All Sapphire 9800 Pros can use XT BIOS?

[Wblane]

I've read on the Rage3d forums about this mod and some people over there say
that all Sapphire 9800 Pros have the R360 core and can thus use the Sapphire XT
BIOS. Is the rumor true?
-Bill (remove "botizer" to reply via email)

 

[Ben Pope]

I've read on the Rage3d forums about this mod and some people over there
say that all Sapphire 9800 Pros have the R360 core and can thus use the
Sapphire XT BIOS. Is the rumor true?

Yes, the R350 core never existed, it was entirely made up to allow a broader
range of products, the R360 is not better than the R350, which is why the
350 also includes a temp sensor. Umm, maybe not.

Ben

 

[maniac]

Yes, the R350 core never existed, it was entirely made up to allow a
broader range of products, the R360 is not better than the R350,
which is why the 350 also includes a temp sensor. Umm, maybe not.

You are wrong. R350 was the same chip as R360 but it hadn't thermal senson
integrated with the VPU.
From the beginning of the 2004 year all R9800 Pro/XT cards are equiped with
R360 core.
So I can say, yes, all actual produced R9800 Pros are able to work with
R9800 XT BIOS. But you will have to check out if your card can work with
412/365 MHz (core/mem) clocks. Be aware... card should be additionaly cooled
by heatsinks on the memory chips. ;P

 

[Stephen Chu]

You are wrong. R350 was the same chip as R360 but it hadn't thermal senson
integrated with the VPU.
From the beginning of the 2004 year all R9800 Pro/XT cards are equiped with
R360 core.
So I can say, yes, all actual produced R9800 Pros are able to work with
R9800 XT BIOS. But you will have to check out if your card can work with
412/365 MHz (core/mem) clocks. Be aware... card should be additionaly cooled
by heatsinks on the memory chips. ;P

Is there anyway to just enable the temp sensor?

My Sapphire 9800 pro does have a R360 core. I have Zalman cooler on the
VPU, but not the RAM. So I don't want to flash it with XT BIOS.

I guess I can always down-clock the RAM after boot up?

 

[JTS]

Wow, man. Wow.

Yes, the R350 core never existed, it was entirely made up to allow a broader
range of products, the R360 is not better than the R350, which is why the
350 also includes a temp sensor. Umm, maybe not.

Ben

 

[maniac]

Is there anyway to just enable the temp sensor?

There is the one and only solution. Flashing Pro to XT is needed.

My Sapphire 9800 pro does have a R360 core. I have Zalman cooler on
the VPU, but not the RAM. So I don't want to flash it with XT BIOS.

OK, there is a theory. If your card is good cooled by the Zalman cooler so
the PCB should be cooler/colder than with stock colling. Just try 412/665
MHz on your card... Play some games with advanced gfx (FarCry, NFS:
Underground and may onther). No artifacts after 1-2 hours = you can flash
your card without any fear.

I guess I can always down-clock the RAM after boot up?

Yeah you can, but for what?

 

[Navid]

Is there anyway to just enable the temp sensor?

My Sapphire 9800 pro does have a R360 core. I have Zalman cooler on the
VPU, but not the RAM. So I don't want to flash it with XT BIOS.

I guess I can always down-clock the RAM after boot up?

I have read that you will get the temperature reading and the overdrive tab
only if you have a 256MB card. If you have a 128MB card, with R360, you can
still benefit from the improved shaders if you flash. But, you will not get
the temp reading or the overdrive tab. The sensor is not a part of the
R360. It is another component on the card with 256MB of memory. Just what
I have read.

 

[Pip]

Is there anyway to just enable the temp sensor?

My Sapphire 9800 pro does have a R360 core. I have Zalman cooler on the
VPU, but not the RAM. So I don't want to flash it with XT BIOS.

I guess I can always down-clock the RAM after boot up?

There's a thread on forums.overclockers.co.uk
(http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17229146)
that has a flashing disk that can flash any R360-cored card to:
Have XT features at XT speeds with Hynix RAM
Have XT features at XT speeds with Samsung RAM
Have XT features at 9800PRO speeds with Hynix RAM
Have XT features at 9800PRO speeds with Samsung RAM

I think this sounds like what you're looking for?

