How-to: Pencil mod your HD 3870!

sneekypeet · Mar 21, 2008

Steevo said:
I don't like the noise. So for 885 Ths stock is seeming OK, but I am going to start a 3D window and let it run and watch temps for a bit and see what it does.

Steevo I use 70% fans, and it is just more audible than my case fans. It keeps the card I have at 59*C load with 1.5Vcore!

Steevo · Mar 21, 2008

The only way i know my system is on is the keyboard and monitor lights and the occasional blink on the hard drive lights. Noise that is out of place bothers me during gaming too.

trog100 · Mar 21, 2008

Steevo said:
The only way i know my system is on is the keyboard and monitor lights and the occasional blink on the hard drive lights. Noise that is out of place bothers me during gaming too.

this bios works okay.. no noise during 2 d but some during gaming.. it targets 70 C.. and runs as as fast as it has to to try and maintain it..

the default bios targets 90 C.. less noise but hotter..

the furbench cooks cards far more than games or a 3dmark.. the fan will be noisier during a fur bench run than a game.. overvolting means some noise.. if u dont want the noise run your card slower..

trog

Steevo · Mar 22, 2008

Shows Corrupt folder when I try to extract.

trog100 · Mar 22, 2008

Steevo said:
Shows Corrupt folder when I try to extract.

its not a zip file just renamed.. the upload system wont accept .bin files.. its the actual bios file with the extension changed from .bin to .zip.. just rename it to 3870fanfix.bin..

i forgot to mention it.. sorry..

trog

SpookyWillow · Mar 22, 2008

i cant seem to find a guide for my triplex 3870 and i've searched for a couple of days now lol,

i got some pics of my card but its a completely different layout, measuring points are easy to find but i dont know where to pencil as i dont have an R1222 resistor.

i really need to do this mod to see if the card is faulty, i sent back a X1950pro on the last day of its warranty and got sent the 3870 as a replacement but its not running properly.

in my pc all my games stutter and i get lower fps than i did with the x1950pro but it runs fine in my bro's pc. i thought it may be something else in my pc but my bro's 8800gt runs fine in my pc lol

on top of that i get CTD's with a driver stopped responding error unless i drop the core to 750 from 775 so im thinking its not getting enough juice maybe.....cooling is fine.

Nazzrath · Mar 22, 2008

I just bought a Diamond 3870 and noticed I don't have the R1222 resistor. It's marked on my PCB but there's just 2 solder points there. I tried measuring for resistance there but I didn't get any readings. I thought maybe the resistor is on the other side of the board, but that didn't turn out to be the case. I tried the alternate pencil mod from the Dutch forum (linked earlier in this thread) but I put a ton of graphite on the designated point and got no change in resistance. Any ideas on how I could up the voltage on this board?

DanishDevil · Mar 22, 2008

Try scratching up (lightly) the area between the two points for the second pencil mod.

The cards are covered in a sort of coating, and graphite doesn't like to stick to it. Use the edge of a nail file or something and just rough it up a bit so the graphite will adhere.

freaksavior · Mar 22, 2008

Nazzrath said:
I just bought a Diamond 3870 and noticed I don't have the R1222 resistor. It's marked on my PCB but there's just 2 solder points there. I tried measuring for resistance there but I didn't get any readings. I thought maybe the resistor is on the other side of the board, but that didn't turn out to be the case. I tried the alternate pencil mod from the Dutch forum (linked earlier in this thread) but I put a ton of graphite on the designated point and got no change in resistance. Any ideas on how I could up the voltage on this board?

i hope this isn't true when i get mine back

DanishDevil · Mar 22, 2008

True. That would blow...

Always try a drunken rubdown before RMAing.

Dr. Spankenstein · Mar 22, 2008

Doesn't this sound like the reason behind the big price drop?

In my best "Soup Nazi" voice: "No free megahurtz for you!"

Guess there is still the hard way...

