Sapphire X800 GTO AGP pipe unlock

[ChrisMG]

Ok, so I've just spent the better part of a half a day reading this entire thread. Interesting stuff. Even more interesting because I just ordered a Sapphire X800GTO from Newegg. believe its the blue PCB version...yeah, the one that seems to melt due to heat problems. Great, kind of wish I'd have gotten the red PCB now.

Anyway, I'm pretty confident in being able to identify the bios and unlock the pipes if they're unlockable (and if I feel the need to). I don't have a question about that, but rather about power consumption. I'm still running on an old 300W PSU and I'm not sure that it will be hefty enough to supply the needed power to the card. I don't have very much running on it though:

Sempron Palermo 3100+ OC'ed to 2.2Ghz
One (1) 60GB WD HDD (5400 rpm)
1GB Corsair PC3200
One (1) Sony DRU-510A DVD Burner
One (1) No name Cd-Rom (50x)

And thats about it. My board has onboard sound and I have no other devices connected, including any USB devices. Do you fellas think that my PSU now will be enough to power the card seeing as I have a very minimal system? Otherwise, I'd need to buy a new PSU (Probably a 380W or 400W Fortron) but if I can get away with what I've got now, that would be great. Oh yeah, as an afterthought, I should add that I _do not_ plan to unlock the pipes or OC the card unless I have to. I'm moving from a 4 pipe Radeon 9200SE sporting a 64-bit interface to this X800, so I'm pretty sure that I'll be amazed even with the 12 pipes and 256-bit bandwidth architecture. A shame? Sure it is, but I'm a Police Officer with a family and I don't make near enough money to buy a new video card should I blow this one to pieces or melt it.

Any thoughts would be helpful. Oh and Dolf, Error_Force and the several others who seem to know what you're talking about, great job.

Edit: I don't have the card yet, so I can't post any information or specs on it. Just thought I'd get the jump on this thing before I get it.

 

[stevorob]

I ran my X800GTO in my Dell... it only had a 300w power supply, and I don't even think it was a good one at that... some OEM garbage.

I was able to run my card at 16 pipes with a mild overclock. You should be fine.

I would also advise a new cooler, since all the X800 coolers are junk. If you get the blue one, I think you'll have to go with the zalman vf700 or vf900, but if you got the red one, I suggest the Arctic silencer 5 just because it vents the heat out of the case.

 

[caamsa]

X800gto

I have an X800GTO Sapphire R430 core and want to unlock it. I just want to make sure I have the right bios. My card is the red one with the larger heat sink. The picture of it is in the instructions that I down loaded from a link on this site. I just had a hard time finding the right bios to use. Can anyone help me out. Also is it better to use a bootable floppy instead of the CD I had a hard time last time I used a bootable CD. Thanks in advance.

 

[caamsa]

Thanks Dolf

Thanks to Dolf for helping me get my Sapphire X800GTO unlocked to 16 pipes. NewEgg still sells these things for 130 bucks. I flashed my card with each bios. I saw no difference between the X800XL, the X800GTO overclocked, or stock with just 16 pipes. I was running 3Dmark 2001 but they scored all the same. Thought that was strange. I have it unlocked to 16 pipes and will try a manual overclock. With the current stock heat sink the card runs at about 38c which I thought was kinda low I assume ATI tool is giving me an accurate reading. O well that is all for now.

 

[makivili]

what are normal operating temps for the sapphire x800 gto? i've been looking, and i was just wondering what temps i should try to keep. Mine is running 39c idle and 62-63c load. I have ati tool set to keep at 65c since i've never seen it get that high. I do have 16pipes with the overclock via. Dolf's cd. r430

 

[dolf]

what are normal operating temps for the sapphire x800 gto? i've been looking, and i was just wondering what temps i should try to keep. Mine is running 39c idle and 62-63c load. I have ati tool set to keep at 65c since i've never seen it get that high. I do have 16pipes with the overclock via. Dolf's cd. r430

Guys always try the max. core clock because it is absolutely possible to receive such (red) card with R480 but to miss that . If the core can pass 460MHz and more than you are damn lucky to have R480.

 

[walter34payton2002]

Hello. This is my first post to this forum. I read this thread and thought it was very informative and Dolf is quite a master, but it left one thing unclear to me. I have the Sapphire X800GTO AGP card with the R480 core. I got the impression that this card cannot be unlocked. Does anyone know if this card can be unlocked, or does this thread refer to those with the R430 core or R480 PCI-E only??? I have also read contradictory and confusing info. and I would like to put this to bed once and for all. Many thanks.

