X800 GTO² to X850 XT BIOS Mod

[W1zzard]

[page=Introduction]
Introduction
Sapphire's special version of the X800 GTO is called X800 GTO². As you can see in the following picture it uses an R480 core, which is also used on the X850 Pro, XT and XT PE.

The GTO² is a special product from Sapphire only. Neither the regular GTO, nor the GTO Ultimate use the unlockable chips. If it does not have ² in the name, it can't be unlocked.

UPDATE: The X800 GTO cards from Connect3D can also be unlocked, see page 4 of this article.

UPDATE Dec. 1st 05: It seems the Connect3D GTO modding times are over, read page 4 for an update.

UPDATE Jan 30th 06: Many users have reported that their Sapphire X800 GTO² cards come with 16 pipelines out of the box. According to Sapphire ATI has relaxed their regulations and so they are allowed to sell the GTO² product as 16P card.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/r480_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/r480.jpg)

The GTO² comes with 12 pipelines enabled by default, but the only lock which limits it to this number of pipelines is located in the Bios.

No cards with defective pipelines have been found yet, which means (so far) the success rate is 100%.

An AGP version of this card does not exist. Some shops list a Sapphire GTO² AGP but this is not a Sapphire product, it's probably regular GTO's which are labeled "wrong".

The mod presented here allows to unlock your X800 GTO² to run at 16 pipelines.

Is my card moddable?
I added this section, since so many people ask "can I mod my card?".


Download and install ATITool (http://atitool.techpowerup.com)
Hold down the shift key and click on "settings"
Now scroll to the bottom of the list, you should see four new values listed. (The screenshot here is from an X850 XT PE)


http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/fuses.gif

Only the red marked numbers (marked red for reference, yours will be black) are of interest here. If you do not have F for the red numbers, your card can not be modded.

When you try to mod a card which has a different fuses setting, nothing will happen. The pipeline count stays at 12 and the card will work just as normal. But please make a backup of your original BIOS for your own safety.

If you want to help understand the structure of these registers better, post your screenshot here (http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5367) and include information like model and number of active pipelines.

[page=The Mod]
Performing the mod


Download the modified Flashrom from here (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/100/images/flashrom16p.zip). You MUST use the modded Flashrom, other flashing utilities will not change your pipeline configuration.
Next you will need an unlocked Bios file: Sapphire X800 GTO² (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin) | Connect3D X800 GTO (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/Connect3D.X800GTO_16P.Samsung20.bin).
(only the number of active pipelines has been changed, clock speeds remain the same).

Original, unmodified Bios: Sapphire X800 GTO² (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/Sapphire.X800GTO2.Samsung16.bin) | Connect3D X800 GTO (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/Connect3D.X800GTO.Samsung20.bin)
Please note: Many people complain that they get a "file not found" error when trying to flash the Bios under DOS. The problem is that DOS does not know long filenames, so all files are truncated to some funky names like Powerco~1.bin. Either use the dir command, when in DOS, to find out the short filename or rename the file to something shorter while still in Windows.
Use the modified flashrom to flash the Bios to the card. More extensive flashing instructions can be found here (http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/34). They talk about atiflash - you use the modified flashrom, usage is the same.
After a reboot your card will immediately run at 16 pipelines. No driver installation is necessary.
Verify the number of active pipelines using ATITool (http://atitool.techpowerup.com). Go to Settings -> Overclocking. The list there shows the number of pipelines the card is running with.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/16p.gif
If you want to boost your performance even more, you can overclock the video card. In our tests we could go from the standard clocks of 400 Mhz core and 490 Mhz memory, to the XT PE speeds of 540 Mhz core and 590 MHz memory (actually a bit more).
However, not every card might overclock as well, but all of them should be able to run at the XT speeds of 520 MHz / 540 MHz, probably more on the memory, since it's Samsung 1.6.


[pagE=Benchmarks]
Benchmarks

<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">Intel Pentium 4 3.0F (S775; 2MB; Prescott)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">ABIT AL8, Bios 1.4<br />i945P</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 512MB OCZ PC2-5400 EB Platinum 4-2-2-8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Sapphire X800 GTO² 256MB PCI-E</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Maxtor DiamondMax 160GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">HEC Power475</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 5.8</td>
</tr>
</table>

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/3dmark03.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/3dmark05.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/ut2k4.gif
We did a quick benchmarking round to find out how much performance is actually gained.

The first benchmark "12p" is with the X800 GTO² running at default, like it comes out of the box.
"16p" is with the card running at 16 pipelines, but still at the GTO² default clocks for 400 MHz core and 490 MHz memory.
The "X850 XT PE" series is when then card is running at 16 pipelines and is overclocked to 540 MHz core and 590 MHz memory.


As you can see the performance increases are quite big, especially overclocking seems to help the card a lot.

The performance increase from stock to modded and overclocked is about 30% in all benchmarks. Final performance is the same as a regular X850 XT PE. Quite impressive for a $220 video card and a 100% mod success rate.

[page=Connect 3D X800 GTO]
Connect 3D X800 GTO
Not only the Sapphire GTO² can be modded, the regular GTO cards from Connect 3D are also moddable. However, the success rate is unknown. If you try this mod, please let me know (mailto:w1zzard@techpowerup.com) of your results.

Success 128 : 7 Failed (as of Nov 27th 2005).

Success 182 : 87 Failed (last update Dec 24th 2005).

The steps to do the mod are exactly the same as the Sapphire GTO² mod outlined on page 2.
You just use another Bios.

However, there are some drawbacks compared to the Sapphire GTO² cards:

Sapphire uses faster 1.6ns memory, while Connect3D uses only 2.0ns.
Sapphire uses a guaranteed R480 core, while Connect3D uses only R423.


The fuses data (see page 1) for the moddable Connect3D GTO cards is as follows:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/127/images/gto_fuses.jpg

Update:
Over the last days (end of November) I have received a few reports about unmoddable cards:

20 cards from Newegg
8 cards from eBuyer.com in the UK
3 cards from Watford in the UK
2 cards from a retailer in Hungary
1 card from dabs in the UK
1 card from CCL Computer in the UK
1 card from VV-Computer in Germany
1 card from webbhallen.com in Sweden
1 card from ccl-computer
1 card from verkkokauppa.com in Finland
1 card from Datorbutiken.com in Sweden
35 cards in Finland, one reseller is Elektroni.fi, there is a second merchant, but the name is not known

[djbbenn]

Nice...could the card just be flashed with a X850 XT PE bios and truned into a X850? Or is a whole different PCB and all?

-Dan

[Deathspawner]

Awesome find! That must be one of the coolest BIOS flashes ever!

[AMDCam]

Can't find it anywhere. If I could buy this in AGP for that price I would. Do you think it's possible? I'm looking at a 6800 ultra, but if this is in that price range ($200) then I'll just go with the GTO.

[65tweet]

What cooling was on that thing for your runs? Don't tell me it was like the tiny one that comes on a pro. :eek:

[ultimateguest]

Could you please specify the Product Name or Link of that Sapphire Card?

There are 3 different Models available, but none with the Nameing Extension GTO² all are named GTO.

http://www.geizhals.at/deutschland/?cat=gra16_256&sort=artikel&bpmax=&asuch=gto&filter=+Angebote+anzeigen+

Please help, to clarify which card to buy ....

Thanks in advance...

regards
ultimate

[W1zzard]

the gto² will shortly appear at resellers it uses the x850 pro heatsink .. the big one, but one slot

[thedivinehairband]

Does this same type of mod apply to the x800gt? it has the same core but only 8 pipelines activated. if so that would be totally awesome!!!!!! :D

[thedivinehairband]

Bit more research done and I have found that the Powercolour X800 GT contains the r480 core and overclocks very nicely!!! Perhaps a bios update could get this working with all 16 lovely pipelines!!!

[W1zzard]

it does not work on the gt as far as i know

[Unregistered]

Hexus.net is reporting that the GTO2 is a 16 pipe card at stock settings:

"Other news we are hearing is that ATI love their GT brand so much there will be the GTO and GTO2 launched very soon. Essentially the GTO is a 12 pipeline GT, and GTO2 is X800XL (16 pipeline GT). They have decided that the XL and 850s will be gone for good. So the new lineup will be X800GT, GTO, GTO2, and their new VPUs."

See here: http://www.hexus.net/content/beanz/beanz.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD0xNTY4

Is the wrong, or should this article indicate use of a GTO (not 2)?

If it is the standard GTO this mod applies to, is this the product?:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/products/graphics_specifications.php?gpid=119

The clocks and pipeline #s match the card in this article.

[thedivinehairband]

Sounds interesting that does. This could change things when the GTO2 is released. There may be the possibility of using that BIOS to unlock the remaining pipes on the GT card.
Don't you all just love the naming systems. Gets more confusing all the time. :confused:

[W1zzard]

hexus is wrong all GTO products are 12p

the GTO and the GTO² are different products. As far as I know, the GTO can not be modded.

[Unregistered]

"hexus is wrong all GTO products are 12p"

They say, the GTO ist a 12 pipeline version of the GT and they say that the GTO2 is 16 pipelines anyway.
btw, I have problems finding a Sapphire GTO2 card too. On Sapphiretech I can only find a X800 GTO and a X800 GTO Ultimate...

[thedivinehairband]

Reckon most of these GTO thingy's arent in the market yet. Give the companies some time to get the stock in and then we shall see whats called what and what it does. I hate all these fancy numbers. why don't manufacturers just use the core number and the frequencies. that way we all know what we are getting!!

[W1zzard]

the gto² is 12 pipelines .. believe word of mouth (hexus) or a person who actually used as card? anyway, next week we should see more gto² reviews from other sites

[Unregistered]

Understood that X800GT's aren't softlocked, however the X800RX (Club 3D's version of the X800GT with a guaranteed R480 core) is, apparently. In this case, given that the X800RX is essentially a GTO with 8 pipleines and 2.0ns memory, will the modified GTO bios work with the X800RX?

