Turn X800 Pro into X800 XT PE with Bios Flash

[The Green Bean]

There is a risk though
Which is a better choice? Gigabyte or powercooler?

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: hatim
There is a risk though
Which is a better choice? Gigabyte or powercooler?

I like PowerColor more, but both should work fine.

 

[Azsen]

Originally posted by: hatim
There is a risk though
Which is a better choice? Gigabyte or powercooler?

If you get a Powercolor make sure you get one with the 1.6ns RAM. Apparently there are a few versions coming in now that have the 2.0ns RAM. You should be able to get the 16pipes ok, but doubtful of XT PE speeds.

 

[Smoothe]

Originally posted by: MegaWorks

Originally posted by: Smoothe

Originally posted by: MegaWorks
If the Radeon as both the yellow CD IN connector and the 1.6ns Samsung ram.

I have a (built by) Ati Radeon X800 Pro with no video in, but it does have the yellow CD IN and the 1.6ns ram. Also the rage theater chip is present. If it has 1.6ns ram and the yelllow CD IN does that mean the pipelines are just disabled or do i have to look to see if they are laser cut. All help is greatly appreciated.

Are you sure that you card is not a VIVO X800 Pro?

It doesn't say VIVO on the box or on the card. There is only s-video out, dvi, and standard 15 pin connections on the card. The yellow cd connector and the 1.6ns ram are there though. I don't think i'll risk it unless I can be sure. Thanks for the quick response MegaWorks.

 

[Alaxan]

I stumbled upon this forum via google and I have to say thanks to you guys. I have had Saphire ATI X800 Pro for a little over a month now and had no idea it was so simple to unlock its potential up to an XT PE. Could not be happier with this mod.

Scored a 5598 on 3dMark05 after the install was finished up. I was peaking around 3900 or so before. ATITool is a must for doing this mod from my perspective. The fan control settings are likely saving the card right now at a stable 65 deg C while I am gaming and during the 3dMark05 testing.

Thanks for the great info guys. I will definately be around here more often!

 

[alteredNate]

So I had no problem in flashing my Powercolor Pro VIVO with either the ATI BIOS or the Powercolor BIOS (both X800XT PE). The card runs without any problem at XT speeds, however with ATI Tool still reports only 12 pipelines active!! This is kind of weird after reading all the reviews saying that it works.

Do I need to re-install the drivers or something? I mean, I was able to clock to these speeds with the original X800Pro bios, so I haven't really gained anything.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[Azsen]

Originally posted by: alteredNate
Do I need to re-install the drivers or something?

Yup, a necessary requirement, but not mentioned in the guides. After reinstall you should see the 16 pipelines.

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: Smoothe

Originally posted by: MegaWorks

Originally posted by: Smoothe

Originally posted by: MegaWorks
If the Radeon as both the yellow CD IN connector and the 1.6ns Samsung ram.

I have a (built by) Ati Radeon X800 Pro with no video in, but it does have the yellow CD IN and the 1.6ns ram. Also the rage theater chip is present. If it has 1.6ns ram and the yelllow CD IN does that mean the pipelines are just disabled or do i have to look to see if they are laser cut. All help is greatly appreciated.

Are you sure that you card is not a VIVO X800 Pro?

It doesn't say VIVO on the box or on the card. There is only s-video out, dvi, and standard 15 pin connections on the card. The yellow cd connector and the 1.6ns ram are there though. I don't think i'll risk it unless I can be sure. Thanks for the quick response MegaWorks.

I say give it a try, but before making the changes backup your bios.

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: Alaxan
I stumbled upon this forum via google and I have to say thanks to you guys. I have had Saphire ATI X800 Pro for a little over a month now and had no idea it was so simple to unlock its potential up to an XT PE. Could not be happier with this mod.

Scored a 5598 on 3dMark05 after the install was finished up. I was peaking around 3900 or so before. ATITool is a must for doing this mod from my perspective. The fan control settings are likely saving the card right now at a stable 65 deg C while I am gaming and during the 3dMark05 testing.

Thanks for the great info guys. I will definately be around here more often!

:thumbsup::beer:

 

[alteredNate]

Originally posted by: Azsen

Yup, a necessary requirement, but not mentioned in the guides. After reinstall you should see the 16 pipelines.

Hmmmm...

Thanks, but now I think I've gone and screwed it all up! It was funny, my performance was more stable after I went from the Pro bios to the XT PE bios... even though ATI tool said only 12 pipes were active. (Is there any other way to verify this?)

Now, I've uninstalled / re-installed the driver, but this time I used the CATALYST control center version. And holy cow, it's all jacked! First off, ATI tool STILL says only 12 pipes are active... I get weird lockups, lines go all over the screen, ATI tool can't even make it to 1 sec without errors, and the 3D test area is all jacked... I don't even dare try to play a game!

Anyway, I'm going to try a driver cleaner, then install the old driver version I had, and if it's still jacked I'll go back to the old bios.

Damn, this is weird.... any other suggestions?

P.S. System specs:
DFI Lanparty UT NF3
3400+ Newcastle
512 MB Samsung (for now...)
Powercolor X800Pro VIVO (Trying to get it to XT PE)
Seagate 160 SATA

 

[alteredNate]

well, here's an update...

So now I've cleaned and re-installed the non-catalyst control panel version of the driver, and all is fine and stable and happy, however ATI tool always reports 12 pipelines (even after a re-install).

