Overclocking advise for a sapphire X800 XT [Archive]

teggs11

08-16-2005, 08:08 PM

okay guys, i need to tap into the wisdom that is the tech power up forum.

First question, can a (agp) X800 XT have the BIOS flashed to a X800 XT PE ?
i presume it can as they have the same core (r420)?

Second question, i attempted to flash the BIOS to a XT PE (yes i know i should have waited for the answer to question 1 first! lol) but got an error message saying something doesn't match, do i just use the -F command to force the flash?
The error i got was 0FL01 and that something was different (sorry i can't remember what but i was panicking incase i broke it! lol)

Your advise is much appreciated, thanks in advance! :)

spectre440

08-16-2005, 08:11 PM

there was a topic about this not too long ago, im just too lazy to look it up myself, but i suggest you look at some of the little bit older posts about this...

in any case, there's nothing to fear when flashing a vidcard. even if something goes wrong and you flash it with the wrong bios or something like that, you can always just pop it out, boot from either an onboard adapter or an old pci adapter that you have lying around or that you can get in any store for like 10 bucks and just reflash the card with its original bios (which hopefully you've made backups of.)

teggs11

08-17-2005, 12:09 AM

thanks for the reply spectre 440 but i still require my questions answering. I found a previous post referring to things not matching up while attempting flashing but they do not actually say whether it was a forced flash or not. He figured it out for himself (selfish g1t lol)

Anyone? i have simplified my questions as i was going off on one in my first post.

1. can the X800 XT BIOS be flashed to X800 XT PE? Safely? lol

2. In order to flash the BIOS (using ATIFLASH) do i need to use the -f (force flash) command? as i have tried it without and it did not work. and i am reluctant to force it unless i know that is what is required.

AMDCam

08-17-2005, 01:12 AM

Okay, well the company that makes the card is the biggest factor. For instance, I have a Sapphire 256mb 9800 Pro, almost every other 9800 pro 256mb can be flashed to XT, but Sapphire's can't. So tell us who makes it, find the BIOS on this website, and on this site there's also some programs to flash it easy. It looks like you know that, just tell us the company name so people will know if it's compatible or not to flash. Also look at who makes the memory on your card and how much you have (it'll tell you on each memory block on the card), because if it's a different company, different size or has different timings then you'll have problems. Good luck dude, I'll try to help as much as possible when you find the company, I mean I know how you feel, I spent weeks on my 9800 Pro only to find out NO ONE has ever flashed it successfully.

teggs11

08-17-2005, 08:03 AM

Thanks for the reply AMDcam.
The Card i have is a Sapphire X800 xt with 256mb of GDDR3 memory (1.6ns, whatever that is!) . I'm not sure who makes the memory, i can't check as i am at work at the moment. Is there a way to check the memory manufacturer without opening the case? i.e. using Sisoftware sandra?

So if my card is a sapphire does that mean i don't have much hope of a successful flash?

I think the memory timings are different on the XT PE bios to that of the XT BIOS, but isn't that the point? that you get better timing etc so you get better performance? :confused:

Everyone talks of flashing the BIOS from Pro Vivo to XT PE cos it is essentially the same card, so i presume mine (XT non PE) is also the same except hopefully with better O/C potential!! ;)

teggs11

08-17-2005, 11:20 PM

i took the plunge and forced the flash... it worked yey!!! :) thanks for all your help

AMDCam

08-18-2005, 12:20 AM

Nicely done dude, sorry I didn't reply earlier but looks like you didn't need help anyway. Once again, nicely done man.

