9500 -> 9700

[GrandVizor]

Where can I find the softmod?

 

[zsouthboy]

download omega's drivers..

http://www.omegacorner.com

or use RivaTuner's patch, or wizzards patches....

 

[GrandVizor]

Which one is better? Riveturner, Omega or wizzards?
Where to get wizzard?

 

[zsouthboy]

I am using the omegas 3.5's and am very happy with them... I would recommend them because they are easier to install than the regular drivers..

for reference, the wizzard drivers are at http://www.ocfaq.com/softmod/

 

[demenion]

damn, I got my 9500 from Allstarshop.com today.

i get checkerboard effect in games =(

is there anything I can do?

I heard about some 9500 - 9800 mod that doesn't use the 4 remaning pipelines or something?

Thanks.

 

[zsouthboy]

Try disabling HyperZ...

Its down at the bottom of that wizzard link..

You can't have a 9700 or 9800 without those extra pipes, and you can't use just 7 of them, or whatever... sorry.. just a matter of luck

 

[GrandVizor]

How do you check if the 8 pipelines and 256-bit is enabled after installing omega driver?

 

[zsouthboy]

Run 3dmark afterwards (blech, i know)...

you should get like 1600 single texturing and 2200 multi texturing... IIRC

Anyway, you should also notice a HUGE increase in fps in all your games...

 

[GrandVizor]

Thx zsouthboy.

Here is the result using 3DMark2001 SE:
- Single-texturing = 1789.3 MTexels/s
- Multi-texturing = 2455.2 MTexels/s

So, is this means that the 8 pipelines and the 256-bit are enabled by thr omega driver?

 

[zsouthboy]

Yeah

 

[GrandVizor]

Between RivaTuner and Omega, which one is better?
Which one can OC higher?

 

[stardust]

what are the requirements for this softmod? i've heard alot about it and alot saying most 9500s (pro??) can't do it anymore.

 

[GrandVizor]

This softmod only work on some sapphire radeon 9500 (non pro). Not all of them will work. So, if you luck, you can get 9700, even 9700 pro.

Here is another question:

If you OC your card (core and memory), is better to get a better GPU heatsink (like Zalman or Thermaltake), or it's better to get a memory heatsink?
Because, if you installed either Zalman or Thermaltake, you won't be able to put heatsink on the memory. No room for that.

 

[zsouthboy]

Originally posted by: GrandVizor
Between RivaTuner and Omega, which one is better?
Which one can OC higher?

Neither.

Softmodding only enables the 4 extra pipes. It does not overclock.

 

[zsouthboy]

Originally posted by: GrandVizor
This softmod only work on some sapphire radeon 9500 (non pro). Not all of them will work. So, if you luck, you can get 9700, even 9700 pro.

Here is another question:

If you OC your card (core and memory), is better to get a better GPU heatsink (like Zalman or Thermaltake), or it's better to get a memory heatsink?
Because, if you installed either Zalman or Thermaltake, you won't be able to put heatsink on the memory. No room for that.

Stick a heatsink on the core, unless you are going to voltmod the memory, since the memory on most 9500 np's is 3.3 ns, (303 mhz, blech).

 

[zsouthboy]

Originally posted by: stardust
what are the requirements for this softmod? i've heard alot about it and alot saying most 9500s (pro??) can't do it anymore.

It must be a 256-bit 9500 NON pro to get a 9700. You only get a 9700 PRO by overclocking to its speed.

A 128-bit (memory at the top of the card in a line only) non pro can be softmodded into a 9500 pro.

 

[zsouthboy]

Originally posted by: zsouthboy

Originally posted by: GrandVizor
This softmod only work on some sapphire radeon 9500 (non pro). Not all of them will work. So, if you luck, you can get 9700, even 9700 pro.

Here is another question:

If you OC your card (core and memory), is better to get a better GPU heatsink (like Zalman or Thermaltake), or it's better to get a memory heatsink?
Because, if you installed either Zalman or Thermaltake, you won't be able to put heatsink on the memory. No room for that.

Stick a heatsink on the core, unless you are going to voltmod the memory, since the memory on most 9500 np's is 3.3 ns, (303 mhz, blech).

Also, I need to point out that you should watch how much you spend on jazzing the card up... you might spend more than you could've gotten a 9700 NP for...