X800 GTO² to X850 XT BIOS Mod

[Dynamic]

Yall getting some sweet temps w/ the zalman. Mine runs hot, but its fast.

Case temp 37c idle / 41 c load
Stock cooling
400/490 48c idle / 71c load 16pipe
551/551 48c idle / 74c load
591/585 48c idle / 78c load
599/565 49c idle / 81c load

I may put some AS5 on stock heatsink. Guess I stay 551/551 w/ stock for now. Imagine a zalman would get me 591/585 easy but $25! LOL. Should I pony up the $25 for a zalman?

y0 you need to go into the ATI TOOL and set your fan to 100% because those temps are pretty damn hot dude.

 

[Karmalicious]

According to people here you should. Having 70+ degrees seems to be to much. I got my temp down 10 degrees and also I managed to raise the core 50Mhz so I would say it's well worth it. If you can spend 10% extra on your card to keep your card alive for a bit longer I would say it's even more worth it. To summarize: It's worth it.

 

[JimmyHa]

How do I set it to 100% in atitool? I am using 0.24, not the beta. Can I set 100% only above certain temp, say 70c. Will not tolerate any noise at idle.

Won't an aftermarket cooler void my warranty? J/K
I gonna try the el cheapo route w/ some AS5, old heatsinks and a few rubber bands.
Failing that which cooler to choose. Zalman v700-cu or AC Silencer 5?

 

[mongoled]

74C is VERY hot. Although the card may be running stable, it is struggling nonetheless. With temps like that, I bet that card won't last a year on that frequency. Get some aftermarket cooling on that. I've got mine at 522/618 running max 59C on stock cooling. My card produces artifacts at any higher speeds, and I'm going Zalman V700-CULED in a week or so.

Hello,

I would agree tht the card is hot, not something I particulary like, but I wouldnt say it is a problem to the same extent as yourself. The X800XL i had before this card would run at the same temperatures under load. Its quite warm where I am ambient temps in the upper 20's.

Anyhow temps are not a problem anymore, ive just stuck my Maze4 GPU block onto the core and load temps are now 45C . I can run 3DMark05 at 590mhz, ati tool blacks out at 593mhz, im going to play some Quake4 at 585/565 to see how stable thhe card is. Im sure this core has 640+mhz in it with some volt mods, 25mhz more out of cooling the core isnt too shabby. I havnt got round to measuring the vGPU yet, it would be nice if the core was only running with 1.3v, who knows . I dont think the mem will clock too much higher, ive got the ramsinks on now, they are scorching hot im a bit scared upped the mem voltage. Im not really benching anymore, well not for really high scores, so 620/565 will do me until i decide to upgrade my GFX card again. With anyluck ati will have just the card for us

hehehheee

 

[mascaras]

problme solved t was drivers conflits thnks

 

[DanishDevil]

How do I set it to 100% in atitool? I am using 0.24, not the beta. Can I set 100% only above certain temp, say 70c. Will not tolerate any noise at idle.

Won't an aftermarket cooler void my warranty? J/K
I gonna try the el cheapo route w/ some AS5, old heatsinks and a few rubber bands.
Failing that which cooler to choose. Zalman v700-cu or AC Silencer 5?

RUBBER BANDS??? Oh man you're gonna fry your core. TRUST ME get the VF700-Cu. Here's the link:

http://xoxide.com/zalman-vf700culed-vga-cooler.html

$28.99 for the cooler and VERY well performing ramsinks. I found out why these RamSinks work well: No, they aren't copper, but the distance from the thermal tape to the fins is so small, that it works better than copper.

A few words on copper vs. aluminum:

Copper conducts and transfers heat faster from a GPU to the heatsink.

Aluminum conducts slower, but radiates heat into the air faster than copper.

Therefore, thin aluminum base and well-designed fins: better than copper performance. That's why ThermalRight uses nickel plated copper bases, copper heatpipes, and aluminum radiators.

