Help with GPU ocing...

[Atopiques]

Hi Guys...this is my very first post...and I hope U can help me with the questions I have... =)

I'm currently using a Sapphire Radeon 9800pro 128mb graphics card...R360 core and 8E-GC2A Samsung 2.8ns ram...drivers using cats 4.4...graphics bios stock...agp voltage 1.6 (maximum is 1.65 in Abit IC7 bios)...

Using atitool:
With stock hsf, best oc is core/mem 425/365 stable no artifacts...
With AC VGA silencer rev3 hsf, best oc is 435/366 stable no artifacts...3DMark03 score is 6400...

I would like to push the oc and scores up, and hope to get some help from you guys...

1. Should I change my drivers from the Cats to Omega or DNA? Which is better?

2. Also, since my core is a R360, should I flash it to a 9800XT bios or leave it as a 9800pro? If I flash to the 9800XT, which bios should I use and where can I find them?

3. I have also read that flashing my card with the 'Gigacube 9800PRO 2.8ns 128mb' bios (not sure which one though) instead of upgrading to the XT bios would allow my samsung ram to hit 390 (thread by MJ)...would the 9800XT bios allow me to do the same?

Thanks for all your help ppl!!! =P

[Atopiques]

errr...somebody?

[T07N]

XT bios is bad, don't flash your 9800 Pro with it. You'll end up with more problems. As for your overclock at 435/366, I doubt you can get the core that high with R360 core on 9800 Pro. Try running a program called rthdribl (google it) and see if it shows any artifacts.

If you want more mhz on the core, you need to do the volt mod.

Now if you want more memory mhz, then yes, flash your bios to gigacube bios. You should be able to get 391mhz on the memory after the flash.

Good luck.

[8itgreat]

i just got my rma back from newegg and its a new sapphire 9800 pro with the 360 core and 8E samsung memory... my last card had the RA samsung memory which seemed a bit better to me, but not entirely sure as of yet...

anyways...my core oc using ati tool (dont alway trust this proggie) went as high as 457 with vga silencer on it...stock it was 447

also memory stock highest oc was 369 before artifacts...saved original bios then flashed it with the Edie gigacube bios and put my tweakmonster ramsinks on (adhesive/as 5 mix just in case i have to take em off) then memory went to 391 before artifacts showed its ugly head...

my last card had a worse core oc but slightly better memory (just slightly like 4mhz) i think the memory went though so probably a little too much oc in the end


I just got my card back today...and now it sits at

445/385 i figure this is a nice safe oc...burn it in at this for a while

[T07N]

Holy crap, you got your R360 9800 Pro to 445mhz (core) without volt mod?

[8itgreat]

yeah...weird eh...it went as high as 457 in ati tool...but stepped it down a bit for safety...

[T07N]

Did you try rthdrilb?

[8itgreat]

yes i did...always do ...i find it to be the most sensitive to any artifacts...i guess i got lucky with a decent R360 core...i remember a couple of months ago people were freaking out and happy when they saw an R360 core lol...now everyone is saying how crappy they are lol...i was thrilled man...

[T07N]

HAHA yes... Well keep that 9800 Pro healthy because they don't come around well overclocked like that.

[Atopiques]

wow...445...if only mine could...haha...but I guess I'll prolly stick with 435...gonna try flashing with gigacube bios to push mem up to 390 hopefully...will let U guys know my results!!!

btw, do I need to get ramsinks? are they necessary?

[T07N]

Yes... if you touch the memory when 3dmark03 is running you will notice they get very hot. 120-140F depending on what type of memory you have. Mine runs at 130-140F... pretty hot. I got ramsinks now though.

[Atopiques]

well guys...back with my results after flashing with the gigacube bios...

Mem at 391.5 stable!!! w00t!!!
But my gpu still maxing out at 336.5...highest I can go before atitool errors out...but stable at 336.5/391.5...3dmark03 score at 6730...

gonna get ramsinks to cool my mem down soon...thinking of the tweakmonsters bga ramsinks...but a little pricy though...

last thing...I've read somewhere that if I flash to the the XT bios...it will actually increase the voltage to the gpu core and mem due to the different code, algorithms and stuff but lower the mem timings...is that true?

If so, will flashing to the XT bios enable my core to go higher due the the increase in voltage?

[T07N]

Uh, are you serious? 336.5mhz is below manufacture's specs. It's suppose to run at 380mhz.

No flashing to 9800 XT will NOT give your card more voltage. It will give you more problems than improvements.

[Atopiques]

oops...soz for the typo...its 436.5 not 336.5 for the core...my bad...

in that case...I think I'll just use the pro bios then...won't be flashing to xt...and I'm still a n00b when it comes to hard mods...never tried it b4 and don't even know where to begin...

read the website U gave me about volt mod...didn't really understand what those figures were...and what are probes, trimmers, multimeter etc? do U know of any other sites that explains hardmods to a n00b like me (maybe something like 'voltmods for dummies'...haha...) Felt a little daunted by all the jargon used on that site...and what are the essential equipment I need to do the mod and how much do U reckon I would have to spend? (not too thrilled about splurging after forking out 400+ for my new card)...

I hope to understand exactly what I'm doing to my card b4 I make any attempts at the volt mod...it's very tempting and I would like to try it but don't really know how to...

Thanks for all your help dude...!!!