[thedivinehairband]

Powercolours X800 GT http://www.powercolor.com/global/main_product_detail.asp?id=75 also has a guaranteed r480 core. They also do a GTO but no mention of a GTO2.

[Unregistered]

Rumours are abound though that Club3D's X800RX is a softlocked GT, whereas Powercolour's and Sapphire's offerings are all lasercut.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=71234&page=2&pp=25

[JuiCe]

the gto² is 12 pipelines .. believe word of mouth (hexus) or a person who actually used as card? anyway, next week we should see more gto² reviews from other sites

Happy to hear that... but when will we see the cards themselves? I have looked all over the web shops in Germany and I can't find it :(

[W1zzard]

i would bet this month

[JuiCe]

Hmmm GTO2= RADEON X800 GTO ULTIMATE (http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/products/graphics_gallery.php?gpid=120) ?

[Unregistered]

For the regular GT here is a tidbit.
In short, IRREGARDLESS of the chip used in the card (R423 or R480), flashing BIOS from X800/X800PRO/X850PRO/X800/X800XL will change nothing or may even aggravate the situation (the number of pipelines may be reduced to 4). That's why the version about ATI's present to overclockers that can be easily modified is a lie. The only thing I haven't tried so far is to weld the broken bridge on the R423. But it turns out that the R423 is running out of stock and nearly all X800GT cards will be equipped with the R480, which are locked inside. Alas, there was no miracle. I guess, X800GT Extreme cards may be launched in future (but using two suffixes - down-grading and up-grading - is an absurd) with unlocked R480 chips. This event is not likely as it may cause the market fall.

Now what concerns overclocking. The samples I've got managed stable operation only at 510-513 MHz. Yep, overclocking is not high. I don't believe when I'm told about such cards running at 560 MHz... Probably for 15-20 minutes. You can manage to complete the tests. And that's it. Under such conditions I managed to run my cards even at 540 MHz (at the core), but only for an hour... Then the cards came to halt... That's no overclocking. What I call overclocking is a mode, in which a card may operate for at least 6-8 hours in succession, or even for twenty-four hours
from digilife http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/video/x800-3.html

[grtek]

man I just bought a 6600GT, looks like I'm gonna have to return it and get me one of these

I don't even know why I got an nvidia card, I miss my radeons.

[Unregistered]

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=12993&sid=T57BVER63EJ18MR6AMQDFTT69NHW6CE1

[AMDCam]

Well hopefully that guy is saying the GT's aren't compatible. We're talking about the GTO2's. Does anyone know if an AGP version will be available and if it will overclock just as well? Thank you.

[flearider]

hey just got a gto .but don't know what the core is any helpers out there???? 215rbjaga12f is the code on the gpu .
fingers crossed thx for the help

[sxotty]

I was the unregistered above.

I agree hopefully we will be able too, I just did not want some poor sob to go buy a GT and think they would be able to unlock it. I had a x800pro vivo that was flashable and great. I am totally for this, but the gto2 listed there is a might bit expensive at the moment considering it is unknown until people begin getting the retail cards.

You can get a x800xt for $290, and a x800xl for $239, so $249 is not the best deal ever. Now if it was a bit less I would definitely jump on it, but for now I will refrain.

[BlackPearl]

I agree - this is a nice card but is not so attractive from a price/(potential)performance perspective at $249. There have been too many good deals on R4xx cards over the last few weeks (I've bought 2) and with R5xx on the way there should be more.

[Megatron]

I bought a powercolor x800gt and from what Ive read u can only unlock 4 more ontop of the standard 8 pipes. I can now see a connect3d card for £4 more. Im seriously considering returning this card and buying the connect3d. Just one thing I would like to know is it possible to bios unlock this card or should I be aiming for a Sapphire?

[CordlezToaster]

I see that
http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=12993&sid=T57BVER63EJ18MR6AMQDFTT69NHW6CE1

have it for sale is this the right one?

[superdav007]

only sapphire is coming out with the GTO2? when will it be out in the market? wat will the product name be called? because the website at sapphire hv nth abt GTO2. it has just GTO extreme edition. & is it that all sapphire GTO2 can be modded? confused..

[grtek]

Does anyone know if this mod will work with the Connect3D version of this card? Well I mean has anyone tried it?

[W1zzard]

only sapphire will have the gto². other manufacturers have the regular gto which can not be modded. the prodcut will be called gto² and should appear in stores next week i hear. all gto² from sapphire can be modded

[grtek]

That is so freaking sweet. Thanks man.

[Unregistered]

only sapphire will have the gto². other manufacturers have the regular gto which can not be modded. the prodcut will be called gto² and should appear in stores next week i hear. all gto² from sapphire can be modded

Sapphire X800GTO² and X800GTO Fireblade Edition both can be modded?? or just GTO² can be modded?

[W1zzard]

does "X800GTO Fireblade Edition" look like "GTO²" to you? try to search for the little 2

[intel igent]

what is the success rate for this mod?

[AMDCam]

Yeah, what IS the success rate? And, how much will it cost on release date, because anything past $250 is really barely even worth it, even with the mod. And will it be AGP and PCIe, and if so, will the AGP be able to be modded up to X850XT PE like the one you tested? Thank you

[daysleeper]

Any information about the price??. :D

[Haplo_09]

Well guys it looks like not all x800gto2 are moddable.
I recieved mine today, and after flashing ati tool still says 12 pipes. Even though the the card had all F in their appropriate places, as manual mentioned.

Did anyone had a simmilar experience.. ??

By the way what would happen if I try to flash it with x850xt bios.. ??

[daysleeper]

Well guys it looks like not all x800gto2 are moddable.
I recieved mine today, and after flashing ati tool still says 12 pipes. Even though the the card had all F in their appropriate places, as manual mentioned.

Did anyone had a simmilar experience.. ??

By the way what would happen if I try to flash it with x850xt bios.. ??

Sapphire or what?? :confused:

[Haplo_09]

yes. Saphire exactly, with label gto2

[intel igent]

i think you were supposed to flash it using the xt bios

[Haplo_09]

well guys, I figured out the problem. when I flashed for the first time I used ati flash,
and I had to use -f command. After i flashed I had to reinstall drivers completely, and remove 5.9 catalyst. Number of pipes remained the same.
Next time I used flashrom instead of atiflash, and everything worked fine. My card is seen as x850 series with 16 pipes.
So guys sorry for wrong info. At that time I was really pissed, and wanted to crush the video card. Aparrently atiflash didnt do its job.

[intel igent]

so you were successful? how much did the card cost? thnx

[Haplo_09]

Yep IT works. I feel so happy, It comes with oc software, which determines stable speeds. Mine were 600 Hz mem and 600 HZ core. However I didn’t leave it so high, since I dont need it and also a little bit afraid to fry it.
I paid 270, for this card 250 + 20 delivery 2 days ago. ( that’s why I was so pissed after first unsuccessful unlocking) Right now the price is 210 $ + 10 $ delivery.
So guys this is an excellent chance to get Ati x850 XT PE.
:)
good luck gyus with purchase. IF you have any questions about card, ask .. :D

Also sorry for bad english , since it not my native language : ))

[Unregistered]

where did you get it from?

[Haplo_09]

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/FindResult.asp?sid=61G4CUNWNAR78KQ6XPQXV3QJ72S4C3G 2
by the way very fast shipping...

[Ebola]

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/FindResult.asp?sid=61G4CUNWNAR78KQ6XPQXV3QJ72S4C3G 2
by the way very fast shipping...
Sounds as if this store is the only one that currently sell it :(

This card will for sure be my next buying :D

Any reseller found in Europe ?

From what i understood there would be 4 GTO made by Sapphire : Hybrid, Ultimate, Fireblade and GTO², where only the GTO² is moddable ?

[grtek]

I just orderded mine from their this morning, and it's on its way! YES! I'll let you guys know my results when I get mine.

[grtek]

This is going to be my 3rd ATI mod.

I had a 9500np and it softmodded perfectly into a 9700. I was going through the process of putting a new cooler and some heatsinks to OC it to Pro speeds but I messed up the actual gpu, because I tried taking the shim off(I read that it made the contact better).

So then I bought a 9800Pro, that was pretty good and I found out it had a R360 core so I decided to flash it with the XT bios, but first I wanted to put on the Artic Cooling VGA Silencer. I did that and in the process of putting it back into my computer I pushed to hard on it and I accidently ripped off some heatsink that was attached to a little chip.

So hopefully I won't ruin this card doing stupid things. I've been pretty lucky with ATI mods and hopefully I'll get one that's moddable again.

[DjiNN]

hi guys im new boy for this thing n i want to ask one think can this mod possible to do on connect3d x800gto ben i saw 2 powerconnector like x850xt-xtpe n it is using x850 xt pcb but on sapphire i didnt see yellow powerconnector

thanks

[HousERaT]

Hey w1zzard or Haplo_09 any temp monitoring on this card like on the XT cards?

[Unregistered]

grrr to bad they dont ship to canada, cant find them here yet

[Haplo_09]

WTF... I oclocked mine to 500core and 580 memory.. increased fan speed to 100%
run it through 3dmark 2005.. ( ised stock cooler.. )
the idle is 45C the peak was 52C
shouldnt peak be much higher ??

[HousERaT]

WTF... I oclocked mine to 500core and 580 memory.. increased fan speed to 100%
run it through 3dmark 2005.. ( ised stock cooler.. )
the idle is 45C the peak was 52C
shouldnt peak be much higher ??
is the heatsink copper or aluminum? I'm guessing the card does have temp monitoring? or are you seeing the temps in atitool?

