How-to: Pencil mod your HD 3870!

[Random Murderer]

A few people have asked me how to perform this mod, and I'm kind of sick of finding the same things over and over, so I thought "What the hell? I'll write a tutorial!"

First things first:
I AM IN NO WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED BY READING THIS GUIDE, PERFORMING ANY ACTIONS MENTIONED WITHIN, OR FOR GENERAL STUPIDITY. NEITHER IS TECHPOWERUP.COM. YOU PERFORM ALL MODS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Things you'll need:
1) A BRAIN AND THE ABILITY TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS.
2) A digital multimeter(DMM) that can measure VDC and resistance.
3) A pencil, preferably 4H, but 4B works, and others have reported 2B working.
4) Adequate cooling for the voltage you choose.
5) A SOFT eraser. I used a "White Pearl" eraser.
6) A can of compressed air.
7) Either a printer or another computer, so you can view this while you're modding your card ;)
8) Time and Patience.
9) A steady hand.
10) A set of... well, you get the idea ;)

REFERENCE PICTURES:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/Bobdole666/mod.jpg
http://img.techpowerup.org/080318/IMG_0089693.jpg

Your default values may, and probably will, vary.
Second picture courtesy of FreakSavior.

Procedure:
Measure the 3D voltage of your card, make sure you are running a 3D intensive application, like the 3D window in ATiTool or the Fur Benchmark.
Do this by taking the negative lead of your DMM and grounding it to your computer chassis, and taking the positive lead of your DMM and touching it to one of the four measure points in the picture until the value displayed on your DMM stabilizes. Write this value down.
Shut down your system and remove your card. Test the resistance of R1222. The value should be around 1.5 KΩ. Write your value down. Grab your pencil and LIGHTLY shade resistor R1222. You may need to rough up the resistor slightly with a fine file. Blow off the excess pencil lead now and then and measure the resistance, for now we're shooting for .5 KΩ less than your default. Keep repeating the shading process until you reach this point.
Once you reach this point, the moment of truth arrives. Re-install your card, boot your system, and be sure to watch your temperatures as soon as Windows is booted. Run the fuzzy cube in ATiTool and re-test your VCore with the method from earlier and begin your overclocking!
If you don't have enough voltage, or you think you can push it further, you can always remove your card and continue shading to drop the resistance even more, just keep in mind that the temperature scaling is in no way linear to the amount of voltage, it is more exponential.

My Results:
Resistance stock: 1.5 KΩ
Voltage stock: 1.35 V under load
Core speed stock: 775 MHz
Resistance after mod: .933 KΩ
Voltage after mod: 1.44 V under load
Clock speed after mod: 891 MHz

Removal / Reversal of the Mod:
Just erase it! Make sure to erase lightly so as not to damage the resistor and test the resistance after erasing.

Things to Keep in Mind:
You'll need the fixed bios to reach speeds above 864MHz, so if you keep locking up here, it's not a lack of voltage.
This mod is easily reversed, and undetectable(once removed) if done correctly.
The temperature scaling is in no way linear to the amount of voltage.

BIOS Mods:
WARNING: Do not attempt to flash your card unless you know EXACTLY what you are doing.
I have put together and uploaded a .ZIP that contains ATIWinFlash 2.0.0.2, the PLL fix bios(named RV670 XT.BIN), and two overclocked BIOS files, one that runs 875/1250 and one that runs 860/1200, both named after their speeds(one is 8751250.sb, the other is 8601200.sb). Thanks to IAX-Tech for the modified BIOS files.
NOTE: These BIOS files DO NOT modify the voltages, just clock speeds, so it is still necessary to perform the volt mod.
I have also included a new .ZIP file that has a 38xx BIOS editing program. This does not work for the X2, so users of that beast should look elsewhere(sorry guys!).

This guide is a constant work-in-progress; if you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to post them here or PM me.
Thanks to the guys over on XtremeSystems for putting their cards on the line to figure all this out.


BIOS editor (http://www.computerbase.de/forum/showthread.php?t=372893)

[a111087]

1st!
lol, nice tutorial, good pic and seems like this card will go very far with good cooling
EDIT: sticky?

[cdawall]

great guide rm

[Random Murderer]

1st!
lol, nice tutorial, good pic and seems like this card will go very far with good cooling

Yep. One guy over on XS reached 1200 MHz using LN2.

great guide rm

Thanks.

[ShadowFold]

Will this work with a HD 3850?

[Random Murderer]

Will this work with a HD 3850?

Yep. Same resistor, different VCore measure point. I just don't have a 3850 on hand to make pictures of that though.

[reverze]

Thanks, can't wait to give it a go! :toast::cool:

[ShadowFold]

So what does this do? Just make it faster? It wont destroy it right?

[Lazzer408]

How is it you guys figure out these mods? You have a source for schematics or something?

[Random Murderer]

So what does this do? Just make it faster? It wont destroy it right?

It depends on how much you lower the resistance and how well you cool the core.

[ShadowFold]

It depends on how much you lower the resistance and how well you cool the core.

I have the HIS IceQ i think I can adequatly cool it :rockout:

[membreya]

So what does this do? Just make it faster? It wont destroy it right?

lower resistances, increase voltage..nah can't see it killing your card if you don't know what you're doing.

:rolleyes:

[Random Murderer]

I have the HIS IceQ i think I can adequatly cool it :rockout:

You can always try it, just watch your temperatures closely!

[xt198]

holysh.... 891 core clock. i dont have ati, and i wont buy ati cards, but i see they are very capable to overclock :P
My question is:
if i overclock it from software (ex: to 800mhz core clock) and i make this pen-modding too, it will give more core clock, or the software is just activating in windows?

[tigger]

That should be fine.

[Random Murderer]

Can anyone suggest a better multimeter?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-60792-Digital-Multimeter-Backlight/dp/B0001K9XKW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=diytools&qid=1199271170&sr=8-1

I dont want to spend more than this.

That DMM has everything you need.
It's actually the same as mine, just different colors.

[trog100]

nice one random.. there is always a risk with this sort of stuff.. the bottom line is if u dont want to take the risk dont do it..

trog

[Solaris17]

How is it you guys figure out these mods? You have a source for schematics or something?

you can get design blueprints/schematics of the voltage regulation chips on the cards and the pcb layout..then you can just kinda figure it out from their because it gives you all the grounds resistances of certain resistors..and you just kinda put it together test it out then wright a guide.

stickied.

[DaMulta]

holysh.... 891 core clock. i dont have ati, and i wont buy ati cards, but i see they are very capable to overclock :P
My question is:
if i overclock it from software (ex: to 800mhz core clock) and i make this pen-modding too, it will give more core clock, or the software is just activating in windows?
More voltage = able to clock it higher

[reverze]

...I want my VF900 now :banghead:

[reverze]

Hmmm,

who sais...source?

I wanna read !

[sneekypeet]

hey Random WTF is the copper cooler on the card in the picture for?

[tigger]

extra cooling for the regs i guess,its on the other side of the board to them.

[sneekypeet]

I know but mine is never even the slightest warm to the touch....being an ex-1950PRO owner I checked it !

[Random Murderer]

hey Random WTF is the copper cooler on the card in the picture for?

Just an extra ramsink I had laying around, figured I would put it opposite the VRegs.

[sneekypeet]

Oh Ok I just haddent seen one stock....I was feeling cheated...lol

[Random Murderer]

Apparently the second pencilmod point works better.

I tried both, and I prefer the one on the resistor, but like I said, that's just preference.
Both work, both do the same thing.

[Random Murderer]

New breakthrough. It seems that for every 7.808Ω the VCore is increased .001V.

Anyone care to confirm?

[KainXS]

how about a 3850 guide random

[Random Murderer]

how about a 3850 guide random

If someone wants to donate a 3850 or lend me theirs, sure, lol.

[Cold Storm]

Thanks man, love the mod! still can't believe it only took less then 20 mins to get at 1.030! See you later with the dogs...

[Random Murderer]

UPDATE!
Added BIOS mods.

[Random Murderer]

You'll all be happy to know I'm working on a VMem mod.
This one will be a bit tougher, as all the info I have is the measure point.

EDIT:
I have good news and I have bad news.
Good news: I found the VMem mod points, and also managed to get a resistance reading- it's 4.17KΩ on my card.
Bad news: The points are legs of an IC, so no pencil mod here. It WILL require soldering, something I don't think I'll risk on a $250 card.

[Ati Addictive]

Sorry little noob under this subject but what is pencil modding? something like Volt modding?

[Random Murderer]

Sorry little noob under this subject but what is pencil modding? something like Volt modding?

It is a voltmod that requires no soldering, just a pencil.

[trog100]

my pencil mod experience.. this is the second mod.. the yellow mark one not the one random used..

sharp old HB 2 pencil.. i tried a few different pencils by drawing a small line and testing the resistance.. the old one worked best..

its all very small and fiddly.. the first attempt produced no voltage increase at all.. my stock was at 1.34.. the second attempt took it up to 1.6.. we decided (rapidly he he) this was too high and removed it..

the next ten or so attempts produced no results.. we decided the 1.6 volts was a fluke caused by loose dust.. the problem being the pencil would not adhere to the shiny PC board surface..

next try.. a very small watch makers screwdriver.. roughened the surface up slightly between the two pins.. applied some lead and put the card in the machine.. it wouldnt boot.. showing no voltage to the card..

panic.. then cleaned it all off.. things back okay end of panic.. next go.. still wouldnt boot.. brushed it off with small brush.. it booted and went straight over to 2.5. volts.. another panic hit of the off button..

sooo.. the very slight roughening of the surface makes a major difference.. the pencil lead adheres.. danger time..

sooo a couple of light pencil strokes as opposed to heavy rubbing and back in the machine.. a nice 1.5 volts..

boots into windows and gives it a fur bench run.. at 1.5 volts the card runs over 100 C and the lazy stock fans goes up to a noisy 78% trying to keep the card at the target temp.. the temps levels off at 102 C..

the whole thing is too noisy for me so we remove the lead and try again..

we end up with 1.4 volts.. the stock cooler runs its fan a little quicker (50%) but keeps the card at the same 92 C as it does at the normal core voltage..