dolf

08-20-2005, 03:06 PM

Your card should be classic X800XT PE ViVo? The same like mine (not Saphire but PowerColor) with 256MB 1.6ns Samsung GDDR3 memory and R420 core (AGP). I have ordered X800XT because at that time it was inposible to find out XT PE on the market. :mad:
After receiveing of the card I found out that it can handle 555MHz on the core and 610MHz on the memory (from 500/500MHz) :D . On the third day I decide to flash it with XT PE BIOS and I've did it. The difference between XT and XT PE BIOS is not only the core / memory speed but also fan control and Overdrive (in my case there aren't diferences in memory timings). With the original X800XT BIOS my Power Color switches the fan on 100% when the temperature rises to 70C (or 80C I can't remember exactly) and switches it off at 50C which produces a lot of noise. When I have flashed with ATI X800XT PE BIOS everything come on the right place. Fan works all the time at different speed depending on the core temperature (less noise) ;) . The Overdrive level with the original BIOS (500/500MHz) were 506MHz when enabled, with the XT PE BIOS the Overdrive level rises to 526MHz when enabled.
Also the flashing brings another cosmetic change which is not important but irritates me. On the Display Properties Tab was writen 1. xxxxxx on RADEON X800Serie (I have payed 500$ for XT but they joke with me writhing X800 Serie), after flashing you will obtain 1. xxxxxx on RADEON X800XT Platinum Edition which is "far better" I think :rolleyes: .

For me the flashing was and still is a good deal. I have the card app. 1 year and I have never had problems with it. But the card is yours the choice also. Don't afraid to flash it but also don't do it blind - first read after that flash ;) .

Success!!!

aclin@qwest.net

08-21-2005, 03:14 AM

I also have a sapphire X800 XT agp and would like to flash it. But i don't see in this thread exactly how to do it. Could you please help dolf or teggs11?

thx in advance

teggs11

08-21-2005, 11:12 AM

aclin@qwest.net , someone asked me about this in another thread i started over at overclockers.co.uk forum.I explained what i did to flash the BIOS in that thread. Here's the link: Flashing the BIOS, the Teggs11 way! (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17457088) It's about half way down the thread.

Good luck!! :)

dolf

08-23-2005, 11:16 PM

Flashing the BIOS is easy thing but read before acting and be prepared with everithing needed and not on the last place backup your original BIOS just in case ;). Don't have faith to some people from some forums which are claiming that BIOS changing can rise the core voltage which is not true especially for ATI cards.
For reading here it is the link: http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=3&var1=91&var2=0

Probably you have already verified that your card firmly can handle 526MHz on core and 560MHz on the memory :confused:

In this case to make it easily I will attach all needed for flashing:

1. You need floppy drive and dick. Format it in win 2K or XP useing the option "Create an MS-DOS startup disk"
2. Unpack the content of flashrom240.zip on the boot disk
3. Unpack ATI.X800XT.256.Samsung16.040609.bin on the disk too and rename it to something short like x800xtpe.bin (bios name - max 8 symbols, sufix have to be 3 symbols: .bin or .rom). Of course you can use other BIOS from here: http://www.techpowerup.com/bios/

Uninstall ATI CP or CCC and video driver. Now you are ready to begin.

4. Boot from the floppy. When you are in DOS type the following to backup the original BIOS on the disk:
5. a:\flashrom -s 0 backup.bin (press Enter) (the BIOS will be saved but be sure that you write 0 /zero/ not letter o)
6. Restart in windows and copy the backup BIOS somewhare just in case.
7. Boot in DOS again and type a:\flashrom -f -p 0 x800xtpe.bin (press Enter). After few seconds you will hear and see that the flashing process is over.
8. Restart in Windows (if the screen flickers for a while don't panic it is normal) install the ATI drivers and enjoy your new ATI X800XT PE :D

Don't forget to post your results :rolleyes: .

