks a lot!

edit: i just saw the bios infrared had posted is 58kb too, so whats the deal?


----------



## dwaned (Apr 3, 2006)

I've just tried to flash my x800gto2 but got got a bad flash:-(
Tried to blind flash back to original bios but it's not doing anything, obviously I can't see whats going on. I used a USB stick to boot into dos and had all the bios files on it too. 

Any ideas???


----------



## infrared (Apr 3, 2006)

dwaned, if you want a while while it's booting from the usb stick, then carefully type the command with your original bios name, it should work. Make sure you give it a while after the command before restarting, so you don't interrupt the flashing process.

sephiroth99, i believe the bioses are smaller for the AGP cards for some reason. I'm not entirely sure why. I can modify your bios if you like


----------



## sephiroth99 (Apr 3, 2006)

infrared : that's odd, because I have the pci-e version...


----------



## infrared (Apr 3, 2006)

strange... I dunno then, i'll see if i can figure it out. As long as the bioses work, i'm not fussed tho.


----------



## dwaned (Apr 3, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> dwaned, if you want a while while it's booting from the usb stick, then carefully type the command with your original bios name, it should work. Make sure you give it a while after the command before restarting, so you don't interrupt the flashing process.
> 
> Tried that infrared, no joy. Still a long error beep when I start it then nothing..... anything else I can try???


----------



## infrared (Apr 3, 2006)

hmm, does your motherboard have dual pcie slots? you could borrow a friends to see whats going on, or buy a cheap pci card. Can you check in your motherboard instructions to see what the long single beep indicates? If it's not booting into dos in the first place, it will be difficult flashing it back. You might have to flash it on a friends PC if they'll let you.


----------



## dwaned (Apr 3, 2006)

Ok infrared, I'll try sort out another card to see what's going on.
Thanks for your help.


----------



## ShadowFlare (Apr 3, 2006)

sephiroth99 said:
			
		

> hi
> 
> me too I had the same issue as CybrosisEvolved, ill try the bios you posted infrared, because my gto2 has a blue pcb, to external power and is not dual dvi.
> 
> ...


That's normal, the size just varies between different versions of the bioses.


----------



## sephiroth99 (Apr 3, 2006)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> That's normal, the size just varies between different versions of the bioses.



so if its normal, what should I do? flash the bigger one? or the one infrared posted? or sumbit my backup so someone modify it?

i dont wanna screw up my precious... 

thanks!


----------



## ShadowFlare (Apr 3, 2006)

sephiroth99 said:
			
		

> so if its normal, what should I do? flash the bigger one? or the one infrared posted? or sumbit my backup so someone modify it?
> 
> i dont wanna screw up my precious...
> 
> thanks!


That bios infrared posted was for the same type of card you have, right?  Then it should be fine.  If you want to be absolutely sure, you could post yours anyway, though.


----------



## sephiroth99 (Apr 3, 2006)

Ok, I'll try the one from infrared. If something goes wrong, I'll have my backup ready


----------



## infrared (Apr 3, 2006)

Sure, it's for the same card, if you want to be safe though, it only takes about 2 minutes to modify the bioses, i can do yours if you like. That one should work though.


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## Ignor_CZech (Apr 3, 2006)

*X800gto Agp*



			
				infrared said:
			
		

> Ignor_CZech, i'm afraid your card can't be unlocked, sorry


 Thanks for your answer *Infrared*. I must put up with it perhas    ...But I´m crying


----------



## sephiroth99 (Apr 4, 2006)

yay it worked! thanks infrared! you rock!


----------



## infrared (Apr 4, 2006)

awsome! Good job, enjoy


----------



## mikelanding (Apr 6, 2006)

ShadowFlare said:
			
		

> For the vivo + dual dvi version, it would be better if someone would send me their bios for that and then I could do the same mod on that bios.



Here is the Original Bios for Sapphire X800GTO2, Dual DVI, VIVO, Red PCB and power socket.

I hope U can help me to mod it...TQ


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## dwaned (Apr 6, 2006)

Hey infrared, got a PCI graphic's card and managed to get my own card up and running again Thank you so much for your help.

Is there any point in me trying to flash my card again??? What bios should I use if I do try again???


Thanks again, your definately the best mod I've ever dealth with...


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## infrared (Apr 7, 2006)

Thanks  Glad it's workin again. The bios should have worked, so you might have just had a bad flash. You can give it another try if you like, if you can get 16 pipes working, it would be awsome!

~IR


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## J1M (Apr 12, 2006)

Hi all,

Could i active 16pipes with this graphic card? Shappire X800 GTO 256Mb AGP ... an image, and my actually bios:






http://perso.wanadoo.es/j1m/Shappire_x800_GTO_AGP_256.zip


Ill try to make like said in mod post but im only get an error and a black screen... fortunatelly ive restored my real bios and all OK .....