1.4 volts seems a nice compromise.. i ran a 2006 run at 895 core and it made the trip.. i havnt really tested properly (gaming stable) yet it takes time.. but there is a definite improvement in possible core speeds..

i also havnt crashed the card yet so it might go higher it might not..

i am not into extreme suicide clocking attempts.. just a nice gaming stable without excessive noise.. improvement.. i seem to have got that..

trog

ps.. your top fur bench 3870 score is in danger random.. i just saw 3400 while running some quick tests.. he he he

[nflesher87]

:laugh: trog you give such entertaining recounts...I was literally lol'ing :)

[Reset]

RM I have this HD 3870 fan mod that works great on my HD 3870. I think this would be good if you or somebody else could merge this mod and your volt modded bios flash together. Just with this fan mod I was able to get much better OC than without it. Right now I am running with stock fan @ 872/1376

This fan mod keeps the temps closer to the 60-70's. Here's the mod I used:

[trog100]

there is no 3870 volt modded bios.. i am interested in the fan mod bios thow what does it do exactly.. what is its history.. sorry for being a bit dubious.. but having searched high and low for a bios that targets 75 C instead of 90 C and not found one.. i am a bit doubtful..

trog

ps.. no need for a history.. its one i have tried long ago.. it does unlock the 864 blackscreen limit but does nothing at all as regards fan speed.. shame.. its the same as the one random is using but has lower clock speed at default.. just a normal version 071 64k bios.. it was one of the first ones that appeared when folks were discovering the fix for the early 067 blackscreen bios..

its also worth nothing that the faster default core speed bios either the 830 one or the other faster ones do extend the clocking option in the CCC from 885-ish to 1500-ish.. but they do not make your card go any better than the stock 071 777 core speed bios.. only your skill with the mod will do that..

i think randon should unclude this 830/1200 bios i have attached into his bios download.. its safer.. up to him thow.. :)

[Reset]

Sorry I should have said frequency mod or something else, that's right it's not a volt mod. The fan speed mod I sent worked for me, here is where I found out about it.

http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=260&threadid=90359&STARTPAGE=2&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

This is the link where I found the mod.

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33912408

[trog100]

i have been testing these things for nearly the past six weeks since the cards first came out.. ati have set the normal bios to target around 90 C.. ati have chosen this temps as a working temp.. nothing wimpy about it.. its just running a little cooler is good for a small extra core speed increase not a great deal thow..

basically the card goes up to near 90 C before the fan speeds up.. at 90 C it runs at 40% which keeps the card at 90 C under heavy load.. take the card up to over 100 C (over volting) and the fan goes mad.. 78 % and it makes loads of noise..

in short at 102 C which quite clearly ati have set as the upper limit.. the fan does the business.. it does sound like a leaf blower thow..

i came across the bios u have under a different name a while back.. i think its actually an ati beta bios it has the words test bin in it.. but ts just a normal version 071 bios.. the same as comes on all but the very early 3870 cards..

i dont doubt where u found it.. its done the rounds.. but it runs the cards fan at exactly the same target temp as any other normal 3870 bios.. i did a thread on all this about 5 weeks back..

there are two cards out there that might differ from the norm fan speed wise.. the gecube turbo.. and the HIS turbo.. i have the gecube bios but dare not flash it cos it comes up with a sub systems dont match error message.. i havnt been able to acquire the HIS turbo one as yet..

these two cards use their own cooler not the stock ati one..

trog

ps.. just to make 100% sure i havnt run the wrong bios.. can u run the rivatuner monitor.. then run the fur bench to heat the card up and look at the monitor temps.. its the only accurate way of measuring these things.. thanks

[reverze]

i think randon should unclude this 830/1200 bios i have attached into his bios download.. its safer.. up to him thow.. :)

Is this RM's BIOS with the tweaked memory timings with those clocks you mean?

[tigger]

heres the 3850 vmod-

http://img.techpowerup.org/080110/untitled.jpg

http://img.techpowerup.org/080110/untitled5.jpg

[Reset]

OK I hear ya. It worked for my Sapphire Hd 3870 though, because I can clock higher and see the difference in Rivatuner fan speeds, also better GPU temps. I uninstalled Rivatuner now since I just use the overclocking in CCC and don't seem to need the fan adjustments anymore.

Another thing that was improved was the fact that I could now run the ATI Overdrive Auto-Tune without the computer locking up.

Crysis was also showing artifacts and other strange annomilies before I used Rivatuner for the fans settings. Now it works overclocked and no need for Rivatuner. I may still want to try the pencil mod later so it would be nice to have a frequency mod that included the fan improvements.

[tigger]

I found this too-

http://forum.purepc.pl/index.php?showtopic=245161

Theres links to lots of modded bios for all manufacturers.

[reverze]

The links not working for me.. just keeps trying to load

[trog100]

Is this RM's BIOS with the tweaked memory timings with those clocks you mean?

exactly the same just with a lower default core clock.. its a popular one used my many folks.. bit of laff really.. i spent ages tracing thru threads on extreme forums to find the best 3870 bios there was that people were talking about .. someone pointed at a thread and said it was a link to it there..

when i found it i had to smile.. it was linked back here to one posted by some guy called trog100... the 830/1200 one.. :laugh:

trog

[trog100]

well revers your insistence that it works is just gonna force me to reflash the thing and make sure.. he he

i will come back with some rivatuner pics to prove whether it does or it dosnt..

"it works for me" aint exactly good proof of anything to the rest of the world is it

trog

[tigger]

The link works for me.

[EastCoasthandle]

I have been following this thread but haven't seen any results from the mod. Is that in another thread or something?

[Random Murderer]

Ok guys, I'll include those two BIOS files in the next update, should be in a day or two when I get my trimpots in and actually hard-mod the card.

[trog100]

right then dudes.. proof.. not what i expected.. but the fanfix works.. how the hell i missed it cos its been sitting in my bios collection for weeks i dont know..

http://www.cavecom.com/pics/fanfix.jpg

and for those that want to see proof the mod works here is my fur bench thingy.. check the card clock speeds.. a modest voltage increase fron 1.35 to 1.4.. nothing extreme..

http://www.cavecom.com/pics/fur-3.jpg

downsides to the fanfix bios.. noise.. and the CCC limit drops back to 885.. but there are other methods of getting more then the CCC lets u have..

trog

ps.. odd the fanfix temps are a bit higher with the card going way slower and the fan going faster than a fixed 74% useing rivatine.. gonna look into this a bit more..

[trog100]

a little more.. the problem here is the core speed goes up in 13 mhz jumps.. it took 945 on the setting to get a true 931 on the core.. it might do a true 944 which would be the next jump.. dunno.. i am bit surprized it goes this far..

http://www.cavecom.com/pics/fanfix-.jpg

gonna put this one in the fur benchmark thread..

trog

[Reset]

See I told you Trog! :D

Trog I've been working on PC's since I owned my first Tandy 1000 EX, no hard drive but 2 5.25 floppies and a screaming 300 baud modem. Only internet was local or long distance BBS's. I've been building my own computers since then. I have 3 fairly fast water cooled computers in my computer room now. Two Vista's and one Fedora OS operated, oh and a XP Pro laptop too. Yes i'm a geek for sure! I get behind the times and screw up sometimes these days, i.e. calling the flash a volt mod. But normally I'm right! :pimp:

Didn't want to be off topic, just letting everybody know who I am since I am new here.

I think they did the fan mod just right where you get good coooling without too loud a fan speed. Now it would be nice to be able to use the pencil mod and the fan bios mod with more frequency tweaking room. I saw RM said something about that I think.

[trog100]

i made a mistake.. been looking for a fan speed increase bios for ages.. i found that one ages ago how the hell i came to the conclusion it didnt work i have no idea.. i try every one i can find and use the rivatuner monitor to check them.. somehow that one slipped thru.. he he he

post it in the forum it will get lost in here else..

the problem is these bios's show up in various places but nobody knows where they come from or who did them.. i cant do them.. random cant do them.. i do have a tool that compares them.. i can see the differences with the fanfix bios compared to another but its all "hex" to me.. he he

your fanfix and my old fanfix are identical.. which was why i said it didnt work.. my mistake was made weeks ago..

whatever changes the fan speed isnt much.. i do know that.. its all right at the front end with the 071 bios's.. i thought it would need more alterations but it dsont need that much at all just few.. no more than changing the core and memory speed does..

i have been looking closely trying to spot the exact difference that alters the fans target temp but as yet aint sure exactly which changes do it..

there is no real gain from using the higher core and memory speed bios's.. the pencil mod works but is hit and miss.. lots of folks just get dust.. which falls off.. my slightly roughening the surface before applying the pencil seems to be permanent.. but getting the exact voltages u want isnt easy.. with the surface slightly roughened its all too easy to get way tooo much.. with the surface not roughened its the opposite.. rub like hell and get nowhere..

i am now running a very small voltage increase.. 1.34/5 to 1.39/4.. i would like a smidge more say 1.42.. but cant be arsed to keep trying to get it.. 1.5 would be good for suicide runs with special cooling.. i tried it with 1.5 and things got way too hot.. i should have run a fur bench up there just for bragging rights.. he he

trog

ps.. i am now game stability testing my card at the max CCC setting of 885 core which is a real 877.. .. all the silly high core speeds are just for benching..

