converting GeForce to Quadro??? anyone?

[Battousai1]

hey is this true, you can convert you GeForce graphics card to a Quadro! If this is authentically true what are the major benefits??? and if succesfully converted would the converted card be really a working QUADRO? like the real QUADRO? someone told me that he can convert it by moving some resistors by using a very fine soldering machine, he said it's quite intricate. He also told me that: "Works well with both MX and GTS. Benchmarks show that MX conversion gets up to 40% increase in frame rates when playing 3D games.Tried it on 4 Geforce2 cards already....all working great. "

and also I tried searching it on the web here are a few links:

http://www.geocities.com/tnaw_xtennis/Quadro1-2.htm

http://www.break-beats.com/quadromxr/

http://www.geocities.com/tnaw_xtenn...o/nVidia-ID.htm

http://www.tweakhardware.com/guide/quadro/

has anyone here done that? and what would be the major benefits?

 

[samyboy]

I know I am not exactly answering your question but there is a way you can install what they called "SoftQuadro". It's a emulated Quadro mode that folks have seen really good gain over plain GF2 card. I guess this software just changes DeviceID and fakes that the card is Quadro not GF2.You need to have specific set of Nvidia drivers for this.

I personally prefer this over Hardware mod. You can get more info on it in http://www.guru3d.com/forum/ goto Nvidia card forum and search for SoftQuadro.

This mod will boost OpenGL speed ( 3DS MAX. MAYA etc) may not do good to DX8 games.

Hope this helps...

-Samy.

 

[Rand]

Yes, it's true.



<< If this is authentically true what are the major benefits??? >>



Support for a few extra features that are disabled by default on GF cards such as hardware accelerated lines/points, multi-sided lighting etc. etc.
Occasionaly very slightly superior rendering quality... but this is only under very specific instances and wouldnt be applicable to 99% of people.
Significantly better performance in CAD/3D Modelling/Mechanical engineering applications etc etc.

The disadvantage, is that some of the features that the Quadro enables support for can reduce performance in a small handful of games, and there may be compatibility issues with an equally small number of games that mis-detect the card as a GF and improperly utilize it's features.

Basically, if your doing any 3D design work then the mod is most definitely worth it.... if your not, then there is no real benefit at all and a few slight disadvantages.


If you want me to be more specific about the features enabled by the Quadro and the relative impact of those I can.... PM me as I may not check back in this thread.

 

[rogue1979]

I have resistor modded 3 geforce cards to Quadro Pro 2 now. Those links you posted shows how. While the resistors are very small, a cheap 20-watt soldering iron and a little practice on some old pcb board with small resistors will have you modding like a professional. It will change any Geforce 2 chipset into a full featured Quadro, better than the SoftQuadro conversion. It will give you awesome results in professional graphics apps, but for 3D gaming there is very little benefit.

 

[merlocka]

I remember when some website (can't recall which) posted about the awesome performance games in 3D apps with this mod (Geforce256 -> Quadro back then). They forgot to mention that they flashed the BIOS to a version which set the core and memory frequencies to the higher (Quadro default) level.

 

[Blurry]

However, if you make one mistake on the hardware modding, you can kiss your Geforce 2 bye bye. I know that because I was modding my friend's Geforce 2 MX's tranducers to improve his image quality. When I pressed the iron with slightly more force, the tranducer snapped and the card was completely useless.