X800 GTO² to X850 XT BIOS Mod

[WildStyle]

@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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[DanishDevil]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[Unregistered]

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]

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]

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]

Wow, thanks! I'll have to remember pricegrabber

 

[DanishDevil]

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]

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]

$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