[Random Murderer]

Ok, my trimpots arrived today, but I'm busy tonight, so I'll work on the card tomorrow. Expect pics, a hard-mod guide, and the BIOS section to be updated.

[Reset]

whatever changes the fan speed isnt much.. i do know that.. its all right at the front end with the 071 bios's.. i thought it would need more alterations but it dsont need that much at all just few.. no more than changing the core and memory speed does..

i have been looking closely trying to spot the exact difference that alters the fans target temp but as yet aint sure exactly which changes do it..




Well personally I would be OK with more noise from my fan to get some more cooling. I'll be happy for now I guess since this video card is brand new. Also I have never done a pencil mod and was wondering whether the pencil would fall off or not. I may hold off till RM see's how his variable resistor trimpots work out. I wouldn't mind soldering if it isn't too tight a job. :)

BTW, I notice some screen flicker recently with my OC at the settings I mentioned. I may need to turn it down a few notches.

[Rhinofart]

Well guys, my parts finally showd up yesterday so I spent the day putting it all together. Now stupid work is getting in the way of me trying the mod out on these puppies. But I did slap 3DMark on my system to try them all out at stock speeds before Moding, and OCing them. 3DMark 06 first run was 12505 in crossfire. 3DMark 05 was 18196 in crossfire. Bear in mind this is only on an X2 6400+ and everything is running stock speeds. I'll grab some screen shots the post them the next time I get some benchies done.

I'm very much looking forward to that mod guide RM!

[TonyStark]

Excellent guide Random Murderer.

I've been running this pencil mod for a few weeks after finding it on xtremesystems. Didn't bother measuring voltages (I'm crazy like that).

My card hits 70 at full load with the VF900 and AS5.

905/2700 3DMark06 stable (still testing)
877/2400 Crysis DX9 stable (still testing, 905 crashed after 2 hours play).

Before vMod 825/2400 crashed in Team Fortress. Bad card for OC'ing.

[Reset]

Since there are some 3dmark06 scores here I thought I'd add mine. I had to lower my timing down some, but I am getting a 3dmark06 score of 12,171 with the card settings @ 855/2662. I am surprised that the 3dmark06 Crossfire post above is only 12,505. That doesn't make me want to buy another HD 3870 for Crossfire!

[Ravenas]

I've got to thank you for this how-to because I'm about to buy this card, and then you and I need to have skype tech support session lol.

[kenkickr]

I should be getting my 3870 next Tues or Wed so I'll try this vMod out.

[Rhinofart]

Keep in mind that this card, cpu, and ram are all running stock speeds right now. I'm running windows xp pro x64 edition if that also helps clear some stuff up. I'm going to dual boot tomorrow and put Vista Ultimate 64 Bit or 32 Bit. Not sure which version yet. Any Ideas?

[trog100]

sounds like your system isnt running with crossfire enabled rhino.. not as i know what it is..

trog

[Reset]

Rhino, I hate to ask this because you probably did, but did you uninstall then reinstall your video drivers when you installed the second card?

I think the same thing still depends on your needed drivers whether you want to run Vista 32 or 64 bit. I don't think there is a real advantage to benchmarking your graphics in Crossfire. I could be wrong though!

Also about the 3dmark scores, I think I am runng a little faster system with my CPU@3.61ghz and ram@1066. That's probably the difference? Since I dual boot I might try my 3dmark score with XP Pro and see what I get there.

Edit: Score on XP Pro 3Dmark06 just slightly higher than with Vista Ultimate. Vista=12,171 XP=12,288

[Rhinofart]

Well to be honest this is my first setup with more than 1 Video Card in it. I upgraded from my single ATI AIWx800 to this. It's a fresh load of windows, I put both cards in the motherboard at the same time (before installing windows) and then installed windows, installed all the updates, drivers, etc, and the last step (after Dotnetfix) I installed the latest Cats right from ATI/AMD. CCC says that crossfire is enabled, and when I disable it and run the 3DM05 there is a differance in score. Is there something I should do, or should have done to get better performance? When I do the results browser online it says of all the similar systems to mine, I am the fastest.

Reset, are you using just a single card?

[Source]

Ok, my trimpots arrived today, but I'm busy tonight, so I'll work on the card tomorrow. Expect pics, a hard-mod guide, and the BIOS section to be updated.

Please Please Please post your hard mod pics and how-to. I will do it as soon as you post it!

[largon]

HD3870 hardmod guides:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2574894&postcount=1

[Source]

HD3870 hardmod guides:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2574894&postcount=1

I seen this one, but since it's my first volt mod, I was hoping more for a step-by-step guide from RM.

[Random Murderer]

I seen this one, but since it's my first volt mod, I was hoping more for a step-by-step guide from RM.

Give me a few hours.
I've got all my materials ready, and I'll actually be performing the mod in a bit. After that, it will take me an hour or two to get the guide to my liking, so don't be expecting a full guide until later tonight.

[Source]

Give me a few hours.
I've got all my materials ready, and I'll actually be performing the mod in a bit. After that, it will take me an hour or two to get the guide to my liking, so don't be expecting a full guide until later tonight.

Awesome, good luck with it. I don't even have the materials yet. If you could also put those in your guide that would be GREAT.

[largon]

Source,
You need:
solder iron, 100kΩ variable resistor, 2 pieces of thin wire, multimeter

Here's what you need to do:
1. Solder one piece of wire on the middle leg, and the other piece on either of the outer legs.
2. Tune the resistance between the free ends of the wires to 100kΩ.
3. Solder the free end of either wire to a "mod solder point". (refer to the guide pics)
4. Solder the free end of the other wire to a ground. (doesn't matter what ground you use)
5. Done!

[Reset]

Yes Rhino, I am only using one card.

[Rhinofart]

I was just taking the readings for reference on my card so I could do the pencil mod and found a very strange thing. My cards are both already running at between 1.4 and 1.5 volts on the VGPU testing ports. Has anyone else had this? I'm also running on the stock bios at 851 core, and 1200 RAM and everything is stable. Also people are saying my 3DMark 06 score looks like I only have 1 of my cards running (IE Crossfire disabled) Any way to easily confirm that as my 05 scores are fairly good, and I know that 06 is more of a CPU dependant thing.

[largon]

Rhinofart,
Are you sure you're not experiencing a faulty reading due to low battery (eg.) on your DMM?

[Source]

Source,
You need:
solder iron, 100kΩ variable resistor, 2 pieces of thin wire, multimeter

Here's what you need to do:
1. Solder one piece of wire on the middle leg, and the other piece on either of the outer legs.
2. Tune the resistance between the free ends of the wires to 100kΩ.
3. Solder the free end of either wire to a "mod solder point". (refer to the guide pics)
4. Solder the free end of the other wire to a ground. (doesn't matter what ground you use)
5. Done!

Thx bud, off to the store

[Random Murderer]

Source,
You need:
solder iron, 100kΩ variable resistor, 2 pieces of thin wire, multimeter

Here's what you need to do:
1. Solder one piece of wire on the middle leg, and the other piece on either of the outer legs.
2. Tune the resistance between the free ends of the wires to 100kΩ.
3. Solder the free end of either wire to a "mod solder point". (refer to the guide pics)
4. Solder the free end of the other wire to a ground. (doesn't matter what ground you use)
5. Done!

Actually, I'll be using 500KΩ, 18-turn trimpots.

[largon]

500kΩ VR works fine too, though, it will have a bit rougher tuning granularity compared to 100kΩ which has just one (less serious) setback - slightly higher minimum voltage that is.

[Random Murderer]

500kΩ VR works fine too, though, it will have a bit rougher tuning granularity compared to 100kΩ which has just one (less serious) setback - slightly higher minimum voltage that is.

Eh, I'm doing both the VCore and VMem mods, so I just ordered a bunch of the 500KΩ trimpots instead of 500KΩ and 100KΩ.

[Rhinofart]

DMM works like a charm. I tested it with several other items of known voltage and its reading acurately. It had me scratching my head, so I did just that to test to make sure, and well, yup it was giving me 1.4 - 1.5 when running the Fur Benchmark.

[reverze]

got my ZALMAN installed...

stay tuned for my volt mod ;)

[trog100]

rhino.. now i know u are running amd i can be a little more accurate..

my 6000+ at 3.35 gig with one 3870 card at 840/1250 scored 11.000 in 2006

with two cards it scored 13000 in 2006..

in 2005 with one card 18.000... with two 19.000

dont compare your score with people running clocked intel systems.. at higher resolutions your crossfire gain will be way higher than with one card..

in 2005 fully maxed out 1608 x 1050 with full aa.. one card scored 11.000.. two cards went right up to 17.000.. things aint as bad as they seem.. at low resolution u are cpu limited..

trog

[Random Murderer]

Hard-mod underway. Expect good news soon!

[trog100]

DMM works like a charm. I tested it with several other items of known voltage and its reading acurately. It had me scratching my head, so I did just that to test to make sure, and well, yup it was giving me 1.4 - 1.5 when running the Fur Benchmark.

1.4 or 1.5 rhino.. the difference might not sound much but if measured correctly its massive.. 1.5 on my card gave me massive overheats and the poor old stock fan running at 85% sounding like a leaf blowing trying to keep the card at 102 C..

this was without much of an overclcock about the same as yours.. the votage should be steady.. and about 1.35..

u are either reading the wrong points or your volt meter is wrong.. something is wrong anyways..

trog

ps.. just for the record the 3d voltage can be measured while the machine is booting.. it dosnt drop till it gets to windows.. so there is no need to wait and run some 3d thing..