[T07N]

Hmmm, you can talk with me on AIM or MSN. SN: T07N MSN: t07n@hotmail.com

[Atopiques]

Thanks manz...appreciate the help...will add U to msn...mine's les77c@hotmail.com...talk to U soon dude...

[8itgreat]

well this is a bit strange...seems like my 445 is not rock solid after all...these test were done with a fresh install using my silencer/tweakmontsers and some as 3 (not a big fan of as 5) anyways...when i install hardware using thermal compound i dont leave my computer on 24/7 , i turn it off overnight a couple of times within a week or two period and let the stuff cure blah blah blah...

i got 445 clean the first night...then left comp off overnight...the next day i was still testing it with varies programs when i noticed my 445 wasnt so stable after all...i have to lower it to 436.5 for stability (ati tool is kinda ******, cause its still telling me my max core clock is 457!!!! lmao how many people fry their video cards trusting this app)

kind of ironic cause the other guy that posted has the same clock speeds exactly as me now lol...

436.5/391.5 hee hee...hey im a honest guy and didnt want to mislead anyone when my results differed...so this is where i am now and seems quite stable...will leave it here and just enjoy the card.... now that the 800's are out it kinda feels like a mid end card now...even though it still kicks ass...

[Atopiques]

436.5/391.5 is a decent overclock dude...I'm that other guy... =)

I'm still trying to push it higher...haven't installed any ramsinks yet...gonna see whether they help in further ocing my mem...might also change my vga silencer to a cpu hsf to see whether this helps in my gpu oc...

also thinking of doing a volt mod...but trying to understand the entire process b4 I try anything...

yeh...the x800 ROX!!!

[Atopiques]

btw guys...ever thought of modding the fan of the vga silencer? I'm think of changing it to a faster and higher cfm one...any recommendations?

and would adding a copper plate as a contact surface between the silencer and gpu help in lowering temps?

[8itgreat]

a volt mod is nice , but forget about an RMA after that...its impossible to cover up a modification like that....and if you install ramsinks with adhesive i would add some arctic silver 3 or 5 to them so you can take them off later just in case like i did...once the adhesive is mixed add 1:1 ratio of as 3 or 5 to it....i had to stick my old card in the freezer for a few hours double bagged to pry them off gently with needle nose pliers....


thats my overclock with ramsinks...and i have the samsung 8E chips as well...thought i would go a bit higher but don't want to push it too high...yeah its a comfortable oc...my last card was set at 411/391 so an increase in core clock is nice but hardly noticeable during gameplay really...a little extra marks on benching

[T1Cybernetic]

Originally posted by 8itgreat
a volt mod is nice , but forget about an RMA after that...its impossible to cover up a modification like that....and if you install ramsinks with adhesive i would add some arctic silver 3 or 5 to them so you can take them off later just in case like i did...once the adhesive is mixed add 1:1 ratio of as 3 or 5 to it....i had to stick my old card in the freezer for a few hours double bagged to pry them off gently with needle nose pliers....


thats my overclock with ramsinks...and i have the samsung 8E chips as well...thought i would go a bit higher but don't want to push it too high...yeah its a comfortable oc...my last card was set at 411/391 so an increase in core clock is nice but hardly noticeable during gameplay really...a little extra marks on benching

"Sorry to hijack the thread but"

How exactly did you get the ramsinks off of your memory without damaging them ?

I put some tweakmonster BGA sinks on my sapphire 9800pro about two or three i'sh
months ago with some arctic silver alumina adhesive and arctic silver 5 .

I mixed it 1+1+1 of each so that it would make a weaker bond for future changes etc etc, but from what i can gather
it seems pretty perminent to me, . And i was thinking of changing the ramsinks soon for some different ones
so if i could get them off when i need to that would be very nice indeed, ...

[T07N]

Uhh, if you mixed it then you could probably freeze the card for 30 minutes then you could probably get it off with a plyer or something.

[Pyrazon]

Hello, I was reading the post and noticed you mentioned a program named Rthdrilb, now I did a google search for it but was unable to find anything. And as I've just installed a moded bios into my Radeon 9500 pro which I've had for a year and some odd and used ATI Tool to try to find its max clock range (according to ATI tool it was 380-320) but now the blinking thing produces artifacts (all this after about 3 days of overclocked usage,about 6-10 vertical lines spaced out quarter to half an inch each on monitor that distort the screen behinde them) when I push it too high...the thing is they first appeared when I was only overclocking it to about 330 - 310. I am currently thanking my lucky stars that I can turn computer off for awhile and have them dissapear( they returned next time I OCed under Far Cry demo 330-310 again), but the main point in this reply was simply to ask you if theres a main website for that program that you mentioned, ATI tool seems to have let me down big time, I knew it was too good to be true (these speeds were achieved using stock cooling from ATI) and perhaps see if anyone here has any info on what to do, if anything can be done, to prevent the card from producing these artifacts again

-Macrog
A.K.A Pyrazon

P.S. Its most likely a hardware problem, for the artifacts persist right into the BIOS (motherboard) if I restart but don't give it time to cool down

[Dave-Boy-Smith]

Hey,
Need some advise guys, got a ati radeon 9800pro with a R360 core and Samsung 404 K4026328E - GA2A Ram. Got my core upto 421 stable and me ram upto 365 stable, now i want 2 increase my ram because i heard it gives u the most performance increase over the core, so what u think i should do? Do i need 2 flash the VGA bios? and if so what with?

cheers

[T1Cybernetic]

Rthdribl Url - http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/rthdribl/ ...