ATI Radeon 9550 Overclocking and BIOS modding FAQ Guide

[Rule-R]

3dmark 2003 v360 default: 2787

3dmark 2005 v120 default: 1126

 

[ReconCX]

not bad, the gap between score is definately because of that celeron ^_^

 

[Rule-R]

After tweaking the Mem Timings, plus a little OC on a bios and flashed it, i got these settings: 415/260x2

And

tWL = 1.0
tCL = 3
tCMD = 0 clock
tSTB = equals tWrL + 1/2 clocks
tRcdRD = 3
tRcdWR = 3
tRP = 4
tRAS = 14
tRRD = 2
tR2W = CL + 3
tWR = 3
tW2R = 2
tW2Rsb = Use tWR Rule
tR2R = 2
MemRR = 20
tRFC = 14
tRBS = CL + 3.5
tERST = CL - 0.5
tQSREQ = CL - 0.5
tDQM = WL - 1
tDQS = WL - 1
tDQM_Adv = As specified
tDQS_Adv = As specified

Instead of

tWL = 1.0
tCL = 3
tCMD = 0 clock
tSTB = equals tWrL + 1/2 clocks
tRcdRD = 5
tRcdWR = 3
tRP = 4
tRAS = 17
tRRD = 2
tR2W = CL + 3
tWR = 3
tW2R = 2
tW2Rsb = Use tWR Rule
tR2R = 2
MemRR = 30
tRFC = 15
tRBS = CL + 3.5
tERST = CL - 0.5
tQSREQ = CL - 0.5
tDQM = WL - 1
tDQS = WL - 1
tDQM_Adv = As specified
tDQS_Adv = As specified

3dmark 01 SE Default: 7534

3dmark 03 v360 Default: 2875

3dmark 05 v120 Default: 1151

Ps. Any suggestion on better Mem timings?

 

[Rule-R]

For some reason getting the timings down more.. will get the card slower?? ( in line with lower core and mem speeds?)
Ahh well.. its givin me some better performance than not OC'ed..

I think this is the best i can get it for stock cooling.
Im planning to buy a VF700-AlCu, it says it fits all 9xxx series.. Any info on this?
Mine goes @ 415/260x2 (412/259x2), so what performance should i expect after i place the cooling?

Feel free to react.

 

[nyioo7@hotmail.com]

i overclocked my msi 9550 128 mb card with samsung 4.0 to gecube 9600 pro and it is working great. but what i like to know is , is the fast write still on and why is there no smartgart in my ati setting. can these setting change the performance?

AMD Athlon XP 3200+
MSI K7N2 Delta2-LSR
1 GB kingston 3200 dual
MSI ATI Radeon 9550 128 mb 250/203
Maxtor SATA 80 GB

 

[Rule-R]

Good grief.. that AlCu doesnt even FIT!!

Better zalman designs an 9550 version of that cozz it rocks..

Anyway.. does the VGA Silencer, Rev.3 fit on my card??

 

[ReconCX]

no clue...

not bad with the memory, remember, hardware has an "optimal" performance level... too aggressive timing may cause it to drop in performance instead.

If you're up for it, voltmod that thing =)

 

[Rule-R]

Well yeah, i think i found the max for the stock cooling that is.
Might be diff with a diff cooling.
Voltmod ey? That supposed to mean that i connect transistors or something by molding it with tin?
Too dangerous for me.. the video card will perform better with new mobo+memory+processor+harddisk than voltmod it. I will go for the first option..

Still: Does the VGA Silencer Rev.3 work on my videocard? Any reviews.. Compatibility lists or something? Help would b much apreciated.

 

[ReconCX]

try asking the people at arctic cooling.. they respond fairly quickly

also, voltmodding can also be tweaked via BIOS, not specifically thru circuits and whatnot. I've yet to do that to mine yet but I imagine it will up the performance.. just, be sure to have good cooling first.

 

[stordoff]

max core: 460
max mem: 220

how do i volt mod this card?

 

[Rule-R]

Hmmmm strange.. SmartGart says that i have agp 2x, though on the motherboard i can see its on 4x.

I checked intel site for the chipset and stuff ( i815 ) but it doesnt have any special AGp driver or something. I will check the asus site for a diff bios for my tusl2-c.

Anyone who could help me on this ... thanks.

 

[ownage187]

i see such low benchmarks score's for the 9550's except all my scores are well over 10,000 all with setting of 1024x768 32bit d3d pure hardware t&l 13,476

running a p4 3.0 prescott 512 dual ram 60 gig something forgot and im sure u dont care about the burned etc.