Successfull flashing :)

mitsirfishi

09-14-2005, 09:55 PM

i wouldnt bother flashing it because you always run that risk of fucking your card it would be better just to but it up to xtpe speeds but i bort a x800xtpe so i dnt have 2 worry about that

AMDCam

09-14-2005, 11:10 PM

Well mitsirfishi, if you overclock then you always run the risk of messing it up. So go with the flash, it's really safe if you just listen to the instructions. Plus it's a permanent overclock with better software drivers (shaders, instruction set and memory timing) in the card so it'll make it run better.

mitsirfishi

09-15-2005, 03:28 PM

well amdcam if you have suffient cooling there is no trouble and it looks as if you have clocked up that 9800pro you have so if you think its such a big risk then why are you taking one yourself

AMDCam

09-15-2005, 10:19 PM

If you knew about sarcasm or my point, you would realize that I was replying to your "i wouldnt bother flashing it because you always run that risk of fucking your card", and I was saying that ANY modification runs that risk on the card. I meant that if you want more power, try anything because everything you try might hurt the card either way, so don't limit yourself. And I'm not sure if that "well amdcam" was an insult, but if it was then I'd learn my grammar before I made fun of the way someone types.

mitsirfishi

09-16-2005, 07:00 AM

well lets see the reason I said amdcam because that is what your logon name is and I agree with you about the any modification does have a risk but every overclocker knowns the limit of there cpu memory overclock core ect jus make sure you have enough volts going though it and I know how to spell thank you very much

AMDCam

09-16-2005, 07:03 AM

I said grammar, plus once again it was sarcasm and you didn't understand my point. I was TRYING TO SAY, because of the fact that you told him NOT TO flash his card, I disagreed and gave him a reason why to flash it, because everything is a risk. You agree with me on that, so you should be agreeing that flashing the card isn't that big either. So please understand what I mean this time. Also, most overclocker's don't know their max, they have to experiment first, and even then they still don't know exactly what it can do.

mitsirfishi

09-16-2005, 07:15 AM

well if you look around on forums then you usally get a good idea or if you have friends with the same product then u get a general idea what its going to performs like

computer specs amd 3000veince@2.5ghz fsb @ 278.34X9 @ 29degrees
Radeon x800xtpe running at stock speeds till i get my artic cooler
512kvr :/ gettin sum geil value 1gb of that
2X80gb maxtor ide hd`s
msi k8 neo platinum 2 nf3 ultra

theboydann

09-27-2005, 12:28 AM

wazzledoozle

09-27-2005, 12:42 AM

Dont flash, its a waste of time.
Your not going to unlock any pipes, or activate any features. Just set a overclocking profile with ATITool, so the card will overclock when you game (and probably extend the life of the card)

AMDCam

09-27-2005, 05:11 AM

Well dan, I don't care how old you are, but in America (mr. bollocks), at least I, do things differently. I bought a $200 graphics card that I installed a $25 heatsink on, which could have destroyed the card if I did it wrong, and I overclocked the hell out of that card, and it was my ONLY and FIRST graphics card for my new computer (with my own money, and I had to earn it without a job). So it's 100% opinion that flashes are good and bad. I tried to flash my card 5 times, all of them unsuccessful. I was scared that I killed the card a couple times, but it didn't stop me. Although it's not an XT like I wanted it to be, I tried and ended up finding out it wasn't compatible, but I found a 6800 GT that is compatible with flashes and I just got that because after about a year of using my old card, I learned from my old mistakes. Plus that card is still going strong, even with everything I do to it (my 9800 that didn't flash to XT) I'm just saying, I love overclocking and flashing, and flashing sometimes upgrades the drivers, command lines, timings, etc. and all you need is the right cooling. I just bought a 6800GT that has a heatsink that can take it to 6800 Ultra Extreme speed, and you're damn right, I'll be pushing it that high. I love overclocking, and flashing sometimes upgrades the drivers, command lines, timings, etc. to make things run a lot quicker, not just ups the clocks. And plus, I would rather say "Hey look at this, I got a 6800 Ultra Extreme worth $450 for only $250, and look at what my computer says it is, an Ultra Extreme" than "I play it safe so I really can't outdo anyone with my stock 6800 GT, but hey, at least I get to post my average score on 3Dmark for everyone to see". For some reason, when I benchmark and play games that push the limits of cards, it's kind of fun to say that you saved money on getting the exact same card. So truthfully, if anything is "bollocks" in this argument, it's the fact that you're calling someone (mitsirfishi) a winner on a completely opinionated argument. So calm down, it's all opinion, but if you don't like having fun with your computer it's up to you.

