Unlocking pipelines on Connect3d X800GTO

[nightscope]

I read online that the remaining 4 pipelines on a Connect3d X800GTO can be unlocked (bringing the total up to 16 pipelines), but I've seen it be done with a floppy disk. I don't have a floppy drive, so how can I unlock the pipelines? I heard someone mention an ISO image, but what is that?

All help is appreciated
Thanks

 

[Scougs]

An ISO is a CD disk image. In other words, you can make a bootable CD that has what you need to flash the bios.

The first thing you need to do, is find out if your card can be unlocked. There is an easy way to do that:

Download and install ATItool. You can get it here: ATItool

Run ATItool and click the settings button.
Choose overclocking in the drop-down menu.
Scroll down until you see CONFIG_DIE_FUSES and CONFIG_SUBSTRATEFUSES.

Verify that your card can be unlocked by checking for an ‘F’ in the indicated positions of each hexadecimal number. The - represents any hexadecimal number (0-9 and A-F).

CONFIG_DIE_FUSES 0x----F----
(the fifth character after the little x must be an 'F')

CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES 0x-------F
(the last character must be an 'F')

Let me know your results and then I can give you furthur direction.

I did this mod on a Sapphire AGP X800GTO and I have helped several others do it on the same card. I haven't acually done it on any other brand cards, but the method should be the same.

 

[godlyatheist]

read the guide on techpowerup

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/127

 

[Bloated]

I was under the impression that only the Sapphire's and HIS X800 GTO's could be unlocked.

be careful.

 

[Scougs]

read the guide on techpowerup

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/127

Good call. I got some of my info from that article. However, I learned how to modify a card's current bios instead of taking a chance with a bios for a different card. I prefer modding a copy of the current bios that using a completely new one. Also, any X800GTO that comes shipped with 12 pipes enabled has a chance to be unlocked. Its just that some brands got a reputation for being unlockable. The Connect 3D cards did have a streak of unlockable ones. I don't know if the current ones are still unlockable or not. The fuses are what tell you if the card is unlockable.

 

[nightscope]

Well I currently have the X850 XT in my computer, I was thinking about selling it and using my x800gto since they accomplished the same power out of it as the x850 xt. I bought the x800gto from my friend, and he bought it over a year ago...so I would think that it is moddable. Currently the x850xt I have has those Fs in ati-tool, but how can it be moddable? It already has 16 pipelines, does that mean I can unlock more on it?

Also, how is unlocking done with the iso image? Where do i get the files for it?

 

[Scougs]

The Fs mean that the pipes are not hardware locked. In the case of the X800GTO, if the Fs are there the pipes are being disabled by the bios. In the case of your X850, the pipes are not disabled in the bios and are obviously not hardware disabled.

It looks like your idea is not to gain performance but to keep performance the same and get some money. I don't see how it could hurt, but I would recommend checking to see if the card is moddable before you sell your X850xt. To do so, you need to install the card in a computer and look at the fuse data. You also want to see which core the card has, because that will affect what clock speeds you can achieve by overclocking. The GTO comes with lower clock speeds than an X850xt, so to get the same performance you will have to overclock. ATI tool will tell you which core you have. The R480 is the one you want for good overclocking.

 

[nightscope]

I think the x800gto has an r423 chip? I think? But the x850 xt I have now has a r480 I think... But on forums I saw that the x800gto connect3d was moddable to 16 pipelines, and overclocked to 470 core and 1100 memory I think. The x800gto has a 400 core currently, and the x850 xt has a 520 core.
So...yeah. But if it is moddable, how do I mod it?

 

[godlyatheist]

did you read the guide?

 

[Scougs]

To mod it, you need to get a copy of your current bios and change one value.
Then you boot into DOS using a CD, floppy, or USB flash drive and flash the modded bios using a special program.

 

[nightscope]

Can you please be more specific? Which programs do I choose? How do I flash the bios? How do I make a copy of it? And yes, I did read that thread.

 

[Scougs]

Here is a set of directions for getting a copy of your bios and modding it. You have to have the card you want modded installed though or you won't be modding the right bios.

Download and install ATItool: http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

Click the settings button and choose overclocking in the drop-down menu.

