Flashing 9800NP to 9800XT

ortleeb,

Since flashing the video card bios would void the warrranty, this is all hypothetical.
There isn't anything on the card which would hinder a bios flash from occuring.

Here is a link posted by Duhvoodoo man from his website: http://duhvoodooman.com/9800NP/9800conv_1.htm.  I would send him a message and ask him all about it.  Bob has a lot of great information on his site and is quite knowledgeable in regards to this subject.

ChrisM, thanks for the info on the BIOS, and Steve, thanks for the link. The warranty on my machine was up about 2 weeks ago. Now the questions is do I want to risk frying a perfectly good 9800NP. I'll let you know if it works (or I'll be back asking your advice on how to install a new video card).

Thanks,

ortleeb

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@Anonymous-ChrisM wrote:
ortleeb,

Just be sure to SAVE your current video card bios to that floppy disk before attempting the flash.

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Will do. Thanks again for your help.

ortleeb,

Just be sure to SAVE your current video card bios to that floppy disk before attempting the flash.

That's tough to say with any real confidence, but I'd tend to doubt it. The default core & memory clockspeeds on the 9800 NP are 324MHz and 580MHz respectively. So to get to 412/730, you're talking overclocks of 27% and 26% respectively. That's BIG. I have a Sapphire 9800 NP card that I've overclocked to 400/702, and anything above that on either clock frequency causes visual artifacts or system freeze-ups. And the Sapphire cards have the reputation for being pretty good overclockers.

I wouldn't be too surprised if the core could make 412, but 730 on the memory is a longshot, IMO. That's because memory is generally sold by speed rating, and stuff that will run at 730 would probably be sold as a more expensive, higher rated grade, and used in the higher priced versions of the 9800 (Pro or XT), where it's really needed to make performance spec.

On the other hand, chip yields invariably improve over time, with higher proportions of fab line production being able to run at higher clockspeeds. So I suppose it's conceivable that current 9800 NP cards contain memory chips that can run at higher clockspeeds than cards made 6 months ago could. But I'm engaging in rampant speculation now!

Bottom line: possible, but doubtful.

 

Thanks, Bob. My card is more than 6 months old and its sounds like flashing to the XT would fry it.

How about flashing the stock Dell 9800NP to Pro? I read the guide on your website and the results are impressive. You have a Sapphire. Wonder if it'll work with the Dell?

EDIT: I installed the Rage3D Tweak and my core and memory clocks are 324/290.25. Did you notice any "real world" difference after you flashed to the Pro?

Message Edited by ortleeb on 01-20-2004 09:22 PM

The flash to the Pro BIOS is probably worth a try. You'll go from 324/580 to 378/675. The 9800 cores generally make the jump fine, but the question mark is the memory. From what I read at Rage3D, cards with Samsung memory (like my Sapphire) would consistently run OK at 675, but cards with the Infineon memory had trouble. I don't know which brand of memory the Dell card uses.

The other thing you might want to try first is to see how high you can overclock the card with the stock BIOS using the Rage3D Tweak utility, IF the stock BIOS allows it. Again, I don't know how the Dell version of the 9800NP is set up. Many versions of Radeon cards have overclocking disabled through the card BIOS. But if your Dell 9800NP allows it, this would give you a good idea beforehand if the core and memory are capable of achieving Pro clockspeeds.

As mentioned in my article, I've read claims that flashing to the Pro BIOS improves the "overclockability" of the card, presumably through differences in how memory timings are handled. However, many people remain skeptical of that claim, and I've never seen any definitive data to back up the assertion, nor have I done any experimentation of my own. So it's not really clear if flashing to the Pro BIOS will ultimately allow you to achieve any higher clockspeeds than simply adjusting those speeds through an overclocking utility. It is, however, a good way to permanently (unless you flash back) increase the default clockspeeds that the card uses. And if your current BIOS disables overclocking, it solves that problem nicely!

As far as "real world" difference goes, you can see the benchmark results in my article. Frame rates are up about 10% for non-CPU limited benchmarks. But if you mean "a visually noticeable improvement when playing games", I'd have to say no. Between my overall system horsepower and the Radeon 9800, the games I run are smooth, even with 4x FSAA and 8x AF at my standard 1024x768x32 resolution. A 10% improvement in frame rates doesn't make them look any smoother. But when Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 hit the streets, that may change, and I'll be glad I have those extra FPS!

 

i flashed my 9800 Non-Pro to a Pro over 6 months ago. I was lucky and got one of the older cards that was identical to the Pro except for the BIOS. I flashed it and now it runs as a pro (380/340). Best thing i ever did :)

JoePacton:

Was it an OEM Dell 9800NP?

Yes it's the one that came with my 8300. It's not OEM though. Dell gave us (or at least some of us) genuine built by ATI cards.