 

[ownage187]

forgot 04 05 04 = 8,000 05 2,324 >X not giveing exact clock speeds i got the card set 2 but its well over what i see ppl getting >X

 

[Inteleron]

I Find this subject very helpful since im in need of an upgrade vid card, and im looknig at the Asus 9550 Gamers Edition since i can get it for $101.00 at Tigerdirect.ca Rule-R I would liek to know how this card performs in cs:s since thats the only game im going to be playing, also do you think if u got soem good aftermarket cooling, and modify a 9600XT bios it woudl turn into a 9600XT?

 

[zAAm]

All 9600XT BIOS's need hardware monitoring support if I'm not mistaken? So you could flash it to 9600Pro but no XT.

 

[Rule-R]

This card performs as u expect from it to perform.. Not performing on budget level, neither on high end. 101 euros is way to expansive.. u should get it for less.. here in Holland we can get it for aproximatly 75 euros. And how it performs in ?CS?=Counter Strike? I wouldnt know.. i dont have the game nor play or played it. If i think it is the game i heard of, than i think @ medium settings it would perform not bad... ( i am guessing here ). For the cooling: Zalman 700 Cu/AlCu doesnt fit, from what i heard is that Arctic VGA Silencer Rev.3 fits when you bend some corner of it? Other coolers im not sure of. As for the overclock results: Mine is running with a Powercolor 9600Pro bios with speeds of 389/203x2 modded to 411.75/256.50x2 and overclocked a wee bit to 411.75/258.75x2. As far as i know.. you cant reach the XT speeds of this card unless you have serious cooling on the pc, vid card and such. I hope i answered your questions.

 

[Rule-R]

i see such low benchmarks score's for the 9550's except all my scores are well over 10,000 all with setting of 1024x768 32bit d3d pure hardware t&l 13,476

running a p4 3.0 prescott 512 dual ram 60 gig something forgot and im sure u dont care about the burned etc.

Did you have a look @ my specs yet? I think not..
There you will see that i have a crappy system for real good performance.. like the HD and Processor, and yes i know i need to upgrade to let it perform well.
ANd yes also, i will say when i upgrade and have better points.. Thank you.

 

[ownage187]

the 9550 make good at cs dod i play them all on it at basic speeds it handled the game but i also got my ocd now but even before it did fine and u can find this card for like 50 bucks on newegg or geeks.com

 

[ownage187]

i wasnt makeing fun of your computer im just saying ppl giveing the 9550 bad specs etc. with better proc and ram etc. u will get much better performance so the stats u get will be dif then mine >X

lil upgrade and u will get better results

>X and make sure your mobo handles 8x agp and that its not runing at 4

 

[ReconCX]

given you tweak your computer a bit and not be a junkie with a million things running in the background.. with a nice stable system with a 9550, you'll get around ~50 fps average in CS:S. HL2 also performs nicely. I ran it at 800x600 with everything at medium setting. My bottleneck is more my processor/mobo and slow HDD..

 

[Inteleron]

Rule-R its [$101.00] Canadian dollars for the Asus 9550GE http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1239429&CatId=0

Then i can get the Abit 9550 [$87.06] CAD
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=13644&vpn=R9550-128CDT&manufacture=ABit

Or the Sapphire 9600 PRO advantage which is clocked at 400/223 (446 DDR) [$124.20 CAD] or $130.00 CAD at a local computer shop.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=12989&vpn=1024-NC20-0F-SA&manufacture=SAPPHIRE

Which do you guys think is the best performing card, and can mod to a true 9600 PRO?

 

[ReconCX]

buy a 9550 that's fairly priced, not the cheapest but not the most expensive.. take a look at the PCB and see if it looks like the manufacturer "cut corners" if it's built to standard, it will have the most potential. I'd say around $80-$90 for the best price/performance card. Just for reference, mine costed $100

 

[Inteleron]

How does the Abit 9550 (the one in the second link look?) it looks like a good card to me and i liek price, its a little cheaper than the Asus 9550GE, but has a standard pcb design? also im getting a 128mb model becasue i was reading the 9800pro-XT softmod guide at adriansrojakpot and it said that there was hardly any diffrence between the 128mb and 256 mb model, and even when when there was it was by the slightest margin which isnt worth the extra 100$ for the 256model, AND THATS ON A FLAGSHIP CARD so i can immagine how significant 256mb would be on a 9550 also i think that 128 usualy overclocks better.

 

[ownage187]

i got this 1 http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-434&depa=1

well kinda i got the saphire model but there cheap cards that run most game i run doom3 on high with a lil core speed changeing >X

 

[Inteleron]

sry but thats a 9250 in that link, im either gunna get the abit or the asus but id rather get the abit for 87$