Scroll down until you can see the CONFIG_DIE_FUSES and CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES.

Verify that your card can be unlocked by checking for an ‘F’ in the indicated positions of the hexadecimal each number. The capital X represents any hexadecimal number (0-9 or A-F).

CONFIG_DIE_FUSES 0xXXXXFXXX
(the fifth character after the little x must be an 'F')

CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES 0xXXXXXXXF
(the last character must be an 'F')

If ATItool reads an ‘F’ in the indicated spots, you should be able to unlock your card. If not, I am afraid you are out of luck.

Now select miscellaneous in the drop-down menu.

Click the button that says “Save VGA bios to file”. Give the file a simple name like “12pipe.bin”. This will be your backup copy.

Make a second copy, which will be modified, and name it something like “16pipe.bin”.

Download the hex editor from this website (I would recommend using the “stable” version instead of the beta version): http://www.mh-nexus.de/programs.htm#HxD
This software will allow you to modify your bios to enable the pipelines.

Extract the hex editor program and run it. Open “16pipe.bin”.

Find the row marked 00000070 and the column labeled ‘A’. You should find ‘61’ at that location. The second bit represents the number of disabled pixel pipe quads. Change the data value to ‘60’ to enable all 16 pixel pipes.

Note: If you ever get bord later you can mess around with disabling pipes. 1 means four pipes are disabled (X800GTO), 2 means eight pipes are disabled (X800GT), 3 means twelve pipes are disabled (yep only 4 left active).

Save the modified bios and exit the hex editor.

Flashrom program:

I used ATIflash from the following link: ATIflash

Include both the original bios file and the modded copy along with the contents of the ATIflash zip on the bootable media.

Now for getting a bootable device when you don't have a floppy drive:

1. Well, you might try this link for a bootable CD: http://www.nu2.nu/bootcd/#clean

2. If you have a flash drive and can temporarily empty it you might consider that option. I actually tried out making my flash drive DOS bootable and it was easy. I didn't try flashing my bios from it but that should't be any different than from a disk or CD. Here is the link for making a bootable flash drive:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/34/5

You should now be ready to flash, but I'd prefer not to tell you how to do this until you are actually ready. If the process gets messed up, you either need to be able to do it agian blind or you need a PCI graphics card ot use while reflashing the card. I have had this happen to a guy once, but he was able to recover his card.

 

[slavetrader]

good post. make sure ram is the same samsung or hynix

 

[Scougs]

good post. make sure ram is the same samsung or hynix

If you go with a modded version of your own bios, you don't need to worry about RAM compatibility. The RAM chips are a factor in overclockability of course. 2.0ns memory can go up to about 500MHz (DDR1000) while 1.6ns memory is specified to go up to 600MHz (DDR1200). The only way to find out is by trying to overclock them or by taking the heat spreaders off and looking at the chips. Should have either a 16 or a 20 somewhere in the numbers if I'm not mistaken.

 

[nightscope]

Wow Scougs, thank you SO much. This DEFINITELY should be a sticky...wow, I still can't explain how explanatory it is. Thanks!! I will try it asap and tell you of my results.

 

[caamsa]

If you want to do it the easy way go to this thread and read though the posts. Dolf has an ISO image that you can down load and burn to a CD then you put the CD in, boot your computer and then pick which bios you want to flash your card to. It is automatic no changing fuses using hex writer or any of that crap. If you can't find the info in the thread just send Dolf and PM and he will be happy to help you out.

I did it and it worked great. You just need to read the instructions carefully to burn the ISO image to the CD so it will boot when you start your computer.


http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=10955

 

[Scougs]

It is automatic no changing fuses using hex writer or any of that crap.

FYI The fuses are not changable, they simply tell you if your card is moddable. The reason that I suggest the hex edditor method is that you are guaranteed compatibility with the new bios since the only thing that is changed is a value that tells the card how many pipes to ignore. I don't discourage the use of such CD images, but as you said, read the directions carefully.

I did this mod around 6 months ago before it was well known that the Sapphire AGP cards could be modded. For that reason, there weren't a lot of bios copys available that I knew would be compatible with my card.