Turn X800 Pro into X800 XT PE with Bios Flash

[dp004i]

I know this question must've already been asked at least a million times, but I don't feel like reading through 10 pages of messages, so here it goes again. Can PCIe X800Pros be flashed to X800XT as well, or does it only work with AGP cards?

 

[dheffer]

Yeah, I don't think that AGP or PCI-e matters... but I'm not convinced it's a 100% thing... so I'm kinda wavering between the XL and the pro.

 

[Lorn]

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=14-102-496&DEPA=0

Is this the card you speak of?

 

[dheffer]

sure is

 

[mwmorph]

read this. 2nd post. there is a laser cut on the last 4 pipes.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:VY...0pro+vivo+flash&hl=en&client=firefox-a

3rd or 4th post says some sapphires also have 2.0ns memory

 

[BrokenVisage]

Originally posted by: dheffer
Yeah, I don't think that AGP or PCI-e matters... but I'm not convinced it's a 100% thing... so I'm kinda wavering between the XL and the pro.

I wrestled over which one to get too. Went with the XL and a sure thing, I have no use for VIVO and the XL only set me back 281 shipped. So far very happy with every game at all high settings, so my vote is go XL unless you plan on runnind 16x12, I do 12x10 on my LCD.

 

[dheffer]

thanks guys, im going with the xl, its not worth the risk anyway, i only do 12x10 LCD anyway

 

[SeasideTyson]

I just bought a Sapphire PCIe x800pro vivo from new egg (4\5\05), and after various tries, wsa unabel to get the mod to work. however, with the flashed bios, (gigabyte) i am able to get stable 560\560 OC..... WITH STOCK COOLING.

used ati tool to set fan to 100% constant, and get temps of 35\61 in atitool. is this a normal temp range? do i need to try a different BIOS for PCIe? or do i possibly have a non-moddable new version of the card?

 

[dheffer]

nice o/c... too bad you couldnt get the other 4 pipes open
those temps are fine, btw
i think the pci-e are unmoddable cause the extra pipes are laser cut

 

[BlackPear1]

Yes, excellent o/c and amazing temps with stock cooling. dheffer is correct - PCI-e pro VIVO's will not unlock w/bios flash. But with that o/c your performance should be great anyway.

 

[SeasideTyson]

yep...runs like a champ.... i am dissapointed a littlle tho.... the 16P mod was the main reason i bought this card, but for $259 from newegg, i cant beat the performance with a stick.... especially from my old pc *lowers head in shame* PIII 600 with a 4MB S3 virge chipset... lol.....

 

[lein]

1 question about the flashing. Does this increase the voltage to the gpu and ram. My plan is to get a pro vivo and flash it, but I do not think I'll get the extra 4 pipes, which is what I am expecting. What I want is added voltage to the core and ram w/o the pencil mod (so i can oc more

 

[BlackPear1]

Not with the bios versions I tried - voltages, memory timings, etc. were the same. But there may be differently configured bios available or you could mod your favorite bios to suit your needs.

 

[azell07]

Hello everyone. Long time reader of anandtech, first time posting. I need help ><!
I bought a powercolor x800 pro vivo ( agp ) a couple of days ago. I flashed the videocard and activated the 4 extra pipelines. After this I scanned for artifacts and a crap load of them were present. Now the core is stuck @ 526 and memory ( 1.6ns ) @ 573. Before I did the flash I could easily oc to these speeds without artifacts. My temp right now is 42/41 C, playing doom3 went to 74 C core. I?m using ATI Tools. I flashed back to my old x800 pro bios and had the same problem. I dont get it because the card doesnt crash at 800xt speeds. Maybe the pipelines are jacked? I?m sure I did the flash correctly. If not I?m a dumb ass ><! Can someone plz help me??? Thank you.

 

[Calavera]

Azell07 I've had the same problem, I've got the same card and flashed and unlocked but it is too unstable for my tastes so Im trying to flash back but im having trouble. When I'm using flashrom from boot with the orginal x800 bios on the disc, previously called backup.bin cos I followed instructions. But typing flashrom -s 0 backup.bin didnt help to flash back (thanks for peoples help but it didnt work -maybe i didnt explain properly). Should I have typed something like flashrom -p -f 0 backup.bin because I'm trying to flash back but Im not sure about the correct command.

 

[MegaWorks]

"Several people have used a Gigabyte Bios and flashing tool to get around this, but for some reason you can not flash back to 12 pipelines with this method- if you have defective pipelines you keep them."

The method presented here uses a modified flashrom which does not preserve Bios settings.
This allows:

* flashing of any Bios
* going back to 12 Pipelines
* can not be detected

If you want to remove all traces of previous Bios flashes (for example if you flashed the Gigabyte Bios):
Use the Modified Flashrom to flash
the empty.bin to your video card, then flash the new Bios without rebooting. Be careful - if you don't flash a real Bios after flashing the empty Bios, your card will not work properly.

have you guys used this method.

 

[3Tripnip]

I just got my Abit X800Pro vivo yesterday and it flashed to the X800XT PE no problem. Thanks 'MegaWorks' for the link!

-Ben

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: 3Tripnip
I just got my Abit X800Pro vivo yesterday and it flashed to the X800XT PE no problem. Thanks 'MegaWorks' for the link!

-Ben

Sure thing!

 

[windoze9x]

bringing this topic back...

I'm trying to find out if anyone has had success flashing a PCI-E version of these cards. I heard that ati are possibly damaging the pipes to keep you from flashing them on PCI-E versions. Anyone have any success or failure?

 

[windoze9x]

Originally posted by: windoze9x
bringing this topic back...

I'm trying to find out if anyone has had success flashing a PCI-E version of these cards. I heard that ati are possibly damaging the pipes to keep you from flashing them on PCI-E versions. Anyone have any success or failure?

no one knows?

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: windoze9x

Originally posted by: windoze9x
bringing this topic back...

I'm trying to find out if anyone has had success flashing a PCI-E version of these cards. I heard that ati are possibly damaging the pipes to keep you from flashing them on PCI-E versions. Anyone have any success or failure?

no one knows?

I heard it's impossible, so don't bother trying.

 

[mnguyen84]

should my agp voltage be at 1.5v or higher? i have the sapphire x800 vivo.

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: sins
should my agp voltage be at 1.5v or higher? i have the sapphire x800 vivo.

Normal should be fine.

 

[n3a]

Well I'm facing another problem......

I've downloaded AtiTool 0.24 and whithout having modded or overclocked my X800Pro, i get artifacts when I hit "Scan For Artifacts"!!! I repeat it in case it is too odd for you to understand (i really don't blame you...):

i get artifacts from atitool with the standard core/memory clocks and with no 4-extra pipes enabled!

My card is the Sapphire X800Pro ViVo 256MB GDDR3.

Does this mean that I'll face problems should i try to flash it to XT PE or is a bug of the program??

Any help would be precious

n3a

 

[n3a]

Originally posted by: n3a
Well I'm facing another problem......

I've downloaded AtiTool 0.24 and whithout having modded or overclocked my X800Pro, i get artifacts when I hit "Scan For Artifacts"!!! I repeat it in case it is too odd for you to understand (i really don't blame you...):

i get artifacts from atitool with the standard core/memory clocks and with no 4-extra pipes enabled!

My card is the Sapphire X800Pro ViVo 256MB GDDR3.

Does this mean that I'll face problems should i try to flash it to XT PE or is a bug of the program??

Any help would be precious

n3a

Any ideas??