Radeon X800 Voltmods

[dixsey]

Dixsey... isn't that 3.06 running at 800mhz? If so the PC2700 mem is slowing you down some... and if you're runniing mixed sizes it'll cause issues as well, run either 2@256 or 2@512, unless of course you're running the mem at 5:4 instead of 1:1 ... try to bump up to 1.56v -1.58v on the VGPU and game from there to see where your at ...

Thanks urlyin, i upped to 1.59v on the vgpu and i was able to bench my card at 600mhz core(wicked man) and got a score of 12,820 on 3d mark 03 thats about a thousand points more than my previous score,with my processor thats a great score,thanks a lot(great article)

 

[Urlyin]

Ramm... most cards have a sweet spot at which it will bench the best even though the mhz is lower. There isn't a magic ratio, only at higher mhz does the GPU require the memory to run faster to feed it.. a card running a GPU at 600mhz should be fine with the memory running at 570mhz - 580mhz so you'd be hard pressed to run your memory at 650 ... especially with the pencil mod.... actually the Samsung specs state the VDD should be higher but by default ATI cards have the VDDQ which controls the voltage to the memory Buffers set .08v or so higher and just raising the VDD by itself does not do much to enable higher mhz for memory... if you're really interested in getting the total low down you can shot Viper John a pm. As for higher mhz on the memory I found that it didn't affect over all FPS as much as the core mhz, so you may want to concentrate your efforts there... the obvious affect of the vmods are higher temps for GPU and memory, so if manage those then you should be okay. A good tip from Viper on temps

ATI says 95°C is okay but it may not run clean either. I had an ASUS XT-PE that ran at 80C stone stock in the 3DM01se Nature torture loop. While they say it is okay there is a catch to running hot.
For every 10°C you increase a discrete parts (memory chips, cores, Mosfets, IC's, etc) average operating temperature you cut its lifespan in 1/2 what ever that given lifespan may be. Conversely for every 10°C you lower the average operating temperature you double the parts lifespan. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that a card that runs 60C will have an average life span that is 4 times longer than if the same card runs 80°C.

The above is the reason that a properly modded card can have a longer lifespan that the same card will stock.

John

 

[Urlyin]

Thanks urlyin, i upped to 1.59v on the vgpu and i was able to bench my card at 600mhz core(wicked man) and got a score of 12,820 on 3d mark 03 thats about a thousand points more than my previous score,with my processor thats a great score,thanks a lot(great article)

Good job Dix ... keep an eye on those temps ...

 

[Urlyin]

hi my card is watercooled and should take a good clock...
the ram has some heat sinks on them will this let me give the ram a better clock.....
many thanks gee...

You can do the volt mods just not the pro VIVO to XT mod ...

 

[Rammsteiner]

ok I added 0,01V to my VDDQ and it was able to run 590Mhz without artifacts!!! So probalby my question is 100% answered now, higher VDDQ is better! Its now 2,33V and my VDD is 2,28. But now something strange, the card is amking noise, it did before, but only when under full load, now its doing it constant(after the raise of VDDQ). So whats this strange noise? And is it something bad? My MoBo is doing this sometimes too. But thats hapening always(just standard, doesnt matte rif OCed or not. But that besides, could be something completely different, is that VGA noise nothing to worry about? Its kinda high peep, dont know how to describe it, its not very loud, but only because the tone is high it sounds high... Please answer ASAP! If its bad I can directly undo it

 

[Urlyin]

ok I added 0,01V to my VDDQ and it was able to run 590Mhz without artifacts!!! So probalby my question is 100% answered now, higher VDDQ is better! Its now 2,33V and my VDD is 2,28. But now something strange, the card is amking noise, it did before, but only when under full load, now its doing it constant(after the raise of VDDQ). So whats this strange noise? And is it something bad? My MoBo is doing this sometimes too. But thats hapening always(just standard, doesnt matte rif OCed or not. But that besides, could be something completely different, is that VGA noise nothing to worry about? Its kinda high peep, dont know how to describe it, its not very loud, but only because the tone is high it sounds high... Please answer ASAP! If its bad I can directly undo it

I did suggest that you run the card for some time before jumping right into the vmod. Is the sound coming from the fan? Again your PSU was suspect ....