[Haplo_09]

the heatsink looks like Al to me.( which is quite strange )
I did temp monitoring through riva tuner

[HousERaT]

Glad to hear about the temp monitioring...... if it's not detectable with ATITOOL, w1zzard will get it working eventually.
52C does seem to be a bit cool with just an aluminum heatsink. is it cool where you live?

[W1zzard]

does temp. monitoring work with atitool? it should .. if not, whats the device id of the card?

[Unregistered]

Is everyone sure the gto frirevblade by sapphire is not what people are referring as the gto2?

I mean why isn't the gto2 on sapphires website? Only 3 versions of the gto.... normal. ultimate and fireblade.

[Unregistered]

Should read fireblade above. Typo.

Even http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=26202 suggests the gto2 as people here are referring to the sapphire exclusive card is called the fireblade.

Don't you think gto2 would appear on Sapphire's website if that is what its called.

[Unregistered]

And following link states there will not be a gto2 but a version similar by 1 manufacturer:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2527

Could be adding 2 plus 2 and making 5 here but I think this supports the fact that this special card must be the Sapphire Fireblade version. As it is only Sapphire who are making this moddable card and they do not list a gto2.

I've got mine on order in the UK so will let you know when I try it.

[Unregistered]

And following link states there will not be a gto2 but a version similar by 1 manufacturer:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2527

Could be adding 2 plus 2 and making 5 here but I think this supports the fact that this special card must be the Sapphire Fireblade version. As it is only Sapphire who are making this moddable card and they do not list a gto2.

I've got mine on order in the UK so will let you know when I try it.

oh man.....
the officialy announced GTO series fm Sapphire are not unlockable (at least not that easily)!
Some german folks asked Sapphire Germany directly whether the Fireblade or the Ultimate actually
are the GTO2 and Sapphire denied this.
The key word in the above is "official".
Sapphire said they would not advertise the GTO2 (in contracdiction to the official Fireblades and Ultimates).
They used the Harware sites to spread the news about the GTO2 but they certainly won't put them on their website nor do advertisers for them (remember that dealers still have got quite some stock of
"real" 850XT and XT PE which costed them some good amount of money and they simply don't want competition fm a EUR200 card)

The special thing on these GTO2s is that they are said to be hand picked/selected.
Thats why they say that they guarantee that the unlock works.
You might be able to unlock also the last quad on a Fireblade, but who guarantees you tthen that
the last 4 pipes work as supposed ? These R480 chips might not be fully funtional hence one quad
has been locked by ATI and sold to Sapphire as a 12 pipes chip.

Fireblade : guaranteed overclockablility
GTO2 : guaranteed overclockability AND guaranteed unlockable

As for Germany it was said that only 2 online dealers would get these special GTO2s (but quantities
should be sufficient).

rgds

[Unregistered]

Found this link which must therefore confirm Fireblade is not a GTO2 as they are actually calling it GTO2:

http://www.sapphiretech.com/gallery/main.php?id=109

Will therefore cancel my Fireblade order and wait till I here of anywhere in UK offering GTO2.

[Ebola]

I fully agree with that. What would become an expensive X850 XT/PE in a crow of modable GTO² and upcoming R520 (that get the leadership)

We must get more feedback from Fireblade users, but from what i eared till now is that they are not unlockable.

[W1zzard]

it is not unlockable .. how often do i have to repeat myself: only the gto² is moddable

[Ebola]

it is not unlockable .. how often do i have to repeat myself: only the gto² is moddable
For me one time is enough :D but as you can see through the whole web, the rumor that firebalde is modable is again the top priority

GTO² is labeled 'Limited Edition' right ? and box is referenced as SKU#310-18791B

[HousERaT]

anybody else get this card yet? I wonder what's the likelihood they'll hit xtpe speeds? Does this card come with a power cable?

[Haplo_09]

yes it comes with power cable.
the stock oc software determined 590 as memory speeds and
520 core..
with stock cooler..

[AMDCam]

SONOFAGUN!!!!! I just bought an A400 6800GT that easily overclocks to 6800 Ultra Extreme Edition speeds. I thought that was a good overclock, I guess I'm wrong. Well actually, according to benchmarks, the 6800 Ultra's do perform better with almost every good game, until you turn on AA and AF, then they lag just a few points behind the X800's. Anyway, I was really regretting buying the card because of this little card, but it's only PCIe and I've got AGP. So who cares, I got an AGP 6800 UEE, that should do pretty well compared to you lucky mofo's with your new X850XTPE's (GTO2).

[Kinan]

oh man.....
As for Germany it was said that only 2 online dealers would get these special GTO2s (but quantities
should be sufficient).

rgds

Which dealers are these? Is it known?

[Unregistered]

Which dealers are these? Is it known?
mad-moxx and alternate (maybee others will get these cards too but these 2 named will be the first ones (first cards shall become avail this/next week))

[HousERaT]

yes it comes with power cable.
the stock oc software determined 590 as memory speeds and
520 core..
with stock cooler..
so if I slap a zalman or a ati-silencer on there it will be even better..... not bad for a $200 card. :D

[AMDCam]

Nobody knows if they'll make an AGP version?

[W1zzard]

no agp version

[Ebola]

no agp version
May you argue a bit because some adverts anounce that there wille be somme AGP version.

IMO there will NOT be AGP version, they are not gonna spend anymore money in a bridge for an obsolete slot :)

[HousERaT]

Hey haplo? what kind of scores are you getting with your system now in 3DMarks? What are your system specs?

[jerrym2]

I had 3 out of 4 9500's turn into 9700's, 2 out of 4 9800se's turn into 9800 pro's, I am just thinking of upgrading to pci-e and can not pass this up. I think of it as free equipment. Had to get a pci-e card anyway, was going to get a x800xl but this is more interesting. Ordered it from Allstarshop for 223.00 US shipped. Will not be able to test for awhile because no pci-e board.

[jerrym2]

By the way, thank you very much W1zzard, without all your information I would not have been able to do any of this.

[hoho220@ocforums.com]

It seems that this card will flash to an x850xt pe...The reliablity of the card however is in question. Remember these cards are not x850xt pes for a reason... with that said. I am not bashing the flash... it really is sweet and I am ordering a card tomorrow. However I do have to question how long we will have these cards before they fail.

[HousERaT]

If I get one you can rest assured I won't be flashing it to an XT. I'll be happy to flash it with the provided modded bios and call it a day. I don't need an XT as long as I can get 16 pipes and plenty of overclock...... :D

[W1zzard]

It seems that this card will flash to an x850xt pe...The reliablity of the card however is in question. Remember these cards are not x850xt pes for a reason... with that said. I am not bashing the flash... it really is sweet and I am ordering a card tomorrow. However I do have to question how long we will have these cards before they fail.

people were saying the same about the 9500 softmod .. i havent seen many of these cards die yet...

[Trevor]

I do hope someone will find another place to buy these.

[Unregistered]

I do hope someone will find another place to buy these.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595

[AMDCam]

Dang, that can go to X850 XT PE with the stock heatsink.....crazy. I mean I thought it was before but I didn't know it had a crappy heatsink, I mean imagine a VF700Cu or an X8%% XT heatsink! That would KILL even overclocked X850XT PE's. I am really jealous right now since I have no use for it because it's only PCIe and I just bought Nvidia's counterpart (a 6800GT that clocks to 6800 UE), but hey, the way I think of it, when I upgrade to PCIe It'll be in at least a year and by then the X800 series will already be cheaper, plus the new generation will be out. Although it SUCKS that I payed $245 for my Nvidia when I could get an ATI that's even better for $200, but oh well. With research Nvidia does actually outdo ATI with their cards without AA or AF, and even with it they don't lag too far behind, so it's not too big.

[prius24]

Are the Sapphire GTO2 x800 OEM and the retail lite both flashable and overclockable? If so, isn't it better to get the OEM version because it's cheaper.

[AMDCam]

Well the Lite package comes with games, a box, guides and cables, but OEM means you only get the card. So they're the same thing, just the lite package gives you more stuff. So since they're the same they'll overclock the same.

[Unregistered]

what are the chances of getting a moddable x800gto2?

[AMDCam]

I would say 100% if you buy one, I mean unless it's a dud but then every graphics card has possible duds.

[bbL]

Well.. i bought Connect3D's X800 GTO and it modded to work with 16 pipelines.. Frequencys just cannot be raised to X850 XT or XT PE numbers.. Core 470mhz and mem. 500mhz :> Btw i havent read all posts, so pls don't complain if something of that info is old ;D

[Migons]

Well.. i bought Connect3D's X800 GTO and it modded to work with 16 pipelines.. Frequencys just cannot be raised to X850 XT or XT PE numbers.. Core 470mhz and mem. 500mhz :> Btw i havent read all posts, so pls don't complain if something of that info is old ;D

Here in Finland same situation. ATITool is reporting Connect3D X800 GTO to have R423 core, but really it has R480 (i don't do all C3D's GTO's have). And if you flash directly the Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin BIOS, only 8 pipes are then enabled. But you must first flash the original Sapphire.X800GTO2.Samsung16.bin BIOS, and then the 16P modded Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin. Now you have successfully enabled 16 pipes.

PS. I don't have the card, a user from Muropaketti has it.

[bbL]

no johan outoa settiä iskee o.O When i started my pc 1st time with that C3D GTO, Atitool said that the core is R480 (if i remember it right) and it had 12 pipelines, then i put the new bios, then went to windows and got a nice surprise when atitool said, that card has 0 active pipelines.. well, just reinstalled drivers, rebooted and got those 16 pipes

[Migons]

no johan outoa settiä iskee o.O

Jahas, sinäkös se olitkin jo tuossa ylempänä :)

[bbL]

khyl :D ja muistin kuiteki vääri, et kyll se atitool ekana sano et r423.. no kuiteki :D

[ShadowFlare]

Haha, all this talk about how this card is easily moddable to be equivalent to an X850 XT PE is making me want to return my Powercolor X800 GT and get the Sapphire X800 GTO2 instead. It would cost me about an additional $60, though. I still have about a week and a half time period that I could return it for an 85% refund.