[Reset]

Rhino, maybe you should try a different ground on the case if you have the right test points. I got 1.35v on my card like everybody else.

[Reset]

500kΩ VR works fine too, though, it will have a bit rougher tuning granularity compared to 100kΩ which has just one (less serious) setback - slightly higher minimum voltage that is.

Yes the 100 ohm pot would be more fine tuning than the 500 ohm, that is unless the 500 ohm pot uses more turns than the 100 ohm. Don't you think? That's why different pots have different amount of turns, depending on the accuracy you need.


Now let me get my cheap butt back to searching these old circuit boards for a decent VR. :)

[Random Murderer]

Ok, the mod is DONE!
I dodged a major bullet in the process though, one of the legs broke off of the memory voltage IC, though I managed to make one with solder.
Pics will be up soon, and then on to testing!

[Source]

Ok, the mod is DONE!
I dodged a major bullet in the process though, one of the legs broke off of the memory voltage IC, though I managed to make one with solder.
Pics will be up soon, and then on to testing!

Awesome, can't wait bud. Make sure we get some nice CLOSE UPS !

[Random Murderer]

Awesome, can't wait bud. Make sure we get some nice CLOSE UPS !

Here ya go!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/Bobdole666/DSC02214.jpg

Now to get my hands on some dry ice and set some records!

[Wile E]

How many watts is your iron, RM?

[Random Murderer]

How many watts is your iron, RM?

No idea, lol, it's a butane iron.:banghead:

[Wile E]

No idea, lol, it's a butane iron.:banghead:AH, OK. I have a 30W iron. I was just wondering what everyone else uses.

[Source]

Here ya go!


Now to get my hands on some dry ice and set some records!

So is all that just for the Core volt, or also the mem volt mod ?


EDIT: nvm I see the marker labeling M and C. So it must be for both.

[DaMulta]

AH, OK. I have a 30W iron. I was just wondering what everyone else uses.
I have no idea, but this is it.

http://img.techpowerup.org/080111/4x4698.jpg

[tigger]

Mines a 75watt antex gascat 75p butane iron.

Nice mod random,would this work on a 3850? same points for the vgpu and vmem pots?

[ace80]

On wednesday i should be getting myself the His 3870xt with stock speeds of 850/2350.
Anything i can do to find out why this card is different such as taking pics, measuring voltages, uploading the bios etc.

[Source]

Hmmmm odd thing. While waiting for RM and his mod I have been trying to flash the latest bios on my mobo. It came with 1.0 and it is now at 1.6. But 1.6 wouldn't boot neither would 1.5, 1.4, 1.3 not 1.2,

Only 1.1 would work out of the new bios. Very weird.

Gonna have to email tech support at MSI.

[Source]

On wednesday i should be getting myself the His 3870xt with stock speeds of 850/2350.
Anything i can do to find out why this card is different such as taking pics, measuring voltages, uploading the bios etc.

What vendor puts one out at those speeds ?
Is it a stock fan?

Just curious, I know the stock fan can kick speeds of about 900

[ace80]

His are the vendor, they use the iceq3 cooler just like on my x1800gto.
I'm geting it through ocuk but stock doesn't arrive till tuesday.
http://img.techpowerup.org/080111/sm049.jpg

[Random Murderer]

So is all that just for the Core volt, or also the mem volt mod ?


EDIT: nvm I see the marker labeling M and C. So it must be for both.

It is for both.

[Random Murderer]

Ok, false alarm. I'll be redoing the hard mod here in a day or two, as I have some extra trimpots.
What happened is apparently I broke a 6Ω resistor while performing the mod. When i tried to boot with the card, I received beep codes saying no video card was installed, so i shut down and pulled the trimpots off. Then I realized I could fix it, so I did, but no trimpots anymore... :ohwell:
The card is alive, but still on a pencil mod for now.

[largon]

Yes the 100 ohm pot would be more fine tuning than the 500 ohm, that is unless the 500 ohm pot uses more turns than the 100 ohm. Don't you think? That's why different pots have different amount of turns, depending on the accuracy you need.The accuracy is not really about the amount of turns. It's about the resistance change per degree of turn. 500kΩ (500 000, not 500) has 5× the resistance change per º compared to 100kΩ. 500kΩ VR will become very inaccurate after a certain point is passed.

[Reset]

The accuracy is not really about the amount of turns. It's about the resistance change per degree of turn. 500kΩ (500 000, not 500) has 5× the resistance change per º compared to 100kΩ. 500kΩ VR will become very inaccurate after a certain point is passed.

The more turns means the less resistance change per degree during a turn, so it does have something to do with accuracy. I just forgot to add the K but I know what it means and the idea is still the same. Could be M for mega/million ohms too.

The more turns the finer the resistance change during adjustment. So all I'm saying is the more turns makes the VR trimpot more accurate no matter what the total resistance. Although the larger the resistance the more turns you would need to make a smooth transition. Less turns needed for lower ohms. The larger the resistance pot may become less linear closer to the extremes, but I don't know that for sure, and it really shouldn't make a difference in the perfect world!

But for sure, if the 100K ohm and the 500K ohm potentiometers have the same ammount of turns, then the 100K ohm will be more accurate and fine tuning. Also since a trimpot uses mechanical function to adjust, that makes it more possible for inaccuracy. Now I got a headache -- Thanks largon! :D

[Threeflow]

Ok, false alarm. I'll be redoing the hard mod here in a day or two, as I have some extra trimpots.
What happened is apparently I broke a 6Ω resistor while performing the mod. When i tried to boot with the card, I received beep codes saying no video card was installed, so i shut down and pulled the trimpots off. Then I realized I could fix it, so I did, but no trimpots anymore... :ohwell:
The card is alive, but still on a pencil mod for now.

I know someone...

[trog100]

His are the vendor, they use the iceq3 cooler just like on my x1800gto.
I'm geting it through ocuk but stock doesn't arrive till tuesday.
http://img.techpowerup.org/080111/sm049.jpg

i wondered how they got those core speeds.. my first pair of HIS early 3870 cards wouldnt run 850 core gaming stable.. they are either selected cream of the crop chips or being fed a little more voltage..

when u get it grab the bios using winflash.. i would be curious to have a look at one.. nice card with nice cooler.. worth the little extra i recon..

just for the record i used the pc case for the earthing point while measuring voltage.. its easier..

trog

[Cold Storm]

You all most killed my card man! lol.. Not mad, just glad to see i can still get on here! I still trust you on one condition... You eat before working! I want you mind to be at full thought process... no more of what happened!

[Random Murderer]

You all most killed my card man! lol.. Not mad, just glad to see i can still get on here! I still trust you on one condition... You eat before working! I want you mind to be at full thought process... no more of what happened!

Lawzorz!
Ok, I can deal with that.

[Cold Storm]

I hope you can! or this system isn't your test system anymore! my wallet may look fat but is flat...

[thoughtdisorder]

You all most killed my card man! lol.. Not mad, just glad to see i can still get on here! I still trust you on one condition... You eat before working! I want you mind to be at full thought process... no more of what happened!


LMAO - Storm I NEVER saw that bottom lip of yours dragging so low as it was lastnight!:nutkick:

[Cold Storm]

RM has the ability to do it! I know he does.. just got me on what happened... he fixed it! lol

[ace80]

i wondered how they got those core speeds.. my first pair of HIS early 3870 cards wouldnt run 850 core gaming stable.. they are either selected cream of the crop chips or being fed a little more voltage..

when u get it grab the bios using winflash.. i would be curious to have a look at one.. nice card with nice cooler.. worth the little extra i recon..

just for the record i used the pc case for the earthing point while measuring voltage.. its easier..

trog
I'll upload the bios here as soon as i get it, eta is monday so i should receive it tuesday.
Yeah i thought the little extra was worth it, kinda neglected my vid card upgrades for a while. I love the iceq3 cooler, i just hope there's some oc'ing head room before i decide to pencil mod it. Don't think i'll be hard modding it thats how i killed my x800gto2 :cry:
I use the case for the earth aswell but thanks for refreshing my mind.

While i'm here whats the best atitool version to use with 3870 so i'm ready to go?

[trog100]

I'll upload the bios here as soon as i get it, eta is monday so i should receive it tuesday.
Yeah i thought the little extra was worth it, kinda neglected my vid card upgrades for a while. I love the iceq3 cooler, i just hope there's some oc'ing head room before i decide to pencil mod it. Don't think i'll be hard modding it thats how i killed my x800gto2 :cry:
I use the case for the earth aswell but thanks for refreshing my mind.

While i'm here whats the best atitool version to use with 3870 so i'm ready to go?

i wouldnt use it.. not fully sorted yet for the 3xxx cards.. the CCC overdrive works without a problem.. the rivatuner monitor is perfect for checking temps and stuff..

your 850 bios should open up beyond the normal 885 clocking option.. the cooling on your card should be set for higher a fan speed as well.

some say the tool works but it just made my card unstable.. i dont think it ups the voltage from 2d to 3d properly..

trog

[tigger]

Trog,what program do you use to look at the bios's?

Is there any way i can get ccc to go over 770 with my card on the gpu overdive?

[trog100]

Trog,what program do you use to look at the bios's?

