Originally posted by: nataku00
I have a similar question as the OP since I recently picked up a Sapphire X800GTO AGP card for a decent price (~$150 after a rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102609
Read that a reviewer was able to unlock the pipes on this card with an X800XL bios. Did some research but I haven't had any luck finding info on this particular card. Should be a nice upgrade from what I currently have, but being able to milk a little more performance out of it would be a definite plus.
Anyone have some success unlocking to 16 pipes?
Yes, I have. This works! The guys on the site linked below, especially the geezer called Dolf, have been superb in helping the rest of us squeeze some free performance out of an already not bad card.
Read this:
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=10955
You'll see lots of posts from people, including myself (Pix on that board), who have been successful in flashing this card from 12 to 16 pipes. It does give a nice performance increase.
I haven't benchmarked as such, just played games. COD2 was noticeably smoother. Bear in mind however that I am limited to 1024 x 768 res, so I'm bound to get good framerates. However, even at that res, COD2 looked simply fantastic with 4 x AA and 8 x AF in DirectX 9. Ran it in DirectX 7 mode with my 9800pro and thought that it looked reasonably acceptable until I saw this. HL2 looks absolutely beautiful as well.
I have the Sapphire model. I think that one you linked to is the very same, it has the requisite red PCB, which is a good start. Download ATItool (not ATItray Tools, although that is also needed to monitor temps). Once you find the button marked settings, press Shift and then press this settings button.
You'll see something like this:
http://www.the-tree-of-life.com/test/X800GTO%20ATI%20Tool.BMP
That link shows what is called the 'fuse data'. Basically, if that card of yours shows the same fuse data, it can be modded. Just requires a BIOS flash. Also, the number below the 2 rows of 'F' letters/digits, CONFIG_ROM_FUSES, shows how many pipes are still locked. In the case of my card, hopefully yours, and the one in that link, that number is a '1'. Once flashed, monitor the temps using ATI Tray Tools. I only saw one post on there by somebody who had the right card, but had trouble. However, if you check that out, you'll find that there's a large case for user error. These cards seem to stand a very high chance of being unlockable.
I'm running on an XP2600, 1 Gig RAM and an NF2 board. The hardware and mhz gains I have made are below:
Before: 12 pipes, 400/490
After: 16 pipes, 425/540
Before: Idle temp 43C, load temp about 58-60C
After: Idle temp 45C, load temp about 58-60C
It's an R430 core, so it's a bit of a dog for overclocking. However, i'm sure you'll agree that the extra 4 pipes and the slight overclock more than make up for that.
By far the best bang for buck grafix card I ever bought. In a month or two, I'll just grab an Asrock PCI-E/AGP board and an X2 and run that for a while until I can afford a good PCI-E card. This basically allowed me to spend little money for a good grafix upgrade from what I had, yet also still go for an X2 and have some use out of this card. it was cheap as chips for the UK @ 110 quid. I know it's much cheaper in the states, but you won't find a better deal over here.
I flashed mine using a modded BIOS posted in a response to a guy who had exactly the same card as we have, worked fine. If you're unsure, ask that one of the guys there to send you the CD flashing utility and new BIOS, much safer than a floppy and you don't have to mess with using typed commands. Dunno how comfortable you are with that sorta thing, but like I say, if unsure, ask somebody there to send you the CD ISO, along with a few simple instructions.
Not seen much about this on any forum other than Techpowerup. But just in case there are any AGP users out there looking for their best bang for buck right now. This is it.
It does work. And I am mightily pleased with the results.
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