teggs11

09-27-2005, 08:15 AM

Stop the flame war!!!!!!!!!!!
If you don't want to overclock or flash or whatever then don't bother, some of us on the other hand want better performance from a lower priced card! if you don't want to risk it then don't, although there is not much risk if you simply prepare for what you are doing.

theboydann

09-27-2005, 09:50 AM

Well dan, I don't care how old you are, but in America (mr. bollocks), at least I, do things differently.

Does the fact your in America make any difference at all?

I bought a $200 graphics card that I installed a $25 heatsink on, which could have destroyed the card if I did it wrong, and I overclocked the hell out of that card, and it was my ONLY and FIRST graphics card for my new computer (with my own money, and I had to earn it without a job). So it's 100% opinion that flashes are good and bad. I tried to flash my card 5 times, all of them unsuccessful. I was scared that I killed the card a couple times, but it didn't stop me.

Clever. Keep on going until its dead and you have to go out and buy another, without a job. How do you earn money without a job?

I love overclocking and flashing, and flashing sometimes upgrades the drivers, command lines, timings, etc. So good you said it twice. Flashing upgrades the drivers? How exactly? The difference is in the bus speed on your card.

Command lines? they are what? Are you refering to pipes?

Timings, yeah thats valid as upping the speed on a card increases the speed data can be shifted around.

So truthfully, if anything is "bollocks" in this argument, it's the fact that you're calling someone (mitsirfishi) a winner on a completely opinionated argument. So calm down, it's all opinion, but if you don't like having fun with your computer it's up to you.

Maybe I was a little harsh in my tone, I said you were talking rubbish, I apologise for causing offence. Were we having an argument? Do you have poke about in your case and overvolt, mod and hack to enjoy your pc?

You do things differently in what way exactly? I had an Abit MB with the third party northbridge cooler lots of fans, heatsinks, spreaders blah blah. You'll find there are a whole lot of people out there buying coolers, water coolers, heatsinks etc (thats how thermalright, Thermaltake, Zalman etc stay in business!). My point was that by discussing the subject of flashing in this manner you are potentially pushing someone into disregarding the fact they could completely ruin their graphics card. And to be fair a 9800 is now cheap and its not such an issue messing with it.

To have the opinion that you should do this is like saying to a young driver, "Yeah go faster its cool" but in the end they are still inexperienced and crash.

mitsirfishi

09-27-2005, 06:43 PM

well the boydann i have been messing around with computers sinse i have 6 lyk with dos ect and why am i a winner ? :S and stop throwing abuse around this forum is here to help people with situations and difficulties this a thing to share knowledge which we have found from experiances ect

ChAce

09-27-2005, 08:20 PM

Ok the issue here is the cost. Now as an old boy, mitsirfishi (I've been messin with pc's since 6 years old.....my a*se) I was 17 when you 'messed' and I can tell you that fair enough to mess is fun but a £200 graphics card....your right mate it aint for messing with.

AMDcam. You are talking bollocks. At the end of the day if your card can do the speeds, just leave it as is. Use Rivatuner etc to do the business, you put the wrong flash on your card and you loose a perfectly good £200 graphics card. Does anyone have a PIC programmer handy....? I need to put my bios back kind of nightmare.