DanishDevil · Mar 22, 2008

ROFL. That's an interesting idea. It very well may be, but have we even seen the price drop really take effect yet? I guess it'll take a while, cuz stores will have to sell what they've already bought at their old price at a premium to still make money, then they can order more for the lower price.

eidairaman1 · Mar 22, 2008

advanced users may want to use this instead of a Pencil

http://www.altex.com/product_info.php?cPath=197&products_id=6259

Also dont forget the cleaners

http://www.altex.com/product_info.php?cPath=197&products_id=6260

http://www.altex.com/product_info.php?cPath=197&products_id=6293

Dr. Spankenstein · Mar 22, 2008

Hmm, cool product (I used one for my mobo) but how does one vary the amount of conductivity?

Seems like it would make a 100% bridge, which is not of much use even under extreme cooling. More for replacing/creating traces. Our needs require more finesse, hence the pencil....

DanishDevil · Mar 22, 2008

Maybe lay it down and dab it with a cotton swab? Iunno, just an idea.

trog100 · Mar 22, 2008

DanishDevil said:
Maybe lay it down and dab it with a cotton swab? Iunno, just an idea.

a bad one.. its a direct short.. bad news.. the pencil just decreases resistance slightly..

trog

sneekypeet · Mar 23, 2008

Well it seems I am tapped out. I set the pencil to her one more time and got the resistance to 0.998 and put her in. Booted the ATItool cube and saw 1.51V to the core. That is another tenth since yesterday , and all I could produce was a 931 core.

Not sure what to try as temps are ok ...bearly breaking the low 60's.

Any ideas other that more voltage to stabilize this core?

Dr. Spankenstein · Mar 23, 2008

I have run into an issue similar to this only not at such a low voltage/core speed.

Seems that (with these smaller dies) they are less tolerant to temps the faster they are run.

Have you tried dropping the mem speed back to default or below. The mem seems to be the wild card/hindering factor when OCing these cards.

Have you reapplied any thermal paste? Have you felt the bracket (on the underside) that holds the cooler. If it's getting hot and your temps don't reflect that, you may need to point a large fan at the PCB.

intel igent · Mar 23, 2008

can we get this mod working on 3850 AGP's?

my sapphire board looks similar from what i can see

:toast:

Dr. Spankenstein · Mar 23, 2008

Got a high-res pic of the back of your card?

intel igent · Mar 23, 2008

Dr. Spankenstein said:
Got a high-res pic of the back of your card?

no i dont

but im shure i could find one as its just the standard reference sapphire card

SpookyWillow · Mar 23, 2008

any help with my card? http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=712077&postcount=641

sneekypeet · Mar 23, 2008

Dr. Spankenstein said:
I have run into an issue similar to this only not at such a low voltage/core speed.

Seems that (with these smaller dies) they are less tolerant to temps the faster they are run.

Have you tried dropping the mem speed back to default or below. The mem seems to be the wild card/hindering factor when OCing these cards.

Have you reapplied any thermal paste? Have you felt the bracket (on the underside) that holds the cooler. If it's getting hot and your temps don't reflect that, you may need to point a large fan at the PCB.

I did try to default the ram speed and got it to boot over 940 but ATItool crashed it!

Maybe I should try furbench instead?

I did just get done with Crysis for ~an hour @ 900/1350 absolutely no issues!!!

Megasty · Mar 23, 2008

sneekypeet said:
I did try to default the ram speed and got it to boot over 940 but ATItool crashed it!

Maybe I should try furbench instead?

I did just get done with Crysis for ~an hour @ 900/1350 absolutely no issues!!!

God, those speeds are getting ridiculous. My Diamond runs perfectly even w/o a pencil mod @ 900/1370. I was thinking about the mod since the bios is unlocked to 1ghz but its with my x2 now & they really don't need any OCing.

sneekypeet · Mar 23, 2008

Megasty said:
God, those speeds are getting ridiculous. My Diamond runs perfectly even w/o a pencil mod @ 900/1370. I was thinking about the mod since the bios is unlocked to 1ghz but its with my x2 now & they really don't need any OCing.

was having issues with game stability in the 850MHz range previously!