I think one change must be done in my bios, but i dont know how... if i get a modified bios (for my card... not for GTO2 (now ive learned it xDDD)) im only have to put:

flashrom -p -f -newbios 0 bios.bin

right???

thanks in advance


----------



## J1M (Apr 12, 2006)

Done with a bios found in this post! 

And OC: 400@435/980@1000

It isnt a big OCable board but is a greaat diference betwen before and after! 

regards


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## dwaned (Apr 12, 2006)

Hi Infrared, got it flashed Thank you.Now have 16 pipelines

I'm having problems with my video drivers, should I update the x800 or the x850t? 

Thanks again


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## meridimus (Apr 14, 2006)

Hi Guys,

I bought this card in the UK from Overclockers.co.uk and was amazed to find that it was an exact r480 chip WITH the RAGE THEATRE CHIP!!! It had 16 pipelines active out of the box.

I have overclocks of 550 and 600(1200) on my card. I did buy an arctic cooling fan though and it's just the most awesome thing I've ever spent £110 on!!

If you get an arctic cooler get the one for the X850 Pro or whatever.


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## kohan69 (Apr 15, 2006)

*A better bios for Connect3D x800 gto*

SOme of my posts are a few hundred pages back.  

problem when overclocked for long while:





my wallpaper;





Well, this is what my screen looked like once.
I was playing a game, and it froze and went black, so I alt+trl+del -ed
And the funny thing is that my PC was still working fine. The sounds were there, and I could blindly run programs.


I shut-down, and I could see that blu bar moving, (the win2k loading bar) as it was shtting down.

When I restarted, The red msg poppup up that the power cable was disconnected. But it wasn't. So I reconnected it.

And recently, It happend again. The screen went black, and floze and the last 1/3 of the second of sound looped.

i was not overclocked either of those times.




Wondering if I could flas my Connect 3D x800 GTO at 16 pipelines w/ 2.0ns ram and atirage chip to some other bios, rather than the modded connect3d 16pipe one

:thankyou:


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## hntr (Apr 18, 2006)

Hi I'm new here,I read your posts and i thing that U can help me a lot.
i have a sapphire x800 gto 256/256 PCI-E and in ATI TOOL i have "f" in proper places so my card is moddable.
I flashed it with a following bioses:
first one is my orginal bios
PCI-E Sapphire X800 GTO samsung 1,6 (12 pipelines) 400/900   ||| 4468 - 3dMARK2005
AGP Sapphire X800 GTO samsung 1,6 (16 pipelines) 400/900     ||| 5098 - 3dMARK2005
PCI-E Sapphire X800 XL samsung 2,0 (16 pipelines) 400/900     ||| 5110 - 3dMARK2005
PCI-E Sapphire X800 GTO2 samsung 1,6 (16 pipelines) 400/900 ||| 5049 - 3dMARK2005
all were working correclty - even the AGP one
i tired with a few x850 XT and x800XT bioses but after flashing i had only black screen or some artefacts and bad pixels on my deskop.
Is there a posiibility to flash it to an upper VGA or do you have some bioses which will be working better on my card?
sorry for my broken English.
greatings to all


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## Scatman (Apr 26, 2006)

*R430 to R480 core..is it worth it?*

Hello people, Today is my first day on this forum, and after reading the threads on the X800GTO2 overclocking etc i have some questions that i would be very grateful if you could help me with.
I have just purchased a Sapphire x800gto2 card, with dual dvi, vivo and the rage theatre chip on the back. I removed the heatsink as soon as buying the card to change the thermal paste to a higher performance one and i noticed that it has a R480 core. On using ATI Tool, i can see that it has 16 pipelines in use, and i have succesfully clocked the card to 520/570 without any bios updates or changes at all. It runs at about 55 degrees C and has had some hard use (10 hour sessions on Battlefield 2).
The questions i have are..ATI Tools reports the chip as being an R430, and i would like to know would there be any more performance gains if the chip were reported as an R480?
And if there are gains to be had, what bios would i have to flash it with?
I have read somewhere that someone said that the performance increased when the chip was reported correctly as an R480, but is that performance purely the change from 12 pipelines to 16, or is it some more performance again that i can squeeze out of this already great card

Thanks in advance
Confused


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## ShadowFlare (Apr 26, 2006)

Scatman said:
			
		

> Hello people, Today is my first day on this forum, and after reading the threads on the X800GTO2 overclocking etc i have some questions that i would be very grateful if you could help me with.
> I have just purchased a Sapphire x800gto2 card, with dual dvi, vivo and the rage theatre chip on the back. I removed the heatsink as soon as buying the card to change the thermal paste to a higher performance one and i noticed that it has a R480 core. On using ATI Tool, i can see that it has 16 pipelines in use, and i have succesfully clocked the card to 520/570 without any bios updates or changes at all. It runs at about 55 degrees C and has had some hard use (10 hour sessions on Battlefield 2).
> The questions i have are..ATI Tools reports the chip as being an R430, and i would like to know would there be any more performance gains if the chip were reported as an R480?
> And if there are gains to be had, what bios would i have to flash it with?
> ...