BTW, do all of them have the 1.6 ns memory chips?

[Migons]

Reporting now another successful 16P mod here. Connect3D X800 GTO again. He says with original BIOS core can reach 550MHz, but with the Sapphire.X800GTO2_16P.Samsung16.bin it only does 470MHz, just like bbL above. Something limiting in that bios? Also the 2.0ns memory chips are going 490MHz fine now, with original bios memory did 550MHz fine.

[grtek]

Well I got my card yesterday and I had enough time to use it. And I can say the mod worked perfectly. I had some trouble at first cause of my floppy drive, but once I flashed it, everything was good. I still haven't tried overclocking, but I will do that soon.

Oh yeah this was on a Sapphire X800GTO2 OEM card.

[pmr123]

which is a reliable place to buy this (X800GTO2) card from in US ? and is it worth trying to find a lite retail version....appreciate any advice...thanks

[AMDCam]

Shadowflare, if I were you I would do it as soon as possible man. The GT and GTO2 are about the same price (at newegg.com, about $200) and obviously the GTO2 has the capability to be TWICE as powerful as the GT. I never had that choice when I bought my Radeon 9800 Pro, it was the best I could get in my price range. But seriously dude, in a couple months you're gonna wish you had more power (new games). Although the GT is a great card, just saying price-to-power the GTO2 is about a 200% better value.

[ShadowFlare]

^I actually ordered it only an hour after posting that other message. :D

I was thinking about it during that time period, and I figured that since mine didn't come with what I would need to have to connect 2 CRT displays (or any other 2 non-DVI displays) and also didn't come with the component video adaptor and the Sapphire card does, it would make up for part of the price because of not having to buy those adaptors later. Those are both things I would like to have and getting them through ATI would cost about $35 total. The DVI->VGA adaptor could be bought elsewhere, so maybe a little less than $35 total if I didn't get an ATI DVI->VGA adaptor. The Powercolor card does have dual-DVI, but I don't even have any DVI-supported displays yet and probably won't for quite a while. Anyway, considering that, it wouldn't have to be even nearly as fast as it can be for it to be worth it to me for the price difference; especially if I would have waited a couple of weeks and bought the X800 GTO2 originally. :(

I'll probably be receiving it Friday or Saturday. I'll be waiting until I try it out first before I send the other back. After I try it out, I'll post my results here. :)

BTW, why hasn't anyone posted their 3dmark05 score with the overclock and without the pipe unlock? I'm kind of curious about the difference in speed when running at X850 XT PE clock speeds with 12 and 16 pipes compared with the difference in speed when running stock speeds with 12 and 16 pipes. The reason is that the speeds before and the pipe unlock don't seem too dramatic compared with just overclocking.

This video card will make my system more like a high-end system rather than a mid-range or mid-high-end system like it is right now, especially when my cpu and memory are overclocked, too. :D (look at specs in sig)

[AMDCam]

Alright, but If you look at X850XT PE's they're going for about $350 to $400, which is twice as much as a GTO2, compared to $35 in accessories. Plus, from that one website with the "lite" package, I think those lites come with connectors. Although I completely understand if you don't play games much or don't want to overclock and just need a practical card.

[Unregistered]

I've just have see x800GTO² in newegg. Looks very nice but if i want to change the stock heatsink to other better (like Arctic Cooling, Zalman) what silencer model would be the correct in accordance with PCB used in Sapphire GTO².

[ShadowFlare]

Alright, but If you look at X850XT PE's they're going for about $350 to $400, which is twice as much as a GTO2, compared to $35 in accessories. Plus, from that one website with the "lite" package, I think those lites come with connectors. Although I completely understand if you don't play games much or don't want to overclock and just need a practical card.
Yes, quite a savings there compared with the X850XT PE. :)

The one I ordered is the oem package from newegg.com (that's the only one they have at the moment); it is pictured with the connectors and a driver CD. Isn't the only difference between that and the lite package that it comes in a special box for it? Then there's the full retail package which also includes other software, like games, etc.

I do plan on flashing the bios to unlock the pipeslines and also seeing how high it can overclock, but I don't intend on having the overclock the default for 3d games until I have one that would benefit. ;) I probably will go back to the 12 pipelines until then, too.


As for the correct silencer model for the PCB (asked by the above person), I'd say the ATI Silencer 5 is likely the one to use (if someone knows, correct me if I'm wrong ;) )

[Unregistered]

Interesting thread, just wanted to pass on the 1st UK retailer I've managed to find selling sapphire GTO2 , well not yet but pre ordering http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=605103.

Pricing is at £166 delivered. A little more expensive then I expected. Originally wanted to spend about £100 on a vid card but thought £125 was good for price for a GT card. Now £166 for a card that I just can't pass on. This system is getting more expensive by the day. Anyone know of any other UK sellers, prices, and number of cards expected. I guess these hardware guy's know what they are selling and pricing is relative considering mod.

Anyone know what availability is (going to be) like generally (globally)?

[ShadowFlare]

Lol, a retailer showing pipe unlockability as one of the selling points? :D Quote from above link: "Details on the available mod for the Sapphire X800GTO2 graphics card are available by following the link here to the techpowerup site." It even refers this site. ;)

[Unregistered]

Yay im so happy, opened 16 pipelines! When i first flashed the modified bios, it didnt work. But flash the original bios, and then the modified one and it works fine.
Got my x800gto2 from allstarshop yesterday. thank you guys!

[HousERaT]

BTW, why hasn't anyone posted their 3dmark05 score with the overclock and without the pipe unlock? I'm kind of curious about the difference in speed when running at X850 XT PE clock speeds with 12 and 16 pipes compared with the difference in speed when running stock speeds with 12 and 16 pipes. The reason is that the speeds before and the pipe unlock don't seem too dramatic compared with just overclocking.
I've been wondering the exact same thing. Almost looks like people are scared to post. Lots of talk but not one screenie. Perhaps someone will be willing to back up all the talk with some proof?

[Unregistered]

Interesting thread, just wanted to pass on the 1st UK retailer I've managed to find selling sapphire GTO2 , well not yet but pre ordering http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=605103.

Pricing is at £166 delivered. A little more expensive then I expected.

I don't know what Sapphire charge your retailers, but seems like they or maybe you guys are getting ripped off at that price when newegg is charging $199, about £112? Even if you include your tax it still only comes to about £130 which is probably a nicer price for what is an OEM card afterall. Maybe your retailers know there are limited GTO2s in Europe and overcharge you guys because they can?

[thedivinehairband]

I don't know what Sapphire charge your retailers, but seems like they or maybe you guys are getting ripped off at that price when newegg is charging $199, about £112? Even if you include your tax it still only comes to about £130 which is probably a nicer price for what is an OEM card afterall. Maybe your retailers know there are limited GTO2s in Europe and overcharge you guys because they can?

It is a total ripoff. there have been many computer mags saying about it. we have this magical conversion rate that usually goes along the lines of $1 = £1. its disgraceful. I hate it. but its a real bugger trying to get hold of an american retailer that does international delivery of computer components. availability has nothing to do wiv it. its the eu and goverments regulations and shit like that. and greedy ass retailers.

[HousERaT]

wow..... all of a sudden I feel a little better about being an american. We get good computer prices...... :p

[Kinan]

It is a total ripoff. there have been many computer mags saying about it. we have this magical conversion rate that usually goes along the lines of $1 = £1. its disgraceful. I hate it. but its a real bugger trying to get hold of an american retailer that does international delivery of computer components. availability has nothing to do wiv it. its the eu and goverments regulations and shit like that. and greedy ass retailers.

Aye. In Germany preorder for GTO2 has started for 249 Euro. Too expensive to my liking, I ordered normal sapphire GTO for 160 Euro instead.

[AMDCam]

Houserat, why would you be ashamed of being an american?!?!?!?!?! Please don't tell me you're a bush-hating, anti-war democrat too. I seem to be the only guy I know willing to stick up for my country (marines in about 8 months) and the only guy that likes bush.

[Haplo_09]

well here is my score,
I have 512 ram
athlon64 3000+
the core was oveclocked to 500Mhz
memory up to 590MHz
16 pipes

[BlackPearl]

Very nice score - are you running your 3000+ oc too?

[Haplo_09]

Nope I havent oc-locked yet, just standart speeds.
oh and also memory was with timing 2.5 8 3 3, If I purchase geil with cas latency 1.5 2 2 2 how strong will it boost the performance of computer.
How far this score is from the XT PE card ??

[Unregistered]

Is it possible to do the modding from the article here step by step with this card and have it work?
It's not sapphire and it isn't named gto2.

Any suggestions?

I surely hope so because I just ordered the Powercolor x800gto !

cheers
Michael

[Unregistered]

it only works with the sapphire gto2's. you wont see them on sapphires web site because they were intened for oem use and not retail release.

[ShadowFlare]

Aye. In Germany preorder for GTO2 has started for 249 Euro. Too expensive to my liking, I ordered normal sapphire GTO for 160 Euro instead.
249 for the GTO2 compared with 160 for the GTO? That's ridiculous! In the US, the price difference is only about $10 ($199 compared with $189). They are really taking advantage of this in Europe with knowing that its pipes are easily unlockable and it is overclockable to a high degree.

