*ALERT* Connect3D GTO No Longer Moddable!

[Cooler]

tis a sad day for gamers indeed.

 

[golem]

my card unlocks successfully, and ati tool says it can go to about 540/550. But when I try and run the ffxi benchmark or 3dmark. The screen freezes if I oc too much. Havent' found out at what core clock it won't freeze, but it's less than 490. It's weird, the screen is frozen but the sound still runs and the keyboard responds if I hit the numlock or capslock, but can't get rid of the frozen screen.


Just relocked it. Trying to overclock it that way. It's hasn't frozen at 530 clock yet. Might have to compare my max speeds possible with 12 and 16 pipes. OR maybe try the power color x800xt bios and see if I have more luck with that.

Originally posted by: golem
Ur oc'ed card with only 12 pipes scores better than my unlocked oc'ed card.

Really? Details please, curious minds want to know
BTW : My second card is looking a little better - 590/580 so far
[/quote]

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Second card : 590/555 - 6263 3DMark05.

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Not bad Playa. I wouldn't sell them just yet. It seems to be on par with unlocked GTO's.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: WhoBeDaPlaya
Don't feel too bad. Even if they can't be flashed, these GTOs seem to be extremely overclockable. You're kinda getting 6800GS class performance for ~$50 less

Well, the problem is that I was planning to unlock pipes for some added value while leaving at stock speeds because I was going to run it passively cooled. :disgust:

 

[w00t]

I'd just return them to newegg. maybe see if they can send you an older batch if they have any left.

 

[djstylze]

I'm in the exact same boat! I ordered mine before thanksgiving and received it yesterday. Trying flashing it for a good 2 hours only to come upon this thread. Checked ATI settings and the addresses don't match the required letters. DAMNIT!!! Newegg wants a 15% restocking fee on the 180 dollars but if I just keep the card after rebate is 150. I'll sell my barely used BFG 6600 GT OC on ebay and the difference should be ok.

PS. This card OC's without even sweating on stock cooling! Currently at 575/540 and its still good. Keeping track of temperatures I just run the fans to 100% if it sees 70 degrees automatically. I got a 5800 on 3dmarks 05 at around 550/540 OC. I'm going to keep pushing to make up for not unlocking it to 16.

I think the card is still a good deal.

 

[Snakexor]

my order from monarch just did 580 on the core w/ a silencer5 installed...testing mem now

 

[A5]

Now you may as well go with one of the Sapphire cards with the faster memory, to get some better overclocks...

 

[sisq0kidd]

Update:

I have:

Chip name = r423
CONFIG_DIE_FUSES = 0xEFF7FFFF
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES = 0xFFFFFF9F

And it unlocks! Wahooo! Just got it from Monarch today too.

 

[amheck]

Originally posted by: munky
Even if it doesnt unlock, it's still a decent card if you OC it. I know mine scored 6000 in 3dmark05 with just 12 pipes, so you're getting better performance than an x800pro or a x800xl.

That's a nice score. My x800xl only gets 5050 or so. Granted, it's not OC'd, but I did pay $250 for it 3-4 months ago.

Aaron

 

[Zap]

There is hope for me after all. Still waiting for my order from Monarch (a week ago today). I got a shipping confirmation either Tuesday or Wednesday - had ordered a mobo combo with it and I hear that can delay shipment even though I told them to not test it.

 

[ITPaladin]

I went from a 9600xt to this unlocked. I am happy. I can run Balanced in EQ2 much easier now, see grass, and see shadows. I do have to turn it down in a raid though.

 

[golem]

Flashed the card to the powercolor x800xt bios and it overclocks much better now. Able to go higher than 500 core without lockups.

 

[Chesebert]

Originally posted by: SPARTAN VI
Not bad Playa. I wouldn't sell them just yet. It seems to be on par with unlocked GTO's.

yeah..that's almost as good as the unlocked....I only score 6600 on 2k5...which translate into less than 1fps increase per game tested...lol...nice OC...!

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Do the Sapphire X800GTO2's still have 100% unlocking frequency?

 

[ddogg]

i dont think they were ever 100% unmoddable...but i think the % has dropped.

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Originally posted by: ddogg
i dont think they were ever 100% unmoddable...but i think the % has dropped.

I thought Sapphire GTO2's were 100%, or at least much more frequent that the Connect3D GTO's.

