X800 confusion? Would like some advice

[Metalsoft]

Hey fellas, I'm new here, and I have been working on my x800 ?? for some time now. I am a member of EOCF and sense i get most of my info from here on this subject, I will ask the pro's.

I have a x800XT ( suppose to be ).

It reads as a R423 but only has 12PP. It is not a vivo, but there are no laser cuts on the PP bridges or on the die.

It clocks at 400 core 400 mem. I don't think there was a x800 card with those speeds.

Please check out this thread. I would love the insight.

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=288150

It has all the ati tool info, and readings.

I just don't understand.

 

[Metalsoft]

here are some of the problems.

Here it shows as a radeon mobility with the clock speeds????

http://www.idhw.com/textual/chip/ati/chipname.html

about a 3rd the way down

 

[scope54]

just wondering how did you buy the card? from like a store or 3rd party (meaning like forums or ebay). i ask because im looking at wikipedia which has just about all the x800's made and the only ones with the r423 core are pci-e ones, so im thinking (basically pulling these theories out of my butt if you will) maybe a bad bios flash to a pci-e xt or maybe a certain vendor (like sapphire) made an r423 chip with the rialto chip (again i dont how the rialto bridge chip was used back then).
but someone please correct me if they have more insight.
and here is the wiki link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_ATI_graphics_processing_units#Radeon_R400_AGP_series

 

[Metalsoft]

3rd party, from sib-usa, i was thinking the same thing.

 

[scope54]

when you took off the fan did you notice another chip closer to the agp connectors (like in between the gpu and the agp connectors) or even on the back of the card. Like on my x1950 pro which uses rialto had it on the back of the card. If so you may look at flashing it with a pci-e x800 bios. But i am the wrong person to ask on how to flash a card...never done it before.

 

[erocker]

The R423 cores unfortunately aren't unlockable.

 

[Steevo]

I had one too. Best thing to do is get better cooling and find your max stable overclock and flash a custom BIOS.

 

[Metalsoft]

I had one too. Best thing to do is get better cooling and find your max stable overclock and flash a custom BIOS.

There is one on top of the card near the rage theater chip.

Are you sure on the r423, they should have 16pp anyway, right?
Was thinking of a bios mod, on the bios off the card. That why I keep everything else
( clocks and bios string ) just with a modded 0x7A byte.

On the side in yellow it shows R430 GTO

 

[FR@NK]

Looks like you have the R423 core paired with an AGP bridge chip. First I think you should use ATITools to see what the max clocks will run at so you will know which bios you can flash. You might have to do a voltmod if you want the fastest XT Speeds. I have modded a X850 before and it was easy if you have basic soldering skills.

The R423 cores unfortunately aren't unlockable.

You sure they cant be unlocked to 16 pipes?

Based on the fuse info from your screenshot of ATITools it looks like you will be able to unlock all 16 pipes but the trade off would be it may not run as high of a core speed. This is due to the R423 chip was speed binned for 12 pipes and 400MHz. Or it could just be a real XT card that was flashed with the wrong bios.

 

[Metalsoft]

Looks like you have the R423 core paired with an AGP bridge chip. First I think you should use ATITools to see what the max clocks will run at so you will know which bios you can flash. You might have to do a voltmod if you want the fastest XT Speeds. I have modded a X850 before and it was easy if you have basic soldering skills.


You sure they cant be unlocked to 16 pipes?

Based on the fuse info from your screenshot of ATITools it looks like you will be able to unlock all 16 pipes but the trade off would be it may not run as high of a core speed. This is due to the R423 chip was speed binned for 12 pipes and 400MHz. Or it could just be a real XT card that was flashed with the wrong bios.

I think it is a real xt card. That's what it shows in windows and everest, and RaBit. Even the card itself has a x800xt sticker on it. That's why i was wondering if i could just mod the bios it has, or mod a xt bios so it won't run such high clock speeds


Where can I find the right bios.?

here? http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/...ufacturer=&model=&interface=&memSize=&page=12

I have infineon Ram

 

[KainXS]

this thread is your best bet, some people can unlock their R423's but their are very few, most end up with dead or limited cards which have to be reflashed

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5367&highlight=R423

just overclock it with atitool with a decent cooler

 

[Metalsoft]

this thread is your best bet, some people can unlock their R423's but their are very few, most end up with dead or limited cards which have to be reflashed

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=5367&highlight=R423

just overclock it with atitool with a decent cooler

I have read over that already, but thank you, I would like to know why it shows xt everywhere though. And also, why the card has xt labled on it.

400 core
400 mem

something just does'nt seem right.

Just playing around, the core went to 500, the ram to 490 with ati tray tools that come with the omega drivers.

Is there something else I can show that can confirm what card it really is?

when i took the cooler off this morning here is what the chip said.


But here is what it reads on the chip exactly:

Radeon x800
215RBJAGA12F
GC9532-1
0435AA

PCI EXPRESS

 

[FR@NK]

Is there something else I can show that can confirm what card it really is?

when i took the cooler off this morning here is what the chip said.