Is there any way i can get ccc to go over 770 with my card on the gpu overdive?

i use something called "beyond compare" to compare one bios with another..

the max setting in the CCC goes up when a higher clocked bios is used.. the 850 clock on the HIS turbo 3870 for example should shift the max setting up from 885 to 1500..

i assume the 3850 card word work the same way..from what i gather the 3850 card simply comes shipped with a lower bios set gpu voltage which limits the clocks by default..

there might be some speed binning with the chips but other than that they are the same for both cards..

trog

[Cold Storm]

just let it stay and be... you want the air to move so it can blow off any access lead that might be there. The lead will stick on there. its still there after the first time he did it.. and mine was the same...

[tigger]

Heres a nice pic of a 3850 volt mod.The yellow wire is vcore measure,and the jumper disables the vmod.

http://img.techpowerup.org/080113/3850 voltmod.jpg

[Source]

Heres a nice pic of a 3850 volt mod.The yellow wire is vcore measure,and the jumper disables the vmod.

http://img.techpowerup.org/080113/3850 voltmod.jpg

Very Nice, any chance you could do a close up with some light on that bottom right corner. I like the jumper idea.

[Random Murderer]

Very Nice, any chance you could do a close up with some light on that bottom right corner. I like the jumper idea.

it's not his, that's a pic from a guy over on xs.

[trog100]

about that lead sticking.. i did the second mod.. lead between to pins on the board surface.. a very slight roughening of the surface between the pins gets the lead to stick in a normal pencil stroke way.. no piles of random dust..

two or three light strokes is more than enough.. u lightly apply.. measure the voltage as soon as the machine boots.. if its too high hit the off switch and brush at the pencil to get some off..

there does seem to be some over volt protection cos mine refused to boot several times.. the highest it booted at was 2.5 volts..

just over 1.4 is a safe place to aim for.. its very hit and miss mostly way too high..

a small stiff artists brush is good for dropping a too high attempt.. u can do it with the card still in the machine.. brush off too much and u have to take it out and start again..

doing it my way is the opposite to all u read.. its all too easy to get too much.. no rubbing like hell to get anything..

trog

[tigger]

Correct,its not mine.I never claimed it was did i?

This is how i see the jumper connections-

http://img.techpowerup.org/080113/jumper596.jpg

[Random Murderer]

Correct,its not mine.I never claimed it was did i?

This is how i see the jumper connections-

http://img.techpowerup.org/080113/jumper596.jpg

I wasn't calling you a liar, calm down.:toast:

Yes, yes, that's correct, the yellow wire is the measure point and the red and black when jumped together complete the circuit to the trimpot.

[tigger]

sorry random,if my reply was a bit curt.

It is a pretty nice way to do it tho'

heres a rather nice 3870 one too-

http://img.techpowerup.org/080113/P.jpg
http://img.techpowerup.org/080113/P1.jpg
http://img.techpowerup.org/080113/P2.jpg
http://img.techpowerup.org/080113/P3.jpg

That is a fine piece of work.

[Dr. Spankenstein]

Just saw that one over @ XS as well. Very clean work! I would love to find those clips he's using for the pots...
Is there something that is used to adhere the wire to the PCB?

About ready to "grow a pair" and hard mod these puppies!

[tigger]

When you realize how thin those wires are,its either good soldering or glue etc.

[Reset]

I would guess that thin wire is probably solid core telephone wire. Stranded wire doesn't hold it's shape as well. Telephone wire might be the best to use because it stays the way you bend it and it's thin.

[Dr. Spankenstein]

When you realize how thin those wires are,its either good soldering or glue etc.


Yeah. Judging by the first and third picture, if you can fit a sheathed wire between 2 smd capacitors, you're looking at about 30ga wire.

I'm still wondering about those clips that are holding his tripots to the edge of the card.

[tigger]

The wires as thick as the leg on the ic.wow nice.Imma do mine like that.Mebbe its easier to solder been so thin.

[Dr. Spankenstein]

I've got some super-fine silver solder that is about the same gauge as that wire, I'm still concerned that I'll leave a huge blog of solder acrossa bunch of components. Hopefully my solder wick would soak it up!

[Random Murderer]

Yeah. Judging by the first and third picture, if you can fit a sheathed wire between 2 smd capacitors, you're looking at about 30ga wire.

I'm still wondering about those clips that are holding his tripots to the edge of the card.

The clips look like they're from a DIMM slot.

[Source]

Just picked up my parts. I liked the idea of the volt measure yellow line in that other mod so I am doing it also.
Sure will make it easier to take a measurement.

[tigger]

i just picked up my 100kohm trimmer today,i am gonna use wire stripped from an ide cable.I just need to find a jumper to use.I'll just nick one of one of my old bits of tat.

EDIT-just measured my vgpu while running 3dmark06,its hovering between 1.23 and 1.24v

[tigger]

I just did it.I have my 100kohm trimmer on,i checked as it booted and it was 1.24vgpu with the trimmer on max resitance(100kohms).

[Cold Storm]

sweetness tigger! now after this, and some food in RM's stomach.. He can do the same! you going to post pictures when you get it done? Another question... IDE cables snipped?

[tigger]

yes,i used ide cable,it is nice and thin.the connection to the solder point went sweet.I thought it was gonna be hard to get a connection cause the point is so small.The other wire is directly on the groung pin of the pci-e power connector.

[tigger]

well i set the vgpu to 1.36vgpu and tried it at 790mhz core on 3d06.It stomped it,this is with the core at 790mhz and my ram stock.It beat my stock score by loads.

It seems the 22turn trimmer i have is roughly equal to 0.1volt increase per 3 full turns of the screw.

The max temp while running 3d06 with the voltage on 1.36v was 53c using riva tuner to monitor it while i ran 3dmark.

http://img.techpowerup.org/080114/wow.jpg

[tigger]

heres a little crappy pic of my mod,its a webcam sorry.

http://img.techpowerup.org/080114/vmod.jpg

[Cold Storm]

heres a little crappy pic of my mod,its a webcam sorry.

http://img.techpowerup.org/080114/vmod.jpg

xazax probably got his skills from you!!! good mod man... waiting on the pics from the camera its self!

[Jor3llBR]

Anyone knows where can I get the Sapphire Atomic HD3870 Vapor-X Bios? It's 825/1200 from factory.

Does anyone tried to flash to those new clock settings without volt or pencil modding?

Thanks

[Source]

Mine runs at 820 stable without any type of mod right now.

[Dr. Spankenstein]

Does anyone tried to flash to those new clock settings without volt or pencil modding?

Thanks


I flashed mine to the 830/1200 BIOS just to get past the 862 barrier. I ran it for a week without a pencil mod. No problems....

[tigger]

yes source,but yours is a 3870 and mine is a 3850.Going from 668 to 810 is a big jump.

[Source]

yes source,but yours is a 3870 and mine is a 3850.Going from 668 to 810 is a big jump.

Hahah OOps, my bad, sorry need to read first =P

[Source]

Wow did you guys see this 1200mhz CORE !

http://www.thelab.gr/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45059

LOL 1.75v eeek

[tigger]

nice but not usable 24/7 :laugh:

[tigger]

Well heres the pics of my vmod,complete with a jumper to enable/disable the mod.

http://img.techpowerup.org/080115/IMG_3159.jpg
http://img.techpowerup.org/080115/IMG_3160.jpg
http://img.techpowerup.org/080115/IMG_3163.jpg

[Cold Storm]

The mod looks awesome! glad to see you have BETTER picture skills then xzazx!!! lol... did you use a modded bios? and if so wouldn't the jumper hurt you if it was unplugged?

[sneekypeet]

the jumper is in place so that GROUND can be removed from the connection, making the mod nothing more than parts on a PCB. So if the jumper is in line, the mod is active. With the jumper removed, the card performs at stock voltages!

[Cold Storm]

I know that... but if he modded the bios to work at that voltage, and then removed the jumper, would that mess up the videocard? Thats what I'm asking.

[sneekypeet]

Yes. If he did in fact mod the BIOS with clocks that are too high for stock voltage, the card will not boot. Just like when you OC a CPU.

I dont really think it would damage the card tho...It just would not boot.

[tigger]

Tbh i'd rather do it this way,with just the removal of the jumper,the card is completely stock.

I have the gpu upto 840mhz now,at 1.36v

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/dee3a/

[sneekypeet]

Tigger ,no BIOS mods correct ...to help Coldstorm answer his question ....this is all just Ocing with ATItool or Rivatuner, correct?

[Cold Storm]

Oh, I believe you all the way tigger that you did it and its at what it is... i'm just asking the reason on the jumper.... and if it was removed would the video card post or not... and we all have the right to do how we feel to our stuff. I'm just asking so in the future, if I wanted to do the same thing, then I know what would happen in case A and then case B..

[tigger]

It would still post with the jumper off,posting with the jumper off would just mean the card boots with stock 3d vgpu.Without the jumper,it would not oc higer then a voltage stock card.The core will only run the higher speeds because it is been fed 1.36v and not the stock 1.24v.

And yes,oc'ing with riva(ccc wont go over 770 and i dont trust atitool on the 38xx yet)

[Cold Storm]

thanks Tigger, thats all I wanted to know. And I'm with you on not trusting ati tool.

[tigger]

no problem :) its best to know what your doing before you try this.

For anyone who wants to try it,make SURE the trimmer is set on FULL resistance,100kohms before you boot up.Check the vgpu as it posts,it will be at full 3d voltage when it posts,if its too high,turn off.Make sure you know the correct position for the wire on the board,also you can use a ground connection from the black pci-e power connections.

[Cold Storm]

Yeah, thats why I had rm do it.. but we didn't have the bios at stock, so it didn't work...

[Random Murderer]

Yeah, thats why I had rm do it.. but we didn't have the bios at stock, so it didn't work...

No, it didn't work because I broke a resistor, remember?