Is that clear or do you youngsters have a badly spelt sms style bollocks answer to that?
Dude, wake up. If a flash fails you just do it again. What's the problem? All you have to do is make sure the card can run the higher speeds and flashing it will do no harm at all. I flashed more expensive cards than that (XT PE's, flashed 2 ViVo's to XT PE for others, Vmodded 4 XT PE's and one of the ViVo's), Vmodded them and had them run at 640/650Mhz all the time, and even sold them for way more then 200 pounds. As long as you know what you're doing (silently you're implying that you don't when you say "its not worth losing that card" as you won't lost it at all in the first place) you can do a lot to them.

mitsirfishi

09-27-2005, 08:46 PM

I agree with Chace

theboydann

09-27-2005, 09:30 PM

This is getting pretty funny now...I believe I have rubbed a few backs up here.

Does anyone get my point about the young driver and the "go faster" or are you now implying I don't know what Im talking about?

Anybody can go online (unless they have tried to volt mod their g.card and fried it) to find out how to volt mod various cards, flash, etc. But the inexperienced wont have their old bios to reflash etc.

Though I was harsh with my attitude, I still believe it is not a good idea to push people into messing about with potentially expensive thing when they dont know what they are doing. Though its down to individual stupidity I suppose.

Mitsirfishi

"i wouldnt bother flashing it because you always run that risk of fucking your card it would be better just to but it up to xtpe speeds but i bort a x800xtpe so i dnt have 2 worry about that"

I totally agreed with your point, no flashing needed.

On a seperate and unrelated subject: Chase, rock on with the Martial arts. I used to run a Kyokushinkai karate club, what style do you do?

ChAce

09-27-2005, 10:22 PM

Savate (french kickboxing style)... I don't know much about Karate, don't like it cuz you're not actually allowed to hit someone full blast, at least not in the gym a friend of mine trains.

But anyways, you're right about not needing to flash something, especially when you don't know what you're doing. I always warn about that but little can go wrong when flashing, it takes the new bios or it doesn't. Vmodding brings far more risks to the table...

theboydann

09-27-2005, 11:47 PM

"you're right about not needing to flash something, especially when you don't know what you're doing."

Thankyou, at least you get what Im saying. No need to push someone into something when they dont know what they are doing.....especially when it could get expensive.

None connected note:

Savate, not heard of that but a few friends around here do various kick boxing styles. I like the fact that in many cases the commands and moves are not in Japanese so at least you know what your doing!

The thing about Karate is its very regimented, but trust me they do hit you. I have been in competitions in crystal palace london and it hurts! Those Russian boys are tough!

ChAce

09-28-2005, 12:42 AM

I've been on kickboxing since I was 8 (you read that right... 8, lol), and I'm pretty tough. I'm sure all those japanese names sound real cool and all, but at least I know what a Deamon Roundhouse is, that it's effective and that it hurts (we actually demonstrate moves on each other) :D Like I said a friend of mine does karate, but he's also on kickboxing with me and he's always punished for actually hitting someone in karate, while if you "deliberately miss" in kickboxing you've got a problem... lol.

And I didn't say he shouldn't flash, I said its not a neccesity. If he flashes that saves a with-windows-booting program to auto-OC the card to XT PE.

AMDCam

09-28-2005, 01:47 AM

lol, this forum is crazy. From a guide to an argument to kickboxing. Although I would like to say one last thing, about the "young driver". If you take it a different way, there is not a 100% chance that he'll crash, and if he's taught how to drive fast at his age (comparison to a first experience modding a graphics card), he'll probable end up not making as many mistakes and being a better driver than most (learning from bad flashing, and in the end getting a faster, cheaper, stable card). So your example once again is opinionated. Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. Anyway, awesome that you kickbox CHAce, I love hearing about computer "geeks" like me and you that are tough and not the stereotypical nerds. Sad thing is, I'm seriously like the ONLY guy at my school that actually loves and knows about computers (except one teacher), so I really don't know how many stereotypical nerds there are that like computers out there.

ChAce

09-28-2005, 09:37 AM

They exist, but I'm not a nerd... Just know my stuff :p

And the question in the main post was how to OC his computer... My thread answered that, lol ;)

theboydann

09-28-2005, 09:49 AM

AMDCAM, I thought I'd defused this.