I think there may only be a performance change from going between R423 and R480 in the bios.


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## Oo_Skyline_oO (Apr 26, 2006)

who here holds the record for the fastest GTO2??? mine only hit 520/606 =(


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## Clocked (Apr 26, 2006)

mine is stable at 560/630...


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## infrared (Apr 26, 2006)

585/642, but i'm gonna bump the vcore up to 1.6v soon, hopefully i'll exceed 650/642

I get 7300 in 3dmark05, with enhanced 1.6ns timings @ 595mhz mem, 7200 with stock timings @ 630

btw, mine is the old revision that required unlocking from 12 pipes.

EDIT: LOL, clocked,... having the same avarta is confusing as hell when i'm browsing the forums  Keep it tho, i don't mind


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## Oo_Skyline_oO (Apr 27, 2006)

My ol MSI let me up the voltage in the bios, but now I have a ASUS and it wont let me. Infared, did u have to do a voltmod or sumtin to hit those speeds?? damm


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## Clocked (Apr 27, 2006)

lol...

Infrared, what are ur "enhanced 1.6ns timings" 

my GTO2 is RMAed..... was running 600/630 for too long lol.... using my bud's 6800GS for now... i want my GTO2!!


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## i_am_mustang_man (Apr 27, 2006)

Oo_Skyline_oO said:
			
		

> who here holds the record for the fastest GTO2??? mine only hit 520/606 =(


 mine isn't a record, but i'm pretty proud considering its in an emachines  

it's at 575/613 stable, although i've benchmarked at 580/620


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## Shens (Apr 28, 2006)

i have a sapphire x800gto2 which already has 16 pipes open - i have the clock speeds set at 410/500 - I was wondering how much more i can up this without causing any damage to my graphics card whatsoever - i dont really want to use ati tool's find max clocks as i fear it may cause damage to the card


im using the fan that came with the card.

thanks


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## Oo_Skyline_oO (Apr 28, 2006)

Shens, if you remove your heatsnik, I think you'll be suprized of the quality they made it our of. and as long as you don't overheat your graphics hard, no damage will really be done. Compared to my x800's stock cooler, I'm hitting 70c overclocked. on my stock GTO2, I never get above 55c oc'd


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## infrared (Apr 28, 2006)

ATI rates the chips at an absolute maximum of 120c before serious damage is done, and i've been close to that a few times by forgetting i'd turned the fan off, no damage done. Just set the fan @ 100% and keep an eye on the temperature, and when/if it exceeds 80, stop overclocking. But ATITool should find errors before that point anyway.


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## Oo_Skyline_oO (Apr 28, 2006)

yea, and when your playing games, your absolute max clocks mite have artifacts cos the card is too hot, so if I dont have proper cooling, what I usually do is se it about 5-10mhz lower on both memory and gpu of its max, till I get proper cooling, btw infrared, you seem like a frikin pro at this. How long u been oc'ing, and how old are you(if its not too personal)


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## infrared (Apr 28, 2006)

lol, thanks Skyline 

I'm 17 years old, and have always been intested in the hardware of computers and overclocking them  In comparison to some elders on the forum, i'm fairly new to the scene of overclocking, but i seem to learn things, and gain experience very quickly. I'm very daring when it comes to voltmods and such, but like to make sure i understand completely what i'm doing before trying it.

I just wish i had a well paid part time job while i'm in college, so i could afford to mess with high end cooling, and better hardware, but then again, who doesn't.

Btw, for those interested in trying out the enhanced timings for the x800gto2, here they are:

TRCDRD: 7
TRCDWR: 3
TRP: 5
TRAS: 13
TRRD: 4
TWR: 6
TR2W: CL+2
TW2R: 4
TW2R_SAME_BANK: use TWR rule
TR2R: 2
WR: 1.5
CAS: 7
CMD: 0
STR: WR latency
REFRESH RATE: 0x75
TRFC: 23

Using these will lower the maximum memory clock by about 40mhz, but you will gain 100-200 points in 3dmark05. Set your cards clocks back to default before applying these, then do the find maxes again. I've fiddled with these timings a lot, and everything i've tried resulted in lower scores. At the moment i'm trying to find the timing that has the biggest impact on mhz, the loosen it off a bit, which should help. I'll post if i find anything better anyway. Thanks go to Trog for originally posting these timings.