[Cold Storm]

No, it didn't work because I broke a resistor, remember?

I thought we also needed to have the bios at stock???

[Random Murderer]

I thought we also needed to have the bios at stock???

Nah, I thought that was what the problem was until I realized that a resistor broke...

[Cold Storm]

all right... then i'm wrong on that... so even with the modded bios, it will still work? I'm asking the questions that I hope noobs should ask...

[Random Murderer]

all right... then i'm wrong on that... so even with the modded bios, it will still work? I'm asking the questions that I hope noobs should ask...

Yes, it will still work, but it would be best to perform the mod on a stock BIOS and then flash a modded BIOS after you're sure the mod works...:banghead:

[Cold Storm]

So, if you for instance, have a pencil mod on the card, and wanting to do this Vcore, GPU mod, you want to erase the pencil mod before doing this, and flashing the stock bios back?

[Random Murderer]

So, if you for instance, have a pencil mod on the card, and wanting to do this Vcore, GPU mod, you want to erase the pencil mod before doing this, and flashing the stock bios back?

Close, you would need to reflash the stock BIOS before removing the pencil mod, then you could safely remove the pencil mod and perform the hard-mod.

[Cold Storm]

now, why doing that first??? because to flash it to stock, why would you have to do the bios before taking off the mod???

[Random Murderer]

now, why doing that first??? because to flash it to stock, why would you have to do the bios before taking off the mod???

These are some good questions, the kind I was hoping for when the thread started!
OK, you need to make sure you flash back to stock while the pencil mod is still "active" because if you remove the mod before you flash to the stock BIOS, the core will not get enough voltage to boot at the clocks of the modded BIOS.

[Cold Storm]

all right... I get that... Now, this is one for both you and tigger... what types of wires do you use in the gpu and v core mod? Whats the wires that you aren't suppose to use?

[Random Murderer]

all right... I get that... Now, this is one for both you and tigger... what types of wires do you use in the gpu and v core mod? Whats the wires that you aren't suppose to use?

I used 24AWG stranded...

[Cold Storm]

but, is there anything that you should not use??? and why did you use 24? not besides the fact that its what you had... can you use smaller gage wire or what?

[Cold Storm]

You can test the resisters by putting the pos. lead on one side of the resister, and the neg. on the other side.. or thats how we did it for the pencil mod..

[Random Murderer]

What about voltage?

Also, is measuring resistance potentially dangerous with the wrong components since it sends a tiny current across the leads.

For measuring the voltage, ground the negative lead to your computer's chassis and touch the positive lead to the measure point.
This will not damage anything, since it is only measuring the difference in electrical potential.

[Random Murderer]

but, is there anything that you should not use??? and why did you use 24? not besides the fact that its what you had... can you use smaller gage wire or what?

I used 24AWG stranded because it's all I have.
I would have preferred to use 28AWG Kynar or even wire-wrap(really freakin' small wire), but I'm broke and can't afford it... :ohwell:

[Cold Storm]

I used 24AWG stranded because it's all I have.
I would have preferred to use 28AWG Kynar or even wire-wrap(really freakin' small wire), but I'm broke and can't afford it... :ohwell:

all right, well where can you go to buy those?? at radio shack or home depot??? Got to tell us where to get the tools we need!

[thoughtdisorder]

all right, well where can you go to buy those?? at radio shack or home depot??? Got to tell us where to get the tools we need!

Chesters Electronics (on Missouri) - confirm with RM

[Cold Storm]

Chesters Electronics (on Missouri) - confirm with RM

I know where to go here.. I'm asking as if a noob needs the advice... Giving out questions that a noob would ask.. But thanks anyway man!

[thoughtdisorder]

I know where to go here.. I'm asking as if a noob needs the advice... Giving out questions that a noob would ask.. But thanks anyway man!

I knew that! :banghead:

[Cold Storm]

I knew that! :banghead:

see... now your getting like me when I post at work! I know whats going on, but it messes up because of hiding everything!

[Random Murderer]

all right, well where can you go to buy those?? at radio shack or home depot??? Got to tell us where to get the tools we need!

Online, or at RadioShack. RS has wire-wrap, not sure about Kynar, though.

[Dr. Spankenstein]

When you say wire wrap, are you referring to magnet wire. It is single strand and has an enamel coating that is pretty easy to remove, but it's ultra-thin!

[Random Murderer]

When you say wire wrap, are you referring to magnet wire. It is single strand and has an enamel coating that is pretty easy to remove, but it's ultra-thin!

Yup yup.
Super-thin wire is good for this type of thing.

[Wile E]

Yup yup.
Super-thin wire is good for this type of thing.You can also use an old IDE cable.

[Random Murderer]

You can also use an old IDE cable.

Didn't even think of that, thanks!

[Cold Storm]

Tigger used them for his mod... why those cables?? thats another thing to look at

[Cold Storm]

use a 4hb one.. that worked good.. took about 10 mins the first time and about 20 the second... and the second one was around .971? I can't remember... it takes time man

[Random Murderer]

*Sigh* My first attempt didnt go so well. I need different pencils. HB pencils would hardly reduce the resistance.

Lawl!
There's a reason I didn't mention HB pencils in the "Materials" section... Try a normal 2B pencil, that will work a bit better.

[Dr. Spankenstein]

Don't feel bad. Mine were perfect when I measured them out of the case. .9986 resistance, lookin' at 1.46V maybe. Then I seated it in the case, all my fans spun up and blew (what must have been all) the graphite off. Measured 1.38v. Boo!

I'm through fiddling around with that noise. Ima gonna hard mod! Got the pots and headers on order.

Look out mo' fuggies!! :D

[Random Murderer]

I'll try a 2B tomorrow.

Im shading in the correct resistor right? R1222, and its 2.25kohms at stock.

On the 3850 it's 2.25KΩ stock. And yes, the resistor is R1222 on both the 3870 and 3850.
Don't feel bad. Mine were perfect when I measured them out of the case. .9986 resistance, lookin' at 1.46V maybe. Then I seated it in the case, all my fans spun up and blew (what must have been all) the graphite off. Measured 1.38v. Boo!

I'm through fiddling around with that noise. Ima gonna hard mod! Got the pots and headers on order.

Look out mo' fuggies!! :D

Lol. That's why I said to use air duster now and then, you'll only get the benefit of what sticks to the resistor.

[Cold Storm]

I love the air duster! it helps in a lot of ways!:laugh:

[Dr. Spankenstein]

Lol. That's why I said to use air duster now and then, you'll only get the benefit of what sticks to the resistor.

Yeah, I blew all the excess off, personally. I think I might have inadvertanly pushed it into some other nooks and crannies though, cuz the cards seem to be running hotter in general.
the GPU temp is down (because of my TIM switch), but it seems all-over hotter.:mad:

Time to get out the q-tips!:o

[tigger]

I used the ide wire coz its thin.The connection point is tiny,and getting a thick wire on it would be really hard.

[KiwiNZ]

Hey there. First post here. been browsing for a while but never registered.

This pencil mod is sooooo easy to do, took all of 10 mins to do with great results.

One Interesting thing i did find was that my stock Resistance on the R1222 resistor was 1.63 and 3d volts were lower than what i have read they should be too, (cant remember exactly 1.27 maybe) on my Saphire HD3870. I always had probs getting a staple stock overclock with this card and even at 830 core would get ctd in most games. However now i can easily get up to the 885 limit on the fixed fan bios with CCC and have stable bench's and Gaming.

Im keen to clock it higher but cant sort out how to just clock the 3D settings with rivatuner. When i open the settings tab i only get Overclock and Fan Tabs and there is no option to clock 2d, performance3d etc like i see in screenshots of Riva in action. Is this normal. I dont really want to have my card blasting away at 900+ core speeds 24/7.

Is there any idea why this might be with riva or can anyone point me in the right direction for a better clocking option.

Thanks heaps, and thumbs up for a great forum.

[Random Murderer]

I've never dealt with RivaTuner, so I can't help you there.

[KiwiNZ]

I've never dealt with RivaTuner, so I can't help you there.

No worries, thanks for the most excellent tutorial. Ill keep searching to see if i can find a solution.

[tigger]

I'am testing a modded bios now,instead of the volt mod.Apparently its possible to mod the bios with 1.33v on 3d mode.The one i am using now is stock at 760mhz core/950mhz mem with 3d voltage at 1.33v.Its working fine,i got 10700 ish with a run of 3d06,tho i checked the voltage while running it and it was 1.288v,so i dont think thats exactly right.

here is the link to the thread anyway,for others.I have posted my stock bios on there to see if i can get thet modded to 760core/950mem@1.33v 3d.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=169778

There does seem to be a limit on 3850/70's to 860 on the core stock tho' I'm not sure if thats removable in the bios or not.

[tigger]

why is it max 1.3v? Is it only for the 3850? the 3870 is 1.33v yes.

[Reset]

Hey there. First post here. been browsing for a while but never registered.


Im keen to clock it higher but cant sort out how to just clock the 3D settings with rivatuner. When i open the settings tab i only get Overclock and Fan Tabs and there is no option to clock 2d, performance3d etc like i see in screenshots of Riva in action. Is this normal. I dont really want to have my card blasting away at 900+ core speeds 24/7.

Is there any idea why this might be with riva or can anyone point me in the right direction for a better clocking option.

Thanks heaps, and thumbs up for a great forum.

I think the screenshots you saw were probably for a Nvidia card. Rivatuner and ATI cards don't have as many functions/settings -- I think.


RM was you saying in a previous message that if we hard mod we should use the stock bios? Would the fanfix bios work with the hard mod?


