~11-28 update
I ordered a Sapphire X850XT AGP card from Newegg. It is THIS card that I got. I received it on 11-22 and installed it and downloaded the latest drivers from ATI. According to Windows, Catalyst Control Center, and ATI Tool I received a X850 PRO NOT an X850XT. According to the box and the product page I ordered it from it should have 16 Pixel Pipes. Well mine only had 12 Active Pixel Pipes, and clocks were at 500/500. Most definately NOT the X850XT, but instead a regular X850PRO
According to several other posters on multiple forums, they have also received Sapphire X850XT labeled cards from Newegg which were really X850 pro cards. I have contacted Newegg about my purchase and they offered to replace or refund the full price I payed PLUS a credit for the return shipping since we received the incorrect cards to begin with. I have also been in touch with Sapphire Tech and gave all my card specs and details including pictures, and they said I have a problem with my card and offered to replace it, but I think I have to pay for the return shipping. So far I have had a pleasant experience contacting both Newegg and Sapphire about the issue and am quite satisfied with their responses. So if any of you have problems don't hesitate to contact Newegg to get your money back as I don't think they have any replacement cards in stock. That is probably your easiest route if you don't want to deal with flashing, overclocking, uprading cooling and or tweaking your card.
Being the tweak head that I am and going against advice from some users and my better judgement I have deceided to follow suggestions from dolf here at techpowerup to flash my BIOS to either X850Pro 16 pipes, X850XT or X850XT PE. I was able to flash my card to an X850XT with true 16PP and 520/540 clocks. There are several utilities such as ATI Tool and or 3D Mark benchmarks which you can use to test the stability of the card. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) so it can't be guaranteed that your card will also flash with no problems or that it will overclock to XT or PE speeds. Also I know for a fact that some regular X850 Pro AGP cards CAN'T be unlocked, as I had one a while ago, but nobody knows for sure with these X850pro packaged as X850XT cards, but so far I have not heard of anyone not being able to unlock their card from Newegg. ***Please note you are voiding your warranty and nobody takes any responsibility for flashing or overclocking your card but YOU. Knowing that I will post the instructions provided by Dolf below:
"Use the automated flash utility for X850PRO VIVO AGP containing X850PRO 16 pipe, X850XT and X850XT PE BIOSes:
http://www.savefile.com/projects/738578
My advice is to unlock the card (X850PRO 16 pipe or X850XT BIOS) and to test it for max core/memory. After that if it can handle the XT PE speeds to flash it with PE BIOS. Keep it but look for ATISilencer 5 because with single slot cooler you need to use X850PRO 16 pipe BIOS."
Some users have reported receiving cards with single slot coolers much like the regular X850Pro AGP cards, while others like myself have received the Dual slot coolers that usually come on the X850XT AGP cards. This really becomes an issue if you decide to overclock your core and memory. Some users with the single slot cooling have found that after flashing to XT or XT PE speeds, that the card is running very hot and may be failing because of the heat. Seems like the dual slot coolers are holding up a little better as they cool much better than the single slot solution but at the cost of alot more noise. The ATI Silencer 5 Rev 2 has been recommended by many as a solid cooling solution comparable to the dual slot cooler but much quiter even at full speed. With my stock dual slot cooler and X850XT bios 520/540mhz, I get about 30-40C at idle and 60-70C at load with fan at 100%(loud as heck) and temp readings from ATI tool.
Below are my card specs and details BEFORE flashing the Bios for others to compare if they are having the same problem.
Under windows display properties it recognizes my card as a X850 PRO AGP (0x4B4B). Says the BIOS is 113-A47503-103.
Sticker on the card and box says the PN is 102-A47505-01-XX, while the PN on the PCB is 109-A47501-00
Now under ATI tool I have the following settings:
Catalyst Version 6.11
Device ID 4B4B
Chip Type R481
Memory Size 256 MB
Memory Bus Width 256 bit
Active Pipelines 12
Default GPU Clock 500.00...
Default Mem Clock 500.00...
CONFIG_DIE FUSES 0XFFFFF...
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES 0xFFFFF...
