Anyone tried hardmodding their X800PRO into an XT?

[SickBeast]

Madshrimps Unlocking Guide

If anyone has done this, please let me know the following:

1. Can standard non-modified drivers be used after this mod?

2. Did you notice any artifacts/glitches whatsoever?

Thanks!

 

[EightySix Four]

1. yes
2. there's a good chance of it.

 

[Jen]

read of one other person who did this , card did had white lines going across the screen. couldnt even make it in windows cause they couldnt see anything

good note was they were able to remove the mod and card works as before


Jen

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: crazySOB297
1. yes
2. there's a good chance of it.

I just read a thread over at Rage3D and just about everyone with an X800PRO managed to perform the mod successfully. The only problems I read about were people who had to underclock a bit to get rid of the artifacts. The only problem is that most of the people there were using VIVO cards; mine won't be a VIVO in all likelihood.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Is this AGP or PCI-e?

There's a long thread here in the video forum about modding your VIVO X800 Pro AGP card into an X800XT. Good success rates if your card is VIVO and has 1.6ns RAM. Otherwise, I think you don't have a good chance.

 

[SickBeast]

AGP

Apparently it works on the non-VIVOs with a simple hardmod/BIOS flash.

 

[Greenman]

nm, Someone else answered while I was typing.

 

[imported_Woody]

I'm going to attempt this with my AGP X800Pro VIVO.

The big issue as I understand it is wether your card can handle the higher memory speeds that the X800XT BIOS will clock by default. You can test this beforehand by overclocking you memory to 560MHz. Since mine won't run stable that high I know I will need to downclock the memory but I will still benefit from opening up the 4 additional pipelines if it works.

There is an X800Pro VIVO BIOS for 16 pipelines at default speeds that I may try also.

It's a relatively simple matter to automatically downclock your vid card at system startup using software if it will at least boot.

I'll try to post back if I'm successful.

 

[imported_Woody]

My card: MSI X800Pro VIVO (AGP, 256MB)
My system: AMD Athlon3200XP (overclocked 2500 running at 11x200=2.2GHz), 1GB DDR400 dual channel.

OK, I flashed my graphics card with an ATI BIOS for a X800Pro VIVO 16 pipeline. I chose this ROM because it opens up the extra pipelines but preserves the speeds without overclocking the card. It still shows up in ROM as an X800Pro but shows 16 active pipelines.

I then overclock it up to 550 core/ 980 RAM which have been my everday gaming settings previously for this card (default is 475/900). My highest stable settings were 570/1020 but it crashed 3DMark05 just now at that settings so I clocked back a little for the test.

I scored 5921 3DMark05 with my everyday overclocked settings but on a cooler day I will definately break 6000 3DMark05 with this card.

 

[Greenman]

Tried it today, didn't work. Would have been sweet to got those 4 extra pipes for free.

 

[imported_Woody]

Hmmm.....was it a VIVO card? what didn't work?

I had some trouble with the flashrom application and had to improvise a little....

 

[ddogg]

well first make sure its AGP and supports VIVO. PCI-e X800Pros VIVO cannot be hardmodded to the XTPE because ATI has corrupted the remaining 4 pipes on all PCI-e cards. if you're sure the card can be modded i suggest you change cooling instead of underclocking it to prevent artifacts later. artic ATI silencer 5 is the best bet. if you still get artifacts it means your pipes are corrupted and your card cannot be modded.
beware though, you void your warranty doing this so you could end up with a dead ir-replaceable card.
hope that helps a bit.

 

[Greenman]

opps. nm.

 

[Greenman]

It's not a vivo card, I used the method linked by the O.P. After the mod I still had 12 pipes, though everything still worked fine.
Re-read the link, it's to hard mod an agp non vivo card. If the mod fails you just remove the conductive pen stuff and you're right back where you started. No risk of killing your card.
Sorry if this is a bit hard to follow, been drinking a very nice red tonight.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Greenman
It's not a vivo card, I used the method linked by the O.P. After the mod I still had 12 pipes, though everything still worked fine.
Re-read the link, it's to hard mod an agp non vivo card. If the mod fails you just remove the conductive pen stuff and you're right back where you started. No risk of killing your card.
Sorry if this is a bit hard to follow, been drinking a very nice red tonight.

Yeah, I followed the mod too, and still have only 12 pipes. Shame.