[bbL]

it only works with the sapphire gto2's. you wont see them on sapphires web site because they were intened for oem use and not retail release.
well atleast my Connect3D X800 GTO works well with that mod which i got from here... only frequencys cant reach higher than 470/500 mhz

[Ebola]

well here is my score,
I have 512 ram
athlon64 3000+
the core was oveclocked to 500Mhz
memory up to 590MHz
16 pipes
That score sounds not quite good, considering that a X800-XL(16pp) @ 500MHz will do better than this.

Is 500 MHz max achievable ? You use stock cooling and voltage ?

[Haplo_09]

yes stock cooling; I didnt modify voltage.. and didnt oclock more.
there is no need for me to go higher at this moment..

by the way what is normal xtpe score .??

[HousERaT]

yes stock cooling; I didnt modify voltage.. and didnt oclock more.
there is no need for me to go higher at this moment..

by the way what is normal xtpe score .??
Normal xtpe should be around 6000 at stock, maybe higher.

[Haplo_09]

"xtpe should be around 6000 at stock, maybe higher.:

What should be the configuration of other hardware get 6000.
Well my score and it was only 130 away. I think if I replace memory and o/c cpu I would get much higher...

[Ebola]

"xtpe should be around 6000 at stock, maybe higher.:

What should be the configuration of other hardware get 6000.
Well my score and it was only 130 away. I think if I replace memory and o/c cpu I would get much higher...
3DM05 is CPU/Memory few sensitive

[HousERaT]

3DM05 is CPU/Memory few sensitive
correct.... you will gain some points but very little by upping the rest of your system settings.

[Unregistered]

these are good cards, flash was a cinch and have been stable @560/610 and get about 6150 in '05.
will test more and post screens when I actually join the forum :0

btw: got the GTO2 from newegg for $199, seems they have gone up $20 in 2 days.

[Superguy]

I'd just like to post my report. The mod worked for me. :)

Core wouldn only do XT speeds ... 520. A smidge more would cause artifacting. Memory would go to 595.

Benchmarks were consistent with what W1zzard posted on the mod article on my X2 3800 system, so I'm guessing the memory makes up a bit for the the slightly slower core.

Thanks for your work on this W1zzard and showing us this great value.

Super

[ShadowFlare]

these are good cards, flash was a cinch and have been stable @560/610 and get about 6150 in '05.
will test more and post screens when I actually join the forum :0

btw: got the GTO2 from newegg for $199, seems they have gone up $20 in 2 days.
Looks like I ordered mine just in time. :D

I received it today, but I'm not done with testing yet. I just finished with finding my max overclocks before the mod. They are about 525 or 530 for the core and 604 for the memory (makes sense for the memory since the 1.6 ns chips are rated for 600 MHz, according to the Samsung site). I'll be benchmarking it then flashing the bios, then doing it all over again. I'll post my final results later or tomorrow.

It's kind of strange; it never artifacts at all while overclocking the gpu, it just eventually crashes when set too high. On my X800 GT, it would have artifacts before getting to the point that it would crash.

[Unregistered]

Whats the best tool to overclock this card with?

[Unregistered]

W1zzards ATItool of course ;)

[ShadowFlare]

All done testing. The softmod was a success! Is it still a 100% success rate so far? BTW, I didn't download the modified bios to do it, I just used atiflash 3.09 to make a backup of the original bios, flashed an X850XT PE bios using the -newbios option (I don't remember which brand, but it probably doesn't matter), then flashed back the original bios without the -newbios option.

Max overclock (on stock cooling): 520 MHz core, 604 MHz memory

Here are my 3dmark 2005 scores with default settings. I've added in the X800GT clock speeds and the scores for my X800GT for comparison with an 8 pipeline setup at equivalent speeds, plus at some other speeds just for a comparison of what each is capable of.

Powercolor X800GT 256 MB
8 pipelines, stock clocks (472, 492): 3935
8 pipelines, max stable overclock (560, 526): 4504
8 pipelines, slightly unstable overclock (576, 555): 4750

Sapphire X800GTO2 256 MB
12 pipelines, stock clocks (398, 492): 4448
12 pipelines, X800GT clocks (472, 492): 4961
12 pipelines, max overclock (520, 600): 5563
16 pipelines, stock clocks (398, 492): 5008
16 pipelines, X800GT clocks (472, 492): 5528
16 pipelines, max overclock (520, 600): 6244

I couldn't quite reach the X850XT PE's core clock speed on stock cooling or reach as high of a core overclock as my X800GT, but it is still fast enough to get a very good score. :D Until I bought this card, I thought I'd never have a card this fast so soon. ;)

[Unregistered]

Sorry if it's a lame question but... does the Sapphire come with the Rage Theater chip?
I mean, I got me a Connect3d GTO and I was wandering if flashing it with the modded Sapphire GTO2 bios will have any effect on the video-in.

[HousERaT]

All done testing. The softmod was a success! Is it still a 100% success rate so far? BTW, I didn't download the modified bios to do it, I just used atiflash 3.09 to make a backup of the original bios, flashed an X850XT PE bios using the -newbios option (I don't remember which brand, but it probably doesn't matter), then flashed back the original bios without the -newbios option.

Max overclock (on stock cooling): 520 MHz core, 604 MHz memory

Here are my 3dmark 2005 scores with default settings. I've added in the X800GT clock speeds and the scores for my X800GT for comparison with an 8 pipeline setup at equivalent speeds, plus at some other speeds just for a comparison of what each is capable of.

Powercolor X800GT 256 MB
8 pipelines, stock clocks (472, 492): 3935
8 pipelines, max stable overclock (560, 526): 4504
8 pipelines, slightly unstable overclock (576, 555): 4750

Sapphire X800GTO2 256 MB
12 pipelines, stock clocks (398, 492): 4448
12 pipelines, X800GT clocks (472, 492): 4961
12 pipelines, max overclock (520, 600): 5563
16 pipelines, stock clocks (398, 492): 5008
16 pipelines, X800GT clocks (472, 492): 5528
16 pipelines, max overclock (520, 600): 6244

I couldn't quite reach the X850XT PE's core clock speed on stock cooling or reach as high of a core overclock as my X800GT, but it is still fast enough to get a very good score. :D Until I bought this card, I thought I'd never have a card this fast so soon. ;)
I'm guessing you did this with the stock heatsink?

[W1zzard]

afaik the gto² cards dont have vivo

[ShadowFlare]

I'm guessing you did this with the stock heatsink?
Yes, and I mentioned it somewhere in my post.

[AMDCam]

That's just plain awesome. Thanks Shadow, that really shows what the cards can do, VERY helpful man. I gotta test my card of 3DMark 05, I haven't downloaded it yet since I reformatted my hard drive, but I'd like to see how the Nvidia counterpart compares to this crazy crazy card.

[Unregistered]

afaik the gto² cards dont have vivo

So, if I flash my C3D with the modded Sapphire GTO² bios then it's bye-bye vivo?
Any rumors if a modded C3D X800GTO bios will be made availuble then?

[ShadowFlare]

So, if I flash my C3D with the modded Sapphire GTO² bios then it's bye-bye vivo?
Any rumors if a modded C3D X800GTO bios will be made availuble then?
Just do what I did with ATIFlash 3.09:

1) Make a backup of your original bios.
2) Flash any compatible 16 pipeline enabled bios using atiflash's -newbios option.
3) Flash your original bios without the -newbios option.

It's as simple as that, no modded bios needed.

[AMDCam]

Shadow, can you explain how to make a startup floppy? I'm trying to flash an Nvidia and I don't remember how to flash cards (I used to flash the 9800), and not sure what types of files I need to make it a startup disk (.exe, .rom, .bin)

[ShadowFlare]

It's pretty simple no matter what Windows version you have. On any Windows version, insert a floppy disk into the drive, right-click the floppy drive in explorer, then click format. In there there is an option either saying something about making an ms-dos startup disk or copying system files depending on your version of Windows. Select that option and click start.

After you have your startup disk, copy to the disk the flash utility and any bios rom files you want to use. If your bios isn't setup to boot off a disk, you will need to change it to boot off of it. The process varies between different bioses.

[Unregistered]

Just do what I did with ATIFlash 3.09:

1) Make a backup of your original bios.
2) Flash any compatible 16 pipeline enabled bios using atiflash's -newbios option.
3) Flash your original bios without the -newbios option.

It's as simple as that, no modded bios needed.

Thanks for the advice, Sha. Still, I'm not sure if I understand this. It's not like I've flashed tons of hardware, but could you explain to me how 16 pipelines will remain active if I flash the bios back to the original?

And which are the compatible bios files, 'xept for the Saphire one that's going around?

[johnbarry]

Whats the best tool to overclock this card with?

Ray Adam's ATI Tray Tools (http://www.guru3d.com/article/atitraytools/189/)


.

[Megatron]

Ray Adam's ATI Tray Tools (http://www.guru3d.com/article/atitraytools/189/)


.
Hmm we dont like tray tools here do we?

We like:
http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

[Unregistered]

ok can someone please answer this question?

Can the Connect3d X800GTO card be unlocked to 16 pipes?? ive seen atleast 6 people say yes and 6 people say no, What gives????!?! if the answer is yes why are people buying the more expensive GTO2 ?????

[AMDCam]

Well the GTO2 can be clocked/flashed to X850XT PE, and I hear the GTO can't. I'm not sure if it's pipes can be unlocked, but I know the potential is less.

[HousERaT]

ok can someone please answer this question?

Can the Connect3d X800GTO card be unlocked to 16 pipes?? ive seen atleast 6 people say yes and 6 people say no, What gives????!?! if the answer is yes why are people buying the more expensive GTO2 ?????
evidence suggests that the GTO "may" be unlocked but is by no means guaranteed. I think it's a load of crap that people are getting the GTO cards to unlock. Best bet is to stick with the GTO2 if you want a 16 pipe card. Don't forget, on the internet people can say anything.

