--------Introduction--------
Hey guys, as I've said before, I'm a member of the EOCF boards. Got some info over there on flashing the BIOS on my 9800 Pro to an XT BIOS. I did the flash (using a cd, as I don't have a floppy drive) and it was successful. I tried 2 BIOSes, both worked (although not all will work, it's card specific). I tried a BBA 128mb samsung e-die BIOS, and the GigaCube one. I'm not sure if there's any benefit with one over the other. The main reason it's card specific is different memory types, or different board designs from various manufacturers. Some are interchangable, such as the ATI/gigacube BIOS, and possibly the Sapphire BIOS (made for the same memory type).
------The Guide-------
Before you flash, make sure your card can run stable at STOCK XT speeds, which are 412/365 (almost always possible). If you know you can do this, then a flash may be a good idea for you! The XT BIOS improves performance AT THE SAME SPEEDS compared to the Pro BIOS (r350 at least, not sure about r360), although I'm not sure if it's accross the board, or only in certain areas (dx9/ps2.0) or apps. (I saw a big increase in 3dmark 03). I saw about a 500 point increase in my 3dmark 03 score with the XT BIOS. Using the 4.4s I broke 7k (7054) compared to about 6500 (4.3s) with the Pro BIOS. These were both run at 460/380 on my card.
If you have an older 9800 Pro (like me) that was produced before they started making the r360(xt) core, you will get some ARTIFACTING in the 2nd and 3rd game test of 3dmark 03. This is due to some minor differences in the core. This is NORMAL and WILL NOT hurt your card. In fact the anomalies are kind of interesting
I have seen no sign of any other misrenderings in ANY other programs or games except 3dmark 03. (Although I havn't tried everything in the world!) Many newer 9800 Pros (and non-pros) have an r360(xt) core. The only way to know what core you have is to look at it, or flash your BIOS and see if you get any artifacts in game tests 2 and 3 of 3dmark 03.
[*UPDATE* I have since found 2 games that have some artifacts due to the flash. These are Far Cry and Painkiller. The artifacts are mild, and don't occur often (only in certain places). They are static (unchanging, given a certain set of parameters) artifacts.]
I believe the XT BIOS increases the memory voltage. Some people claim to get higher overclocks after flashing. I did not experience this. (I have good aftermarket cooling and have always been able to run 460/380).
Here is a link to where you can download the various 9800 XT BIOSes. <A HREF="http://my.tbaytel.net/panthor/bioses.htm" target="_new"> 9800 XT BIOSes </A>
Here's another link with more ATI BIOSes, including ones for 9800s with Hynix RAM (even a 128mb XT bios for hynix ram!). <A HREF="http://softmod.ocfaq.com/bios.php" target="_new">Thank me later</A>.
Here's a link to a thread at EOCF that talks about flashing, if you're interested. This post covers all you need to know though. <A HREF="http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=92880" target="_new"> EOCF thread</A>.
--------Flash Instructions--------
If you have a floppy drive, make an msdos startup disk (right click A: in my comp, select format, create startup disk). Then place the neccessary files (flashrom, dos4gw (the top 2 attatchments on the EOCF post), and the BIOS file you want to use onto the floppy. Reboot (first boot device = floppy), type "flashrom -s 0 original.bin" to save your current BIOS onto the floppy (it will be called original.bin). Backing up your current BIOS is optional, but recommended.
Then to do the flash, type "flashrom -p 0 [name of BIOS file]". To see the exact name of the BIOS file you have put on the floppy, type "dir". This will show you everything on the floppy, including the BIOS. File names are different in DOS, if you're smart, you'll know what it's called without having to type that
😉 When typing the name of the BIOS in dos, you must include the ".bin" suffix.
Reboot, and youre done! The flash takes seconds. You may need to reinstall your ATI drivers.