Weird... I hope a full XP reinstall isn't necessary!!

Well, thanks for the help all the same, and if anyone has any other suggestions I'm all ears!

Also, is the catalyst control panel version much better? when it worked for about 5 seconds it seemed totally different than the simpler one... is there really more stuff?

 

[Azsen]

Originally posted by: alteredNate
Well, thanks for the help all the same, and if anyone has any other suggestions I'm all ears!

Also, is the catalyst control panel version much better? when it worked for about 5 seconds it seemed totally different than the simpler one... is there really more stuff?

You might need to try the other guide here using the modified flashrom. It looks like it's preserving the previous BIOS settings etc.

I use the control panel not control center version. Much easier to configure and quicker to load etc.

 

[alteredNate]

Thanks again for the reply!

That's the exact guide I used, and the exact steps that I took to flash the card. The only thing I might try is to flash the empty.bin and then re-flash the X800XT PE bios.

It's just strange because I've read soooooooooooo many reviews of people with this exact card that have had no troubles! That's why I bought it. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything!

I just wonder how I know that ATI Tool is reading it right...?

 

[alteredNate]

WOW. OK, problem fixed. Sheesh I'm an idiot. I was following instructions from the techpowerup site, however I forgot that I was using the integrated flashrom floppy creator linked to from the original post of this thread. So of course that wasn't the *modded* version. I switched it, re-flashed, and voila! 16 pipes. I need to READ more carefully! heh heh. it's all those feelings of excitement mixed with "I'm doing something bad" and "I'm getting something much better than what I paid for" and "holy $#|+ what if I fry my card!!!"

SWEET! :thumbsup:

Anyway, thanks again for the help!

 

[Alaxan]

Wanted to add in real quick. I know it has been said a number of times, but do make sure you clock about 20 under if you do not have additioanl cooling. At least on the Sapphire cards. Mine heats up FAST at default XT PE Speeds. Will be installing VGA waterblock in the next weeks to come for certain!

 

[CaMSpoon]

ah well getting a x800 pro this friday but it isnt the vivo. Still im only getting it for 150 dollers SHING SHING

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: CaMSpoon
ah well getting a x800 pro this friday but it isnt the vivo. Still im only getting it for 150 dollers SHING SHING

Stolen right!

 

[Azsen]

Originally posted by: alteredNate
Anyway, thanks again for the help!

Great feeling when you get it going aye?

 

[pompeyck]

i got a x800pro saphire tvo , had it a while now so its time to fiddle with it , i read a lot about vivo - xt mod what if any mod can i do , the 2pins don't have a laser cut and ive got the good samsung 16 ram it overclocks with ati tool to 580core and 560mem but not at the same time it don't have rage chip and has 13/04 painted on the board which i suppose is date it was made ? it seems to be a very good card just wondering if it can get 16 pipes , as flashing it to xt won't work cos of rage theatre ? on the processor it has RAA not RAD is that also a bad sign . not one for mucking with things normally but im building a new system and will be going pci -e soon and the kids will get this one .

 

[Smoothe]

The built by ati card that i have doesn't have any ramsinks. If people are having problems with cards with ramsinks running at XT PE speeds than I am going to have serious problems. Anyone get close to PE speeds without ramsinks?

Thanks MegaWorks for "helping people void their warranties since January 2004" Haha, no but seriously you rock.

 

[Alaxan]

My Sapphire card does not have ramsinks on it and it is running fine at 501.75/526.50. I will be installing either a vga waterblock though or possibly the thermaltake vga cooler kit soon. using ATITool you can increase the fan speeds on the chip itself and it keeps things a bit cooler as well.

 

[alteredNate]

Originally posted by: Alaxan
Wanted to add in real quick. I know it has been said a number of times, but do make sure you clock about 20 under if you do not have additioanl cooling. At least on the Sapphire cards. Mine heats up FAST at default XT PE Speeds. Will be installing VGA waterblock in the next weeks to come for certain!

Yep, I'm clocking down for now while waiting to buy the artic cooling kit. As is, I rarely go above 60, however I think that it's desirable to keep it more near 50? I think that should be easy once it starts pushing the air out of the case with the vga silencer and not just re-circulating it around the top of my lian-li v1000 (which is the only drawback to this inverted mb setup...) It appears that some people can get a steady and stable clock of 530 / 570 with this card and setup.

I'm just glad I didn't drop the 130 euros extra for the XT!

 

[alteredNate]

Originally posted by: Azsen

Great feeling when you get it going aye?

Damn straight! :beer:

 

[superpandapower]

Do we really need ram heatsinks on these modded vivos? Even the retail XT PE doesn't have them. Currently my BBA X800 Pro VIVO has been running for 3 months as a full fledged XI PE. I keep checking the card, but the memory doesn't heat up much. Highest temps are 63 deg C on a hot day with 3-4 hours of d3. Do people still recomend an ATI Silencer 4? Thanks all.

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: superpandapower
Do we really need ram heatsinks on these modded vivos? Even the retail XT PE doesn't have them. Currently my BBA X800 Pro VIVO has been running for 3 months as a full fledged XI PE. I keep checking the card, but the memory doesn't heat up much. Highest temps are 63 deg C on a hot day with 3-4 hours of d3. Do people still recomend an ATI Silencer 4? Thanks all.

I strongly recommend using the Silencer 4 to cool down your X800 card.