Tune up your R430

[peta01]

Pipes Unlocking
I have been searching the way how to unlock pipes on R430 for a long time. The result is that it is impossible, if your pipes are locked directly on die. And 99% 12 pipes R430 cards have the last quad locked on die.:shadedshu

Overclocking
This is maybe the most sad thing on R430 core. You will not get stable OC higher than 440 MHz. Lot of R430 cant hit even 420 Mhz. My old Sapphire 9600Pro runs at higher core frequency than my new X800np :laugh: The only way how to push it litle higher is to do Vmod. But this is only for people equiped with multimeter. With the Vmod you can get between 30 and 40 MHz more.

So what can I do?
I am sorry for this pessimistic article. To make you little happy I will tell you how to incease you card speed by flashing the bios. I dont know why, but R430 cards work faster with R480 bios. The difference is about 200 points in 3D Mark 05. Try to find a bios for R480 core that matches your card configuration and flash it. Be careful, this is on your own risk. I do not guarantee that this will work on all R430 card and that it wont damage your card. To be sure prepare PCI gfx before flashing.
If someone will try this, please post here your 3D Mark 05 result before and after flash. I tried it and I'm happy :D

[peta01]

If someone has another opinion on R430, post it here.

[Vario]

Peta01, after all that work I did yesterday flashing my x800xl to 16 pipes, would a r480 core bios with 16 pipes and 2.0 samsung memory be a good idea?

[peta01]

I think you should try this. For me works best R423 bios modded to 16pipes. The bios is modded so there are some parts from R423 and some parts from R480 bios. After flashing this ATITool shows I have R480 core.
But some XT PE bios should work better. Dont forget to lower the clock of core and mem using Rabit before you flash!!! And prepare PCI card for all cases.
Do some 3D Mark tests before and after experiment.
Good luck

[YYKK]

Yo peta, did u really tried R430 to R480 mod? and gain some fps?

[peta01]

I'm sorry. It is not as good as I wrote. The performance gain was from faster memory timing, not from different core bios. I will try to do a little research about this again, but at this time I think that flashing to R480 is useless.

[arnoldo]

Does it mean that R480 memory timing compatible with R430? My X800XL already has 16 pipelines and I wonder if changing the memory timing using AtiTool would improve my graphic card performance.

[peta01]

Does it mean that R480 memory timing compatible with R430? My X800XL already has 16 pipelines and I wonder if changing the memory timing using AtiTool would improve my graphic card performance.

Yes it will raise your performance, but also temperature. Be very careful when changing mem timing, its dangerous. I have 2.0ns Samsung mem, so dont do this if you have different. Lower your mem clock first and try to change (on your own risk):

MEM_TRCDRD from 8 to 7
MEM_TRCDWR from 6 to 4
MEM_TRP from 8 to 5
MEM_TRRD from 6 to 5
MEM_TWR from 4 to 7
MEM_TR2W from CL+1 to CL+3
MEM_TW2R from 5 to 3
MEM_TR2R from 3 to 2

If some item is missing on the above list, dont change it. It these settings work, then try to find max clock for mem (it will be a bit lower). Run benchmark to see difference.

[peta01]

Yes it will raise your performance, but also temperature. Be very careful when changing mem timing, its dangerous. I have 2.0ns Samsung mem, so dont do this if you have different. Lower your mem clock first and try to change (on your own risk):

MEM_TRCDRD from 8 to 7
MEM_TRCDWR from 6 to 4
MEM_TRP from 8 to 5
MEM_TRRD from 6 to 5
MEM_TWR from 4 to 7
MEM_TR2W from CL+1 to CL+3
MEM_TW2R from 5 to 3
MEM_TR2R from 3 to 2

If some item is missing on the above list, dont change it. It these settings work, then try to find max clock for mem (it will be a bit lower). Run benchmark to see difference.

Please be careful with these setting, because i think that ATITool is not reading mem timing correctly. There are differences between ATITool and ATITrayTool if you look at the same items.

[arnoldo]

Please be careful with these setting, because i think that ATITool is not reading mem timing correctly. There are differences between ATITool and ATITrayTool if you look at the same items.

Yeap...I nottice the differences between ATITOOL with my card bios

[Guineapiggy]

How can I do a Vmod on the R430 core? Is there a piece of software that'll allow me to do it?

[peta01]

VoltMod can not be done through software. If you want to learn more, read this:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/voltmods/112

[Azn Tr14dZ]

Hey peta01, somehow, your enhanced Memory Timings are lowering my score.
Here's my 3DMark05 Scores:
Pentium D 820 @ 3.1 GHZ, X800 XL o/c to 439 core/543 mem:
5543 w/ OC NO EMT
5660 w/ OC peta01's EMT
5738 w/ OC My Own EMT

The memory timings you posted, are they loose or tight memory timings?

[peta01]

Hey peta01, somehow, your enhanced Memory Timings are lowering my score.
Here's my 3DMark05 Scores:
Pentium D 820 @ 3.1 GHZ, X800 XL o/c to 439 core/543 mem:
5543 w/ OC NO EMT
5660 w/ OC peta01's EMT
5738 w/ OC My Own EMT

The memory timings you posted, are they loose or tight memory timings?

These settings are quite tight for 2.0ns mem. They are designed to run fast and stable for most 2.0ns mem. If they are not enough for you, try these (attachment).

btw: Are you sure that your card has 2.0ns mem, because your mem clock is quite high.

[Azn Tr14dZ]

I think all XL's have 2.0ns memory. I'll check.

[Azn Tr14dZ]

These settings are quite tight for 2.0ns mem. They are designed to run fast and stable for most 2.0ns mem. If they are not enough for you, try these (attachment).

btw: Are you sure that your card has 2.0ns mem, because your mem clock is quite high.
The attachment is for GTO2 with 1.6ns memory. Are you sure it will work on mine with 2.0ns?

[dolf]

Guys to avoid "mistakes" and posts like "wrong flash please heeelp....." use Rambios 1.5. If you wonder what the hell is that search the forum and read ;) .

[peta01]

Guys to avoid "mistakes" and posts like "wrong flash please heeelp....." use Rambios 1.5. If you wonder what the hell is that search the forum and read ;) .

Dont be afraid, we are not going to flash anything. We just mess with mem timings :)
But thanks for advice. Rmabios is a clever application. Especialy when you are experimenting with flashing.

[peta01]

The attachment is for GTO2 with 1.6ns memory. Are you sure it will work on mine with 2.0ns?

I thought that too, but someone showed me that I was wrong. X800 family is old generation today, so we must not be suprised by anything, because they want to sell every old piece of chip. This brings to real combinations never seen before :)
To the timings:
1. Check what type of mem do you have (you must read the number on the chip).
2. Try that GTO2 timings, but not all at once. Try one setting after another, step by step. If your mem is performing as well as you said, I think it can handle it.

[Azn Tr14dZ]

Thanks peta01.
BTW, can you make me a custom BIOS that would improve my XL's 3DMark05 score?
or is that not necessary?

[peta01]

There's nothing that can improve zour performance to be set in bios, ofcourse excluding clock, mem timings and num of pipes. I prefer to set clock and timings using AtiTool or AtiTrayTools, it is waste of your graphic card to be still overclocked. I have a profile that automaticly overclocks my card to my highest clock, when I enter 3D mode.
btw. Dont buy 4GB of RAM today, wait until Vista comes. If you have more than 2GB of mem, it just slows your rig down. Funny, isnt it :)

[Azn Tr14dZ]

I'll just try the GTO2 timings then 1 by 1. Should I run 3DMark05 after each timing that I apply?