Radeon X800 Voltmods

[Burbank]

Thanks a lot rammsteiner.
Could you please overlook the previous post with all seven questions and try to answer them.
I also found the article very clear and easy to understand, but i just need some more flesh on my bones before i do this if you understand what i mean.

 

[Rammsteiner]

1. How hard is it (pencil mod) compared to, lets say installing coolers and computer parts?

2. Is a multimetre expensive? I dont think my school is going to let me borrow one, and thoose are the only ones i used ^_^.

3. How big risk is it compared to installing a cooler? Are the parts you deal with here more fragile than the core, and can the multimetre give away electricity if its not properly grounded, or does it just give faulty readings?

4. Exactly what kinda pen is a 2b pen?
Im not very into pens , is it just an ordinary school pen?

5. If i happen to make to many swipes with the pen, should i just use an eraser?

6. What is the electrical tape for, is it crucial or can i skip it?

7.If i have an Zalman VF-700CU cooler, is it worth the trouble to do a voltmod?

1. The pencil mod isnt hard. Its easy, but its difficult at a certain moment to lower the resistance even more(because the graphite can also be swiped away if you make a new stripe, its not like paper)

2. I dont know, its not all that expensive, you have to look your self in a shop

3. Its very riskfull if you are not carefully. Always have an eraser or better some alcohol(its decribed in the arcticle) to remove some 'errors'. You are able to push pretty hard, but you have to look out you arent hitting any transistors in the neighbourhood. A multimeter cant give electricity, it will give fault readings. Also make sure you are grounded by your self before touching the card(just touch the radiator or so for a few seconds).

4. you know that already

5. Eraser is fine, but as already said alcohol is way better because when you use an eraser it will also get swiped out over the rest of the card, so there could be a little chance all connecters/transistors are making contact(a little bit, but enough to destroy the card). The alcohol isnt anything special, go to a supermarket or to a docter and you can get some for very little money(1 Euro/dollar or so, you could also ask at your school to the right person(like physics/chemical teacher)

6. You already know that

7. Yes, Ive that cooler too, and I had my core at 560 with 16 pipelines enabled. It wasnt hitting the 50 degrees. But make sure its making contact with the core(use Atitool to check).

 

[Unregistered]

I have an BBA X800 Pro non-Vivo. Vcore ~1.65 Vdd ~2.08 Vddq ~2.22. The vddq seems like the sweet spot. Any lower or higher and it will artifact. My clocks are 615 core and 561 mem. This seems really lopsided. Is there anything I can do get the mem to go higher? I've tried with the vdd up to 2.15 and the OC goes down. Also, will loosening memory timings help get it higher? If so, what do I change it to?

 

[Urlyin]

I have an BBA X800 Pro non-Vivo. Vcore ~1.65 Vdd ~2.08 Vddq ~2.22. The vddq seems like the sweet spot. Any lower or higher and it will artifact. My clocks are 615 core and 561 mem. This seems really lopsided. Is there anything I can do get the mem to go higher? I've tried with the vdd up to 2.15 and the OC goes down. Also, will loosening memory timings help get it higher? If so, what do I change it to?

What kind of cooling are you using ... any ram sinks on it ?

 

[Unregistered]

I have a Maze4 on it. Core temps never exceed 35C. I have Tweakmonster ramsinks too. Mem temps never exceed 40C.

 

[Urlyin]

I have a Maze4 on it. Core temps never exceed 35C. I have Tweakmonster ramsinks too. Mem temps never exceed 40C.

That's good ... since you do have RAM sinks you can try to bump the VDD to 2.20v and the VDDQ to 2.22v - 2.25v .... try to keep the VDDQ around .03v above VDD ....

 

[Spyder187]

Hey guys,

First of all thanks for the Awesome walkthrough, used it for volting the memory even though i didn't end up playing with the memory voltages.

As for the core, though, I have a question. I've recently bumped it up a little higher than 1.7v I think and I'm only running the Silencer4. The core got up from the previously running of 575 @ 1.55-1.6v to 595. Max temps seem to be 55C as per ATiTool.

I have noticed checker board effects when I close CS Source on the desktop but when I move a window in the areas with the checkerboards, they disappear. It kinda looks like the area refreshes itself. I don't think this is a huge problem as I see no negative effects through it.

Am I volted up too high?

Thanks again.