 

[dolf]

Hello. This is my first post to this forum. I read this thread and thought it was very informative and Dolf is quite a master, but it left one thing unclear to me. I have the Sapphire X800GTO AGP card with the R480 core. I got the impression that this card cannot be unlocked. Does anyone know if this card can be unlocked, or does this thread refer to those with the R430 core or R480 PCI-E only??? I have also read contradictory and confusing info. and I would like to put this to bed once and for all. Many thanks.

These cards may come with R430 (most probably) or with R480. R480 usually can be met on blue boards the R430 on red one's but of course R480 is also possible.
For bot cores R430/R480 can't be accepted as a rule that they will / won't be unlocked. It is matter of producer and luck all together. The only way to say with 100% sure whether one core can or couldn't be unlocked to 16 (or less) pipes are the fuse values. If you post here your fuse values I can tell you whether is possible to unlock your exactly core (card) to 16 pipes.
With Sapphire the chance is great but with Power Color for instance your chance is very small.

 

[caamsa]

Im not sure what the normal operating temps are for this card. I know my 7950GT in my main machine runs between 50c to 56 no matter what I seem to be doing. I am going to remove the gpu heatsink on my GTO to check the chip and add arctic silver to it since it seems to be a pretty good stock cooler. Will prob put my Zalman 900 on my 7950GT.

 

[Waldoinsc]

I have the red PCB R480 Sapphire X800GTO. Temp at stock clocks and cooler was in the mid 50C range. If I OC'd more than 5%, the temp would shoot up. Highest I let it get was 80C before throttling it back. After I installed an Arctic Cooler 5 (w/ AS5), the card ran in the upper 30C range at stock, and the highest I have ever seen it is 62C (when I let ATITool find max core...which ended up around 560MHz). The R480 OC's well, unlike the R430. I have the ATITool set to OC for 3D app's at 530Core/590mem. I have no issues with the card, and run a Samsung 904b 20 inch monitor at 1600x1200, and the card normally runs at 50-55C.

 

[walter34payton2002]

Many thanks Dolf. I have the Sapphire blue card. My fuse values are as follows:

CONFIG_DIE_FUSES 0xFFFFFFFF
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES 0xFFFFFF9F
CONFIG_ROM_FUSES 0x261
GB_PIPE_SELECT 0x2724

I physically examined the core and it is indeed the R480 core. Remember this is the AGP version.

I would very much appreciate your expertise, Dolf.

 

[stevorob]

Use the flash utility in this download package.

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/332

 

[dolf]

Many thanks Dolf. I have the Sapphire blue card. My fuse values are as follows:

CONFIG_DIE_FUSES 0xFFFFFFFF
CONFIG_SUBSTRATE_FUSES 0xFFFFFF9F
CONFIG_ROM_FUSES 0x261
GB_PIPE_SELECT 0x2724

I physically examined the core and it is indeed the R480 core. Remember this is the AGP version.

I would very much appreciate your expertise, Dolf.

I would suggest also a direct link to "your" utility: http://www.savefile.com/projects/733218
(Automated Flash Utility for X800GTO AGP with R480 and Realto bridge). Read the flash instructions before to start flashing.
Please to report what are your max. core / memory after unlocking to 16 pipes. When you determine the max. core/memory you can choose one of the overclocked BIOSes included within the utility.

Good luck

 

[walter34payton2002]

I would suggest also a direct link to "your" utility: http://www.savefile.com/projects/733218
(Automated Flash Utility for X800GTO AGP with R480 and Realto bridge). Read the flash instructions before to start flashing.
Please to report what are your max. core / memory after unlocking to 16 pipes. When you determine the max. core/memory you can choose one of the overclocked BIOSes included within the utility.

Good luck

Dolf....you are truly a man amongst boys when it comes to this stuff man. Flash worked perfectly and your time is very much appreciated, my man. I will post my core and mem max shortly. I am hoping I can repay the favor sometime. Many thanks!

 

[walter34payton2002]

Dolf, I decided to go with your 500/500 overclock. Once again, many thanks. Got my score to 5535 on 3dmark05 with your overclock and 16 pipes. With 12 pipes and a higher overclock of 573/490 I got 5160. So it is safe to say I got atleast 400 points more with the unlock considering that my score with 12 @ higher OC was almost 400 points lower.

 

[walter34payton2002]

Sorry for the separate posts, but I post em when I know em. Actually I clocked it down to original specs and ran it to get an exact idea of the improvement with 16 pipes. At same clocks but with 16 pipes open, I scored 1545 points in 3dmark05 higher than with 12. Wow.

On a side note....What would be the best way to edit the overclock in the BIOS to a custom setting of my choice?

