overclocking 9800Se to 9800Pro

[RSanders]

Ok. I just ordered a Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800SE from newegg. From reviews on there, they are receiving the 256-bit videocard. Anyway, how hard would it be to overclock it to close to 9800Pro speeds? All I have is a CPU Fan and Case fan.

I will have a Athlon XP 2500+ ; 512MB PC3200 Ram

 

[nick1985]

since it is a POS with only 4 pipelines...id say 0%

 

[high]

obviously unless you use the Omega drivers to softmod it to a pro...

 

[RSanders]

So if I softmod with omega drivers it will unlock the other 4 pipelines and if they have no artifacts, then I am good to go?


BTW. I bought this card for $135. If I am not able to get this close to 9800Pro speeds, did I pay too much for this card or will this card run most games pretty decent?

And... can softmodding damage the card?

 

[Delorian]

RS - Hey I just ordered a powercolor 9800 SE from newegg, from what I've seen, the sapphires only come in the I-shaped 128-bit configuration. This would only allow upgrading to a 9500 pro w/an R350 core, due to the difference in the core it will be faster than a regular 9500 pro. It mainly depends on the PCB-layout. One is already clocked to 9800 pro with the 256-bit memory and will allow the unlocking to a 9800 pro using all 8 pipes. The other is underclocked with 128 bit memory and will allow unlocking to a 9500 pro. You can tell which is which on the ocfaq.com website under their ATI Softmod/FAQ section. Good luck with the softmod, we'll both need it!

Edit : oops, missed your other questions, The price is fine, the 9600 pro is about the same price & speed, but no chance to mod it. This is a mid-level card so games should run fine on it for a while (if you are successful in softmodding probably would be fine until DX10). And no, softmodding will absolutely not damage your card, nor will anyone be able to find out if you have softmodded the card before since it is done through special drivers and not physically on the card. If you have problems after the softmod, you should only have to reload the official ATI catalyst drivers.

OCFaq.coms FAQ


Nick - So you're saying the 9600 series is a POS also? The 9800 SE is relatively the same class as the 9600 pro/xt(without the softmod) Price and performance is nearly the same. Remember that not everyone can afford the X800/6800s of tomarrow!

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: RSanders
So if I softmod with omega drivers it will unlock the other 4 pipelines and if they have no artifacts, then I am good to go?


BTW. I bought this card for $135. If I am not able to get this close to 9800Pro speeds, did I pay too much for this card or will this card run most games pretty decent?

It's not bad, but it's no 9800pro. At least, not unless the softmod is successful

 

[Delorian]

Just checked out the card you were talking about, it looks good and has a decent success rate but the difference between the powercolor and the sapphire is the ram used. Apparently the sapphire has 3.3ns chips and the powercolor has 2.8ns which only gives a difference in the speed of the ram. If you find yours too slow, buy some ramsinks and good thermal tape for increased OCing overhead. As far as the softmod though, you should be able to open all 4 pipes just fine, if it looks like the picture shows (L-shaped memory, 2 on the top and 2 to the side) which indicates a 9700 pcb not 9500, then you will have at least 9800 - 9800 pro speeds.

 

[pookie69]

Originally posted by: RSanders
Ok. I just ordered a Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800SE from newegg. From reviews on there, they are receiving the 256-bit videocard. Anyway, how hard would it be to overclock it to close to 9800Pro speeds? All I have is a CPU Fan and Case fan.

I will have a Athlon XP 2500+ ; 512MB PC3200 Ram

Yes, i bought a Sapphire 9800SE also a while back and have been able to overclock it to speeds greater than that of the 9800XT >>> core 435, mem 370(740). Unfortuneately for me however, when i use the drivers to unlock the extra 4 pipes, i get artifacts >> sign that the extra 4 pipes are messed up

Nonetheless, managed to boost my 3dmark2003 scores from ~2400 to ~3200. A nice and significant boost in performance that is definitly noticeable in gameplay. However, it still bugs me that i wasnt able to get those extra 4 pipes working, as im sure they wood have easily propelled my score into the 5000-6000 range easy. Oh well - thats just the way the cookie crumbles i guess.

