Get your X1950Pro modded BIOS here

[Mussels]

we have a bios collection, again on the front page. you should find lots of x1950 bioses there - there are also several earlier in this thread, as people posted them for Ketxx to mod.

I dont even have a 1950, so i cant help on the offset Ket might know.

 

[BlackStar]

we have a bios collection, again on the front page. you should find lots of x1950 bioses there [...]

Cool, all I needed was a nudge in the correct direction (checked the downloads section first, but didn't find anything there)

I'll run a few diffs to see what changes between the files, and hopefully Ket can supply the actual offset. Then it's time to brick - err, run a few tests on my card

Edit:
One more question to Ket: is there any indication in the bios dump regarding the board revision? AFAIK, rev.1 bioses are incompatible with later ones, true?

 

[Mussels]

i had a rev 1 and rev 2 or the 1900gt, the main differences there was stock clock speed - keep an eye out for things like that.

 

[LuxZg]

Abot 3D/2D modes.. When I open my bios (few posts above) in RaBiT it shows Default and "Overdrive 2D" as two profiles. Never did try them though..

And I'm not sure what those Tmin Tmax mean that are shown once 2D is selected, I guess Tmax should be tresshold for bringing card to 2D clocks if it heats up too much in 3D, but I'm not sure what's with Tmin (those two are 0/120 in my bios)

Well, anyway, if you do find how to do it, feel free to post, I would too underclock my card in 2D, but I didn't get to bother with it yet

 

[BlackStar]

Abot 3D/2D modes.. When I open my bios (few posts above) in RaBiT it shows Default and "Overdrive 2D" as two profiles. Never did try them though..

And I'm not sure what those Tmin Tmax mean that are shown once 2D is selected, I guess Tmax should be tresshold for bringing card to 2D clocks if it heats up too much in 3D, but I'm not sure what's with Tmin (those two are 0/120 in my bios)

It shows exactly the same thing here. I'm not 100% sure, but I think you are correct on Tmin/Tmax. Not sure about the mapping though (what does 120 mean?)

You can still underclock your card with e.g. ATITool or Ati Tray Tools, and even setup automatic 2d-3d mode changes (these tools can detect 3d applications and react accordingly). Only two things to keep in mind: too low 2d clocks may be unstable (on XP I could do 120/175, but Vista is unstable on anything lower than 200/200), and you'll need to add Media Player and VLC to your list of ignored 3d programs. If only this worked on Linux...

I'll post back if I find anything interesting on 2d/3d bios modes.

 

[thegave]

bump for the mods

 

[bundlebr]

Vote for sticky!!

 

[Ketxxx]

+1 sticky (obviously) also a small test, try and beat 6200 pts in 3DM06, default settings.

 

[thegave]

Not possible?

 

[LuxZg]

I had a score near 6100 .. What's the point in 6200?

Btw, Ketxx, any news about those memory timings (see above posts)

EDIT: How do you actually test stability of UNDERclocked card? Is everything like with OC, or are there other simptoms and all? Just playing with ATITools a bit, I'm writing this on 210/210 clocks and 3.5C core temp (and I've exited STALKER on 648/742 overclock like 3 minutes ago )..

 

[Mussels]

you test it the same as overclocking. set 2D and 3D to the lower clocks, run stability tests.

 

[BlackStar]

I've also found that too large clock changes can also be a source of instability. My X1950 could run at ~100MHz core, but would crash when entering 3d mode. 200MHz on the oter hand was rock stable, so make sure you test changes from/to 3d modes!

Update: I've flashed the new BIOS with updated fan tables and clocks. I'm currently using 200/300 in 2d mode and 575/688 (stock) in 3d. The 2d-3d change is automatically handled through the drivers (ATI Overdrive), and works like a charm! Both cool & silent operation in 2d and correct performance under 3d, with no bad side-effects that I can see.

I haven't been able to find out how to (safely) add more powerstates, but truth be told there's no need: once the Linux drivers add support for overdrive, the current approach will work perfectly. Since I'm not gaming under Linux, running in 2d clocks all the time has no ill side-effects, so it's up to ATI devs now.