But here is what it reads on the chip exactly:

Radeon x800
215RBJAGA12F
GC9532-1
0435AA

PCI EXPRESS

It could be any of the different x800 cards...
x800 SE
x800 GT
x800 GTO
x800 Pro
x800 Pro VIVO
x800 XT
x800 XT VIVO
x800 XT PE

All of these used the r423 core. ATI would test each chip's quality and higher quality chips would be used for higher clocked cards and lower quality chips used for lower clocked cards. Some chips were only good using 8 or 12 pipelines and the higher quality chips had 16 pipelines. And sometimes high quality chips would be sold as lower clocked cards to fill demand, this is why some low end cards can unlock to 16 pipes and run at full XT speeds.

Modify your bios to unlock all 16 pipes and make sure you have a spare pci video card to reflash your old bios incase the 4 disabled pipes are defective. Then modify your bios to whatever clock speeds the card is stable at.

 

[Steevo]

I have read over that already, but thank you, I would like to know why it shows xt everywhere though. And also, why the card has xt labled on it.

400 core
400 mem

something just does'nt seem right.

Just playing around, the core went to 500, the ram to 490 with ati tray tools that come with the omega drivers.

Is there something else I can show that can confirm what card it really is?

when i took the cooler off this morning here is what the chip said.


But here is what it reads on the chip exactly:

Radeon x800
215RBJAGA12F
GC9532-1
0435AA

PCI EXPRESS

I was in on the original X800 when they were new here, if you are hitting anything above 450 you probably have the 430 core and need a BIOS flash, have a PCI card handy in case the BIOS fails, and or write down the EXACT steps to reflash your stock BIOS with a blank screen.


Match your PCB numbers and memory, or if you ask nicely someone here might still remember how to change the BIOS. I changed mine quite often, but don't have the tools to do so anymore.

 

[Steevo]

BTW, take apic of the top of the core, then we all can see if you have any quads cut that have been recoated.

 

[MilkyWay]

bad bios?
could be anything most likely the suggested lower clocked chip that is higher end

 

[sneekypeet]

here is a link from a budies card he had a while back....looks like it is the same as yours...PCI-e tho only sorry to say!

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=16605

 

[Metalsoft]

Alright everything is ready.

My last question, when I saved my bios from ati tool, it was a .bin file. When I modified it with hex editior, it was saved as a .rom file.

Can I flash the .rom file?

 

[Metalsoft]

I flashed and when it got doen it gave a error

ERROR (in red ) data not erased

 

[Metalsoft]

Well i was able to restart, with no problems. But i can't get past this error.

I even tried atiflash -newbios -f -p 0 x800xt.rom

same error.

If it has a r423 core can i use a pci-e bios without killing it?

Thanks for all the help so far, I know it's a old card, but this is kinda fun, learning about how to do things like this.

So to narrow it down, Can i use a pci-e bios even though it's a pci to agp bridge, if not i found a bios for a agp XT card, from his, but with a R420 core. Can i flash it with the different core bios?

Thanks again!!

 

[Metalsoft]

BTW, take apic of the top of the core, then we all can see if you have any quads cut that have been recoated.

I have it's in the thread from EOCF. But i wil pull the image here.

I know where to look, and they are intact with no laser cuts, also the gold bridge on the chip when i took the hs off, does'nt have cut bridges either.

All intact.

 

[dolf]

You have posted all the data concerning your card with exception of the only important information - the fuse values. You dashed out the most important information for me. It determines whether one core can be unlocked or not (to convert your card to real X800XT). Somebody have tried to do that but not very successfull. Show me the full fuse values and confirm that your card isn't VIVO. From what I can see the card looks moddable to 16 pipes but let see the fuses. Save your original BIOS just in case.

If your card is AGP then I need picture of the card (front and back) and the core (if possible). Also attach your original BIOS for modification.

The flash error is absolutely normal because flashrom doesn't support Realto chip. And this is beeter for you because you can obtain dead card after such "successfull" flashing. In order to save time reviving dead card please do the above and you will receive the needed support.

 

[Metalsoft]

Thank you

Man that would be great. The only thing I have is a camera phone so please bare with me.

I think I have everything you requested.

You can't really see the core but it reads just like this. I find it strange that the date on the bios is from 06?

Radeon x800
215RBJAGA12F
GC9532-1
0435AA
PCI Express

 

[noneed4me2]

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles//overclocking/vidcard/127/4 I still have my R423 X800 GTO by C3D. It is pci/e and unlocked 16p a few years ago. Still a great card for one of my early 939 system, overclocked to 540/520 using an XT bios from TechPowerup's bios page. I hope you will be able to unlock it. Dolf is the man for this but I am suprised he's still doing this. Just shows how good those cards were and still are. He has helped so many myself included.

Not sure about agp bridge chipped versions. Modifying your original bios is the safest route as long as that is the cards original bios and not someone else's attempt at unlocking. The R423 was a real good chip and clocked nearly as well as the R480.

 

[Metalsoft]

Yeah I can't thank everyone enough for there help. I really wanted this card to perform to a higher standard.

And a speacial thanks to dolf for taking the time, to work on it for me.

And thanks to techpower up, man all of you are some smart people.