Edit: Seems that it was too high, was getting stuttering in games and basically messed up graphics, not on the actual world itself but on the gun selection in CS Source, and sound. I've taken the vmod back down to 1.6v and will test it and report back but I guess I need more cooling to run 1.7v.

 

[Urlyin]

Hey guys,

First of all thanks for the Awesome walkthrough, used it for volting the memory even though i didn't end up playing with the memory voltages.

As for the core, though, I have a question. I've recently bumped it up a little higher than 1.7v I think and I'm only running the Silencer4. The core got up from the previously running of 575 @ 1.55-1.6v to 595. Max temps seem to be 55C as per ATiTool.

I have noticed checker board effects when I close CS Source on the desktop but when I move a window in the areas with the checkerboards, they disappear. It kinda looks like the area refreshes itself. I don't think this is a huge problem as I see no negative effects through it.

Am I volted up too high?

Thanks again.

Edit: Seems that it was too high, was getting stuttering in games and basically messed up graphics, not on the actual world itself but on the gun selection in CS Source, and sound. I've taken the vmod back down to 1.6v and will test it and report back but I guess I need more cooling to run 1.7v.

Use ATITool to max the fan to 100% that'll help some ... let us know how you make out

 

[uclajd]

This is a great guide. I have never seen the importance of VDDQ articulated so well before, and the mod is so freaking easy (identical to the memory mod). I never did it because I thought it didn't do anything (most people say it is of questionable effect). But I will have to add it to see how it helps my numbers, especially since it takes two clips (see below).

BTW, I haven't seen it listed here, so I wanted to mention that there is a third way to do some of these mods (other than pencil and soldering), the clip (smd grabber) method.

Believe it or not, you can even use these on the 1597 resistor for overvolt. But it takes a steady hand and pops off easily. (I use pencil for vcore, since two smd grabbers on one little resistor is too hard for me).

FWIW, my numbers below were done without a single "hard" mod on the card (although I did soldier the leads to the resistor). So for those of you who want to keep your card RMA-able, it can be done, even if you want to get on the first page of the ORB (if you filter out those SLI "cheaters" ).

-85C helps too.

 

[Urlyin]

Nicely done Uclajd ....

 

[Rammsteiner]

Hello,

I went back to the Vmods again lol. I just have a little question, whats the maximum temerature for the memory? That frickin stuff just wont go over the 580, what Im very angry about. My Vcore is 1,66V @ Air, not hitting the 70 degrees, but with original cooler was also that high so I dont think that would be a problem. My memory is now 40 degrees, not a problem, but Im looking to get it higher...

 

[Urlyin]

Hello,

I went back to the Vmods again lol. I just have a little question, whats the maximum temerature for the memory? That frickin stuff just wont go over the 580, what Im very angry about. My Vcore is 1,66V @ Air, not hitting the 70 degrees, but with original cooler was also that high so I dont think that would be a problem. My memory is now 40 degrees, not a problem, but Im looking to get it higher...

Ram.. have you done the VDD and VDDQ vmods?

 

[Rammsteiner]

Yes, I did them. But the problem was my Vcore lol, it was probably too high. My VGA was failing at any core speeds at random load times. So I lowered it to around 1,64~1,65V and its allright now. Also my memory did after the lowering of Vcore 600Mhz . Maybe even higher, but didnt test that yet. Actually waiting for my RMA'd PSU , the 12Vrails melted down so no start ups . It seems to be Antec 550W TC PSU's have more of those problems, though its a highend brand . Well, anyway, Im glad with my OC now, 560/600 with 16 pipelines isnt all that bad on a X800pro ... Allthough there are way higher OC's, but thats better cooling too

 

[Urlyin]

Yes, I did them. But the problem was my Vcore lol, it was probably too high. My VGA was failing at any core speeds at random load times. So I lowered it to around 1,64~1,65V and its allright now. Also my memory did after the lowering of Vcore 600Mhz . Maybe even higher, but didnt test that yet. Actually waiting for my RMA'd PSU , the 12Vrails melted down so no start ups . It seems to be Antec 550W TC PSU's have more of those problems, though its a highend brand . Well, anyway, Im glad with my OC now, 560/600 with 16 pipelines isnt all that bad on a X800pro ... Allthough there are way higher OC's, but thats better cooling too

... good luck with the PSU and yes .... not bad for a Pro ..