CONFIG_ROM_FUSES 0x861
GB_PIPE_SELECT 0x2724
Info under ATI Catalyst Control Center is:
BIOS Version 009.008.001.004
BIOS Part Number 113-a47503-103
BIOS Date 2005/02/08
Many have advised to return the card first since I did not get what I paid for but I was able to the flash my card with no problems and played all the latest games over the Thanksgiving break. Good luck to all, and please post if you have any new info or problems getting a refund, replacement and or flashing/overclocking the card and we will try to help. Thanks
I ordered a Sapphire X850XT AGP card from Newegg. It is THIS card that I got. I received it on 11-22 and installed it and downloaded the latest drivers from ATI. According to Windows, Catalyst Control Center, and ATI Tool I received a X850 PRO NOT an X850XT. According to the box and the product page I ordered it from it should have 16 Pixel Pipes. Well mine only had 12 Active Pixel Pipes, and clocks were at 500/500. Most definately NOT the X850XT, but instead a regular X850PRO
According to several other posters on multiple forums, they have also received Sapphire X850XT labeled cards from Newegg which were really X850 pro cards. I have contacted Newegg about my purchase and they offered to replace or refund the full price I payed PLUS a credit for the return shipping since we received the incorrect cards to begin with. I have also been in touch with Sapphire Tech and gave all my card specs and details including pictures, and they said I have a problem with my card and offered to replace it, but I think I have to pay for the return shipping. So far I have had a pleasant experience contacting both Newegg and Sapphire about the issue and am quite satisfied with their responses. So if any of you have problems don't hesitate to contact Newegg to get your money back as I don't think they have any replacement cards in stock. That is probably your easiest route if you don't want to deal with flashing, overclocking, uprading cooling and or tweaking your card.
Being the tweak head that I am and going against advice from some users and my better judgement I have deceided to follow suggestions from dolf here at techpowerup to flash my BIOS to either X850Pro 16 pipes, X850XT or X850XT PE. I was able to flash my card to an X850XT with true 16PP and 520/540 clocks. There are several utilities such as ATI Tool and or 3D Mark benchmarks which you can use to test the stability of the card. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) so it can't be guaranteed that your card will also flash with no problems or that it will overclock to XT or PE speeds. Also I know for a fact that some regular X850 Pro AGP cards CAN'T be unlocked, as I had one a while ago, but nobody knows for sure with these X850pro packaged as X850XT cards, but so far I have not heard of anyone not being able to unlock their card from Newegg. ***Please note you are voiding your warranty and nobody takes any responsibility for flashing or overclocking your card but YOU. Knowing that I will post the instructions provided by Dolf below:
"Use the automated flash utility for X850PRO VIVO AGP containing X850PRO 16 pipe, X850XT and X850XT PE BIOSes:
http://www.savefile.com/projects/738578
My advice is to unlock the card (X850PRO 16 pipe or X850XT BIOS) and to test it for max core/memory. After that if it can handle the XT PE speeds to flash it with PE BIOS. Keep it but look for ATISilencer 5 because with single slot cooler you need to use X850PRO 16 pipe BIOS."
Some users have reported receiving cards with single slot coolers much like the regular X850Pro AGP cards, while others like myself have received the Dual slot coolers that usually come on the X850XT AGP cards. This really becomes an issue if you decide to overclock your core and memory. Some users with the single slot cooling have found that after flashing to XT or XT PE speeds, that the card is running very hot and may be failing because of the heat. Seems like the dual slot coolers are holding up a little better as they cool much better than the single slot solution but at the cost of alot more noise. The ATI Silencer 5 Rev 2 has been recommended by many as a solid cooling solution comparable to the dual slot cooler but much quiter even at full speed. With my stock dual slot cooler and X850XT bios 520/540mhz, I get about 30-40C at idle and 60-70C at load with fan at 100%(loud as heck) and temp readings from ATI tool.
Below are my card specs and details BEFORE flashing the Bios for others to compare if they are having the same problem.
Under windows display properties it recognizes my card as a X850 PRO AGP (0x4B4B). Says the BIOS is 113-A47503-103.
Sticker on the card and box says the PN is 102-A47505-01-XX, while the PN on the PCB is 109-A47501-00
Now under ATI tool I have the following settings:
Catalyst Version 6.11
Device ID 4B4B
Chip Type R481
Memory Size 256 MB
Memory Bus Width 256 bit
Active Pipelines 12
Default GPU Clock 500.00...
Default Mem Clock 500.00...
CONFIG_DIE FUSES 0XFFFFF...
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES 0xFFFFF...
CONFIG_ROM_FUSES 0x861
GB_PIPE_SELECT 0x2724
Info under ATI Catalyst Control Center is:
BIOS Version 009.008.001.004
BIOS Part Number 113-a47503-103
BIOS Date 2005/02/08
Many have advised to return the card first since I did not get what I paid for but I was able to the flash my card with no problems and played all the latest games over the Thanksgiving break. Good luck to all, and please post if you have any new info or problems getting a refund, replacement and or flashing/overclocking the card and we will try to help. Thanks
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