128MB Sapphire 9500NP BIOS flash

[jimboe]

I've had my 9500NP (Hynix 3.6 RAM) for nearly 2 years and finally decided to look into getting a little more out of it. (I have the RED PCB with the "L" shaped memory BTW)

At stock everything (with ancient official Catalyst "3.something" dirvers), I ran ATItool and discovered I can get the clock up to ~330/309 stabily.

I then used the "ATI softmod" current catalyst drivers from here (installed latest Hydravision too), and opened up all 8 pipelines. I didn't however get any more ability to o/c without artifacting. In fact, I may have even lost a few MHz of o/c'ing ability (off of my peak mentioned above), something I didn't expect.

It seems there's some talk about possibly getting more o/c potential by flashing this card with the BIOS of the 9700 Pro because of better RAM timing settings in that BIOS, and then using the softmod drivers in conjuction with that new 9700 Pro BIOS.

If I am not mistaken about this, can anybody confirm that this:
http://www.techpowerup.com/bios/Sapphire.9700PRO.128.Hynix36.021031.bin
would be the correct BIOS I would need in order to achieve what I'm after?

As I understand, I need to use the BIOS from the card with the same RAM brand/timings as mine.

Would that mean I could use a BIOS from any manufacturers 9700 Pro with the same RAM (Powercolor, Sapphire, etc.)?

TIA

 

[Nobru_rv]

If u have artifacts after softmodding it,it means that your card is not moddable. 1 or more pipes are broken.

 

[ADV4NCED]

He isn't getting artifacts when softmodding, he has softmodded his card successfully but cannot OC any further that what he could before he Softmodded.

 

[INSTG8R]

I mean if it will Softmod not OC'd with no Artifacts. yes you could try flashing it to a 9700 keeping those factors you mentioned (Ram etc.) Be SURE to dump your orginal BIOS in case it doesnt workout(end up with Artifacts) Opening the Pipes will help the card run better anyway so try it just unlocked at 9700PRO and see if its an improvement. BTW TEST GAMES!! dont live by ATI Tool, seen far to many people seeing artifacts lately at 5mhz increases in The Tool.

 

[jimboe]

Thanks for the advice all.

Going to dump my BIOS with Flashtool and try the 9700Pro BIOS in OP and see how it goes.

 

[Nobru_rv]

He isn't getting artifacts when softmodding, he has softmodded his card successfully but cannot OC any further that what he could before he Softmodded.

Yeah,i aslo didnt see any artifacts when softmodding 9500np 64mb. But when istarted ocing i saw artifact.Without softmod oc could go up to 370 for core.After softmod NO OC. Then i tried playing HALF LIFE and i saw some bad pixel colours and i saw that pipes are broken.

 

[PSDeluX]

Ill get my R9500np (Sapphire) to 330/294 when softmodded.

 

[jimboe]

Just to update, I flashed the BIOS and was able to run stable at about 350/305..

I decided then to do the 9700 Pro hardmod which wasn't that difficult at all, or at least it shouldn't have been. It's just that I have crappy and old iron's not really cut-out for smt work. I should really come into the 90's with my electronics tools-- they're all circa the early 80's.. (Phew. I'm dating myself. Shouldn't do that )

I removed completely the softmod'ed drivers (and all ATI sw) and reinstalled the full official Catalyst current (5.2) pkg's (drivers, control center, hydravision, etc.). As expected the card was recognized as a 9700 Pro.

Now I can run stable at 375/312. I'm not sure if the hardmod has anything to do with the further o/c increase over the BIOS flash alone or if it was a driver issue, but it's welcome news.

Now I'm wondering if there is a 'better' 9700 Pro bios out there (from one of the other manufacturers, or perhaps an end-user) which might allow a few more clocks, perhaps by way of tighter memory timings or something. Maybe I'll test out a few BIOS's and see.

Maybe I'll also consider some voltmod's if I dont have to take off the VGA Silencer again. I hate putting the compound on the chip because I get way to particular about it .

Thanks again all.

 

[INSTG8R]

Well done, 375/312 is pretty respectable OC considering the 3.6ns RAM is rated to 275