 

[Rammsteiner]

Ehm, no, its not from the PSU, I think... Its some noisier when Im getting closer to my VGA/CPU area. I cant notice were its coming from 100%. But Its as far as I know not coming from the PSU. Also the PSU is good brand, Antec True Control 550Watt...

 

[Urlyin]

Ehm, no, its not from the PSU, I think... Its some noisier when Im getting closer to my VGA/CPU area. I cant notice were its coming from 100%. But Its as far as I know not coming from the PSU. Also the PSU is good brand, Antec True Control 550Watt...

no I ment the fan on the Video card... I have noticed the hum on some cards as well, usually on a board outside the case..

 

[Rammsteiner]

No, its not the fan. Its connected to the 4pin connectors(have a Zalman VF700Cu). So it wont affect anything when the card is used more or less to the fan... I did noticed when the VDD is getting closer to the VDDQ that its getting silencer... But would I be able to OC more if I do that???

 

[Urlyin]

No, its not the fan. Its connected to the 4pin connectors(have a Zalman VF700Cu). So it wont affect anything when the card is used more or less to the fan... I did noticed when the VDD is getting closer to the VDDQ that its getting silencer... But would I be able to OC more if I do that???

Well from what I read and what I try to do again is keeping the VDD under the VDDQ by 03v -05v ... make sure you don't over do it Ramm ... find a spot to stop at and test the card by playing some graphic intensive games... benchmarking and game play are to different animals.. enjoy the card some and don't get caught up in the oc bug ...

 

[Rammsteiner]

Lol, you are right. Im just wanting more and more, but Ive already got a monster OPC(ok, some have way better, but not every card is the same). Its now running for as far as I know stable at 570/600 with 16 pipelines enabled. Maybe I should higher the Vcore a little more(about 0,1 or 0,2 for more stability. But you are right, I shoudl enjoy my card, not destroy . Thx for your help, Im very glad with my card now .

EDIT: Ill hang some in the forums too, this is a nice site

 

[Urlyin]

Lol, you are right. Im just wanting more and more, but Ive already got a monster OPC(ok, some have way better, but not every card is the same). Its now running for as far as I know stable at 570/600 with 16 pipelines enabled. Maybe I should higher the Vcore a little more(about 0,1 or 0,2 for more stability. But you are right, I shoudl enjoy my card, not destroy . Thx for your help, Im very glad with my card now .

EDIT: Ill hang some in the forums too, this is a nice site

the OC bug is worse than being a crack addict ... mo.. mo... mo ... glad you're glad

 

[Rammsteiner]

LOL, np. BTW, the guide was very easy to follow . Ill try to learn some more about hardware hardware(the chips itself on the hardware I mean) so I know for future what some chips can handle etc. Could be usefull to learn the maximal the hardware can get

 

[GazC]

Disaster!!

Oh boy, I need some help here.

I decided to make my voltmods permanent by soldering in VRs and I've had a problem with the IGPU VR. I was trying to solder on the fly leads when the resistor came loose and fell off! "Not a problem" I thought as I thought I could solder the fly leads direct to the solder pads.

The only problem is that the solder pad on the outboard (furthest from the power chip) side is missing and there is nothing for the solder to key to. I prodded around with my multimeter and it seems that the outboard pad appears to go to ground. Can anyone confirm this for me before I go and cause more damage? I'm really stuck here as I havent quite finished saving up enough for my next graphics card .

help!!

 

[Rammsteiner]

Oh boy, I need some help here.

I decided to make my voltmods permanent by soldering in VRs and I've had a problem with the IGPU VR. I was trying to solder on the fly leads when the resistor came loose and fell off! "Not a problem" I thought as I thought I could solder the fly leads direct to the solder pads.

The only problem is that the solder pad on the outboard (furthest from the power chip) side is missing and there is nothing for the solder to key to. I prodded around with my multimeter and it seems that the outboard pad appears to go to ground. Can anyone confirm this for me before I go and cause more damage? I'm really stuck here as I havent quite finished saving up enough for my next graphics card .

help!!

I dont get it... You mean the whole resistor of the IQPU fell off??? Why are there always things happening when I wan to do something I was thinking about soldering lol. But anyway, back to topic, what do you exactly mean?

