Got a 9800np

[Entity]

I'm pretty much a novice to video cards, but I got a good deal on a Radeon 9800 from a member here, and it has Samsung chips on it. Just wondering if/why I should do the 9800np -> 9800pro bios upgrade, or any overclocks, or anything like that. Anyone willing to give me some advice?

Rob

 

[ForceCalibur]

If and Why? You get a faster card? Thats the only reason people overclock and flash and softmod etc

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: ForceCalibur
If and Why? You get a faster card? Thats the only reason people overclock and flash and softmod etc

I wasn't sure about the gains, risks, etc. I've tried to look it up but don't see what I'm risking, and don't have the money to replace this card. 😛

 

[ForceCalibur]

IF you have warranty on the card there is no risk. If it dies, you RMA it.

Overclocking will reduce the lifespan of a card, yes, but not significantly enough that it will matter (get outdated).
Just overclock your card to 415/378 and if its stable, go ahead and flash it to XT. The XT bios is messed, it gives you extra points in 3Dmarks (somehow), maybe more voltage, tigher memory timings, or whatever.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: ForceCalibur
IF you have warranty on the card there is no risk. If it dies, you RMA it.

Overclocking or bios-flashing voids your warranty. Just so you know. RMAing cards that you damage due to modification is generally frowned upon.

Overclocking will reduce the lifespan of a card, yes, but not significantly enough that it will matter (get outdated).
Just overclock your card to 415/378 and if its stable, go ahead and flash it to XT. The XT bios is messed, it gives you extra points in 3Dmarks (somehow), maybe more voltage, tigher memory timings, or whatever.

Basically, yes. If you have 2.8ns RAM, you should be able to hit at least Pro speeds (380/340), and if you can hit XT speeds, you can flash it to an XT bios for (maybe) better performance.

Of course, if you don't want to risk it, you can just leave it at stock speeds...

 

[Pete]

If you don't have the money to replace it, don't OC it. I'm guessing that, strapped as you are for PC upgrades, your PC won't be fast enough to make the OC entirely worthwhile, anyway.

And you don't OC by making a huge jump like from 325/290 to 412/365. You start out in small increments of 5-10MHz, testing at each step, and stopping (and then backing off an increment) when you begin to see artifacts. I wouldn't risk a BIOS flash until after a month or so ensuring that the card can run at the flash speeds.

RMAing a card you fried by OCing is an unethical move that just serves to raise the price of cards for everyone else. Don't cheat the system, please.

 

[Entity]

PC is a P4 3.06 (1gb RAM), so the PC can handle it.

I'm leaving it at default settings until I find a need for a faster card. This card plays Halo fine right now. 😀

Rob

 

[ForceCalibur]

Originally posted by: Pete
If you don't have the money to replace it, don't OC it. I'm guessing that, strapped as you are for PC upgrades, your PC won't be fast enough to make the OC entirely worthwhile, anyway.

And you don't OC by making a huge jump like from 325/290 to 412/365. You start out in small increments of 5-10MHz, testing at each step, and stopping (and then backing off an increment) when you begin to see artifacts. I wouldn't risk a BIOS flash until after a month or so ensuring that the card can run at the flash speeds.

RMAing a card you fried by OCing is an unethical move that just serves to raise the price of cards for everyone else. Don't cheat the system, please.

THe system you refer to (RMA), whatever that is, has nothing to do with the how the market works, and it does nothing to affect pricing.

 

[ForceCalibur]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: ForceCalibur
IF you have warranty on the card there is no risk. If it dies, you RMA it.

Overclocking or bios-flashing voids your warranty. Just so you know. RMAing cards that you damage due to modification is generally frowned upon.

Overclocking will reduce the lifespan of a card, yes, but not significantly enough that it will matter (get outdated).
Just overclock your card to 415/378 and if its stable, go ahead and flash it to XT. The XT bios is messed, it gives you extra points in 3Dmarks (somehow), maybe more voltage, tigher memory timings, or whatever.

Basically, yes. If you have 2.8ns RAM, you should be able to hit at least Pro speeds (380/340), and if you can hit XT speeds, you can flash it to an XT bios for (maybe) better performance.

Of course, if you don't want to risk it, you can just leave it at stock speeds...

Overclocking does NOT void your warranty. Both NVidia nad ATI have no problems with people overclocking. THe overclockability of a card is in a marketing aspect of the cards itself.

BIos flashing MAY void your warranty if you are unable to flash back (unlikely) to your original BIOS AND somehow they reject your RMA, which I have never heard happening.

THe only way you void your warranty is whne you physically modify your card somehow. If you keep your stock stuff, and add things like VGA silencers, that doesn't even void your warranty if you just stick the stock HSF back in.

 

[sodcha0s]

Just to clear things up for everyone.... ATI Warranty Statement

Quote:

This warranty does not apply to the software component of a product or a product which has been damaged due to accident, misuse, abuse, improper installation, usage not in accordance with product specifications and instructions, natural or personal disaster, or unauthorized alterations, repairs or modifications.

I'm pretty sure that covers overclocking and also replacing the stock HSF with an aftermarket one.