[You can download FLASHROM (the utility needed to flash your ATI card's BIOS) and dos4gw (the other program you need) off my personal webspace <A HREF="http://members.cox.net/theocking/9800pro%20to%209800xt%20bios%20flash%201.zip" target="_new">HERE</A> and <A HREF="http://members.cox.net/theocking/9800pro%20to%209800xt%20bios%20flash%202.zip" target="_new">HERE</A>.]
If you do not have a floppy drive, you can use a CD, like I did. Using this method you cannot backup your current BIOS though. This wasn't a problem for me and probably won't be for you, unless you use the WRONG BIOS*, or a corrupted one.
*If you use the wrong BIOS, there's a good chance your card will still work, and you'll be able to fix it. You may get artifacting in games, or a corrupted desktop image or some crazy junk like that.
To make a dosboot cd with the neccessary files on it is a somewhat lengthy process and I lost the link I had on how to do it. Basically you just need 2 files, then put the flashrom and dos4gw and bios file in a certain directory, then compile it into an cd image file to burn.
However I compiled and saved the exact image file (.iso) you need, which can be downloaded off my personal webspace for your convenience! This image file contains ALL of the BIOS files listed on that site, AS WELL AS an original 9800 Pro BIOS incase you need to flash back. This is the easiest way to do it.
Before I compiled the image I renamed all the BIOS files to 8 characters (or less) to make them easily distinguishable in a DOS environment. If you have any question as to which BIOS is right for your card, ask me (email or pm).
--------BIOS naming--------
My BIOS naming scheme is as follows:
BBA = Made by ATI
Sap = Sapphire
Byte = Gigabyte
Club = Club 3d
Cube = GigaCube
Elsa = Elsa
Herc = Hercules
HIS = HIS
PC = Power Color
Following one of the above names, is the amount of memory (128 or 256) the BIOS is meant for.
Following that number, there will be one of three letters:
S = samsung ram
H = hynix ram
I = infineon ram
Some BIOS names contain other information, such as AIW, or "E". The E stands for e-die. Don't ask me what this is. The "bba128sE" works with made by ati 9800 pros (as does the GigaCube BIOS). Also for some manufacturers there is more than one BIOS, and one is suffixed with a "2". Both should work, as there are probably minor differences in them.
-----------The Download-----------
You can download this 3mb image file off of my cox personal webspace <A HREF="http://members.cox.net/theocking/bcd.iso" target="_new">HERE</A>.
***The above image file will be updated soon to contain XT and Pro BIOSes for cards with Hynix RAM (untill then you can PM or email me if you need one).***
If by chance I go over my max bandwidth limit, email me and Ill email you the image file, or files you need to put on a floppy.
-----My Conclusion-----
Anyways I'm very happy with the flash, I see no problems* in any games/benchmarkes except 3dmark03 which has rendering anomalies in game tests 2 and 3 (and maybe the feature tests, i didn't try them). You may very well get an overclock boost, and you will get a mild performance boost even at the same speeds!
*Check *UPDATE* near top of post.
This flash works for 9800 Pro AND 9800 non-pro cards, as long as it can handle the speeds. The 9800 Pro BIOS in my image file is for an r350 core, so if you have an r350 core (older) 9800 non-pro, you can flash to this if you so choose, and you will get no anomalies in any 3dmark 03 tests. If you have an r360 core 9800 Pro/non-pro you can still flash back to this file without a problem. The stock speeds are 380(ish)/340(ish).
One thing I'm not sure of, is whether currently produced r360 core 9800 Pro's get a performance boost with the XT BIOS, running the same speeds. Either way you still get a voltage boost as far as I know.
The BIOS flashing process for ALL ATI cards is exactly the same, if you have a non-9800 model and want to flash, just use a different BIOS file!
Good luck if you try it!
Me: are you saying I can't provide?
Me: cause I know I can provide.
Me: oh and I can provide money too
😉
Rachel
: why do we need money when we can just stay in our room and have sex all day?<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Willamette_Sucks on 05/15/04 04:24 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
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