Best of luck with o/c'ing your 9800SE - its a treat when u can get it to give you that extra power. Just make sure to increase freq a lil at a time, and dont get over zealous - you shouldnt expect to hit anything much higher than the freqs i listed, especially with just air cooling >>> incidentally i have 11 fans :Q in my setup, including ur usual PSU and cpu ones >>> noticeably 2 intakes, 2 exhaust, 1 side one that directly expells the air heated by GPU

>>>>> and TRUST me, when u o/c you gfx card, it will get HOT - the air coming outta my side fan has increased considerably in temp since i o/c'ed the freqs - i even turn the intake and side fans up to HALF speed now from 1/4 during gameplay, as before after an hour or so of constant gaming, artifacts would start popping up. So take care - but im sure softmodding/overcloking on the whole isnt bad for your card as long as you take care not to overdo it.. and even if u do, all you have to do is drop those freqs again until artifacts disappear.

 

[jhurst]

Originally posted by: nick1985
since it is a POS with only 4 pipelines...id say 0%

Every heard of unlocking the other 4 pipelines? BTW....even if you can't, this isn't a POS card. Quit downplaying a card just b/c its not a "9800pro" or an "X800". I think if you can successfully softmod the 9800SE (Powercolor has highest success rate), it is one of the best vid. card deals out there. But even if it runs stock, it will run games today fine.

I can't stand ppl who automatically dub anything but a 9800pro a "POS". If everybody could afford top end stuff, everybody would be driving Porsches and calling Toyotas "POS"s.

 

[RSanders]

Thanks guys. Can't wait to try this card out... must be a great boost from my Radeon 8500 LE 128MB card.

 

[RSanders]

BTW, when I try softmodding this to 9800Pro speeds... will the stock cooling work on the card because I have no idea how to put a heatsink, etc on a videocard. Thanks

 

[pookie69]

Originally posted by: RSanders
BTW, when I try softmodding this to 9800Pro speeds... will the stock cooling work on the card because I have no idea how to put a heatsink, etc on a videocard. Thanks

Im using only the stock cooler, but then like i said, i have alotta fans setup in my system that provide effective cooling, so it really depends on your setup as to how far you can effectively o/c the clocks. For just unlocking the extra pipes, the stock is fine, its really the o/c that you need to worry about cooling for.

 

[Delorian]

If it has easy to pop on/off fan mountings, I'm going to replace the original thermal paste (if it even has any) with some arctic silver 5 and then underclock for a couple days for the cycling to take effect. If that doesn't help much then I'll look into buying a new fan for it. I'm only planning on OCing the card if the extra 4 pipes don't work. Looks like mine arrives Thursday, but last time FedEx was a day early, I hope they are again, the anticipation sux!

 

[pookie69]

Originally posted by: Delorian
If it has easy to pop on/off fan mountings, I'm going to replace the original thermal paste (if it even has any) with some arctic silver 5 and then underclock for a couple days for the cycling to take effect. If that doesn't help much then I'll look into buying a new fan for it. I'm only planning on OCing the card if the extra 4 pipes don't work. Looks like mine arrives Thursday, but last time FedEx was a day early, I hope they are again, the anticipation sux!

Wot is cycling?

 

[Avalon]

You guys have to understand that you can't just softmod a card and it is magically a pro. Don't be brainwashed by reviews on newegg. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. SAPPHIRE 9800 SE 256bit ATLANTIS CARDS WILL NOT SOFTMOD STRAIGHT INTO A PRO. Their core/mem clocks are at 325/290mhz. The card comes with 3.3ns hynix memory. You will not get pro memory speeds out of those memory chips, unless you happen to have really good cooling and a really lucky card. The Powercolor 9800SE C3 model is the SE card to buy. After unlocking its pipes, it's a true 9800 pro. It's already running at 380mhz/340mhz with Samsung 2.8ns chips.

 

[Delorian]

Originally posted by: pookie69

Originally posted by: Delorian
If it has easy to pop on/off fan mountings, I'm going to replace the original thermal paste (if it even has any) with some arctic silver 5 and then underclock for a couple days for the cycling to take effect. If that doesn't help much then I'll look into buying a new fan for it. I'm only planning on OCing the card if the extra 4 pipes don't work. Looks like mine arrives Thursday, but last time FedEx was a day early, I hope they are again, the anticipation sux!