I am waiting on my 100K ohm 25 turn trimpots -- should be here next week. If anybody is interested I got mine at jameco.com.

[trog100]

the fan fix bios just speeds the fan up.. it will work with any mod.. the downside is its default core speed puts the max CCC clock back to 885.. not a real problem but having the max CCC at 1500 was usefull..

we need a fanfix bios with a higher default clock... he he

trog

[tigger]

Do i need ccc installed to put the driver in perfomance mode? The overdrive dint seem to work with this bios,so i uninstalled it.

This is stock at 760/950,i checked the 3d vgpu and it was 1.288.

[Reset]

the fan fix bios just speeds the fan up.. it will work with any mod.. the downside is its default core speed puts the max CCC clock back to 885.. not a real problem but having the max CCC at 1500 was usefull..

we need a fanfix bios with a higher default clock... he he

trog

I think the reason we aren't seeing any new bois fixes, is because the RaBiT bios editor hasn't been upgraded to handle the HD 3850-3870 bios's. Maybe when the programmer gets RaBiT up to date we will start to see some good modded flashes? I tried the latest version of RaBiT and it didn't recognize some of the functions or codes of my HD 3870 bios.

[Random Murderer]

I think the screenshots you saw were probably for a Nvidia card. Rivatuner and ATI cards don't have as many functions/settings -- I think.


RM was you saying in a previous message that if we hard mod we should use the stock bios? Would the fanfix bios work with the hard mod?


I am waiting on my 100K ohm 25 turn trimpots -- should be here next week. If anybody is interested I got mine at jameco.com.

Any BIOS will work with the hard mod, but it's best to run stock BIOS until you know the hard mod works, and then flash to a modded BIOS.

[Rhinofart]

Well, I just double checked everything, and for shits n giggles I replaced the battery in my DMM. Ground (I did both the chassis, and the ground in a molex plug) and then the positive to ALL 4 points. Now this is where things get a little interesting. My top card (PCIE0) reads 1.39 Volts along all 4 of the test spots and on both sets of grounds. My bottom card (PCIE1) reads only 1.20 Hmmm weird me thinks? Yes indeed.
I forgot to mention. Playing Crysis at 1600x1200 on HIGH is very nice and playable! Woooot! Plus my 3DM scores did go up a bit too. I'll try OCing the cards without any voltmods for now and see how well they hold out.

[tigger]

The vgpu on both of them should be around 1.33v,i test mine while running 3d06.

[Random Murderer]

Well, I just double checked everything, and for shits n giggles I replaced the battery in my DMM. Ground (I did both the chassis, and the ground in a molex plug) and then the positive to ALL 4 points. Now this is where things get a little interesting. My top card (PCIE0) reads 1.39 Volts along all 4 of the test spots and on both sets of grounds. My bottom card (PCIE1) reads only 1.20 Hmmm weird me thinks? Yes indeed.
I forgot to mention. Playing Crysis at 1600x1200 on HIGH is very nice and playable! Woooot! Plus my 3DM scores did go up a bit too. I'll try OCing the cards without any voltmods for now and see how well they hold out.

One card is in 3D mode while the other is not, simple as that.

[trog100]

i tested mine right after booting tigger.. not quite sure what would have happened running 2006 with 2.5 volts going thru it.. he he he

put one prong in a case hole the other on the positive point on the card and boot the machine.. is the easiest way to do it..

it goes straight into 3d voltage from the boot.. when it gets to windows it drops to 2d voltage..

there is also some kind of over voltage protection at work.. it wont boot with too much voltage.. it will with 2.5 thow.. he he he

i am leaving mine with the pencil.. it now reads 1.39 volts.. i would like 1.41 but its too fiddly to get exactly what u want with the pencil..

trog

[Random Murderer]

i tested mine right after booting tigger.. not quite sure what would have happened running 2006 with 2.5 volts going thru it.. he he he

put one prong in a case hole the other on the positive point on the card and boot the machine.. is the easiest way to do it..

it goes straight into 3d voltage from the boot.. when it gets to windows it drops to 2d voltage..

there is also some kind of over voltage protection at work.. it wont boot with too much voltage.. it will with 2.5 thow.. he he he

i am leaving mine with the pencil.. it now reads 1.39 volts.. i would like 1.41 but its too fiddly to get exactly what u want with the pencil..

trog

:confused:
Mine runs 1.44v and it's pencil modded...

[Cold Storm]

i tested mine right after booting tigger.. not quite sure what would have happened running 2006 with 2.5 volts going thru it.. he he he

put one prong in a case hole the other on the positive point on the card and boot the machine.. is the easiest way to do it..

it goes straight into 3d voltage from the boot.. when it gets to windows it drops to 2d voltage..

there is also some kind of over voltage protection at work.. it wont boot with too much voltage.. it will with 2.5 thow.. he he he

i am leaving mine with the pencil.. it now reads 1.39 volts.. i would like 1.41 but its too fiddly to get exactly what u want with the pencil..

trog


You can try and try again till you get to 1.41... but then it would be 4 hours later, and you might have less hair then you started with... sounds good on the read out trog.

[Rhinofart]

One card is in 3D mode while the other is not, simple as that.

Even with the card in crossfire? I'll have to get FUR running for stability and redo the readings.

[Random Murderer]

Even with the card in crossfire? I'll have to get FUR running for stability and redo the readings.

Run the ATiTool fuzzy cube, that's the ONLY thing I've found that puts my card at 100% usage...

[trog100]

one thing about the crossfire setup.. what happens when the thing u are running isnt using the second card at all.. most things dont.. the fur bench dosnt.. the lightsmark thing dosnt.. the furry thing in atitool wont..

i think i have the answer here.. when only one card is working only one card ups its voltage..

try a 3dmark.. at least they use two cards.. without proper driver support nothing else does..

basically C/F only works when the thing u are running has support for it built in.. its just like multiple cpus..

trog

ps.. which by the way is one of the reasons i got rid of my second 3870 card..

[tigger]

i'm working on a new mark2 volt mod,i have used 2 pin connection blocks.1 goes on the card with the connections to ground,mod connection point and vgpu measure point,and the second which plugs into the first one whith the trimmer and vgpu measure points on it.If i want to disable it,all i have to do is pull the block with the trimmer on it off.

Pics tommorow :D

[Rhinofart]

That sounds like one sweet mod Tigger. As for my voltage testing in 3dMark. I'll have to wait till the Vista portion of my triple boot is done so I can do that. WinXP_Pro32, WinXP_Prox64, and Vista 64 Bit. Still debating if I want to put Linux on there too.

[trog100]

how about two switchable ones tigger.. a gentle one for gaming and a nasty kick up the ass one for benching.. he he he.. dont switch it off.. just switch it down..

trog

[tigger]

I suppose you could build some sort of resitor array.use the trimmer to find the correct resistances for whatever voltaage,then make up a switchable resitor array.

[Random Murderer]

I suppose you could build some sort of resitor array.use the trimmer to find the correct resistances for whatever voltaage,then make up a switchable resitor array.

Hmm. That's not a bad idea...

[Source]

Hey Rhino, what bios are you using for your Diamond cards, I am also running Diamond HD3870

[Rhinofart]

Hey Rhino, what bios are you using for your Diamond cards, I am also running Diamond HD3870

It's the stock BIOS that came with the cards. I flashed it this morning with one of the ones I found here in the Forums to try that out. My voltage readings have not changed yet. They are the same. But with 3DMark running I now get proper Voltage on the bottom card. Thanks for the tip on that guys. I think I'm going to check the resistance of the points on this card. Maybe I got one that someone already had and did a pencil mod to?? I looked at it when I got it, and it all looked like a nice factory sealed job, but you never do know.

[trog100]

interesting fact the voltage only going up on one card.. it tells me C/F has nothing to do with the ATI cats and everything to do with the software being run..

i expected some performance increase in everything even if not much.. it dosnt seem this way thow.. if the software isnt specifically written to use two cards one simply sits there doing nothing at all except adding to the leccy bill..

so its more down to the game writers than the cat writers.. not a good sign.. it does make some things clear thow.. we are totally at the mercy of the software guys both with multi cpu and multi gpu..

irrespective of what most folks think multi cpu has pretty much failed with games so far lets hope multi gpu fares better..

trog

[Random Murderer]

interesting fact the voltage only going up on one card.. it tells me C/F has nothing to do with the ATI cats and everything to do with the software being run..

i expected some performance increase in everything even if not much.. it dosnt seem this way thow.. if the software isnt specifically written to use two cards one simply sits there doing nothing at all except adding to the leccy bill..

so its more down to the game writers than the cat writers.. not a good sign.. it does make some things clear thow.. we are totally at the mercy of the software guys both with multi cpu and multi gpu..

irrespective of what most folks think multi cpu has pretty much failed with games so far lets hope multi gpu fares better..

trog
Multi-CPU has not failed, multi-threading has.
Try running Crysis on a single core CPU and tell me the results.

[trog100]

Multi-CPU has not failed, multi-threading has.
Try running Crysis on a single core CPU and tell me the results.

u tell me.. i would love to run such a test.. but dont have a suitable single core cpu..

i strongly suspect assuming it was fast enough it would do a reasonable job..

trog

[Cold Storm]

RM, put it on your dads rig! Thats the only single core that I know around here...

[Random Murderer]

RM, put it on your dads rig! Thats the only single core that I know around here...

that's a dual core, noob!

[Cold Storm]

I thought it was a p4... i'm so dang tired...

[Random Murderer]

I thought it was a p4... i'm so dang tired...

Lol, no worries!