A young driver is inexperienced, and is easily pushed beyond the point of their knowledge. Though in some cases you do get people who survive for years without a problem they are few and far between.
The major problem with driving as well as overclocking is EGO, proving you can get the most out of a card (I can drive better than you, my cards quicker than your card, or my dads bigger than your dad syndrome). And pushing someone makes them do things they wouldnt usually rationally do, advice like 'go for it' means people think its safe...when its not. Though learning at an early age seems like it helps for the future, if you have knackered several cards/cars (and in that possibly yourself) along the way, is it worth the cost? Why not just use Riva tuner as discussed?

Now I hope tha point has been made. I expect the next post to be about cooking or some other unrelated subject! :)

When I was at school, P.c's were pretty rare, and in the same way I was one of very few people who had an interest. We used to have an Econet BBC network. Not really very modable. Though i always wanted one so i could Play Repton3.

Love and hugs. Dan xxx.

ChAce

09-28-2005, 09:51 AM

Bad comparison, pushing your card beyond the max has far less consequences than doing the same to your car. Therefore, shoudn't be compared. lol.

theboydann

09-28-2005, 09:55 AM

edited.

teggs11

09-28-2005, 01:12 PM

How did you get from graphics cards to young drivers? this thread has gone crazy!

In a hope to end all this, may I say that I started this thread asking for advice on overclocking, which I got (thank you all), and now I have a x800xt with a pe bios on it.

I am actually selling the card now to go pci-e! lol so maybe we can end this thread with dignity. Lets just say that everyone has their own opinion and leave it at that.

Thank you all, and take your flaming to another thread!!!
Richard

p.s. anyone wanna buy a graphics card? lol

theboydann

09-28-2005, 02:00 PM

Glad it went well for you....whack it on EBay.

Dan

AMDCam

09-28-2005, 04:43 PM

Alright, I'm finished. Dann seems to be a very, very set-in-his-ways kind of guy. So how much are you planning on selling it for teggs?

teggs11

09-28-2005, 06:15 PM

hopefully should get about £200 for it. it's got a artic cooler on and is only 2 months old with a pe bios.I'll prob be selling it on ebay in about 2weeks.

mitsirfishi

09-28-2005, 06:22 PM

this forum has gone all over the shop lol

theboydann

09-28-2005, 07:57 PM

I admit its been interesting :)

You should easily get £200 for it. The regular XT's go for about that. You should get more if its got a games pack etc etc with it.

Dan

AMDCam

09-28-2005, 10:39 PM

is 200 pounds or whatever like around $275 american? I don't really know the conversion

mitsirfishi

09-29-2005, 07:28 AM

well the thing is I got a specail offer from overclockers.co.uk and got a x800xtpe for a meer 192pounds
and they retail at 210 pounds so i doubt you will get 200 i recon you mite get 190 if you are lucky

mitsirfishi

09-29-2005, 07:41 AM

this is a brand nu x800xtpe btw i got just i didnt get condition zero or a asus webcam but still got a game and crap loads of software it was 159.99 then add vat

theboydann

09-29-2005, 09:16 AM

Yeah my step dad bought his new Asus last weekend for £223, its exactly the same reference as my Sapphire howver he got games.

The XT are still going for over £200 though on Ebay.

£200 is about $353

1 pound = $1.767

Dan

AMDCam

09-29-2005, 03:33 PM

No mitsirfishi, you're just lucky, because I've done quite a bit of research on ebay. My price range went from $200 to $300 down to $250, so I was looking at plenty of cards. The X800XT's I was hoping for were all selling for way over $300, and I actually bidded on one that went straight up to $470. WHY would someone bid that high? Most people on ebay really don't try to give deals, so a used graphics card is like a Gamestop used game, only about 10% to 30% cheaper. Plus, buyers are IDIOTS on ebay, I mean they'll jack up the price so high, even on the first day of a 7-day bid. So Teggs, 200 pounds is easy on ebay.