Wot is cycling?

With Arctic Silver 5, you are supposed to let the thermal paste "set in" throughout a few heat cycles, on for a couple hours, off for a couple hours (or just normal use). During this time the paste gets in to all the little grooves,thickens up and provides better cooling by 5-10C. This is why I'll underclock(not all that necessary)
until a week or two later, then overclock once the cooling has a better effect.



Arctic Silver Information - Official Site

 

[Delorian]

Originally posted by: Avalon
You guys have to understand that you can't just softmod a card and it is magically a pro. Don't be brainwashed by reviews on newegg. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. SAPPHIRE 9800 SE 256bit ATLANTIS CARDS WILL NOT SOFTMOD STRAIGHT INTO A PRO. Their core/mem clocks are at 325/290mhz. The card comes with 3.3ns hynix memory. You will not get pro memory speeds out of those memory chips, unless you happen to have really good cooling and a really lucky card. The Powercolor 9800SE C3 model is the SE card to buy. After unlocking its pipes, it's a true 9800 pro. It's already running at 380mhz/340mhz with Samsung 2.8ns chips.

That's why they are cheaper

 

[RSanders]

I don't care if I don't get full 9800Pro speeds.. It is $136 for this card which is about $70 cheaper and I think that is a deal.

 

[Avalon]

Yes, it is a great deal, but I just want you to be aware of exactly what you are getting. People are buying these thinking they will softmod them into true 9800 pros and wind up being dissapointed all too often. For $135, you're basically getting a 9800 non pro, which yes, is a steal. But don't think softmodding automatically means "pro time".
$135 + Sapphire softmod = 9800 non pro
$152 + Powercolor C3 softmod = 9800 pro
If you can overclock the Sapphire respectably, more power to you.
But the Powercolor is the better model for a meager ~$15, if one will pay that extra premium.
I'm only trying to help.

 

[Delorian]

Either way they are priced for what their worth and you basically get a free chance at getting better speeds out of them. I never thought I'd end up buying an SE but the gamble is all the fun of it!

BTW RS let me know if you get the 256-bit version, I'd be interested in seeing if that will softmod and overclock well or not, gotta let some other ppl know!

 

[Avalon]

You are guaranteed the 256bit version if you buy the Sapphire Atlantis or Powercolor C3 models. From my experience, the Sapphire core is decent at overclocking, but the 3.3ns memory just sucks. It's softmodding success rate is around 60%. The Powercolor does better at OCing and it's success rate runs a bit higher than the Sapphire. Either way, chances are you'll be able to softmod it.

 

[Delorian]

I just got mine in today, it's 256-bit, 128mb ddr, 8x1 pipelines enabled w/out artifacts so far (only 10-15 mins of testing) runs at 380/340(680), it has a R350 core which is ok, i'd rather an r360 but hey I'm not complaining. It also has 2.8ns hynix chips, OC here I come! Good luck RS, hope your softmod will go as well as mine. Oh yeah I'm using the newest Omega drivers and they seem to work just fine.

 

[Avalon]

Congrats on the successfull softmod, Delorian
If you can run through 3dmark2k1 and 3dmark2003 without noticing any artifacts, you're pretty much good to go

 

[RSanders]

Just got my card.. I havn't tried softmodding it just yet.. but will do so probably tomorrow. I like how it runs anyway compared to my old 8500le. I got the 256-bit version BTW. The bad thing is that Newegg has the 128-bit and 256-bit for the same exact price $136.. but they both claim to be 128-bit.

 

[Delorian]

w/all 8 unlocked

16163 - 3dmark 2001 SE
5435 - 3dmark03

W/all 8 unlocked & @ 390/355 OC
16305 - 3dmark 2001 SE
5600 - 3dmark03

I was eager and didn't benchmark the card w/out the pipes unlocked, but I've heard it's around 3500 or so, which still isn't half bad. I tried very carefully to take the fan off and replace the thermal compound but the prongs were looking like they were going to fall off so I just put the fan back on. The card doesn't OC very well with the fan that came on it, not worth very much at all, might look in to replacing it a little later on. Very pleased overall, no artifacts at all except for a crash when testing mem OC settings around 360-365 or so. Hope you are as happy with your pick as I am RS, good luck to you!