[ShadowFlare]

Thanks for the advice, Sha. Still, I'm not sure if I understand this. It's not like I've flashed tons of hardware, but could you explain to me how 16 pipelines will remain active if I flash the bios back to the original?

And which are the compatible bios files, 'xept for the Saphire one that's going around?
The way it works is that when you do not use the -newbios option, there are settings it keeps in the bios. The number of pixel pipelines enabled is one such setting.

As for ones that are compatible, you need to know what type of gpu you have. Look or ask around to see if you can find out what type yours is. It should be either and R423, R430, or R480 (most likely R480). After finding that out, look up that gpu in the gpu database on this site to find what 16 pixel pipeline cards use that. When you've found that, download a bios for that type of card from the bios download page on this site.

ok can someone please answer this question?

Can the Connect3d X800GTO card be unlocked to 16 pipes?? ive seen atleast 6 people say yes and 6 people say no, What gives????!?! if the answer is yes why are people buying the more expensive GTO2 ?????
The reason people are buying the GTO2 is that there has been a 100% success rate so far for unlocking them just by flashing the bios. Sometimes it's better to get something that's (basically) guaranteed than taking a chance with something that isn't. ;) Also, so far none have been found to have any defective pipelines either. Even if another card is unlockable, it is not necessarily guaranteed that those pipelines are not defective.

Besides, this card has a power connection, but other GTO's I've seen don't. That's probably something significant; it could possibly be needed when unlocking the pipelines and overclocking. It makes sense since the higher end ATI cards have it, right?

[Me Again]

The C3D GTO has a power connector as well... well, it has two actually, the other one looks like the floppy power pins...

Now, lets see if I understand what I've read so far here:

1. Flash my C3D GTO with -newbios and the modded Sapphire (or a C3D XL bios) 16p bios to get the pipes.
2. Flash without -newbios back to my original GTO bios so that I can get my Theater too.
3. Pray to whatever deity I believe in...

So, do I get this correctly? Sure, I'll first make certain I have some free time on my hands and make me a autoflash recovery diskette...

Ehh, sounds like fun.

PS: I haven't played around with my GTO too much yet, but I do get the 12 pipes to stable 550 MHz core and 73c temp. Haven't tried to go highter.
No idea what the core is - ATI Tool detects a 423, but that's most likely due to the bios. Taking off the heatsink does not appeal to me, for now.

[Trevor]

Newegg got them back in stock... and jacked the price up... (again)
229 now.
xD
Lucky I got mine from 219... missed out on the 199 ones ;_;

[Unregistered]

The C3D GTO has a power connector as well... well, it has two actually, the other one looks like the floppy power pins...

Now, lets see if I understand what I've read so far here:

1. Flash my C3D GTO with -newbios and the modded Sapphire (or a C3D XL bios) 16p bios to get the pipes.
2. Flash without -newbios back to my original GTO bios so that I can get my Theater too.
3. Pray to whatever deity I believe in...

So, do I get this correctly? Sure, I'll first make certain I have some free time on my hands and make me a autoflash recovery diskette...

Ehh, sounds like fun.

PS: I haven't played around with my GTO too much yet, but I do get the 12 pipes to stable 550 MHz core and 73c temp. Haven't tried to go highter.
No idea what the core is - ATI Tool detects a 423, but that's most likely due to the bios. Taking off the heatsink does not appeal to me, for now.

please keep us updated if you get that C3D x800gto unlocked to 16p. thx

[HousERaT]

Another success story: Sapphire X800GTO2 all 16 pipes flashed open...... highest clocks are 534/594. One thing I like about these cards is they run low timings with clocks just as high as normal timings..... :D :toast:

[BlackPearl]

And another success(maybe?). Sapphire X800GTO2 received today easily unlocked w/BIOS flash, but ATITool artifact tester detects one every second or so even at default speeds (12p or 16p doesn't matter). I wonder what the problem is?

[HousERaT]

And another success(maybe?). Sapphire X800GTO2 received today easily unlocked w/BIOS flash, but ATITool artifact tester detects one every second or so even at default speeds (12p or 16p doesn't matter). I wonder what the problem is?
Did you try using the Sapphire Trixx software?

[Dr.D]

Hey guys I need to know how many watts this card draws. (Before and after mod is possible)

Thanks

[BlackPearl]

Did you try using the Sapphire Trixx software?

No, I didn't know about it - thanks for the tip. I installed it and the detection utility reported that it would not initialize. Then I disabled VPU Recover in the ATI control panel and Trixx worked fine. The "performance" mode detected 511/563 - I haven't tried "extreme" mode yet. Anyway, things are looking brighter and I was able to complete 3D03, 3D05 and VST at 520/560 without a problem. (ATITool still detects artifacts though at any speed.)

[Unregistered]

Hey Guys, I was looking around at possible retailers to purchase one of these from and came across:

http://www.directron.com/x800gto2.html

Which states there is a GTO2 Fireblade Edition...do you guys think this card will be modable?

Anyone have a link for somewhere to buy a GTO2 in Canada?

Thanks.

[Unregistered]

im new to flashing bios, can i flash bios without a floppy drive? if so , how? Thx

[ChAce]

Yes, use a ramdrive. I don't know how that works myself, so you'll have to search for it somewhere lol.

[Megatron]

U can flash with a bootable CD.

[Unregistered]

U can flash with a bootable CD.
I have a bootable cd....and could u pls explain the process?

[Trevor]

Start Up your computer... press delete/f2 (whichever is your bios entry key.)
Go into Basic Startup.. (Depending on your motherboard.) It'll give you the boot order.
Change your CD drive to be first... and voila.
Start up, and run it like a floppy.
=)
--Trevor

[BlackPearl]

Also, detailed instructions for flashing from all bootable media and windows are linked in the first post of this thread under "Performing the mod".

[Dr.D]

Can anyone answer my post? Its kind of important

[Megatron]

Also, detailed instructions for flashing from all bootable media and windows are linked in the first post of this thread under "Performing the mod".
LOL knew I'd seen it somewhere before. :nutkick:

[Megatron]

Hey guys I need to know how many watts this card draws. (Before and after mod is possible)

Thanks
That information is probably available on google.

[BlackPearl]

Can anyone answer my post? Its kind of important
I haven't seen any power specs on this particular card, but since it's the same GPU as the X850XTPE it should have similar power requirements when run at similar speeds. This (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce7800-gt_5.html) article shows the X850XTPE consumption (71.6 watts under load) and you might use that figure as an estimate if you can't find a test of the X800GTO2.

[Unregistered]

can you just flash the gto2 with a x850xt bios? or do you have to use the modded gto2 bios?

[Unregistered]

for all people in Germany

ordered a GTO2 at HWSL in Leipzig (Retail EUR 225).
they came back today saying that they could not deliver but offered me a bulk version instead
(which they haven't listed yet on their homepage..... that would cost EUR 195 incl. Tax).
So try your luck as long as they are avail.

rgds

[ShadowFlare]

Hey Guys, I was looking around at possible retailers to purchase one of these from and came across:

http://www.directron.com/x800gto2.html

Which states there is a GTO2 Fireblade Edition...do you guys think this card will be modable?

Anyone have a link for somewhere to buy a GTO2 in Canada?

Thanks.
GTO2 Fireblade Edition? That looks identical to my card. So does that mean the GTO2 is one of the Fireblade Edition cards? (like a GTO2 Fireblade, not GTO Fireblade) The X800 GTO2 even matches the specs of the Fireblade card mentioned on the Sapphire site, as in that it has the 1.6 ns memory to get high memory clock speeds and includes their TRIXX overclocking tool.

[W1zzard]

can you just flash the gto2 with a x850xt bios? or do you have to use the modded gto2 bios?

i havent tried but i think it should work .. let us know your results .. a problem i see is that xt has vivo, while gto² doesnt

[ShadowFlare]

Well you could use RaBiT to modify the bios to disable vivo. That bios should work, but it would probably be best to use the bios meant for the GTO2. You can use your existing bios and still unlock the pipelines by using atiflash 3.09 and following the instructions I gave in an earlier post.

[Unregistered]

GTO2 Fireblade Edition? That looks identical to my card. So does that mean the GTO2 is one of the Fireblade Edition cards? (like a GTO2 Fireblade, not GTO Fireblade) The X800 GTO2 even matches the specs of the Fireblade card mentioned on the Sapphire site, as in that it has the 1.6 ns memory to get high memory clock speeds and includes their TRIXX overclocking tool.

the card shown under the given link seems to be a GTO2.
the fireblades i have seen sofar have a blue PCB..... and no.... these do not use the GTO2.

[ShadowFlare]

the card shown under the given link seems to be a GTO2.
the fireblades i have seen sofar have a blue PCB..... and no.... these do not use the GTO2.
Mainly what I was saying is that the X800 GTO2 has specs like a Fireblade card would have.

[HousERaT]

the card shown under the given link seems to be a GTO2.
the fireblades i have seen sofar have a blue PCB..... and no.... these do not use the GTO2.

Yeah that's the GTO2 right down to the heatsink..... I've heard the GTO2 referred to as Fireblade so my guess is there will be confusion over this. Nice price for directron but sometimes they charge a bunch for shipping.

[ShadowFlare]

Yeah that's the GTO2 right down to the heatsink..... I've heard the GTO2 referred to as Fireblade so my guess is there will be confusion over this. Nice price for directron but sometimes they charge a bunch for shipping.
Well, even if it is considered as a Fireblade card, it would still be a GTO2 Fireblade, not a GTO Fireblade, still different.