Furthermore: ATI Technologies Inc. warrants to the original purchaser of the hardware

So Entity has no warranty on this card anyway. Do what you want, it's all on you... 😉

 

[aafuss]

Perhaps it may void the warranty and would not be supported by the official ATI drivers or by ATI.

 

[Lonyo]

Is it a built by ATi card, because some mfr's may have different terms, since you RMA with the mfr who made the card, not usually ATi directly I believe.
It should be fine to overclock, don't be so paranoid 😉
I have my card running 400+MHz on the core, and 320MHz on the Infineon RAM for over a year now with no issues. (9800np)

 

[Entity]

Interesting. Looked at the RAM speeds, and everything identifies on this card as a 9800Pro, even though it was sold to me as a 9800np.

It's an ATI branded card, too. Regardless, no oc yet. No need to. 😀

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: ForceCalibur
THe system you refer to (RMA), whatever that is, has nothing to do with the how the market works, and it does nothing to affect pricing.

On what planet does a product recall not affect a company's bottom line, and thus future pricing strategies?

RMA = Return Merchandise Authorization, BTW (= by the way 😉).

Overclocking does NOT void your warranty. Both NVidia nad ATI have no problems with people overclocking. THe overclockability of a card is in a marketing aspect of the cards itself.

Wrong. OCing constitutes running your card out of spec, which most manufacturers do not support. ATi doesn't support OCing tools for their cards, hence they don't support OCing beyond the card's preset limits. A company like Gainward or Sapphire may promote their card's OCability by including OCing software, in which case it would appear OCing is encouraged, though they tend to only guarantee a certain level of OC (getting higher than that is the luck of the draw, and not a valid cause for RMA).

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: Pete
Wrong. OCing constitutes running your card out of spec, which most manufacturers do not support. ATi doesn't support OCing tools for their cards, hence they don't support OCing beyond the card's preset limits.

What about ATI's Overdrive feature?

 

[sodcha0s]

Originally posted by: Algere

Originally posted by: Pete
Wrong. OCing constitutes running your card out of spec, which most manufacturers do not support. ATi doesn't support OCing tools for their cards, hence they don't support OCing beyond the card's preset limits.

What about ATI's Overdrive feature?

That only works on the XT and is automatic, hence part of the advertised specs. If the core starts to get too warm, the clock speed is automatically reduced.

 

[ForceCalibur]

Originally posted by: Pete

Originally posted by: ForceCalibur
THe system you refer to (RMA), whatever that is, has nothing to do with the how the market works, and it does nothing to affect pricing.

On what planet does a product recall not affect a company's bottom line, and thus future pricing strategies?

RMA = Return Merchandise Authorization, BTW (= by the way 😉).

Overclocking does NOT void your warranty. Both NVidia nad ATI have no problems with people overclocking. THe overclockability of a card is in a marketing aspect of the cards itself.

Wrong. OCing constitutes running your card out of spec, which most manufacturers do not support. ATi doesn't support OCing tools for their cards, hence they don't support OCing beyond the card's preset limits. A company like Gainward or Sapphire may promote their card's OCability by including OCing software, in which case it would appear OCing is encouraged, though they tend to only guarantee a certain level of OC (getting higher than that is the luck of the draw, and not a valid cause for RMA).

Im well aware of what RMA is. The fact is, if you have any knowledge of Economics at all, Pricing is affected by a variety of factors. Most noticeably, supply and demand, marginal costs, revenues, total costs, etc etc. The Warranty is COVERED by the firms Costs. They do a best estimate of what its going to cost them to supply the warranty for however many years, and it factors into the price. Either way, the cost of a card is miniscule, and the process of RMA (like rebates actually) discourages many people from going through the process. Its complicated marketing, but if you think that people who actually USE a service provided by the manufacturs will drive prices up, you are DEAD WRONG.

Overclocking constitutes running your card out of spec, yes. So? Whats your point? Is there manufactures can do about it? No. First of all, there is NO WAY YOU CAN DAMAGE YOUR CARD VIA CAREFUL OVERCLOCKING. You will either lock up, freeze up, or notice graphic abnormalities (and if your sensible, you'll downclock it). There are saftey measures cards employ that prevent them from dying like that.

You don't think ATI or Nvidia know that Overclockers are a niche market that makes them ALOT of money? Why do you think Nvidia is keeping with the releasing of dual molex 6800 Ultras. Why do you think ATI employs Overdrive on their 9800XTs. Companies like Gainward's Golden Samples, Albatron, target their marketing at overclockers. Tons of advertisements, press releases etc etc claiming how their cores and mems are hand picked to operate at certain frequencies beyond stock.

 

[RSanders]

Just wandering.. what score do you get w/ the non-pro on 3dmark 03?

 

[Algere]

Originally posted by: sodcha0s

Originally posted by: Algere

Originally posted by: Pete
Wrong. OCing constitutes running your card out of spec, which most manufacturers do not support. ATi doesn't support OCing tools for their cards, hence they don't support OCing beyond the card's preset limits.

What about ATI's Overdrive feature?

That only works on the XT and is automatic, hence part of the advertised specs. If the core starts to get too warm, the clock speed is automatically reduced.

Only if you enable it in the video card's control panel and nonetheless, it's still a OC from the advertised spec of 412MHz(GPU).