The default timings are as follows:

TRCDRD: 7
TRCDWR: 4
TRP: 6
TRAS: 14
TRRD: 5
TWR: 7
TR2W: CL+3
TW2R: 3
TW2R_SAME_BANK: use TWR rule
TR2R: 2
WR: 1.5
CAS: 7
CMD: 0
STR: WR latency
REFRESH RATE: 0x3B
TRFC: 27

Post your results


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## Shens (May 2, 2006)

hey again - my card (sapphire x800gto2) for some reason has the x850xt stock cooler supposedly (it has the fan which is covered by a shell which blows the air out of the back of the pc

under no load whatsoever with speeds of 415/510 my card runs at between 33-35 degrees c.

however when i search for artifacts it jumps rather quickly to between 55-58 degrees c.

would searching for artifacts be classed as a high load? or just normal?  playing world of warcraft jumps my temperature to about 40-44 degrees c

i am just wondering how much more i can give this card without hurting it.


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## infrared (May 2, 2006)

Those temperatures are fine, 80c should be about the maximum temperature you get, any further than that, and you can start doing damage. But ATI rates the core for 100c, and an absolute max of 120c (at which point the core will start breaking down).

Yes, the 3d window and artifact scanning in ATITool is pretty much the heaviest load you can put on the card, so it's normal to see higher temperatures than you would in a game.


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## Shens (May 2, 2006)

thanks for the reply.  i'll think i'll leave it now until i can run through this thread and see how much most people are upping their cards by.


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## infrared (May 2, 2006)

just hit the find max buttons, and let atitool do it's thing  Just stop if the temperatures get too high. There is a big variation between maximum clocks on the x800gto2, some older ones get around 600/610, and the newer ones seem to get around 540/610, and the r430 ones, get a max of 460/570. ATITool basically loads the card, then slowly increases the frequency, while checking for errors, when it finds an error, it will start backing off a bit, so you don't need to worry about going too far.

Your unlikely to damage your card unless 1. The temperature gets too high (100c +) 2. You voltmod it to some stupid voltage.

Have fun


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## Shens (May 2, 2006)

i have a r480 core - some people have told me not to let ati tool do that because it can damage my card.  It's extremely confusing having all sorts of different answers to my questions.

I think I'll try find max core/memory, although what temperature should I be aiming for?  I was thinking I shouldn't be going any more than 45 degrees c under no load so that will make it about 55 or so playing games.  Not sure if that's about right.  I am very poorly knowledged when it comes to overclocking. 

at the moment im at 425/520 - default is set at 400/490  so still some way to go.


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## infrared (May 2, 2006)

infrared said:
			
		

> Those temperatures are fine, 80c should be about the maximum temperature you get, any further than that, and you can start doing damage. But ATI rates the core for 100c, and an absolute max of 120c (at which point the core will start breaking down).





			
				infrared said:
			
		

> Your unlikely to damage your card unless 1. The temperature gets too high (100c +) 2. You voltmod it to some stupid voltage.



75-80c should be your max, 45c is very unrealistic, and even at stock speeds and a good cooler is hard to obtain.

Some of the new beta versions of atitool didn't have working artifact detection, and would just keep increasing the core and memory. That's probably why people were telling you to overclock your card manually. With the 0.24 version your using, there is no problem with this, but while it's working, keep an eye on the 3d box. If yellow dots start appearing, and atitool doesn't back off, abort the find max, and drop the frequency a bit, and continue manually. Don't worry too much about damaging your card, it's very difficult to do by just raising the frequenies. If you do go too far, your computer usually crashes, and restarts with stock speeds again


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## testemo (May 6, 2006)

Which one of these cards work for upgrading the bios ?

http://www.memoryexpress.com/index....dProductDetail.php&DisplayProductID=6389&SID=

http://www.memoryexpress.com/index....dProductDetail.php&DisplayProductID=6965&SID=

http://www.memoryexpress.com/index....dProductDetail.php&DisplayProductID=7608&SID=


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## narsil (May 8, 2006)

hi all i been reading this with interest (took hours lol) and had my eye on a gto2 for a while

i finally got the cash for new mobo (asus a8n32-sli) and said card which i expecting today or 2morrow...but i still have few questions i in need of help with

the card i ordered is sapphire gto2 dual dvi vivo........

by the sounds of it this looks like a safe bet with it showing up as r430 core but in reality is 480 with all 16 pipes enabled

so if this is the case do i need to change any bios?