Next step: overclock to 630/740.

 

[Kaytek]

Hey guys,

Great thread so far, definitely worthy of a sticky... and not just because I have an X1950Pro

So after doing some reading and specifically seeing the good results LuxZg has been having with his Accelero S1 I popped one of those in. I've got a Sapphire Radeon X1950 Pro AGP 512Mb; it is identical to the one 'thegave' has which he showed pictures of on page 70 of this thread. Now without a fan helping it, the S1 in passive mode is a bit better than the stock Sapphire cooler but nothing to rave about. I did happen to have a 120mm fan lying around so I just plugged it in and dropped it on the bottom of my case resting on some cable to angle it slightly... real professional I know

Anyway, I've only been logging my temps in ATItool using the '3D window' thing. At any rate temps have not crept past 43C for the GPU. Mind you that's with the core taken to 668.25Mhz, which is the maximum stable so far. At the stock 580Mhz it runs just under 40C. Idle temps have been in general 2 to 3C above the ambient. So let's just say I've got a giant grin on my face after installing this thing

With all that said, my max core has been ~668 and the max memory has been ~844. I'm pretty sure at those memory speeds that the timings are looser than a... well you can imagine

I did some haphazard testing and changing the stock clocks of 580/702 to 668/756 gave me a 323 point jump in 3DMark06. Sounds alright but what's really bugging me is that I haven't seen ANY increases in FPS in the World in Conflict demo benchmark I've tried

So I'm looking for some advice here to see what I can do to actually get some better performance out of this thing. Is ATiTool just being useless even though I turned on the 'Use Driver Level Overclocking' option?

Given the low temps, I'm pretty sure the GPU could handle a voltage bump quite easily so I'll have to look into that. I also need to optimize my memory speed and timings. I've attached my original BIOS in case anyone wants to have a peak at it. I'm also wondering where I can get a copy of Rabit 2.2.1, since the only place I've found it on upsets my AntiVirus with some Trojan or some such.

Thanks for reading all my nonsense and I appreciate any help.

Cheers,

Kaytek

 

[Ketxxx]

Point in 6200 3DM06 points is that way you will "officially" have the fastest 1950Pro on TPU. As far as I know, currently I hold that title, last time I bothered with 3DM I turned out 6180. Given the margin of error ratio with 3DM, 6200 ensures a reliable, and consistent result.

 

[Ketxxx]

Hey guys,

Great thread so far, definitely worthy of a sticky... and not just because I have an X1950Pro

So after doing some reading and specifically seeing the good results LuxZg has been having with his Accelero S1 I popped one of those in. I've got a Sapphire Radeon X1950 Pro AGP 512Mb; it is identical to the one 'thegave' has which he showed pictures of on page 70 of this thread. Now without a fan helping it, the S1 in passive mode is a bit better than the stock Sapphire cooler but nothing to rave about. I did happen to have a 120mm fan lying around so I just plugged it in and dropped it on the bottom of my case resting on some cable to angle it slightly... real professional I know

Anyway, I've only been logging my temps in ATItool using the '3D window' thing. At any rate temps have not crept past 43C for the GPU. Mind you that's with the core taken to 668.25Mhz, which is the maximum stable so far. At the stock 580Mhz it runs just under 40C. Idle temps have been in general 2 to 3C above the ambient. So let's just say I've got a giant grin on my face after installing this thing

With all that said, my max core has been ~668 and the max memory has been ~844. I'm pretty sure at those memory speeds that the timings are looser than a... well you can imagine

I did some haphazard testing and changing the stock clocks of 580/702 to 668/756 gave me a 323 point jump in 3DMark06. Sounds alright but what's really bugging me is that I haven't seen ANY increases in FPS in the World in Conflict demo benchmark I've tried

So I'm looking for some advice here to see what I can do to actually get some better performance out of this thing. Is ATiTool just being useless even though I turned on the 'Use Driver Level Overclocking' option?