 

[caamsa]

Gto

What I would like to know is there any difference in the GTO 16 pipe bios and the X800XL 16 pipe bios. I tried both and did benchmarks and saw no difference. Also flashed the overclocked 16 pipe bios and saw no improvement over the 16 pipe gto. Should the X800XL bios improve my benchmarks in some games/apps????

 

[anth0ne]

in the last couple days ive noticed some really bad display problems. my display is showing horizontal hatch marks all over the screen that get worse with movement. check this pic i snapped while i was running ati tool.

you can see the horizontal red lines developing within the browser and the distortion the rotating cube is showing in ati tool. it says no artifacts though

previously i was running with my card with a slight overclock(nothing beyond what the sapphire utility said i was capable of) and since then have reflashed and reset everything to stock speeds yet the problem remains. i also have a zalman vf700 cooler installed and working properly.

the guys over at the abit boards and sapphire boards think my card may be bad. i want to get one final confirmation before i go ahead and try to return it

comments and suggestions?
__________________

 

[stevorob]

Looks like it is going bad. What kind of temps are you seeing?

 

[IonJoe]

What would Dolf do? [WWDD]

I just bought the Sapphire X800 GTO [AGP] from NewEgg.

I received the Red pcb with the R430 chipset and according to ATItool I have 16 pipes out of the box!

My questions are:

1.) Should I flash it to any other bios, like the X800XT?
2.) Should I overclock it at all with the stock cooler? If so what speeds?
3.) If I upgrade to an Artic Cooler can the R430 chips handle the recommended 500/500 overclocking or do I need the R480? If not what is recommended for the R430.

Thanks to anyone who can answer these questions!

 

[caamsa]

IonJoe im not sure. I unlocked mine and then unlocked with the overclock and then flashed the bios to the X800XL but saw no difference in the benchmarks. Of course I never updated or reloaded the drivers maybe that might make a difference.

I would say use ATI tool and use the auto overclock and see what you get. I have the same card that you have and the stock cooler seems sufficient. Mine runs at 38c stock and with a mild overclock. Have not really pushed it yet. Good luck.

 

[IonJoe]

Thanks for the input caamsa.

It appears you can not really overclock the R430 chips, so I will probably leave it at stock speed and with the stock cooler.

Since it came with all 16 pipes unlocked, I guess it is basically a X800XL which still runs for around $300, so I should be happy.

?Question?
Which one would be faster:

1.] A 16 pipe R430 at stock speed
OR
2.] A unlockable 12 pipe R480 which you can heavily overclock?

 

[anth0ne]

Looks like it is going bad. What kind of temps are you seeing?

the trixx software never went over 60c. usually it would hover around 30-40 depending on the application. it only approached 60c during gaming.

 

[stevorob]

Thanks for the input caamsa.

It appears you can not really overclock the R430 chips, so I will probably leave it at stock speed and with the stock cooler.

Since it came with all 16 pipes unlocked, I guess it is basically a X800XL which still runs for around $300, so I should be happy.

?Question?
Which one would be faster:

1.] A 16 pipe R430 at stock speed
OR
2.] A unlockable 12 pipe R480 which you can heavily overclock?

R480 with a heavy overclock is usually faster. However, hope you can get the R480 that unlocks AND can overclock well.

the trixx software never went over 60c. usually it would hover around 30-40 depending on the application. it only approached 60c during gaming.

You may have just gotten a bad card. If temps arent extreme, and you're already seeing errors like that, that gpu is dying and you'll need to replace it.

 

[Shannon]

New X800GTO VIVO from Newegg

I just wanted to share my experience about the X800GTO AGP I just recieved from Newegg. I was following this forum with great interest before I ordered it. First the card I recieved was blue not red as was advertised on Newegg. It was fully labled as an X800GTO and the box advertised VIVO. When I installed it and checked it with ATItool it show that it had an R420 chip with a default core 475/ memory 450. Newegg advertised it as core 400 / mem 490. Catalyst Control Center showed the card as an X800Pro. I was dissappointed at first but being the adventurous type I decided to use Dolf's auto flash for X800PRO vivo to 16 pipes only. It did not work and I still had only 12 pipes in ATItool. I tried again, this time flashing the X800XT bios with 500/500 clocks. On reboot it worked! Device manager and Catalyst Control Center showed the card as an X800XT with the 500/500 clocks. ATItool showed 16 pipes and the new clocks. The card sets at about 38c and runs Half-Life2 at 55c. Just as a matter of interest my old pentium 4 rig did 3DMark03 at 11500 with Omega drivers and 11800 with Catalyst drivers so I am going to have to stick with Catalyst. I just wanted to thank Dolf for all the great work he is doing on this forum.