does wot card show as core have any impact on performance?

or if all being well  can i just burn the card in and oc it.

this assuming i get the right card , i will find out soon 

sorry for silly question but my head kinda in a spin after soo many posts

thanks


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## agapecpus (May 10, 2006)

*Help me unlock my pipes.*

Here are my specs
connect3d X800GTO 256MB PCIe VIVO
One VGA/One DVI
Chip: R430
Core OC: 648
Memory OC: 615 (1230)
Idle Temp: 43C 

I got to say I am pretty happy with the results thus far. I have yet to push it or bench it but thats whats next. Looking through the forums it does seem like I can unlock the last 4 pipes. I followed the guide that you guys laid out flashed the bios but it was a no go. ATI Tool still reported only 12 pipes. Reflashed with orginal bios. I uploaded stats of the FUSES from ATI Tools and my backup of the orginal bios. Feel free to mod my orginal bios or let me know which bios I should flash on this card. Thanks in advance for any help.


----------



## infrared (May 11, 2006)

narsil said:
			
		

> hi all i been reading this with interest (took hours lol) and had my eye on a gto2 for a while
> 
> i finally got the cash for new mobo (asus a8n32-sli) and said card which i expecting today or 2morrow...but i still have few questions i in need of help with
> 
> ...




Quite a lot of new x800gto2's now use an R430 core. You will be able to identify this by the blue pcb used, in which case you will probably only get a max core clock of around 450mhz, but lets keep our fingers crossed that ur get the R480 one. 

It's really up to you if you decide to flash the bios to make the card show as an x850xt(pe), some people have reported a small increase in performance, perhaps because the core is correctly recognised as r480. Personally i just think it looks kewl when you open the device manager and it reports that you have an "x850xt platinum edtion".

Anyway, when you get it, open atitool, and see what it can do  

Good luck 



			
				agapecpus said:
			
		

> Here are my specs
> connect3d X800GTO 256MB PCIe VIVO
> One VGA/One DVI
> Chip: R430
> ...



Hmmm, you have an 'E' on the last character of the bottom line of fuse data. This usually indicates the last quad of pipelines can't be unlocked, at least not by bios flashing. You should try contacting dolf, and see what he thinks about your fuse data, you might be in luck.

Sorry for the bad news anyway.


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## narsil (May 11, 2006)

thanks for the reply infrared (glad i got your attention) 

it is indeed the red pcb and ati tool says r430 with 16 pipes enabled 
fuses read
CONFIG_DIE 0xFFFFFFFF
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE 0xFFFFFF9F (these 480? i read other guide but it confusing)

i not going to change the bios until i check temps and see how far it goes. can u tell me how to do this? i cant seem to see how to with ati tool

also i presume i must load new clock speeds evertime i boot

EDIT- i found temp  wot would u recommed as highest temp to set


----------



## infrared (May 12, 2006)

The highest temperature you should go to is about 80c, if it goes above that, drop back a bit. 

A useful feature of ATITool is the fan control in settings. To begin with, set the fan to 100%, then use the 'find max core/mem' buttons on atitool. Start of with the core, the 3d view will open and stress the card, while the frequencies are slowy raised. When it starts finding errors, atitool will lower the frequency until it's found the highest stable overclock. After about 20 minutes, click abort, note down the core frequency, then lower it by about 10mhz . Then click find max mem, and let it find the maximum memory. Once you know the two stable maximum frequencies, you can move the sliders, and set them manually.

You definatly have the r480 core, so you can normally expect a core speed of 550mhz or more. And around 600mhz on the memory 

Good luck


----------



## narsil (May 13, 2006)

i tried what u said and i got core up tp 490 but i got a heat prob with my new mb, see this post
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=11771

and it gets to 45c when core was on 490 this caused warnings from asus probe so i stopped

i touched nb and sb etc but theydont feel that hot so maybe i need to get a proprt temp probe or something to be sure

until i sort out this issue i wont be ocing anything but good news is it definetly seems like 480 core


----------



## bortos (May 26, 2006)

*SAPPHIRE X800 GTO² LIMITED EDITION vivo dual dvi*

This card came with 16 pipes out of the box.  I put arctic silver on the R480 core and the 1.6ns ram.  Using the atitool I can O/C to 525/580 with stable results. Idle at 40C.

Is there any benefit to flash the bios on this setup? Will it O/C more if I do?  

Did anyone figure out if making the r480 show up as a r480 instead of r430 made any difference?


Thanks much.


----------



## infrared (May 26, 2006)

It doesn't really make much difference at all, but just looks cool having the card show as an x850.

hmm, be careful with the AS5 on the memory, if any gets underneath the chips, it will kill it. The best thermal grease to use on the memory is Arctic Ceramique.

