9800 Pro upgrade

[Aggdaddy]

Any of you guys ever upgrade your 9800 pro to the XT? Just did it last night.

Killer performance boost. I just got a 900 point in the butt just from the bios upgrade alone.

I was scoring something in the range of 6081 on relaxed settings before the bios and last night, 3dmark03 benched at 6971 after the 9800XT bios upgrade.

I still have a few other things I can do to get it higher.

 

[theForumCity]

I heard that it can't be done to all ATI Radeons 9800 Pro?

 

[Aggdaddy]

There's a site I went to that helped me verify mine. I don't have access to it right now, but will post later if some doesn't beat me to it.

There are some cheaply made 9800 pro's with cheap memory. If you get a ATI or Sapphire, most likely you can do the upgrade.

 

[Kangaroo]

Not to all Raden 9800 Pro's... just the 9800 Pro's that have 256MB memory, i.e. using DDRII memory.

I cannot do it to my Sapphire 128MB 9800 Pro.

Edit: Its not cheap memory, just a different model... DDR has lower CAS latencies than DDRII but DDRII has higher clock frequencies.

 

[Aggdaddy]

I see a bios available for your 128MB card. Is your memory not up to it?

 

[sKaD]

So when I buy a Radeon 9800 Pro w/ 256mb memory I can overclock to XT performance from a BIOS upgrade/thing? I assume that isn't difficult, correct?

 

[Aggdaddy]

You might want to upgrade your heatsink and fan before you upgrade the bios. I noticed before I did the upgrade, I played around with overclocking the video memory and vpu and the memory started to give me artifacts just from a minor 5Mhz increase. The XT bios is going to kick your memory speed up 10Mhz I think. VPU overclocks real easy with the standard HSF.

I installed the Zalman 80d video cooler before I did the bios. It comes with memory heat sinks. Works well.

 

[theForumCity]

Okay I am confused - my friend has a Sapphire 9800 Pro (128MB) and he said hes done it to his and he said I wouldn't be able to do it to the one I am planning to buy because it all depends on the RAM.

I am planning on buying this one:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/vga/9800proatl.asp
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/9700_to_9800_Series.html - scroll down and find this product (Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB DDR TV-Out/DVI (AGP) - Lite Retail (GX-017-SP) )

Will I be able to flash mod that?

 

[Aggdaddy]

http://www.rojakpot.com/

Try that site. It can take you through the steps of verifying your video card for upgrade.

 

[Kangaroo]

"Although the 256MB Radeon 9800 Pro may seem like a sheer waste of money, it may actually turn out to be a real steal! Why? Because one can actually turn the 256MB Radeon 9800 Pro into a 256MB Radeon 9800XT!"

The Radeon 9800 Pro To Radeon 9800XT Mod Guide Rev. 4.0!