 

[Dynamic]

To set your fan speed to 100%

1)Open ATI TOOL
2)Settings
3)Fan Controls at the top tab
4)Click the "Override fan speeds" option
4)choose "Fixed Percentage" and set it to "100%" which should already be there when you
click fixed percentage, if not type it in then hit the APPLY at the bottom left, if you don't nothing wil happen okay...remember only use the 100% fan speed when you do benchmarks or play games, if you're just browsing around on the web, doing a word app no need for the cooler to run that fast. And please don't use a rubber band, you crazy mofo!

 

[DanishDevil]

And please don't use a rubber band, you crazy mofo!

ROFL I agree. If you did, this would be me >< and this you.

 

[thetoad30]

Hello,

Just installed my GTO2 card today, did the bios flash, and I am having major problems.

I can't get my card to run stable above the default speeds. Mem speeds are fine at 590.

However, the core heats up to 70C even at 400 speeds. I have the Zalman cooler on it with some AS5 so I'm not sure why this thing is running so hot.

I think this is why I can't get it to OC... but even if I let ATI Tool try to find the max OC it will crash above 460 if the core temp hits 75C. What's going on here? Bad BIOS flash? Bad card?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Dynamic]

thetoad30,
First off, give us your procedure on how you flashed the bios in steps? You did get the Sapphire X800GTO2 right? What's the RPM on your Zalman fan read at? Does it come with a control switch from silent to high? How did you use the Artic Silver 5 on your GPU core anyhow? So i'm assuming you did see your 16pp in ATI TOOL .24 right? How did the memory sinks work out for you? Also give us your complete system specs too, what CPU/RAM/MOTHERBOARD/DRIVERS USED FOR EACH ONE and finally what kind of case do you have and how many fans and where are the fans, example: how many intakes/exhausts?

 

[JimmyHa]

@Dynamic Thxs for help w/ fan control. That got me over 600mhz on core w/ 100% fan speed. It even idles at 42c but hella LOUD.

@DanishDevil U sold me on the Zalman vf-700-Cu. Sounds like a quality product and u got good results w/ it. Gonna grab a zalman soon.

@both Rubber bands rox. LOL

I used rubber bands to make my rendition verite v2100 hella fast w/ a pentium heatsink rubberbanded on. Used same trick to attach backside junker heatsink on celery 300A@450 to get 504mhz. Celery got too hot and broke my rubberbands. She never did 504mhz again, but I got smart and used some chic's ponytail hair bands. Given the speeds and heat of the GTO, I'll be forced to find another chic's ponytail hair bands.

 

[Dynamic]

JimmyHa,
I'm glad that worked out for you.
@Whoever reading this...
What motherboard and PSU are you running...need to know this, please?
Plus is your system overclocked and how far up is your C3D GTO with pipelines and core/memory?

 

[Karmalicious]

My complete Specs are:
ASUS A8N-E - AMD Athlo64 3200+ @2,400 (200x10) - 2x512 Shit memory (2.5 4-4-7, set to 166 and then clocked to 200)- C3D X800GTO 256 16p @570/570 (Core/Mem) and I have replaced the cooler with a Zalman VF700-CU. Temp @ Core gets to 65 degrees but never higher. Temp in case gets to 43 degrees. Before changing cooler I Couldn't get the Core past 520 without artifacts and the temp was getting to 75 degrees.

Hope this helps. And here are my 3dmark05 scores both with 16 pipes:

Before changing Cooler on the card and running it at 520/565 and keeping temp at max 75
http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/5627/3dmark050510259hq.jpg

After changing cooler and running it at 570/570 and keeping temp at max 65
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5954/200510263kb.jpg

 

[thetoad30]

thetoad30,
First off, give us your procedure on how you flashed the bios in steps? You did get the Sapphire X800GTO2 right? What's the RPM on your Zalman fan read at? Does it come with a control switch from silent to high? How did you use the Artic Silver 5 on your GPU core anyhow? So i'm assuming you did see your 16pp in ATI TOOL .24 right? How did the memory sinks work out for you? Also give us your complete system specs too, what CPU/RAM/MOTHERBOARD/DRIVERS USED FOR EACH ONE and finally what kind of case do you have and how many fans and where are the fans, example: how many intakes/exhausts?