[Unregistered]

a new place to buy these cards

[Unregistered]

a new place to buy these cards
http://newsite.pagecomputers.com/store/Product_accessoriesx.asp?catalog%5Fname=Unclassifi ed&category%5Fname=32g32c302s1287&product%5Fid=882430

it was $195.00 a day ago

[Dr.D]

Damn 71.6 watts is cutting it close to 75 watts. Stupid Dell

EDIT I found this article that says WAY more:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4/radeon-x850xt/index.x?pg=12

[Unregistered]

Most X800 GTO Cards Can't Be Unlocked

HKEPC has a review up on the HIS Radeon X800 GTO and this card uses R480 core and 1.6ns Samsung memories. However, this card cannot be unlocked from 12 to 16 pipelines using the BIOS flashing method and sadly most X800 GTO cards that are hitting the retail now cannot be unlocked. So far only Sapphire X800GTO cards like the Ultimate and Fireblade editions using the X800 GTO² (R480) core can be successfully unlocked and from what we heard, X800 GTO² is only made exclusively for Sapphire. Don't rush out and grab a X800 GTO card because most likely you can't unlocked it. ATi has changed method of identifying and locking from 2ID to 4ID so it will be more difficult to alter the BIOS or perform hard mod.


Is that true?

[BlackPearl]

Damn 71.6 watts is cutting it close to 75 watts. Stupid Dell

EDIT I found this article that says WAY more:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4/radeon-x850xt/index.x?pg=12
Those are full system figures - the Xbitlabs figures are for the graphics card only.

[HousERaT]

this guy over at xtremesystems claims to have a GTO2 that goes over 600 on the core with stock cooling.... not sure I believe it though.....
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=75920

[Unregistered]

Well, even if it is considered as a Fireblade card, it would still be a GTO2 Fireblade, not a GTO Fireblade, still different.

wrong.
Fireblade and GTO2 are 2 different cards.
Look at Sapphires HP..... There is no Fireblade using a GTO2 (aka mechanically unlocked 480).
Fireblade is Fireblade and GTO2 is GTO2. Simple as that.

[Derektm]

Well.... So far mine hits 520 core / 600 memory stock cooling. Card is idleing 44c.

If I try to go for 540 core, the computer locks up and artifacts and I have to restart. Is this a bad card? I didn't try any benchmarking at the 540 speed. It just locked up after a few seconds. Still was idleing 44c-45c.

I could RMA this one and order another one. I want to make sure I get a good one for this price because this is what's going to have to last me till next year.

Wow.......won't even bench at 507... locks up my computer.... the mouse can move for a few seconds...then pc beeps and I have to restart it.

[HousERaT]

Well.... So far mine hits 520 core / 600 memory stock cooling. Card is idleing 44c.

If I try to go for 540 core, the computer locks up and artifacts and I have to restart. Is this a bad card? I didn't try any benchmarking at the 540 speed. It just locked up after a few seconds. Still was idleing 44c-45c.

I could RMA this one and order another one. I want to make sure I get a good one for this price because this is what's going to have to last me till next year.

Wow.......won't even bench at 507... locks up my computer.... the mouse can move for a few seconds...then pc beeps and I have to restart it.
I won't get into the ethics of rmaing a card that meets stock specs...... my card also won't go past 540 on the core and I've upgraded my cooling to an ati-silencer.

[Question]

Anyone know the max you can overclock the gto2 to with stock cooling? I don't want to overdo it and fry the card. I just want it reasonable.. but if not I might have to go with a Zalman VF700-CU. I'd rather not buy a new GPU cooler right now.. but I do want to OC it to a reasonable point. Thanks

[Unregistered]

Hey hey I got a Connect3d x800gto card, used flashrom an flashed the moddified gto2 bios on my videocard. And i got 16pipes :-)

So to the question: how do you flash without the newbios thing.... what do you type???

I force flashed the gto2 bios, but if i force flash the old bios back on the card it goes down to 12pipes...

(i read in a earlyer posting that you could flash your original bios back on the card, and still have 16 pipes???? if you flashed without the new bios thingy)





Anyone who wants to modify the c3dx800gto bios to 16 pipes, i can send you the bios

[Trevor]

Screens, please?
Benchmarks?
Are you sure they're actually enabled o_O
Just a bit wary.
--Trevor

[Trevor]

Anyone know the max you can overclock the gto2 to with stock cooling? I don't want to overdo it and fry the card. I just want it reasonable.. but if not I might have to go with a Zalman VF700-CU. I'd rather not buy a new GPU cooler right now.. but I do want to OC it to a reasonable point. Thanks
Buy an ATi silencer on ebay.. 10 bucks or so.
=)
And, from what I've seen, fluctuates substantially card->card.

[Groggy]

Connect3d x800gto

i posted about the flashing of the c3d card.... flashed the gto2_16pipes bios. started ati tool and it said 16.

But when i scanned for artifacts i did see some, couldnt clock at all.... artifacts came and whent :ohwell: is this because of a bad pipe???

Any now i flashed back my original bios and it says 12 pipes, it is ok here with no artifacts, and now i can clock it way up....

3dmark 05:
Out of the box 12p - 4460
saphire gto2 16p bios - 4719

[ShadowFlare]

Hey hey I got a Connect3d x800gto card, used flashrom an flashed the moddified gto2 bios on my videocard. And i got 16pipes :-)

So to the question: how do you flash without the newbios thing.... what do you type???

I force flashed the gto2 bios, but if i force flash the old bios back on the card it goes down to 12pipes...

(i read in a earlyer posting that you could flash your original bios back on the card, and still have 16 pipes???? if you flashed without the new bios thingy)
To do that, you need atiflash 3.09, not the modified flashrom. It is available at the bottom of the bios downloads page on this site. It is better than the modified flashrom. ;) You just use the -newbios option when you want to change the number of pipelines when flashing the bios and don't use that option when you don't want the pipelines to change.

I read about this method somewhere and I used it on my X800 GT to attempt to unlock the pipelines, but it didn't work. I read this article about unlocking the pipelines on a GTO2 and decided to get one, but I only used the information about that it can be done, not how to do it. I just decided to use the method that I already knew of, which is what I just mentioned above, and it worked perfectly. I have 16 pipelines, but still using the original bios (with the exception of the pipeline change).


W1zzard, you should add the atiflash 3.09 with -newbios method to the guide, so that users of other X800 GTO cards will know how to attempt unlocking the pipelines if they want to. This question seems to keep coming up in here.

[Unregistered]

newegg has the card again for $199!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595

[Unregistered]

Buy an ATi silencer on ebay.. 10 bucks or so.
=)
And, from what I've seen, fluctuates substantially card->card.


those silencers go for over $20 now

[HousERaT]

Anyone know the max you can overclock the gto2 to with stock cooling? I don't want to overdo it and fry the card. I just want it reasonable.. but if not I might have to go with a Zalman VF700-CU. I'd rather not buy a new GPU cooler right now.. but I do want to OC it to a reasonable point. Thanks
Mine went up to about 530/600 with the stock cooling. Ironically my clocks didn't go much higher with my silencer but the temps went down. I think I have a weak card. I've seen other people with much higher clocks still on stock cooling.

[Groggy]

:pimp: Anyone that can tell me axactly how to use atiflash.... what to write (commands) when flashing -newbios or not????

My head really stops when i see anything in dos mode. :shadedshu

Anyone who can tell me what a broke pipeline does, can you see it??? is it artifacts on the same spot or can they move around???

Can you do a 3dbenchmark with a broken one???

The GTO (connect3d x800gto) card has a 64kb bios, almost every other 16P bios has 58kb???
Is it possible to use one of the smaller ones or is it a big no no :respect:

[ShadowFlare]

:pimp: Anyone that can tell me axactly how to use atiflash.... what to write (commands) when flashing -newbios or not????

My head really stops when i see anything in dos mode. :shadedshu

Anyone who can tell me what a broke pipeline does, can you see it??? is it artifacts on the same spot or can they move around???

Can you do a 3dbenchmark with a broken one???

The GTO (connect3d x800gto) card has a 64kb bios, almost every other 16P bios has 58kb???
Is it possible to use one of the smaller ones or is it a big no no :respect:
The commands for flashing to enable pipelines using atiflash 3.09 are as follows (where x800gto.bin is the name you save your current bios as and x850xt.bin is the bios you are flashing to):

atiflash -s 0 x800gto.bin
atiflash -f -p 0 x850xt.bin -newbios
atiflash -f -p 0 x800gto.bin

The -newbios option will not work with atiflash versions below 3.x and will not work with any version of flashrom.

Note: In Windows make sure you give the bios file a name 8 characters or shorter before the .bin or .rom, so that you can use it properly in DOS.

If your pixel pipelines are unlockable with only flashing the bios, that will do it. When using another card's bios, you risk having it not work because of an incompatible bios, but this way you still use your same bios, except with 16 pipelines enabled. If it is successful at unlocking them, the only thing that could go wrong is that the unlocked pipelines are defective. BTW, this is equivalent to using the modified flashrom to flash the bios then using the normal flashrom program to flash back your original bios, but it only requires one program rather than two.

As far as I know, the size of the bios shouldn't really matter as long as it matches the type of gpu you have and the memory the card has.

[Bushwacker]

I can tell you that I was able to successfully flash a Connect3D X800GTO VIVO PCIe (R423 based, 2.0ns RAM) with a Powercolor X800XT BIOS. My video card has now 16 pipes and default 500 /500 MHz.
I'm still able to o/c to 540 / 540 at 76°C under load with stock cooling. At this setting I got 6.366 3D'05.

[Dr.D]

Well I am ordering this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595

[Megatron]

Think Ill hang onto my x800gt for the time being and watch what happens with the x1600pro ect. My board seems to do better than my review sites in that Ive had it at 580 artifact free and 595 was too in colder weather. Apparently the memory has more bandwidth than needed so its only worth clocking the GPU.

[Pentium D]

newegg has raised the price to $299!!!!! Luckily, I ordered it just before they do that....what a shock...