You could get a better cooler for it, the Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer's are very good coolers, and well priced. This will help your overclock quite a bit, and keep temps way down.

~IR


----------



## bortos (May 26, 2006)

Thanks for the quick answer.

I am going to get an Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer and some Arctic Ceramique today.
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835186129
http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835186129

Also, do you think the ArctiClean 1 Thermal Material Remover is the best to use to take the arctic silver off of the chips I have already put it on?http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835100011


THANKS!!!


----------



## infrared (May 26, 2006)

yeah, arcticlean is brilliant stuff, those who say they don't like it havn't tried it!!

Nice price on that silencer... I wish i lived in america so i could use newegg


----------



## BossBorot (May 29, 2006)

bortos said:
			
		

> Thanks for the quick answer.
> 
> I am going to get an Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer



get it at svc if you havent got it already its only 9.99

http://www.svc.com/avc-at4-r1.html


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## jetblue_xt (Jun 3, 2006)

hi.. im kind of new to this.. i just got reatial x800 gto card..
before i flashed it, i verifed everything through ati tools for the strigns and it mached.. heres the problem
i tried flashing with flashrom which doesn't seem to work at all...
then i tried atiflash and it seemed like it worked but the monitor will not turn on...
it doesn't beep or anything..
also, i edit the bin files where i changed the string to "60" to open all pipes..and saved it in hex editor.. can anyone post their modified 16 pipe bin file with stock clock speeds.. 
or maybe someone can help me and tell me what im' doing wrong.
also, im' running win xp pro sp 2 ep 8rda+ mobo also installed ati cats 6.5..
1 more thing, i also tried using the techpowerup's bin for for 16 pipes. when i download it i just renamed it to 16pipe...
thanks in advance.


----------



## Marvin (Jun 15, 2006)

Hi, it is my first post here. I have a powercolor 800GTO, but i dont know if i can activate the 16 pipelines.
Anyone have an idea ?
Thanks


----------



## bortos (Jun 15, 2006)

*Arctic cooler*



			
				BossBorot said:
			
		

> get it at svc if you havent got it already its only 9.99
> 
> http://www.svc.com/avc-at4-r1.html




I went with this one for 19.99. 

http://svcompucycle.stores.yahoo.net/avc-at5-r2.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835186129

I used newegg.


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## Oorworm (Jul 4, 2006)

Is it still possible to flash a x800pro to a x850 xt pe?
Which card work these days, cause maybe there are some new ones out.
It should replace my 6600gt agp.

Do you need an other cooler on the card when you flash it to an x850 xt pe?

Regards
Oor


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## dowser (Jul 13, 2006)

Hi All,

Recently bought a new and boxed Sapphire Radeon x800 gto2 - when I ran the ATITool against it, it already shows up as running 16 pipelines   I assume this means I am free to try overclocking now, and there is no need to do anything with the card's BIOS?

Cheers, Richard


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## saigonson (Jul 18, 2006)

*Help me flash Asus x850 Pro PCIE to XT*

Hi All,

I am trying to  find a way to flash my Asus X850 Pro PCI-e to XT but I fail until now, I post my card picture and any one please take a look and help me to flash it.

Thanks for advance,


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## saigonson (Jul 18, 2006)

saigonson said:
			
		

> Hi All,
> 
> I am trying to  find a way to flash my Asus X850 Pro PCI-e to XT but I fail until now, I post my card picture and any one please take a look and help me to flash it.
> 
> Thanks for advance,



Sorry, miss attack file


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## saigonson (Jul 18, 2006)

Attachment


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## saigonson (Jul 19, 2006)

*Asus x850Pro PCIE Fuse*

Please help me to check it is possible to flash it


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## gr81 (Jul 19, 2006)

*VGA HIS Excalibur X800GTO IceQ II Turbo, 256 GDDR3*

I got this card. When I check ATiTool. all seems OK to unlock pipelines. 
Config_Die/substrate_fusses: F where have to be. 
R480 chip.....
Should I use Saphire or connect3D bios to flash? Or is there a moded His bios.
Card is some new revision. I aplied guarantie and card new card came today. It has some aditional power conector, which old card haven't.

What do you think?


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## abhinavrishi (Sep 1, 2006)

*doesn't work for me*

well i followed all the instructions...tried 3 times doesn't change pipelines...even though its sapphire gto2, r480 core and all the F's are at right spot...well i checked the instruction like 4 times.. i matched everything it just doesn't work..used flashrom..


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## jaime (Sep 16, 2006)

I bought the blue PCB Sapphire X800GTO 256MB R480 core from Newegg and I tried to flash it by using these commands:

atiflash -s 0 x800gto.bin
atiflash -f -p 0 x850xt.bin -newbios
atiflash -f -p 0 x800gto.bin

But it did not work. It still has 12 pipes.