Given the low temps, I'm pretty sure the GPU could handle a voltage bump quite easily so I'll have to look into that. I also need to optimize my memory speed and timings. I've attached my original BIOS in case anyone wants to have a peak at it. I'm also wondering where I can get a copy of Rabit 2.2.1, since the only place I've found it on upsets my AntiVirus with some Trojan or some such.

Thanks for reading all my nonsense and I appreciate any help.

Cheers,

Kaytek

Just over 300pts increase in 3DM is nothing, it equates to around a 0.3FPS increase tops in actual games. Only when you start seeing 700-1000pts increase will you see FPS increase in games, even then it'll be marginal, 2-3FPS. The real benefit of the 1950Pro comes through when you adjust memory timings like I have done, 5-10FPS increase by doing that alone. Combined with a good OC you can be looking at as much as a 15-20FPS increase, depending on the rest of your system, game, etc.

 

[Kaytek]

Hey Ketxxx would you be able to attach a copy of Rabit 2.2.1? I can only find it in one place and it annoys my AV. Thanks for all your hard work by the way... it definitely gave me hope to get some better performance out of this card.

Cheers,

Kaytek

 

[LuxZg]

I've also found that too large clock changes can also be a source of instability. My X1950 could run at ~100MHz core, but would crash when entering 3d mode. 200MHz on the oter hand was rock stable, so make sure you test changes from/to 3d modes!

Update: I've flashed the new BIOS with updated fan tables and clocks. I'm currently using 200/300 in 2d mode and 575/688 (stock) in 3d. The 2d-3d change is automatically handled through the drivers (ATI Overdrive), and works like a charm! Both cool & silent operation in 2d and correct performance under 3d, with no bad side-effects that I can see.

Good to know, I'll test those 2D<->3D variations..

Btw, would you explain how you've done it? Just entered 200/300 under "Overdrive2D" and 575/688 under "Default" profile? Or have you changed something else as well?

 

[LuxZg]

So after doing some reading and specifically seeing the good results LuxZg has been having with his Accelero S1 I popped one of those in. I've got a Sapphire Radeon X1950 Pro AGP 512Mb; it is identical to the one 'thegave' has which he showed pictures of on page 70 of this thread. Now without a fan helping it, the S1 in passive mode is a bit better than the stock Sapphire cooler but nothing to rave about. I did happen to have a 120mm fan lying around so I just plugged it in and dropped it on the bottom of my case resting on some cable to angle it slightly... real professional I know

Use wire ties or zip ties, or whatever they're called.. So either these HERE or this one which can be seen holding that bundle of black wire OVER HERE. They do quite a good job.. I only had one of those shown in second pic, so I've used other ones (from some old cables that were packed with them). You just push those ties through fan's holes (ones made for screwes) and round the fins or heatpipe. And that's it People use rubber bands as well, but I couldn't find any that would hold it tight enough not to make noise.. But even a piece of rope should do it

I'm also wondering where I can get a copy of Rabit 2.2.1, since the only place I've found it on upsets my AntiVirus with some Trojan or some such.

Download here.. LINK

 

[LuxZg]

The real benefit of the 1950Pro comes through when you adjust memory timings like I have done, 5-10FPS increase by doing that alone. Combined with a good OC you can be looking at as much as a 15-20FPS increase, depending on the rest of your system, game, etc.

Ketxxx... pls, could you try modding my BIOS timigs? I've done it but they don't get saved the right way Pls! That's like a minute of work
Or anyone alse with a RaBiT, I've put my BIOS in this post, and description of timings (in order they appear in raBiT) is there as well.. Pls, anyone! Just make sure that after you save and reopen the file, that all timings were saved like they should have been I'd like to break Ketxxx's record

 

[Kaytek]

Just over 300pts increase in 3DM is nothing, it equates to around a 0.3FPS increase tops in actual games. Only when you start seeing 700-1000pts increase will you see FPS increase in games, even then it'll be marginal, 2-3FPS. The real benefit of the 1950Pro comes through when you adjust memory timings like I have done, 5-10FPS increase by doing that alone. Combined with a good OC you can be looking at as much as a 15-20FPS increase, depending on the rest of your system, game, etc.