[Pentium D]

The commands for flashing to enable pipelines using atiflash 3.09 are as follows (where x800gto.bin is the name you save your current bios as and x850xt.bin is the bios you are flashing to):

atiflash -s 0 x800gto.bin
atiflash -f -p 0 x850xt.bin -newbios
atiflash -f -p 0 x800gto.bin

The -newbios option will not work with atiflash versions below 3.x and will not work with any version of flashrom.



shadow, can u explain the word in bold? how to save the bios? thx~!

[ChAce]

Download ATiTool and under settings/misc hit "dump bios". Your original bios will be saved in the ATiTool folder ;)

[HousERaT]

for you folks that want to order the card today get it from Directron or Allstarshop and save about $80.

[Pentium D]

newegg has it for $199 again....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102595

[HousERaT]

wow.... newegg must be having problems with the website..... :D

[BlackPearl]

And now OOS.

[Unregistered]

Okay I had some time to play with my Sapphire X800GTO2.

Hardware Details
Computer: Dell 8400 - 3ghz - 800FSB (from a previous deal none the less)
Ram: 1.5gb
Video: Sapphire X800GTO2 (OEM from newegg)


3DMark 2005 Demo results:
4404 Stock fresh out of package (12 pipes)
4934 After 16 pipe firmware was applied
5891 After OC to 537.55 / 589.09 (XT PE speeds) But artifacts were present :-(. Stock cooling though

Using ATITool and clicking the "Find Max Core" button it got up to 585 the first time before the screen went black and I had to reboot. I tried it again and this time it got up to 585.9 (.9 higher)

I left the fan speed setting alone since it's automatically adaptive based on GPU temperature. At 537.55/589.09 (X850 XT PE speed) artifacts are present in the demo of 3dmark 2005. Checking the fan speed, it was running at 96%. Enabling the temperature meter in ATITool while the 3d view is enabled(spinning square porcupine thing) shows 84 / 60. That seems pretty hot to me? No? Anyone else care to drop their temperature results and artifacting info?

[Unregistered]

I am new to the whole Overclocking thing. Please excuse my ignorance.

It seems everytime I reboot, the mem/core is back down at stock speeds.

Do I have to run ATITool each and everytime I want to jump core/mem speeds up?

Am I missing something?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[ShadowFlare]

shadow, can u explain the word in bold? how to save the bios? thx~!
Basically what I was saying is this:

atiflash -s 0 x800gto.bin This will save your bios as x800gto.bin
atiflash -f -p 0 x850xt.bin -newbios This will flash x850xt.bin to the bios chip and enable 16 pipelines in the bios.
atiflash -f -p 0 x800gto.bin This will flash your original bios back (which was saved in the first command), but will keep the pipelines intact.

[Dr.D]

Okay I had some time to play with my Sapphire X800GTO2.

Hardware Details
Computer: Dell 8400 - 3ghz - 800FSB (from a previous deal none the less)
Ram: 1.5gb
Video: Sapphire X800GTO2 (OEM from newegg)


3DMark 2005 Demo results:
4404 Stock fresh out of package (12 pipes)
4934 After 16 pipe firmware was applied
5891 After OC to 537.55 / 589.09 (XT PE speeds) But artifacts were present :-(. Stock cooling though

Using ATITool and clicking the "Find Max Core" button it got up to 585 the first time before the screen went black and I had to reboot. I tried it again and this time it got up to 585.9 (.9 higher)

I left the fan speed setting alone since it's automatically adaptive based on GPU temperature. At 537.55/589.09 (X850 XT PE speed) artifacts are present in the demo of 3dmark 2005. Checking the fan speed, it was running at 96%. Enabling the temperature meter in ATITool while the 3d view is enabled(spinning square porcupine thing) shows 84 / 60. That seems pretty hot to me? No? Anyone else care to drop their temperature results and artifacting info?

Hey I got a question for you. I have a Dell 8400 - 3ghz - 800FSB as well and I was wondering did you install the "Card Fan" (the one dell wants you to put in if the card uses more than 75Watts)

If you didnt, do you get the message in the BIOS that asks you to put it in everytime you start up?

[Derektm]

The card on Directron says its a Fireblade... it has a different model number too. Is this the SAME CARD? I read that the Fireblade can't be unlocked and that it didn't use 1.6ns memory.

Has around same price as all the other ones too...

[ShadowFlare]

It looks exactly the same as mine, and if it says it is a GTO2, it must be one; otherwise, when you get it they would have given you the wrong thing.

[Unregistered]

Hey I got a question for you. I have a Dell 8400 - 3ghz - 800FSB as well and I was wondering did you install the "Card Fan" (the one dell wants you to put in if the card uses more than 75Watts)

If you didnt, do you get the message in the BIOS that asks you to put it in everytime you start up?

I wasn't aware of the "Card Fan"? got any info on this? I forgot to plug the extra power supply into the card when I first got it and on Post it barked at me saying "Put the extra power supply...".

It definately gets HOT.

I just finished playing Fear 2 on super high settings just to get the card hot, up to 80F. I launched ATITool and loaded the default clock speeds, clicked "Find Max Mem" It's not going over 515 and the temp is hovering around 78 right now.

Not sure whats up.

[Dr.D]

I wasn't aware of the "Card Fan"? got any info on this? I forgot to plug the extra power supply into the card when I first got it and on Post it barked at me saying "Put the extra power supply...".

It definately gets HOT.

I just finished playing Fear 2 on super high settings just to get the card hot, up to 80F. I launched ATITool and loaded the default clock speeds, clicked "Find Max Mem" It's not going over 515 and the temp is hovering around 78 right now.

Not sure whats up.

Its because dells run hot heres a my thread on the card fan in the dell fourms
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_upghw&message.id=67516

[ShadowFlare]

...

I left the fan speed setting alone since it's automatically adaptive based on GPU temperature. At 537.55/589.09 (X850 XT PE speed) artifacts are present in the demo of 3dmark 2005. Checking the fan speed, it was running at 96%. Enabling the temperature meter in ATITool while the 3d view is enabled(spinning square porcupine thing) shows 84 / 60. That seems pretty hot to me? No? Anyone else care to drop their temperature results and artifacting info?
My X800 GTO2 (currently using stock cooling) usually doesn't reach 70 C even when overclocked and under load. I have 4 case fans, though (2 intake, 2 exhaust). :) That in combination with my psu (has 2 fans), cpu, and gpu fans makes a total of 8 fans in my case. Your gpu overclocks better than mine, though. When mine gets to around 530 and runs at that for a short time, it locks up and I have to reboot. The memory on mine gets up to about 604.

[Dr.D]

Crap everyone is out of stock I cant find the card!

[ShadowFlare]

Crap everyone is out of stock I cantt find the card!
Heh, it's probably because of all of the forum topics like these. :D I'm sure they will get more sometime soon.

[Unregistered]

Its because dells run hot heres a my thread on the card fan in the dell fourms
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_upghw&message.id=67516


I didn't get any error messages about case fans. When it comes back in stock, buy it.

I am thinking about getting another fan for the card. Is the ATI Silencer the best bang for the buck fan?

How difficult is it to install? Any special tools needed to get the old fan off and install the new one? Does the ATI Silencer come with all the needed parts and bond that adheres the chip to the cooling system?

[ShadowFlare]

...

How difficult is it to install? Any special tools needed to get the old fan off and install the new one? Does the ATI Silencer come with all the needed parts and bond that adheres the chip to the cooling system?
It looks like it would be pretty easy. I'd recommend to any who is going to remove a heatsink and apply another to get some ArctiClean by Arctic Silver; it works extremely well at removing thermal material and is very easy to use. It makes it much easier for when you mess up and need to do it over. ;)

[Dr.D]

I hear ATI Silencer is the best!

This is the one
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=61

Well ati silencer 5 or ati silencer 1 I am not sure

[Derektm]

I hear ATI Silencer is the best!

This is the one
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=62

Well ati silencer or ati silencer 4 I am not sure

I got the Ati Silencer 5 rev. 2. It says X850XT r480 core on the box :) :rockout:

[Dr.D]

I got the Ati Silencer 5 rev. 2. It says X850XT r480 core on the box :) :rockout:

Where did you get it?

[Unregistered]

I have a quick question. Currently I have an x850 pro ($250) that i have stable at 600/600 with stock cooling. Current 3dmark05 score is 5633. GPU temp is 64C under full load. It even seems like it could go higher clock speeds (no artifacts yet)

Would it be worth it to get this card over my current one. I know I would get higher scores but is stablility an issue? I keep hearing about how some of you are getting artifacts or random lock ups with temps up in the 80C mark. That cant be good.

My current ambient temps hover around 45C (side cover is off right now after rebuild)

[Derektm]

Where did you get it?

Case-mod.com ... They have them the cheapest. Got it to me FAST too!

[Heidelun]

I got my GTO2 today and successfully went from 12 to 16 pipeline :toast:
But I didn't overclocked it yet.

12 Pipeline 3DMARK2005 Score : 4473
16 Pipeline 3DMARK2005 Score : 5045

[Derektm]

I have a quick question. Currently I have an x850 pro ($250) that i have stable at 600/600 with stock cooling. Current 3dmark05 score is 5633. GPU temp is 64C under full load. It even seems like it could go higher clock speeds (no artifacts yet)

Would it be worth it to get this card over my current one. I know I would get higher scores but is stablility an issue? I keep hearing about how some of you are getting artifacts or random lock ups with temps up in the 80C mark. That cant be good.

My current ambient temps hover around 45C (side cover is off right now after rebuild)

The first X800GTO2 card I got won't even hit 510 stable. Its pretty much luck. Just keep your current card that was $250. Its not like you can get this card right now most are Out of stock.