Ok here goes.

The procedure I used was flawed at first. Instead of using the flashmod.exe, I used atiflash.exe. No problem, it just didn't update my pipelines.

After getting to the 16 pipelines as confirmed in ATI Tool, I tried both the "unlocked" GTO2 Bios and my original bios. Both were still at the 16 pipelines.

When I was in 12 pipelines, I got an OC on the core dependent on when ATI Tool would overheat the GPU. The highest I ever got was around 475. Yup, that's right, a measly 75MHZ oc. The memory, however, was rock-solid at 590.

I have the Antec P180 case with excellent ventillation, my CPU rarely hits above 55 and its a Prescott 3.4 GHz.

I have a Seasonic S12-500 PSU, with dedicated power for the video card.

I am using an Asus P5AD2-E Premium (925XE) all at stock (put it back so I could flash reliably). I haven't moved it since then.

I am running 1.5 GB of 667 DDRII memory at a 600 MHz clock (default for stock clocked FSB).

My fans are 2 Nexus with intake on the top, exaughst on the rear, and an Antec Tricool as intake in the front.

I DID have the side of the case off while testing because I was having problems, so I know the temp was around 74F in my room. Plenty cool. The Zalman fan was at first running in slow speed, but I soon changed that to full speed so I could find out if heat was the problem. It didn't seem to be. I would get random lockups at 65, and sometimes even as low as 54. The card just locked the system and needed a hard reboot.

I played COD2 tonight with the card in stock GPU/590 mem, and barely got above 60 FPS in 800x600 mode with details set to normal/low. No AA or AF.

So, here I am, wondering WTF Mates. I got the card hoping to get XT PE speeds, and would even be happy with an XT speed at this point. I did send an email back to my place of purchase telling them that I think the card might be faulty. When it runs that hot at full load, something has to be wrong, especially with the Zalman. My stock cooler fared no better, either.

My AS5 install was just like I have done with previous CPU/GPU's, not too much, but enough to cover the core and create contact.

Other then that, I don't know what else to say. I even reapplied the AS5 thinking I could have done something wrong, but no go.

The RAM heatsinks SUCK, but once on they seem to do the job. I had to bend 2 flanges of one of the HS to fit onto the memory under the mounting bracket on the back of the card, but that won't hurt the thing.

Oh yeah, and I am using Catalyst 5.10 drivers.

Any clues now? Please? I'm thinking that either I got the "end of the line" on the 480 GPU, or I just got a "bad" one. I'm hoping like hell that I just got a bad one and I can get a cross-ship with a much better card.

One more question: How do I tell that its definately a GTO2 card and not a GTO? I know that by being able to mod it should "tell" me, but the sticker on the card says its just a regular one, where the box says GTO2. Is that perhaps a problem?

Thank you for all your help.

 

[Maksim]

You think you could post a pic of the card, specifically the heat sink? On mine it says GTO, i think what might have happened was that the GTO2 got swapped out of the box and you got a vanilla GTO, but at the same time i have not heard any success with modding a vanilla GTO to 16 pipes, im to scared to try mine..lol. Or you might have a GTO2 just didnt look close enough on it. When looking at the heat sink and fan it should say GTO witha teeny tiny little # 2 next to it.

 

[thetoad30]

Yes, the heatsink does say it with the little 2. I was talking about the sticker on the back of the card. It doesn't have the 2 in it, but on the box, the barcode does say it with the 2. I'm pretty sure its a GTO2 as the core is a 480, I saw it with my own eyes. Then again, I guess so is the GTO.

Either way, the part numbers on the card match the box. If that means anything.

 

[Maksim]

Lol..then im 99.9% sure its a GTO2..

