X800 GTO² to X850 XT BIOS Mod

[VTwedge]

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]

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]

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]

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?

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]

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]

That's what I would assume. Then, why do the Connect3D cards not love OCability after the mod?

 

[Dynamic]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

I'm curious if you've done any benchmarking with that setup? It would be nice to see the results, thanks.

 

[Dynamic]

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]

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]

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]

Christmas special

 

[ShadowFlare]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Good eye shadowflare. I got mine OEM for about $10 less than that.

 

[Ombracol]

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]

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]

Where are you seeing this? Can we get a link?

 

[Ombracol]

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....