I think my card is R350-cored though, because I had odd bits (mostly on
the edges of shadows, I think) when using either of the Hynix R360
BIOSes. Not general "you've overclocked too far" corruption, but really
odd stuff in specific places such as shadows, maybe other stuff. I'll be
taking the HSF off to see at some point.

 

[Father_Apathy]

Is there anyway to just enable the temp sensor?

My Sapphire 9800 pro does have a R360 core. I have Zalman cooler on the
VPU, but not the RAM. So I don't want to flash it with XT BIOS.

I guess I can always down-clock the RAM after boot up?

Sounds like an awful lot of work just for a few extra frames that will most
likely go unnoticed except in a few benchmarks...

 

[Navid]

Sounds like an awful lot of work just for a few extra frames that will
most
likely go unnoticed except in a few benchmarks...

You have to pay about $100 more to get this additional performance (XT). If
there is a way to get it for free, why not?

 

[Stephen Chu]

There's a thread on forums.overclockers.co.uk
(http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17229146)
that has a flashing disk that can flash any R360-cored card to:
Have XT features at XT speeds with Hynix RAM
Have XT features at XT speeds with Samsung RAM
Have XT features at 9800PRO speeds with Hynix RAM
Have XT features at 9800PRO speeds with Samsung RAM

I think this sounds like what you're looking for?

Yes. Thanks a lot. Will give it a try.

 

[Wblane]

I just wanted to thank Ben Pope for his sarcastic bullshit answer that was
wrong.
Thanks again Ben!

You are wrong. R350 was the same chip as R360 but it hadn't thermal senson
integrated with the VPU.
From the beginning of the 2004 year all R9800 Pro/XT cards are equiped with
R360 core.
So I can say, yes, all actual produced R9800 Pros are able to work with
R9800 XT BIOS. But you will have to check out if your card can work with
412/365 MHz (core/mem) clocks. Be aware... card should be additionaly cooled
by heatsinks on the memory chips. ;P

-Bill (remove "botizer" to reply via email)

 

[Ben Pope]

I just wanted to thank Ben Pope for his sarcastic bullshit answer that was
wrong.
Thanks again Ben!

I have a Sapphire 9800 Pro with an R350 core.

Which I would suggest, doesn't make me wrong.

I don't doubt that new ones have an R360, but mine is R350, and hence
invalidates the "all Sapphire 9800 Pros have the R360 core "

Ben

 

[Wblane]

Too bad that wasn't my post or topic. I was asking if all SAPPHIRE 9800 PRO's
can use the XT BIOS. Thanks again though. Thanks for playing too.

I have a Sapphire 9800 Pro with an R350 core.

Which I would suggest, doesn't make me wrong.

I don't doubt that new ones have an R360, but mine is R350, and hence
invalidates the "all Sapphire 9800 Pros have the R360 core "

Ben

-Bill (remove "botizer" to reply via email)

 

[Ben Pope]

Too bad that wasn't my post or topic. I was asking if all SAPPHIRE 9800
PRO's can use the XT BIOS. Thanks again though. Thanks for playing too.

Oh really? Lets go back to your post, and my reply, shall we?

I've read on the Rage3d forums about this mod and some people over there
say that all Sapphire 9800 Pros have the R360 core and can thus use the
Sapphire XT BIOS. Is the rumor true?

Yes, the R350 core never existed, it was entirely made up to allow a broader
range of products, the R360 is not better than the R350, which is why the
350 also includes a temp sensor. Umm, maybe not.
</quote>

I replied to the question to which you posted in the body of your post.

Perhaps if you didn't top post you would be able to follow your own thread?
I'll explain how it works... you post something, I reply to it. I include a
quote of what you said, and then reply below it. That way everybody
(including yourself) can follow the "thread" of conversation. Get it?

Outright denying your own post, further down the same thread is a little
silly, especially when it is recorded for all time here:
http://www.google.co.uk/[email protected]

So I guess that WAS both YOUR POST and YOUR TOPIC.

It's not my fault you can't ask the question to which you want a reply.

Thank YOU for playing.

Ben