System Name	EVA-01
Processor	Intel i7 13700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling	ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory	PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage	Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s)	Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply	be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse	ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard	ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software	Windows 11

System Name	Compy 386
Processor	7800X3D
Motherboard	Asus
Cooling	Air for now.....
Memory	64 GB DDR5 6400Mhz
Video Card(s)	7900XTX 310 Merc
Storage	Samsung 990 2TB, 2 SP 2TB SSDs, 24TB Enterprise drives
Display(s)	55" Samsung 4K HDR
Audio Device(s)	ATI HDMI
Mouse	Logitech MX518
Keyboard	Razer
Software	A lot.
Benchmark Scores	Its fast. Enough.

System Name	money pit..
Processor	Intel 9900K 4.8 at 1.152 core voltage minus 0.120 offset
Motherboard	Asus rog Strix Z370-F Gaming
Cooling	Dark Rock TF air cooler.. Stock vga air coolers with case side fans to help cooling..
Memory	32 gb corsair vengeance 3200
Video Card(s)	Palit Gaming Pro OC 2080TI
Storage	150 nvme boot drive partition.. 1T Sandisk sata.. 1T Transend sata.. 1T 970 evo nvme m 2..
Display(s)	27" Asus PG279Q ROG Swift 165Hrz Nvidia G-Sync, IPS.. 2560x1440..
Case	Gigabyte mid-tower.. cheap and nothing special..
Audio Device(s)	onboard sounds with stereo amp..
Power Supply	EVGA 850 watt..
Mouse	Logitech G700s
Keyboard	Logitech K270
Software	Win 10 pro..
Benchmark Scores	Firestike 29500.. timepsy 14000..

System Name	Compy 386
Processor	7800X3D
Motherboard	Asus
Cooling	Air for now.....
Memory	64 GB DDR5 6400Mhz
Video Card(s)	7900XTX 310 Merc
Storage	Samsung 990 2TB, 2 SP 2TB SSDs, 24TB Enterprise drives
Display(s)	55" Samsung 4K HDR
Audio Device(s)	ATI HDMI
Mouse	Logitech MX518
Keyboard	Razer
Software	A lot.
Benchmark Scores	Its fast. Enough.

System Name	money pit..
Processor	Intel 9900K 4.8 at 1.152 core voltage minus 0.120 offset
Motherboard	Asus rog Strix Z370-F Gaming
Cooling	Dark Rock TF air cooler.. Stock vga air coolers with case side fans to help cooling..
Memory	32 gb corsair vengeance 3200
Video Card(s)	Palit Gaming Pro OC 2080TI
Storage	150 nvme boot drive partition.. 1T Sandisk sata.. 1T Transend sata.. 1T 970 evo nvme m 2..
Display(s)	27" Asus PG279Q ROG Swift 165Hrz Nvidia G-Sync, IPS.. 2560x1440..
Case	Gigabyte mid-tower.. cheap and nothing special..
Audio Device(s)	onboard sounds with stereo amp..
Power Supply	EVGA 850 watt..
Mouse	Logitech G700s
Keyboard	Logitech K270
Software	Win 10 pro..
Benchmark Scores	Firestike 29500.. timepsy 14000..

How-to: Pencil mod your HD 3870!

sneekypeet

not-so supermod

Steevo

trog100

Attachments

Steevo

trog100

SpookyWillow

New Member

Attachments

Nazzrath

New Member

DanishDevil

freaksavior

To infinity ... and beyond!

DanishDevil

Dr. Spankenstein

DanishDevil

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

Dr. Spankenstein

DanishDevil

trog100

sneekypeet

not-so supermod

Dr. Spankenstein

intel igent

New Member

Dr. Spankenstein

intel igent

New Member

SpookyWillow

New Member

sneekypeet

not-so supermod

Megasty

New Member

sneekypeet

not-so supermod

Processor	3570-K @ 4.4
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z77-DH3
Cooling	cosair H100
Memory	8gb samsung green
Video Card(s)	Inno3d 580GTX
Storage	240gb Vertex 3 +500gb samsung F1 + 640gb samsung F(something)
Display(s)	BenQ G2220HD
Case	CoolerMaster CMStacker
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Corsair TX750w
Software	Windows 7

