How-to: Pencil mod your HD 3870!

Bakerman · Mar 29, 2008

On average I have seen that a 3870 runs much cooler than a 3850 when overclocking.
I have a very thin cooler and a tiny fan.
Yes I know how crazy this all sounds to you. But I did do my research and said my prayer before doing it. It was only for 1 hour though to run a few benchmarks.
I'm back to my normal 1.3v with a BIOS mod, running @ 770/1100.

And yes I am crazy. I have ran a poor E2140 @ 1.6 volts at 3.6GHz with a stock cooler. Temps were 90+! I sold that chip (yes the guy knew about it). So the damage I did aint my problem.

eidairaman1 · Mar 29, 2008

You are also an idiot for intentionally damaging the CPU if any by using stock cooling, im pretty sure the unit didnt run as fast as it was stock due to the system throttling

Bakerman said:
On average I have seen that a 3870 runs much cooler than a 3850 when overclocking.
I have a very thin cooler and a tiny fan.
Yes I know how crazy this all sounds to you. But I did do my research and said my prayer before doing it. It was only for 1 hour though to run a few benchmarks.
I'm back to my normal 1.3v with a BIOS mod, running @ 770/1100.

And yes I am crazy. I have ran a poor E2140 @ 1.6 volts at 3.6GHz with a stock cooler. Temps were 90+! I sold that chip (yes the guy knew about it). So the damage I did aint my problem.

thoughtdisorder · Mar 29, 2008

eidairaman1 said:
You are also an idiot for intentionally damaging the CPU if any by using stock cooling, im pretty sure the unit didnt run as fast as it was stock due to the system throttling

Idiot is a bit harsh, but decent fans are relatively cheap nowadays, so there's no excuse for crazy high temps. Get some better air movement for sure and always watch your temps. Prayers don't usually work as well as a Zalman.......

eidairaman1 · Mar 29, 2008

if you know the risks of overclocking with stock cooling but do it anyways then thats an idiot, now if the cooler was modified partially then thats a different story.

Bakerman · Mar 29, 2008

Its a E2140!!! Not a dam expensive CPU so who cares? I did it to break my old Supi record.
The chip is still running fine to this day and can do 3.2GHz on stock voltage

philbrown23 · Mar 29, 2008

ok so I have a bit of a dilema here, I got my DMM measured my volts= 1.30 under 3d06 full load, yurned it off, checked resitance =1.929!! wtf so I did the pencil mod and got no change??? I just ordered some new pencils thinking maybe thats the issue, we'll see. oh yeah I have 2x his iceq hd3870's watercooled.

DaPhreak · Mar 30, 2008

Well guys, is there a chance to pencil mod my asus 3870 or not?

SpookyWillow · Mar 30, 2008

its hard to say DaPhreak without having the card, i can't find any info on your cards pwm controller at all anywhere and i'm not about to start taking guesses at your cards expense.

hopefully someone will know or have some info on that chip

erocker · Mar 30, 2008

eidairaman1 said:
You are also an idiot for intentionally damaging the CPU if any by using stock cooling, im pretty sure the unit didnt run as fast as it was stock due to the system throttling

If your name calling continues, there will be consequences. I don't stand for that kind of crap.:shadedshu

Random Murderer · Mar 30, 2008

DaPhreak said:
Well guys, is there a chance to pencil mod my asus 3870 or not?

i've been searching, that's not the same pwm as reference cards.

eidairaman1 · Mar 30, 2008

erocker said:
If your name calling continues, there will be consequences. I don't stand for that kind of crap.:shadedshu

Sorry if my personality is too blunt and to the point for you and the rest of the community

kenkickr · Apr 5, 2008

So many people are just to damn defensive these days!

I am still having issues measuring resistance. Any help would be much appreciated!

Random Murderer · Apr 5, 2008

kenkickr said:
So many people are just to damn defensive these days!

I am still having issues measuring resistance. Any help would be much appreciated!

try touching the end of the probe to the end of the resistor, with the very tip of the probe touching the solder pad on the board.

kenkickr · Apr 5, 2008

Do I do this with just the positive and the ground touching the case? I do not need the system on correct?
Do I set the multi meter to 200, 2000, or 20k?

Cold Storm · Apr 5, 2008

RM your up! like the song I tapped on your window?!?! Can you guess what it was!?
If you do what RM says, there won't be anything that will hurt your card... it takes some time to get it right, but once you do, you can do it blind folded!

Random Murderer · Apr 5, 2008

kenkickr said:
Do I do this with just the positive and the ground touching the case? I do not need the system on correct?
Do I set the multi meter to 200, 2000, or 20k?

system off, correct. the positive on one side of the resistor and the negative on the other.
the proper way is to start with the dmm on the highest setting and gradually move down as needed, but we have a general idea of what the resistor should measure, so just set it to 2k.

kenkickr · Apr 5, 2008

Whoa!!! Finally I go it! Does 1.63 sound about right?

Random Murderer · Apr 5, 2008

kenkickr said:
Whoa!!! Finally I go it! Does 1.63 sound about right?

yup, sounds exactly right.

eidairaman1 · Apr 5, 2008

Random Murderer said:
system off, correct. the positive on one side of the resistor and the negative on the other.
the proper way is to start with the dmm on the highest setting and gradually move down as needed, but we have a general idea of what the resistor should measure, so just set it to 2k.

Rule of thumb i know, never measure resistance with voltage applied, can get a nice zap out of it with damage to the meter or the PC, even a charge for yourself heh.

kenkickr · Apr 5, 2008

Sounds shocking! LOL

kenkickr · Apr 5, 2008

I have a 4B pencil and trying it. I run the pencil across it a couple times, blow it off with an air compressor, and check the resistence. Right now I have it @ 1.613 from 1.63. Does it take forever to get it to drop down .5?

Random Murderer · Apr 5, 2008

kenkickr said:
I have a 4B pencil and trying it. I run the pencil across it a couple times, blow it off with an air compressor, and check the resistence. Right now I have it @ 1.613 from 1.63. Does it take forever to get it to drop down .5?

it takes a while, yes. just don't be afraid to apply a little pressure STRAIGHT DOWN onto the resistor. if you apply pressure at an angle, you run the risk of snapping the resistor off of the board.

SpookyWillow · Apr 5, 2008

you dont need to use compressed air either, just give it a quick blow to remove any excess.

slugzkea · Apr 5, 2008

ghost101 said:
Apparently the second pencilmod point works better.

I combined BOTH these vgpu mods, which resulted in 1.62volts for my core!

At first i was afraid to post, but i took the risk. Temps were pretty high, but i have the 900 case so air flow was good.

I was able to get the core as high as 980.

eidairaman1 · Apr 6, 2008

SpookyWillow said:
you dont need to use compressed air either, just give it a quick blow to remove any excess.

ya aslong as you dont have saliva goin.

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How-to: Pencil mod your HD 3870!

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