I was checking out a review the other day for a card I had just bought. The Powercolor 9550 256MB. I've flashed it into a Powercolor 9600Pro @ 410core/440memory. While looking at the review of the 9550, I decided to check out the really huge close up of the 9550 core. I pulled out my old 9600NP 256MB and looked at the core very closely comparing the two. Besides the fact that one said R350 and one said 9550, there was a resistor that is in a different place. Could this possibly help anything in performance? Maybe a hardmod to unlock something, probably not pipelines of course, but possibly memory bandwidth leading to higher memory clocks? (Although the MIRA memory on the Powercolor 9550 is rated at 250, it seems that it'll only go up to 220. This might have something to do with how much bandwidth the core can take in.)
Could doing a hardmod to the 9550 core possibly unlock some bandwidth leading to higher memory clocks? If this is possible, why has no one discovered this except me?
Here is an image showing the 9550 core on a Powercolor 9550. I have outlined in red where the resistor is located and where it should be on a 9600.
Could doing a hardmod to the 9550 core possibly unlock some bandwidth leading to higher memory clocks? If this is possible, why has no one discovered this except me?
Here is an image showing the 9550 core on a Powercolor 9550. I have outlined in red where the resistor is located and where it should be on a 9600.