9800 pro 256MB to 9800XT mod

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

Hello,
I'm looking to buy a built by ATI 9800pro 256MB card. I found a store
here in Toronto that sells these for $370CDN. This is only roughly a
$60 difference from the 128MB version, so i think it's worth it.
Anyways, I stumbled upon this article that tells you how to mod a
9800pro to a 9800XT:

http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=3&var1=92&var2=0

Apparently more recent shipments of pros have the R360 core (that the
XT has) leaving the ONLY difference between the pro and XT to be in
the BIOS. The board are identical, the components are identical,
everything. In flashing the bios, it unlocks the XT only features,
such as overdrive. So by doing this, you just saved yourself a wad of
cash on a 9800XT 256MB that performs exactly the same as a genuine one
In the article above, they mod a sapphire 256MB but tell you that
the stock cooling is barely enough for the pro speeds, let along the
XT speeds. Now heres my question: Has anyone successfully done this
mod? Will the stock cooling on a non third party (built by ati) card
be enough? If not which cooler would you recommend?

Thanks,

Kevin

 

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

Kevin Wagner wrote:

> Hello,
> I'm looking to buy a built by ATI 9800pro 256MB card. I found a store
> here in Toronto that sells these for $370CDN. This is only roughly a
> $60 difference from the 128MB version, so i think it's worth it.
> Anyways, I stumbled upon this article that tells you how to mod a
> 9800pro to a 9800XT:
>
> http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=3&var1=92&var2=0
>
> Apparently more recent shipments of pros have the R360 core (that the
> XT has) leaving the ONLY difference between the pro and XT to be in
> the BIOS. The board are identical, the components are identical,
> everything. In flashing the bios, it unlocks the XT only features,
> such as overdrive. So by doing this, you just saved yourself a wad of
> cash on a 9800XT 256MB that performs exactly the same as a genuine one
> In the article above, they mod a sapphire 256MB but tell you that
> the stock cooling is barely enough for the pro speeds, let along the
> XT speeds. Now heres my question: Has anyone successfully done this
> mod? Will the stock cooling on a non third party (built by ati) card
> be enough? If not which cooler would you recommend?
>
> Thanks,
>


Kevin ... the ATI cards are all built by third parties ... sigh (made
by ATI refers to the GPU not the PCB). In other words the ATI branded
cards are made by manufacturers such as Sapphire for ATI.

regards

@ndrew

 

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

On 7/14/2004 9:36 AM Kevin Wagner brightened our day with:

>Hello,
>Apparently more recent shipments of pros have the R360 core (that the
>XT has) leaving the ONLY difference between the pro and XT to be in
>the BIOS. The board are identical, the components are identical,
>everything. In flashing the bios, it unlocks the XT only features,
>such as overdrive. So by doing this, you just saved yourself a wad of
>cash on a 9800XT 256MB that performs exactly the same as a genuine one
> In the article above, they mod a sapphire 256MB but tell you that
>the stock cooling is barely enough for the pro speeds, let along the
>XT speeds. Now heres my question: Has anyone successfully done this
>mod? Will the stock cooling on a non third party (built by ati) card
>be enough? If not which cooler would you recommend?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Kevin
>
>

You're going to have to pop-off your vpu hsf in order to find out for
sure whether you've got a R360 core. Some people seem to insist that
its guaranteed, its not.
The zalman and arctic cooler are what the majority go for, or maybe the
latest vantec iceberq 4.

If you've got he R360 core it's still worthwhile to flash to XT even if
you have to keep the clocks down. Additional features are enabled with
the BIOS flash.

I've seen reports of lots of people who've done the BIOS flashing,
everyone that I can remember changed the cooler.

I've got a R350 with a Arctic Cooler VGA Silencer on it. Its pretty
good, its definitely quiet.

--
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

- Inigo Montoya
Steve [Inglo]