[Wile E]

u tell me.. i would love to run such a test.. but dont have a suitable single core cpu..

i strongly suspect assuming it was fast enough it would do a reasonable job..

trogSure you do. Add /numproc=1 to the end of your boot.ini. Bam! Instant single core. lol.

[Random Murderer]

Sure you do. Add /numproc=1 to the end of your boot.ini. Bam! Instant single core. lol.

Wow, never knew that, lol.

[Wile E]

Wow, never knew that, lol.It's great for single threaded benches. Takes a lot of the heat out of the cpu, allowing you to push more volts and clock higher without fear of an overheat.

[trog100]

Sure you do. Add /numproc=1 to the end of your boot.ini. Bam! Instant single core. lol.

if its as simple as that wile i can sure do it.. and will.. anybody care to guess the results..

trog

ps.. this gets f-cking depressing in one way and good in another.. i have just set my system to use one core.. my argument is entirely backed up.. both the cpu and gpu crysis benches at the resolution i play crisis at score the same.. one core or two..

so ramdom and all u other fooled completely by the multi-bollocks con.. what do u recon..

if the software dont use the multi-whatever there is no point in having it.. most software still dosnt..

i will have a go at supreme commander later just to see just what having one fast core does to that.. i strongly suspect it will play perfectly okay fully maxed out at 1680 x 1050 which is what i have been playing it at..

supreme commander.. about the only game that does make effective use of more than one core.. the pic at 14 fps is about as bad as it gets.. fully maxed out at 16080 x 1050 with just the one core at 3.6 gig.. mostly it runs around 26 fps.. perfectly okay for such a game..

http://www.cavecom.com/pics/sp.jpg

[The Haunted]

I decided to try the pencil mod im very surprised at the results, 985 Mhz at 1.51volt, 320 omh using the scratch resistor method and a Hb pencil (thanks trog).:respect:
Would go much higher since the temps didn't increased at all.
I need to try other pencils as i can't get a lower resistance even after an hour of trying... :shadedshu

http://img.techpowerup.org/080117/Fur3707.jpg

[Wile E]

if its as simple as that wile i can sure do it.. and will.. anybody care to guess the results..

trog

ps.. this gets f-cking depressing in one way and good in another.. i have just set my system to use one core.. my argument is entirely backed up.. both the cpu and gpu crysis benches at the resolution i play crisis at score the same.. one core or two..

so ramdom and all u other fooled completely by the multi-bollocks con.. what do u recon..

if the software dont use the multi-whatever there is no point in having it.. most software still dosnt..

i will have a go at supreme commander later just to see just what having one fast core does to that.. i strongly suspect it will play perfectly okay fully maxed out at 1680 x 1050 which is what i have been playing it at..

supreme commander.. about the only game that does make effective use of more than one core.. the pic at 14 fps is about as bad as it gets.. fully maxed out at 16080 x 1050 with just the one core at 3.6 gig.. mostly it runs around 26 fps.. perfectly okay for such a game..

http://www.cavecom.com/pics/sp.jpgBut does Sup Com still perform better with more than one core? That's all that matters.

As far as games that don't benefit, you can blame that on lazy developers.

And again, games aren't the only programs, and multi threading isn't the only reason to have multi-core cpus. There are plenty of useful multi-threaded apps that benefit from multi cores. And the more cores you have, the more multi-tasking you can do. Can you encode a video and play a game at the same time on a single core system? Not likely.

[tigger]

I dont know if you guys knew,but you can get this from rivatuner-
http://img.techpowerup.org/080117/Untitled.jpg

I'm gonna put my mark2 vmod on tommorow.

I did'nt really trust the modded bios,so i flashed my stock back.i will use the vmod i think,not a modded bios.It seems the bios's need jiggering to remove the 862mhz limit is all.

[trog100]

i did say most wile... most.. most most.. i used the one game that does deliberately.. if i were to run my single core at say 5 gig.. another core would be of no help.. the game would become gpu limited.. so yes more than one core helps S/P but only if the single core isnt fast enough..

so we have one that does (possibly) 999 that dont.. come on dude be real..

so wile prove your point.. i have.. or at elast i am trying to.. else stop simply speculating.. prove what u say dude.. else stop making the claims..

i get rather bored with the "every body knows" type rubbish i keep hearing..

i aint argueing that certain specific apps dont benifit from muti simple that most dont..

i dont even go for the multi tasking argument ether.. if that were true running two cores should produce a faster super pi.. if simply by taking the operating system load of the other core.. it dosnt even do that.. super pi scores exactly the same one core doing the lot or the other supposedly multitasking and helping it..

i am running the one core still and cant see the slightest difference in how my machine us functioning.. two cores should at least take some of the load of things.. they dont seem to.. 2003 still scores 40,000.. 2005 still scores 23000.. 2006 sores one cpu score less just as expected..

i am looking hard for this multi tasking benifit thing but so far aint found it..

but u do have the real answer dude.. As far as games that don't benefit, you can blame that on lazy developers.

personally i put the blame equally on the majority of "fools" who think games do already benefit.. why should they bother when the majority dont even notice they havnt bothered at all..

the S/P guys had cause to bother.. the game pretty much brought every system it was placed on to a standstill when it first came out..

necessity drives.. but if folks think we are getting the benifits from multi when in reality we aint the necessity aint there.. so its easier to let em keep thinking what they do.. any "fool" knows two is better than one and four is better than two dont they.. he he he

trog

[Wile E]

i did say most wile... most.. most most.. i used the one game that does deliberately.. if i were to run my single core at say 5 gig.. another core would be of no help.. the game would become gpu limited.. so yes more than one core helps S/P but only if the single core isnt fast enough..

so we have one that does (possibly) 999 that dont.. come on dude be real..

so wile prove your point.. i have.. or at elast i am trying to.. else stop simply speculating.. prove what u say dude.. else stop making the claims..

i get rather bored with the "every body knows" type rubbish i keep hearing..

i aint argueing that certain specific apps dont benifit from muti simple that most dont..

i dont even go for the multi tasking argument ether.. if that were true running two cores should produce a faster super pi.. if simply by taking the operating system load of the other core.. it dosnt even do that.. super pi scores exactly the same one core doing the lot or the other supposedly multitasking and helping it..

i am running the one core still and cant see the slightest difference in how my machine us functioning.. two cores should at least take some of the load of things.. they dont seem to.. 2003 still scores 40,000.. 2005 still scores 23000.. 2006 sores one cpu score less just as expected..

i am looking hard for this multi tasking benifit thing but so far aint found it..

but u do have the real answer dude.. As far as games that don't benefit, you can blame that on lazy developers.

personally i put the blame equally on the majority of "fools" who think games do already benefit.. why should they bother when the majority dont even notice they havnt bothered at all..

the S/P guys had cause to bother.. the game pretty much brought every system it was placed on to a standstill when it first came out..

necessity drives.. but if folks think we are getting the benifits from multi when in reality we aint the necessity aint there.. so its easier to let em keep thinking what they do.. any "fool" knows two is better than one and four is better than two dont they.. he he he

trogWhat do you want me to prove, and how? I claimed that multi core is faster in some apps, and that they multi task better. I don't have to prove anything here, as it's already been proven for me.

Here's a better idea, why don't you prove it for me by encoding some video to H.264 in single and dual mode. Then encode the same video while playing a game in both single and dual. I'll let you guess the outcome.

[trog100]

a bit of an extreme test that one.. i dont encode video.. and even if i did would not be foolish enough to encode video whilst playing a theoretically cpu intensive game..

find me a more sensible test and i will run it..

and to all the guys out there who think u need a powerfull cpu to play your games.. u dont really.. just stop encoded the several videos u have on the go whilst frying eggs at the same time as trying to play your game....

come on dude be real..

trog

[Wile E]

a bit of an extreme test that one.. i dont encode video.. and even if i did would not be foolish enough to encode video whilst playing a theoretically cpu intensive game..

find me a more sensible test and i will run it..

and to all the guys out there who think u need a powerfull cpu to play your games.. u dont really.. just stop encoded the several videos u have on the go whilst frying eggs at the same time as trying to play your game....

come on dude be real..

trogI DO encode video and game at the same time. It's nothing for my rig. While waiting for my encode to finish, it's not unusual for me to fire up some FEAR or HL2.

[trog100]

I DO encode video and game at the same time. It's nothing for my rig. While waiting for my encode to finish, it's not unusual for me to fire up some FEAR or HL2.

i do believe u.. but i would say u are an exception rather than a rule.. but again a single core would probably do that at a fast enough speed..

but u are again proving any old mickey mouse cpu is good enough to play fear or HL2..

my problem with this mulitasking thing is it dosnt work as it should.. the op isnt clever enough to use one core for the game and one core for the video.. its just as likely to be daft enough to try and do both on the one core or just mix it all up and run both cores at half speed..

i quite often see two cores working at 50% or less.. i never unless useing a multicore app see them both working at 100%..

with one core the op uses it at 100%.. with two cores i see 50% and no more.. i should see 100% way more often than i do.. a single core chip running twice as fast would show 100% two cores running half the speed dont..

i simply am trying to point out the multi things aint quite what its made out to be..

yep two cores at 2.4 gig may be needed for S/P but one at 4 gig would do the job just as well plus it would do everything else better.. basically one fast chip at 4 gig is way better than two slow ones at 2 gig.. but we are brainwashed into multi..

trog

[tigger]

Well heres my new mod.

http://img.techpowerup.org/080118/IMG_3170.jpg

http://img.techpowerup.org/080118/Untitled2.jpg

basically,the block with the trimmer on,plugs into the block on the card.there are two measure points on the trimmer block for measuring vgpu.I can disable it by just pulling off the trimmer block.