 

[Roybin]

mine cannot unlocked to 16 pipe too. It overclocks to 570/520, 3D5 mark is 5532. Just bought it before thanksgiving from newegg

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Turn that frown upside-down. 5500 is what I used to get on my X800XL, and I paid $250 for that, in the day.

Look at it this way, you got exactly what you paid for.

 

[Sunrise089]

2 observations:

1) I know 3d mark isn't a game, but is it just me, or do these non-unlocked cards seem to take a VERY small hit from loosing out on 25% of the pipelines of an unlocked GTO? If game performance in FPS correlates to 3dmark scores than the fact that the cards don't unlock doesn't really matter that much.

2) If there is a major fall off in game performance, the buying choices just got a whole lot easier. IMHO the GTO is still the choice for those who want to overclock and run fairly low resolutions, but then the 7800gt and gtx seem to be the clear choices for everyone who wants to play at high resolutions. I know some will recommend the 6800gs, but compared to the unlocked/overclocked GTO its a card that costs $25+ more and performs slightly slower. With stock overclocked eVGA 7800GTs down to $309 shipped I think the 6800GS is facing a shrinking market, but I guess thats better than $250 X800XLs, which seem to have no market at all at this point.

 

[Zap]

Mine is now successfully modded!!! Happy happy. I just got it in today from Monarch Computer. Ordered 11/25, received 12/2. $171 with $25 rebate. Now testing overclocks, I think the memory is good for 569MHz, haven't gotten to core yet.

 

[Zap]

Cre at 441 which seems kinda slow. It gave a warning about testing core overclocks while memory is overclocked - should I have defaulted memory to test the core?

This puppy gets HOT! I'm running it in open air on a motherboard with an x2 CPU and this was the first time I've felt heat come from that setup. Previously was using a 6600GT. Heh, as I was typing this and the core test was doing a "heat up phase" I started up RivaTuner and system locked as soon as I double clicked on it.

 

[v8envy]

Originally posted by: Sunrise089
2 observations:

1) I know 3d mark isn't a game, but is it just me, or do these non-unlocked cards seem to take a VERY small hit from loosing out on 25% of the pipelines of an unlocked GTO? If game performance in FPS correlates to 3dmark scores than the fact that the cards don't unlock doesn't really matter that much.

Those scores are from people with 25%+ overclocks on their cards, you know. Stock, there is quite a bit of 3dmark difference.

2) If there is a major fall off in game performance, the buying choices just got a whole lot easier. IMHO the GTO is still the choice for those who want to overclock and run fairly low resolutions, but then the 7800gt and gtx seem to be the clear choices for everyone who wants to play at high resolutions. I know some will recommend the 6800gs, but compared to the unlocked/overclocked GTO its a card that costs $25+ more and performs slightly slower. With stock overclocked eVGA 7800GTs down to $309 shipped I think the 6800GS is facing a shrinking market, but I guess thats better than $250 X800XLs, which seem to have no market at all at this point.

Keep in mind the $250 XL is available for AGP, for which NVidia doesn't (yet) have much competition. The 6800GS in AGP may address that. Also, not everyone wants to delve into the wild and wooly and oftentimes fun world of bios flashing and overclocking.

Anyhoo, my thinking:

<$100 -- integrated graphics, discrete cards don't offer enough performance to bother
$100-$130 -- 6600GT has an exclusive stranglehold on this price point
$140-$160 -- X800GTO
$160 - $200 -- Big hole here. People will either go much cheaper, or toss in a few more bucks to go up a segment
$210 -- 6800GS
$240 - $250 -- X800XL, X850 Pro, X800GTO^2
$300 -- 7800 GT
$400-$unlimited -- 7800 GTX 512, SLI GT, X1800, etc. Anything over $350 is all about the e-peen size, and price/performance goes completely out of the window. Buyers in this segment won't blink at a $50 price difference, it'll take a price delta of at least $150 to catch their attention. Honorable mention to the 2x 7800 GT for best price/performance in this segment.

People usualy segment by $50 increments, which is a HUGE mistake in the lower end. $50 bucks down there is 25-50% of the card cost, and is irrelevant at the high end. If you use finer grained pricing resolution, you can see that there's a niche for most mainstream products.

 

[A5]

Here's my theory on what happened: Newegg was out of stock earlier this week - the batch they got in to restock is a new revision of the card that has the pipes cut so that the GTO doesn't cut into the sales of Connect3D's higher-end products. I'd expect for more and more to not be unlockable as retailers have to restock the cards.