Well, I just did this, a simple BIOS flash in DOS and WOW...


in 3D Mark 2003

Pre flash ~ 4093 3D marks

Post flash ~ 5609 3D marks

Directions are below
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthre...eadid=33695811

Here are some more numbers

3D Mark 2001

Pre mod ~ 11,092

Post mod ~ 15,993
Game 4 ~ 120.9 FPS

Ya gotta love that now don't ya...
Where did ya get the 9800 NP?

what is 3d mark and how much you pay for np?

3DMarK2001SE and 3DMarK2003 are 3D benchmarking apps from Futuremark Co .http://www.futuremark.com/
they are formally know as MadOnion.com
Alot of folks don't like them, I however think they provide a good place to compare your own scores at, for tweeking your video card/OC's...

alright, that explains a lot of what people are always talking about, thx

I got the Sapphire 9800np from newegg.com, they appearantly dont carry it anymore (only 9800 SE's)I bought mine for $280 during the summer and just got around to messin with it now...
\

next step is to get the Zalman heatpipe cooler and one of those 120mm Enermax fans that does 65 CFM at 25 DBA or 85 cfm AT 30 dbA... with a little duct mod to keep all that air goin over the heatsink things ought be very nice

I was looking into this over the weekend, It seems now you need the 256 Bit version by PowerColor to do the Bios upgrade

The Sapphire NP SE version at NewEgg (around 180$) now is only 128 Bit, wich I understand the conversion won't work on.
It's based on the 9500 PCB, The PowerColor version is based off the 9700 or 9800 PCB.

The Powercolor 256Bit version is available at other places, but is around 240$, so it isn't such a great deal anymore.

How long ago was that you got your Sapphire from NewEgg, and is it a 256 bit version ?
Did you got it for the same price as they now charge for the SE version?

If you go to Pricegrabber.com, there are some 9800 non pro cards. There is one company called Areotek selling the card for $249. The 9800 PRO cards are going for $305 on NewEgg, so it is still a good bargain.

http://www.pricegrabber.com/user_sal...a0b0191a60f806

"The 256-bit board will look like a Radeon 9700. The 128-bit board will look like a 9500 Pro. All of the Sapphire cards I've seen have been 128-bit. All of the Powercolor cards I've seen have been 256-bit. The Powercolors are usually the same price as a 9800 np (around $250). The Sapphires are the ones for under $200."

I quoted Shade00 from a good thread on this subject >Here< @ O/C Forums

My point is if he got a Sapphire for 173$ and it was a 256bit version that can be modded to a Pro, That is a AWESOME deal.
But the SE version listed above can't turn into a 9800Pro (Saphire SE's now have the 128bit 9500 type boards)

I had heard people that got in early on these cards were lucky, I wondered if Arkangyl was one of them.
It seems all the first release Saphire 9800 Non Pro SE's were 256 bit.
Much like people who got in on the early release 9500NP that was able to be turned into the 9700Pro last year. ATI caught on eventually and made it un-modable, so they wouldn't give away 300$ cards for 150$ anymore.

Today they get 239$ PowerColor at NewEgg for the one that you can mod, still a good deal, just not a great one.

I could see risking 173$ for something that might work and give me a 300$ card, but if you have to spend 239$ it seems a little riskier, and that pushes it out of most peoples budget.

I dont like to spend more than 150$ on any one item for a PC, I would stretch it to 173$ for something like that, but my budget would seriously bust at 239$

how does 166 sound for the powercolor 9800se! thats right, i found it OEM at http://www.enetshoponline.com/fcoati98se12.html

not bad eh? the exact same card is also 175 at directron, but its out of stock there, i am so gonnaget me one of these

it is the 256bit version- i so need some cash fast