 

[Tolik]

Hi all OC entusiasts & Urlin ! I newbe here, and I need help with OC my VGA card
It`s Abit X800XT VIO with default frequensys 500/1000. Now I run it 530/1120 & when i trying to set higher frequensy for GPU, my starts to reboot,or ATI VPU Recovery makenig reset when hard D3D applications are launched. Vgpu is 1.39V ; temp idle 36 - 38 C`; temp load 64 - 70 C` (stock cooler , i planing to change it with this one: http://www.polarflo.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=56)
Now my questions : 1 What u think about OC abilitys of my card ?
2 Problem with higher Fgpu is in Vgpu or in temperature,or it`s problem of all Abit`s cards ?
3 If will be enouth my radiator (Black Ice Extreme with 2 120mm fans ) to provide good heat dissipation from both 64bit CPU(AMD 64 3500 - 3800+) and overclocked VGA card ?
4 Voltmod will help me to get some more from this card ?

My Specs : AMD Athlon 2500+ @ 2400 MHz ; RAM Geil Golden Dragon 2*256 ; MB Epox ep8rda3+ ; PSU Thermaltake 420w purepower

P.S. sorry for my bad english

 

[Urlyin]

Tolik...

1. Each card oc's differently, the XT usually does well and should be able to handle PE speeds stock
2. Generally speaking you would like to run the core at the lowest temps, the R420 core is rated for temps higher than you are running.
3. Not much on watercooling but I would assume if you have a decent pump then you shouldn't have an issue.
4. A voltmod would help increase the oc of the card. Read this article here

Let us know how you make out ...

 

[Tolik]

Many thank`s Urlyn for u answers. I wery hope that they are will help me to get better results with my card.But i still to think that before begining with Vmods I need better cooling solution than ATI stok heatsink.When I`ll get it, I`ll start from Vcore.
I promise to place my reviw about all of this process.
One more thank`s

 

[Tolik]

I rised Vcore from 1.391 to 1.420v & now i can to run GPU @ 560MHz; memory @1174MHz , temperature 64C` under HL2.More than 560MHz still be unstable . In many reviews i saw that for OC from 500 to 560-575MHz no need to rice any voltages, its intresting why my card asking more volts for every 10MHz... Or its because temperature ?

 

[Tolik]

Hi Urlyin !
Only with mod of Vgpu i got to the 3rd place on Futuremark web site (between PCs @AMD 32bit +X800XT)
Many many many thanks bro !!!
Not only for score, gameply of CS Source ,UT2k4 , Far Cry now is better, than any time before, with any VGA card.
But it`s no finish - I waiting for VGA whaterblock , & memory heatsinks.
Thanks again Urliyn & I`ll be back when I`ll get new results

 

[Urlyin]

Hi Urlyin !
Only with mod of Vgpu i got to the 3rd place on Futuremark web site (between PCs @AMD 32bit +X800XT)
Many many many thanks bro !!!
Not only for score, gameply of CS Source ,UT2k4 , Far Cry now is better, than any time before, with any VGA card.
But it`s no finish - I waiting for VGA whaterblock , & memory heatsinks.
Thanks again Urliyn & I`ll be back when I`ll get new results

Sounds like you're having fun .... ... waiting for the new benchmarks w/wtb

 

[gold3nman]

Are x800 agp vmod the same as pci-e????

Can someone please help me. I have been all over and cant find an answer. The PCB layout is almost identical and it looks like it would work, but I need to find out for sure before I do the mods. I have a x800 pro vivo which was laser cut but I took care of that. Does anyone have pics or a guide for pci-e ones if it different, thanks.

 

[Urlyin]

Can someone please help me. I have been all over and cant find an answer. The PCB layout is almost identical and it looks like it would work, but I need to find out for sure before I do the mods. I have a x800 pro vivo which was laser cut but I took care of that. Does anyone have pics or a guide for pci-e ones if it different, thanks.

Check this link out Gold3nman here

 

[gold3nman]

I have seen that guide but the first line says its for non-pro cards I have a pro one. Does it matter? how do i determine what pcb i have. Also the measurement points on that guide I do not have those. They dont appear on my card, ill take a pic to show you.

 

[djbbenn]

If you have a X800pro card and you want to voltmod it go here.

-Dan

 

[gold3nman]

Ok thats the one i want to use but the pics show a agp card is the pci one the same???Here are pics of my card tell me if this is correct. its different than the ones in the pictures from that guide.