System Name	Big Devil
Processor	Intel Core i5-2500K
Motherboard	ECS P67H2-A2
Cooling	XSPC Rasa \| Black Ice GT Stealth 240 \| XSPC X2O 750 \| 2x ACF12PWM \| PrimoChill White 7/16"
Memory	2x4GB Corsair Vengeance LP Arctic White 1600MHz CL9
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 780 ACX SC
Storage	Intel 520 Series 180GB + WD 1TB Blue
Display(s)	HP ZR30W 30" 2650x1600 IPS
Case	Corsair 600T SE
Audio Device(s)	Xonar Essence STX \| Sennheisser PC350 "Hero" Modded \| Corsair SP2500
Power Supply	ABS SL 1050W (Enermax Revolution Rebadge)
Software	Windows 8.1 x64 Pro w/ Media Center
Benchmark Scores	Ducky Year of the Snake w/ Cherry MX Browns & Year of the Tiger PBT Keycaps \| Razer Deathadder Black

System Name	ZeroUptime \| M.A.S.S / MM1
Processor	Xeon 2659 v3 / Xeon 2683 v4 / ARM A14
Motherboard	Asus X99-E-10G WS / ASRock x99 usb 3.1 / Apple
Cooling	NZXT Kraken / Noctua NH-L12 / Apple
Memory	16Gb DDR4 / 32Gb DDR4 / 16GB HBLM
Video Card(s)	Powercooler ATI vega 64 / GT 7300 / ARM
Storage	Samsung 970 512 Evo NVMe / A lot. / 256 + 512 External TB3
Display(s)	Acer Predator X34 / Headless / Acer X34 Non predator
Case	NZXT H630 \|Rosewill 8bay 4u server chasiss / MMM1
Audio Device(s)	Onboard / Onboard / Onboard
Power Supply	Corais HX850 \| Corsair TX750 / Internal 250w
Mouse	g502 proteus core / Headless / g502 proteus core
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Cherry Blue / Headless / K65 Cherry Red
Software	Windows 10 / ESXI / Big Sur 11.2.2

Processor	Intel C2D E8500 @ 4.25GHz (1.36V)
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6
Cooling	(Temporary) Tuniq Tower 120
Memory	2GB Transcend aXeram 1200+
Video Card(s)	HIS HD3870 CF Volt modded
Storage	3 Seagate 320Gb Barracuda in an Intel Matrix Raid array
Display(s)	Sony GDM-FW900 24" Widescreen CRT (a.k.a "The Shiznotch")
Case	Ultra Aluminus Full Tower
Audio Device(s)	onboard Intel HD audio
Power Supply	PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750
Software	XP MCE + Vista (HP) dual-boot

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

System Name	old school / new school
Processor	3.0e C0 @ 3.6 / e5200
Motherboard	p4p800e-dlx / p5q-DLX
Cooling	custom water see sig / air
Memory	2x1g oczPC4000EbPl / 2x2g ocz2rpr1066
Video Card(s)	3850AGP / 4890vaporX
Storage	36g raptor+120g wd / wd 1001fals 1tb
Display(s)	BenQ / sharpAQUOS LC-37D64U
Case	modded antec plusview / generic
Audio Device(s)	audigy 2zs / ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3
Power Supply	fan/cable modded powerstream 520 / OCZ 700mxsp
Software	Xp pro SP2 / VISTA ultimate OEM

Processor	i7 920 @ 3.6 GHz (4.0 when gaming)
Motherboard	Asus Rampage II Extreme - Yeah I Bought It...
Cooling	Swiftech.
Memory	12 GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer - I Love Red
Video Card(s)	ASUS EAH4870X2 - That Fan Is...!?
Storage	4 WD 1.5 TB
Display(s)	24" Sceptre
Case	TT Xaser VI - Fugly, Red, & Huge...
Audio Device(s)	The ASUS Thingy
Power Supply	Ultra X3 1000W
Software	Vista Ultimate SP1 64bit