Ive just recently built my new computer and i wound up purchasing the Saphire x1800 gto2 512mb. I was interested in getting a bios update which would speed up the clocks. With the latest radeon drivers and control panel it runs 574/549 ez, and also i put a zalman vga cooler on it. Ive read where i can do a bios update to the PE which has 700+ clockspeed, would this work and how would i do this?

MVK tech s the place fo rgeting BIOS files, check out the Guides, Forums and download RABITOR

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Check out Sys Tool for Overclocking..or any of the other ones in my collection like ATI Tool.

http://forums.pcapex.com/other_oc_ha...ollection.html

Also check out OMEGA drivers, it may unlock extra pipelines with out Bios Flashing
OmegaDrivers.net - Home of the Omega Drivers for ATI & NVIDIA desktop/laptop cards. By: Omegadrive

it belive it has all 16 pipe open already. you can flash it to an XT since it is just a downclocked XT. if you do that you lose crossfire but you probably werent going to use that anyways. some say you can get better results with straight overclocking vs. flashing to XT bios with XT timings depending if your vram can take it.

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro MVK tech s the place fo rgeting BIOS files, check out the Guides, Forums and download RABITOR Check out Sys Tool for Overclocking..or any of the other ones in my collection like ATI Tool. http://forums.pcapex.com/other_oc_ha...ollection.html Also check out OMEGA drivers, it may unlock extra pipelines with out Bios Flashing

RABITOR? i see rabit...

and ATI Tool wouldnt work, it just froze up when i tried to bump up any settings, but that was with omega drivers. I'll try sys tool

Also i didnt like the omega drivers cause they seemed to have problems with OpenGL in counter strike and certain D3D modes.

Quote: Originally Posted by carbongraphite it belive it has all 16 pipe open already.

thats right it does have all 16 pipes open already

also if i do change my bios if it is bad or incompatiable what is the worst case scenario, and how would i recover?

Quote: Originally Posted by carbongraphite you can flash it to an XT since it is just a downclocked XT.

Do u have a link proving that? im not trying to call u a liar i just want to read more. and also when u say flash to xt, do u mean regualr or pe? thePE BIOS raises clocks from 625/750 (regular xt) to 700/800 and again my stock clocks are only 500/495... thats seems like i might burn something up...

----update-----
well... ive got ati tools to work, i had to get the beta version. and so far i have the core at 630 mem is still stock at 495, and i bumped the volts to 1.35 im hitting 72 degrees while i play oblivion in certain areas.

---update----
well ive been mesin around with ati tool, and while im using the artifact scanner, my temp on my card is sky rocketing and i dont want it to climb any higher, it was at 76 degrees and it started to artifact at 1.35v, 625/495. i dont understand why its heating up so fast, i got the zalman VF700-Cu, and using the thermal paster that came with the cooler... should i change the thermal paste?

---update---
well ive used the artifact scanner in ati tool and its made my card reach a temp of 82 degrees at stock speeds 500/495, this seems high.... well im gonna quit messing with it for now until i get a post back, im no expert.....

It sounds like the fan speeds of that cooler may be a bit low...are you sure its spinning fast enough? (There are ways to make it run 100% if so)

Did you use a nice thin layer of AS-5 or Ceramique under it? (No thicker than a sheet of paper!)

Is it seated on the core properly (look at the contact pattern)

How about your case cooling? A properly cooled case should be within 1-2c of ambient, try removing the side panel and using a house fan to determine if there is an airflow problem.

Well the zalman cooler is hooked straight up to the power supply, to run on normal mode, not silent mode, depends on which voltage line you use off power supply. Also my case is always at 40-45 degrees, and increases when i take the case door off, so i know my air flow is good. im gonna go try to find some artic silver tommorow.... and see if that will fix the problem... btw whats best way to clean the old greasy white thermal solution off the gpu? alcohol and swabs?

---edit---

i was also wondering, would a bios upgrade increase the oc capability? and what program should i use to change bios, and would i be able to reload the default bios if the new one i try dont work, and could this kill my video card?

40-45c is too hot..are you sure you are reading that right?

here is my temps at idle with a OC'd mobile 2500+ cooking away at 1.85v!



100% load passing OCCT!!! Notice case tempsonly reach 31c? that is with the door off too..it does better with it on too! (Ignore the fact OCCT is reading the CPU and case temps backwards..gotta change my config..lol)



Even in the summer under load it never reaches above 35c! Are you sure your reading the temps right? (My cpu is Temp 2 and case temp is Temp 1) Post some screenies PLZ!

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Maybe they arent being read right... but my room stays around 80... cause i have bad ventalation to ac... also... speed fan wont increase my fan speed...

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Wow..you got problems there...those temps are probably being read wrong...try using the "Charting tool" and repost a pic!

Your also only loading one core...run ATi Tool with the 3d view open and OCCT...start at idle and then load OCCT, let it run 5 minutes, and tehn open the 3D view....dont forget to chart ALL the temps for us!

Your fan speed is a bit low...in the Bios..under the PC health section, and make sure that you have the temps set to make the fans stay on all the time (On at 26c and offf at 25c for example)

CPUZ shot too!

except for water cooling and the arctic cooler you arent supposed to change air coolers on x1800-1900 cards because they don't cool as well as the stock coolers usually.
do google search for "x1800gto2 bios flash" and youll find abunch of fourm threads discussing OCing this card. i have the same card but my computer doesnt work right now (no power supply)

i tried a quick bios flash to the xt pe, and my card froze when i ran 3d. i flashed back to original bios, ive been busy lately so havent done much more...


---Update---
well ive been messing around with rabbit, and ive got my own modified version of the x1800XT PE bios running on my card now. Its staying below 70c when running atitool artifact scanner. My Clocks now are 594/648 with 1.225v gpu core and i had to lower the memory cas latency from 12 or 13 to 9 with rabbit. But how can i test the stability of this, and can i get better performance by crunching out better latency and lowering memory mhz?

well here is a attachment of the occt pic plus the temp chart and ati tool. ill post cpuz attachment soon.

---edit---

here is the cpuz shot.

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Ok..now your CPU temps make sense...You have the dual core "Prescott" based Intel..they are known to realy cook, wich is consider "normal" for them.

yeah, i figureed u already would have know that, my bad.