Here are the screenshots from ATITool:









I confirmed that I have the R480 core but it did not enable the 16 pipes. I used the Sapphire X850XT AGP BIOS to try to unlock it but it did not work.


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## Frogger (Sep 16, 2006)

jaime go to this link: you will find what you need
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=131342&postcount=2309


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## jaime (Sep 16, 2006)

Frogger said:


> jaime go to this link: you will find what you need
> http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=131342&postcount=2309



Holy tish! It worked!  16 pipes unlocked


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## Dr Delerious (Sep 16, 2006)

Is this the box a blue PCB Sapphire X800GTO comes in. As i am assuming this has the R480 core, and thus froggers link helps

http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/productfiles/119image1.jpg


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## jaime (Sep 16, 2006)

Dr Delerious said:


> Is this the box a blue PCB Sapphire X800GTO comes in. As i am assuming this has the R480 core, and thus froggers link helps
> 
> http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/productfiles/119image1.jpg



No, that is a Full Retail X800GTO*2* box. The one I got from Newegg is a Lite Retail box that looks like one in this link: Newegg Box Image

Search for "100131L BLUE" at Newegg to get to the page for the correct card.


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## Dr Delerious (Sep 16, 2006)

....  It appears i have the sheep in wolfs clothing, my prognosis is based on the lack of an onboard power recepticle. Does anyone concur~


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## jpierce55 (Oct 7, 2006)

Anybody know if this card can be unlocked? From what I have read I think not, but I bought it because of budget. (don't have it yet)

POWERCOLOR X800GTO256MBDDR3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131007

http://www.powercolor.com/main_product_detail.asp?id=79


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## dolf (Oct 8, 2006)

Up to now I don't remember even single one PowerColor X800GTO unlocked to 16 pipes. (R430 and R480 models). It is better to look for Sapphire.


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## jpierce55 (Oct 8, 2006)

dolf said:


> Up to now I don't remember even single one PowerColor X800GTO unlocked to 16 pipes. (R430 and R480 models). It is better to look for Sapphire.




Well for $87 my budget says go this way for now and upgrade next fall.

Well the card sucks bad low fps even with the oc 3d mark gives it 760.


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## dgore1 (Nov 21, 2006)

I have a red Sapphire GTO2 Limited Edition with the following specs:

Device ID                5D4F
chip Name                        R480
Host Interface                  PCI-E
Catalyst version                unknown
Memory Size                     256MB
Memory Type                     DDR3
Memory Bus Width              256bit
Active Pipelines                  8
Default GPU Clock               400.00Mhz
Default Mem Clock              490.00Mhz
Config_DIE_FUSES              0xFFFFFFFF
CONFIG_SUBSTATE_FUSES   0xFFFFFF9F
CONFIG_ROM_FUSES           0x261
GB_PIPE_SELECT                0x2724

I checked to make sure that on the card it says in big bold letters Sapphire GTO2 Limited Edition since mine indicates it has only 8 pipelines. 

I noticed that everybody else has 12 pipelines to start with and mine only 8.  

When I did the mod, it stays at 8.  My thought is it can't be upgraded, just overclocked.

Thanks!


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## roycebayles (Nov 21, 2006)

*Wtf Send It Back!!!!!*

ID send it back or return it to store asap.Its defective or ATI toll is reading it wrong! one of the other. But first download 3d mark 03 i think .Run it, and u should score between 11-16,000.If not RMA it or return it.Note  3d mark 05 should score between 4,500 and 7,000 if im not mistaken.This will let u know if your card is running great good or like SH*T.


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## dgore1 (Nov 22, 2006)

Well, can't return it, bought over a year ago.  But I didn't load the drivers first.  So, after flashing the BIOS a second time, I now have 12 pipes!!  Gonna check 3Dmark05 to see how it runs there....hate this weird stuff!!


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## Kinkin (Nov 27, 2006)

dgore1 said:


> I have a red Sapphire GTO2 Limited Edition with the following specs:
> 
> Device ID                5D4F
> chip Name                        R480
> ...



Actually, I think that Sapphire GTO2 limited edition has 8 pip only, If  your card is special edition or platanium(sapphire GTO2) so they have 12 pipelines. I have a shapphire GTO2 special edition 12 pip DF and I unlooked it from 12 pips to 16 pips


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## dgore1 (Nov 27, 2006)

I believe you are right...after flashing and loading the drivers, the LE version only gets 12 pipes...sigh...thanks for all the help!!