 

[GazC]

I dont get it... You mean the whole resistor of the IQPU fell off??? Why are there always things happening when I wan to do something I was thinking about soldering lol. But anyway, back to topic, what do you exactly mean?

Well I cut a long story short. I must've had the soldering iron on the IGPU resistor a little too long and it lifted on the outboard side. I tried moving it back down and resoldering it and then tested the resistance, but it was way too low, so I decided it was better to totally remove the resistor and just solder my VR to the solder pads. That was when I found that the outboard solder pad had gone with the resistor.

 

[Rammsteiner]

Man, that sucks . Hmmm, Well, maybe somone else could better this problem, Im totally n00b when it comes to stuff likes this. It has to go well by me so I understand, if it fails Im like . Are you running right now with your card?(maybe stupid question)

 

[GazC]

No, I'm at work. I'm not going to attempt to run the card untill I have an idea that it's safe to do so.

 

[Urlyin]

No, I'm at work. I'm not going to attempt to run the card untill I have an idea that it's safe to do so.

GazC.... I wouldn't turn the card on until you talk with Viper John. Send him a PM and explain what happened. He will know what to do ... more than likely can fix it... but don't turn it on, it may burn something else out ...

 

[GazC]

GazC.... I wouldn't turn the card on until you talk with Viper John. Send him a PM and explain what happened. He will know what to do ... more than likely can fix it... but don't turn it on, it may burn something else out ...

I've been exchanging PMs with ViperJohn. But there was some confusion over which resistor I was on about. I've not done anything about it in the last 24hours because my bloody car has decided to cock up on me too. So I've spent my saturday off covered in oil instead .

 

[Urlyin]

I've been exchanging PMs with ViperJohn. But there was some confusion over which resistor I was on about. I've not done anything about it in the last 24hours because my bloody car has decided to cock up on me too. So I've spent my saturday off covered in oil instead .

I know the feeling, when rains it pours. Good luck with the car and VJ is definately the one to talk to ..

 

[Burbank]

Some simple questions.

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?

 

[Urlyin]

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?

Burbank... read through this article, should answer you questions ...

 

[Burbank]

No it doenst answer them very good.
Whats the electrical tape for?
Not when to put it on, is it a must or is the mod posssible without them?

Is 2b pencil an ordinary school pen?
2b doesnt say me anything at all.

I dont think the article answered any of the questions very clearly, it just told me how to do it.
Ive already read it 4 times through (Everything up to the VCORE mod since that is what i intend to do.)

O know about your standard cooler readings, but do you think it is normally worth the trouble considering how much OC you normally gain, if I follow your guide and get like 1,45V

And if I missed theese 7 points in the article can you please be so kind and explain them for me here?
Some of the questions are there because i wanted someones professional opinion, and one thing the article stated very clearly was to go here if you wasn't completely sure on everything.

I dont want to screw up my $500 video card .

 

[Rammsteiner]

No it doenst answer them very good.
Whats the electrical tape for?
Not when to put it on, is it a must or is the mod posssible without them?

Is 2b pencil an ordinary school pen?
2b doesnt say me anything at all.

I dont think the article answered any of the questions very clearly, it just told me how to do it.
Ive already read it 4 times through (Everything up to the VCORE mod since that is what i intend to do.)

O know about your standard cooler readings, but do you think it is normally worth the trouble considering how much OC you normally gain, if I follow your guide and get like 1,45V

And if I missed theese 7 points in the article can you please be so kind and explain them for me here?
Some of the questions are there because i wanted someones professional opinion, and one thing the article stated very clearly was to go here if you wasn't completely sure on everything.

I dont want to screw up my $500 video card .

Actually I dont know either what electircal tape means, but I just used tape. Its necessary so the graphite wont getting blown away(It may look well at first sight, but after a few hours it will get some loose.

2B is just an orinary school pencil, but it has to be 2B

The article was very clear to me, but I hope your questions are answered now. The OC differ VERY. if you dont have enabled 16 pipelines you will getting like 575~600 if Im right? But its not sure, my VGA had 2,33Vmem and 2,38VDDQ, and still didnt pas 580~590. After a while I was getting upset and I removed the Vmods. Its indeed a BIG bug lol, but I want to play games lol.