Got my X800GTO 2 today.

[SketchMaster]

I broke down a ordered a GTO 2 two days ago and I got it today. I wanted to make a page long report about it with pics and everything. But then I remembered I'm lazy.

This is what I did to the card.

First, I put in the card as-is to make sure it was a X850 core and to run some stock benches. Its not much but it will give a bit of an idea what modding the card will get you.

On Counter-Strike:Source 1280x1024 and every thing set to max I ran the stress test. I also ran "return to proxycon" on default settings.

Defalt clock, 12 Pipe. 71.51FPS CSS, Proxy 20.1FPS

Then I removed the card and took off the heatsink/spreaders to clean off the junk thermal paste, Then applied AS5 to the core and ram (I know it was a waste to put it on the ram but I really didn't care). I would recommend this even if you don't plan on overclocking that much. But if you are buying this card I'm betting you are going to overclock.

after that I put back in the card and flashed the BIOS to a X850. Used ATI Tool to make sure the extra Pipe lines had been unlocked. I then ran the the tests again.

Defalt Clock, 16 Pipe. 86.16FPS CCS, Proxy 22.6FPS

As you can see Counter-Strike got a nice boost from just unlocking the 4 pipe lines on the card. 3Dmark05 however, didn't see that big of a improvement.

I then over-clocked the card to the speed of a X850 XT PE and ran the test once again.

XT speed clock, 16 pipe. 100.54FPS CCS, Proxy 26.7FPS

Counter-Strike got another big boost but 3Dmark05 once again didn't show that much of a improvement. I would have ran more tests but iether I didn't have the games installed or I was too lazy to make time demos and run fraps.

The only thing that I don't like is when running at XT speeds the core hits 63C. Not too bad for a stock cooler mind you but I would recommend buying a better cooler for this card if you are Overclocking.


All in all this is a great card if you can find them for under $230.


Edited grammar and spelling.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Great, man. I'd get one but I might as well get a 7800 GT cos they're pretty cheap. If there was an AGP version, then I'd put that in my parents PC.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

not as cheap as $200 though

 

[tuteja1986]

great
I bought mine with Zalman cooler $300AUD inc shipping = $225usdish
I have mine running at 16 pipline 570/620 OC with Zalman cooler. Its been running for few days and i have no temp problem never broke 65 C in heat logs so i think its rock stable card

 

[ender11122]

what command line do you use with flashrom to flash the new bios. I got an error when I tried with the files from techpowerup.

flashrom -p 0 newrom.bin ????

 

[forumposter32]

Originally posted by: SketchMaster

Edited grammer and spelling.

grammar?

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: ender11122
what command line do you use with flashrom to flash the new bios. I got an error when I tried with the files from techpowerup.

flashrom -p 0 newrom.bin ????

Try flashrom -p -f 0 newrom.bin I think the -f flag forces the flash program to ignore device ID mismatches and such.

Back on topic, more than ever I see that I need to redo the thermal compound on my card. Sunday or Monday, when I get my new PSU and silent boost K8, I'll go ahead and redo that too. Then I'll be able to overclock my CPU and my GPU!

Congrats on a successful mod SketchMaster. :thumbsup:

 

[ender11122]

I got it. Thanks.

Flashed great and OC'ed to x850xt PE speeds!!!!

 

[Megatomic]

Congrats! I sure as hell hope that between a new power supply and redoing the thermal goop that I can get XT PE speeds.

 

[Deathangel337]

I got mine today. Got it flashed and everything. The first msg I got from windows was that it didnt have drivers for it. I had installed the ones that came in the cd just prior since I redid my entire comp tonight. What drivers should I use on this thing? Also how far can i OC with the stock fan and stuff?

 

[Insomniak]

GTO2 is a hell of a good buy right now.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Deathangel337
I got mine today. Got it flashed and everything. The first msg I got from windows was that it didnt have drivers for it. I had installed the ones that came in the cd just prior since I redid my entire comp tonight. What drivers should I use on this thing? Also how far can i OC with the stock fan and stuff?

I used CAT 5.9. I did have to reinstall drivers when I flashed the card. As to overclocking, no one can say how far you'll be able to go. Most are getting XT or XT PE speeds, you probably will as well.

 

[OVERKILL]

which video card cooler do you guys recommend for the card?
Zalman #?
I have one on order as we speak. $217 shipped.

 

[Megatomic]

ATI Silencer 4 is the one for X800 cards OVERKILL.

 

[OVERKILL]

Thanks Megatomic :thumbsup:

 

[Megatomic]

No problem man. Good luck with that card.

 

[OVERKILL]

Mega, did you hear anything about a revision 2 being better or something like that?

 

[Megatomic]

I think the Rev. 2's (all of them) eliminated a clicking phenomenon. I don't think they improved on the cooling efficiency in any way. I had an NV Silencer 5 Rev. 1 and 2 and noticed no functional differences between them as the Rev. 1 I had didn't click.