Ketxxx, can you post some info on hex editing the bios? Or perhaps list where to find some important settings like Vcore, Vmem, gpu and mem clocks, and mem timings?

I'm just curious since Rabit 2.2.1 gives me options to increase the Vcore but either it doesn't work or my card can't support voltage changes without physical modding.

EDIT: I could be really slow here but can I use the "Graphics subsystem diagnostic report" function in Rivatuner to find the important settings in the bios?

Cheers,

Kaytek

 

[Ketxxx]

All the info is in yhis thread, about 10 pages back or somewhere like that I attached a screenshot with the edited timings I use.

 

[Kaytek]

All the info is in yhis thread, about 10 pages back or somewhere like that I attached a screenshot with the edited timings I use.

Yes I've got that - thanks for working those out. I'm just trying to make heads or tails of my bios when I open it with a hex editor. It all looks like... well I don't know where I need to look for the various settings. That's what I'm trying to get help on. I can see a bit of deciphered text at the top about making sure to plug in both power connectors, blah, blah but everything else seems like gibberish after that. Sorry if I'm asking for too much of your time but any help is appreciated.

Cheers,

Kaytek

 

[LuxZg]

All the info is in yhis thread, about 10 pages back or somewhere like that I attached a screenshot with the edited timings I use.

Ketxx, you're not listening to what I'm saying

So I'll explain once more... I've opened RaBiT, entered your timings in my original BIOS file, saved, flashed.
But than I've noticed no big changes, so I've reopened BIOS and all timings were saved except memory refresh rate which was back on original value of 0x44 instead on 0x24 which I've put in RaBiT.

I've tried again, opened BIOS, changed, saved, and it was showing in RaBiT, but as soon as I've closed RaBiT and reopened moded BIOS file, memory refresh rate was back to 0x44 instead of 0x24. I just want to underline this - I DID NOT flash it and reopened it from ROM, I've just saved moded file to desktop and reopened same file 2 seconds later RaBiT shows old value, but only for memory refresh rate, all else was saved correctly.

I've even tried on other computer, but RaBiT is acting weirdly there and won't show me timings at all (?!)

That's why I've uploaded my BIOS again, and if ANYONE can change timings I'd be most gratefull. You can find original post with BIOS attached OVER HERE, and 2 sets of timing I tried can be seen in same post. Any will do.. both would be superb All of this (but in short) is also written in the same post..

 

[BodyAction19]

Sapphire X1950PRO AGP

Hi there Ketxxx. I'm running on the following rig : ABIT NF7-S v2, Barton 2600+ (333FSB; 1.9 GHz) @ 400FSB; 2.3GHz, 2 x 512 DDR400 Kingmax (2.5-4-4-8 @ 2-3-3-6), Sapphire X1950PRO AGP 512MB GDDR3 (580/702 MHz) with PN 88-2E25-03-SA, 1 x WD 2500KS, 1 x ASUS DRW-1608P3S @ Pionner 111L, Corsair VX450W PSU . It's a pretty old system but it still does a good job for me . I use the stock cooling that comes with my X1950PRO, but i want to upgrade it to a Accelero S2. I have a couple of questions regarding modding my video bios:

1) If i only change the timings of my curent bios and flash the card with it, is there any problems that i can encounter with the new timings?
2) What performance increase i will possibly get if i rise the VGPU, thus gaining a little more OC ?

Note: i tried to OC my video card with Overclocker, but i can't go more than 620/720 with my current bios. and please, will you mod my video bios , or you can tell me what settings i have to moddify in it . I used RaBit 2.2.1 to modify mem timings, but beside the fact that it says the video card has 256MB, he doesn't saves Memory Refresh Rate (rest of timings are saved ok)
And one more thing, why i can't use ATIWinFlash ?..when i open it my system freezes and my screen goes whacky

 

[Mussels]

i can answer some of those.

1. If the timings are too tight, it might not boot and you'll need to blindflash back.
2. nothing from the vgpu at all, performance comes from the OC. that will depend how high you get it yourself, cant really predict that.

ketxx can give the advice on the bios modding, i got no idea.