Files you need
latest retail bios (8004) for 9700 Pro:
http://home.iprimus.com.au/manyas/ATI8004.rar
BIOS editor (only works for this BIOS):
http://home.iprimus.com.au/manyas/fixed_radedit.cab
BIOS flash utility (only runs from DOS boot):
http://www.radeon2.ru/bios/util/aflash2.rar
Get WinRAR if you don't have it. The cab file should open if you double click it.
You will need a DOS boot disk. It only needs to boot to a command prompt, no other files are needed. If you don't have one, download one from
http://www.bootdisk.com/ . Flashing won't work from a command prompt inside Windows.
There are certain dangers of flashing a BIOS, like if the power goes off in the middle, or the image can't be read from a floppy, etc. If you've never done something like this before, you might want to pass. It is possible to recover from a bad flash, but you'll need a PCI video card (preferably not an ATi card) to attempt the flash again. Be sure to read ALL the instructions and warnings below. If something goes wrong, don't come and blame me.
How to make the 8004 9700 Pro BIOS usable with the 9700 TX
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The 9700 Pro runs at 325MHz core speed and 310MHz DDR (620MHz) memory speed. The 9700 TX will probably not run at that speed, so the default clock speeds need to be lowered. The RadEdit 1.1D BIOS editor is used for this. Extract all the fixed_radedit.cab and ATI8004.rar files into a directory. You have to do this editing in Windows. Run RadEdit and Load the ROM file extracted from ATI8004.rar. Move the slider for the core and memory speed to something more reasonable. 275/275 is fine. You'll be able to use PowerStrip or Rage3D Tweak to overclock, so don't worry too much about the default clock speeds. Also, change the TV out type to NTSC and vendor type (drop down list above sliders) to ATi. Don't change CAS!!! Save the modified BIOS and note the name.
Copy this saved BIOS to a good (i.e. not some 10 year old floppy missing the shutter) floppy boot disk along with the contents of aflash2.rar. Make sure you have some free space (64KB) on it to hold a backup of your original 9700 TX BIOS.
Backing up your original 9700 TX BIOS
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This is pretty important: back up your current BIOS and keep it in case anything goes wrong. The contents of aflash2.rar has what you need to backup and flash the BIOS on the 9700 TX. To back up your BIOS, copy the files in aflash2.rar to a boot disk, boot to a DOS prompt with a boot disk and run:
atiflash -s 0 9700TX.BIN
that will create a 53248 byte file of your 9700 TX BIOS. Don't lose this file!!!
Flashing the new modified 9700 Pro BIOS
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At this point you should have a backup of your original BIOS saved on the floppy. Verify that first. To flash the new BIOS:
atiflash -f -p 0 97_8004.BIN
replace 97_8004.BIN with whatever you saved your BIOS as if that's not the name. The flashing only takes a few seconds and you should be returned to the command prompt. Remove the floppy and reboot.
After flashing, Windows will need to redetect your video card. Let it find the 9700 driver and install the the 2 devices (VGA and secondary). You're done. Overclocking should work fine now. I did this yesterday and it's working great. Overclocking to 300/600 does NOT work on my card and it gives bad artifacting. Don't think you're getting a 9700Pro upgrade for free with this BIOS flash, because you probably won't be able to overclock that far. 290/580 works great with everything I've tested so far and I think the memory should work fine higher than that.
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