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Radeon 9800np @ 446/387 after flashing to Pro BIOS and with BGA RAMsinks!!!

J

jiffylube1024

Diamond Member
I have a very particular Radeon 9800np here - it has 3.3ns Samsung memory that gets very hot during operation (virtually scalding to the touch if 3d apps are open for ~2 hours straight). It's so bad that I couldn't o/c past the stock 290MHz stably.

Anyways, I bought a set of 8 OCZ RAMsinks from a Canadian store ncix . I'm sure you can get them pretty easily in the US.

Using the stock thermal tape that comes with the RAMsinks, I have overclocked the memory to 335MHz stably (an increase of 45MHz)!! I'm still testing to see how high I can go now. Zero artifacts have been detected so far!

If you have an ATI Radeon (or Nvidia FX card) with *hot running* memory then I bet BGA RAMsinks will help you out immensely. If you have lukewarm running (or TSOP) memory, it's been generally proven that RAMsinks are good only for aesthetic purposes.


Another note - I also tried removing the RAMsinks for awhile - you can get them off pretty easily (and without any risk to the chips) as long as the chips are nice and warm - fire up a game for a couple hours and they will pop off with minimal effort and no residue.

Also - when installing the RAMsinks - be careful not to put too much pressure on the chips. They are pretty delicate, and if you push them too hard it will totally screw up your memory.


**********Edit: UPDATE #2. I decided why not try to flash to a Pro, as people are getting some good results with that. ***********

** I've discovered the card's threshold for no-artifacts: 446/387!! Zero artifacts, runs INCREDIBLE. 3dmark up to 18,800!

I initially cranked the memory up to 362.5 MHz after flashing the BIOS, expecting artifacts (anything above 340 would immediately artifact my whole screen before). To my surprise, it not only ran a couple of 3dmark 2k1 Benches, but it ran artifact free. I kept the core at 400 Mhz for now just to make sure the memory doesn't limit me and now I'm already breaking 18,000 3dmarks.

So far the combination of RAMsinks and flashing to Pro have allowed me to take my memory from 290 (max stable) to 378 and counting!
 
Very nice. I must say I'm very surprised you gained 45mhz!! Nearly every other review or person has said they only gained maybe 5 mhz at most with ramsinks.
 
Originally posted by: modedepe
Very nice. I must say I'm very surprised you gained 45mhz!! Nearly every other review or person has said they only gained maybe 5 mhz at most with ramsinks.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know that was the case with older cards. However, check this review here. Using the very similar TweakMonster sinks and with a Radeon 9700, they get results congruent with my own. If you scour that site, they also did a review of the TweakMonster sinks and a GeForce 4, and they got something like 5-8 extra MHz.

And I found that you don't need to use epoxy - the stock thermal tape works very well also (meaning you don't void your warranty if you can get them off 😉 ).

Perhaps this is a well-kept secret to getting the most out of your 9700/9800 card. We shall see. I do believe that if your chips aren't hot to the touch after a long gaming session, however, that you will not see very good results.
 
Originally posted by: hurrikaane
Very nice. How much those ramsinks set you back?
Click to expand...

$20 CDN for 8 of them, which is ~$14-15 US. They come with some nice strong thermal tape adhesive too!

Also, I just played Halo for 30 mins at the highest Rage3dtweak will let me go: 436/378, ZERO ARTIFACTS! What can I use to o/c higher? I'm about to do a 3dmark run now!
 
Jiffylube

I know, I also think you linked my score 😉

I'm just waiting to uprage to the 64 😉

I have the RAM coming and the mobo and cpu will be here withing the next two weeks 😉

The sound card is also bring my score down badly-I had some weird settings and I will rerun them with the highest OC I can get.

rogo
 
Originally posted by: Rogodin2
Jiffylube

I know, I also think you linked my score 😉

I'm just waiting to uprage to the 64 😉

I have the RAM coming and the mobo and cpu will be here withing the next two weeks 😉

The sound card is also bring my score down badly-I had some weird settings and I will rerun them with the highest OC I can get.

rogo
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just realized that. Link fixed.

Sounds good. Chime in with results once you get 'em!
 
Ramsinks ehh...I might just have to get some. I just ordered a Sapphire 9800 np from newegg today (where'd you get yours, jiffy?), and i already have heat problems as it is, so cooling the card would probably be a good idea. I would be mega happy if my card will be able to OC like that, but i might not be able to OC. Could someone clue me in to what articfacts are? I mean, in your terms 😛
 
I'll be damned, 9800np's back at Newegg.
Please let us know what memory your card arrives with. Hope they haven't switched all the cards to Infineon.
 
With the 9800s (as opposed to the other cards I've flashed-and volt modded) I get slight "snow" in debev demo and wierd looking tippy things in the 3dfur demo. I also get the flashing lines and polygons (very slight) in 3dmark 2001 nature scene).


Snow=variegated white flecks speckled across the scene.
Tippy=Little wierd colored polys on the ends of the fir fibers

the rest are self explanitory😉

and NEW STABLE (very little arifacts) benchmark

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7140828

crap-I forgot that 3dmark2001 doesn't record vga clock-it was up to 451/412

I'll run a 2k3 soon

rogo


 
Originally posted by: jacktackle
Ramsinks ehh...I might just have to get some. I just ordered a Sapphire 9800 np from newegg today (where'd you get yours, jiffy?), and i already have heat problems as it is, so cooling the card would probably be a good idea. I would be mega happy if my card will be able to OC like that, but i might not be able to OC. Could someone clue me in to what articfacts are? I mean, in your terms 😛
Click to expand...

I got mine at a Canadian webstore: www.ncix.com
Try any of the overclocking webstores in the US to see if they have them (like www.2cooltek.com , etc)

Originally posted by: Rogodin2
With the 9800s (as opposed to the other cards I've flashed-and volt modded) I get slight "snow" in debev demo and wierd looking tippy things in the 3dfur demo. I also get the flashing lines and polygons (very slight) in 3dmark 2001 nature scene).
Click to expand...

Do you get these flashing lines/snow/etc at a lower clock speed or what? I don't get any of that stuff in anything. I do get some very slight pologonal popup at 455 core speed, but that means the o/c is too far so I dropped it down to 446, where I get none of that stuff.

Drop your o/c down Rogo and see if you still get those artifacts.
 
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