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## Hsarci (Apr 12, 2007)

*I Need So Much Frekain Help*

I bought a Sapphire X800 GTO 256MB AGP off Newegg. I had ever intention of over clocking it. When I got the card I physically checked it to verify that it was a R480 and it was. In fact, it is the same exact card as the one in this post: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=152674&postcount=1805
Also, I was having the same exact problems. No matter what syntax or commands I used the card would simply not flash.

"jamie" seems to have gotten it to work for him with the assistance of a moder. I have attached a rip of the bios on my card. Can someone please help me out and mod it? Thanks a bunch. (I pulled it using ATItool)


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## bugmenot (Jan 18, 2008)

Anyone know where to buy the now discontinued Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 5 Rev. 2?

I haven't been able to find it anywhere online.

Or perhaps there is a better product out that deprecates this?

My fan just recently has started making a whirling noise.


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## mikecleus (May 15, 2009)

Please, sorry for bumb this discussion, but its very important for me, excuse me please.
Mi card POWERCOLOR X800GTO 256MB 256BITS PCI-EX Can be modded?

Thanks a lot.


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## sneekypeet (May 15, 2009)

mikecleus said:


> Please, sorry for bumb this discussion, but its very important for me, excuse me please.
> Mi card POWERCOLOR X800GTO 256MB 256BITS PCI-EX Can be modded?
> 
> Thanks a lot.



your fuse data matches the OP exactly. This is in fact a good candidate for the mod. Good Luck!


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## mikecleus (May 15, 2009)

Thanks sneekypeet. Can someone help me with the specified mod for this vcard?

Again Thank a lot XD


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## sneekypeet (May 17, 2009)

sorry for the delay, have you ever flashed a card before? Do you understand the risks of a mistake?


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## mikecleus (May 19, 2009)

No problem for the delay.  Im a complete Noob flashing a Vcard. Can you tell me the risk of a flashing failure? Thanks


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## sneekypeet (May 19, 2009)

weill since you have never flashed you could make a paper weight in the worst case. There are ways to recover from a bad flash, but being you are new to the opperation, it may be a little beyond your realm of comfort.

Be sure to read this and other threads and get a good grasp on flashing. If you have any specific questions along the way feel free to ask.

I, myself, am not the greatest with flashing things, but I can get by. If I can do it, it cant be all that bad

I will see if I can find a link to Dolfs boot CD, that makes things a bit easier.


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## mechtech (Jun 25, 2010)

Time to revive this old thread.

I have a powercolor, x800crap, PCIe, 350/400 clocks, R430 Core, 12 pipes, 1.6ns ram, ati theatre chip on it.  I would like to know if it can be flashed to an x800xl??

Here is a pic of the core, I don't see any laser cuts, but I could be wrong.

Please let me know if any other info is needed.


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## erocker (Jun 25, 2010)

Download ATiTool here: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/436/ATITool_0.26.html


Take a screenshot like this one: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=70898&postcount=1623


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## mechtech (Jun 25, 2010)

Hmm ok.  I don't really care if I unlock the extra pipes, I mainly want to run that 600 MHZ ram faster than 350MHz.


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## erocker (Jun 25, 2010)

Well, the x800xl uses 16 pipelines from what I remember. I'm not sure if you need to add voltage or not, but have you tried overclocking it first to see what it can do?


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## mechtech (Jun 25, 2010)

Not yet, I think I will let ATI tool run and see.  I think this is a powercolor x800 bravo model although it seems to be built like a vivo model minus the yellow plug.

edit - the mem went to about 530 before getting artifacts.  I ran it at 500mhz for about 4 min with no artifacting, then shut it down.

So now to figure out if I can flash it or not, doesnt matter too much if it dies, I am pretty much doing this for the experience, I have an HD3450 sitting in an unopened box


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## Steevo (Jun 27, 2010)

You can edit your memory timings on that board, one of the last few able to do so (don't do so unless you know what you are doing). I tweaked with my for a few weeks to finally get it set just right, then flashed a custom BIOS to it.


What is you core clock? That makes a crapload of difference, and also will tell you if it is able. I will have to review some of the thread but most cores that could unlock managed to reach much higher speeds than the defect or early revision dies.


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## mechtech (Jun 28, 2010)

Wow busy week/weekend.

The specs list the core as 400mhz default and memory as 350 mhz default.  However atitool reports something like 397 Mhz for the core and 349mhz for memory.

The card is a powercolor with dual dvi, 1.6ns ram and rage theater chip on it, but with those default clocks I think it maybe a plain x800 or x800bravo.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/powercolor_radeon_x800_bravo/page3.asp

pretty much it, I put my ati silencer 5 on it, probably just sell it for a few bucks, be nice though it could unlock to an x800xl though.


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