Btw anyone any luck with the regular GTO getting unlocked to 16 pipes? Im keeping my fingers crosssed that maybe its unlockable...

 

[Ebola]

Even if my stock frequencies were a bit disapointing (540/615), the raise after moding/massive cooling is impressive, about 150 MHz one the VPU and 15MHz on the VRam (less hot due to separated cooling, still stock voltage)

I was eared that GT2/GT3 get a lot of benefit when used with 1GB L2 CPU, gonna try soon with a CABNE. May be games (what i really look after) will be boosted as well

XS's X850 timings rox

 

[Ombracol]

Even if my stock frequencies were a bit disapointing (540/615), the raise after moding/massive cooling is impressive, about 150 MHz one the VPU and 15MHz on the VRam (less hot due to separated cooling, still stock voltage)

I was eared that GT2/GT3 get a lot of benefit when used with 1GB L2 CPU, gonna try soon with a CABNE. May be games (what i really look after) will be boosted as well

XS's X850 timings rox

He right guys I went from 6118 to 6258 using the Xs memory timings 3dmark05

TRCDRD: 7
TRCDWR: 3
TRP: 5
TRAS: 13
TRRD: 4
TWR: 6
TR2W: CL+2
TW2R: 4
TR2R: USE TWR RULE
TR2R: 2
WR_LATENCY: 1.5
CAS_LATENCY: 7
CMD_LATENCY: 0
STR_LATENCY: WR LATENCY
REFRESH_RATE: 0x75
TRFC: 23

 

[Dynamic]

Now the memory timings you see above are for the GTO2 from Sapphire using 1.6ns, so don't think you can be cool and use it to screw up your memory on your GTO. I'm sort of sure about this, if someone else wants to confirm, i'll be very happy to listen. Okay so far i got my C3d GTO @16pp 520/520 without any problems for 9hrs now. This is a on going issue with the "ASRock 939Dual-Sata2" board, because i'm pretty damn sure every C3D GTO would mod fine, but not sure what speeds it can hit.

3DMark05:5927
I had to completely set my rig to default speeds only memory @200 sync with cpu freq. and timings 2225-1t 3.0v and that's what i get with the GTO so far. I'm testing for problems still and my cooler should be here today...soon....

 

[Ebola]

Now the memory timings you see above are for the GTO2 from Sapphire using 1.6ns, so don't think you can be cool and use it to screw up your memory on your GTO. I'm sort of sure about this, if someone else wants to confirm, i'll be very happy to listen. Okay so far i got my C3d GTO @16pp 520/520 without any problems for 9hrs now. This is a on going issue with the "ASRock 939Dual-Sata2" board, because i'm pretty damn sure every C3D GTO would mod fine, but not sure what speeds it can hit.

3DMark05:5927
I had to completely set my rig to default speeds only memory @200 sync with cpu freq. and timings 2225-1t 3.0v and that's what i get with the GTO so far. I'm testing for problems still and my cooler should be here today...soon....

Indeed those timings are for 1.6ns GDDR3 not for 2.0ns from others

 

[mascaras]

ok i make my 1run in 3dmark 2005 only with MOD to 16 pipes without change cloks only the MOD (stock clocks after MOD automaticly change to 500/500 with x800xt bios) >>>

 

[jeffreyyan]

I just got my C3D GTO card and successfully modded it to 16p. Haven't tried overclocking yet, but it looks as if temps range from about 40 idle to about 65 on load.

3Dmark03 score increased about +1000 after modding to 16p.

Just if anyone is interested, I followed the exact instructions given by techpowerup.

 

[Dr.D]

So is Aluminum or Copper better for cooling?

This:
Copper
OR
This:
Aluminum & Copper

 

[DanishDevil]

JimmyHa,
I'm glad that worked out for you.
@Whoever reading this...
What motherboard and PSU are you running...need to know this, please?
Plus is your system overclocked and how far up is your C3D GTO with pipelines and core/memory?

Specs in the sig vvv