Should my 9700 be Pro capable

[Li'l ol' me]

I have an ATI built 9700 which is only IDed by the part number 109-94200-11.
I can't even tell for sure it's a non-pro. The handfull of google links
would indicate a Pro version, but the clock speeds are really low for a pro.

From what I can gather (I rarely look at this group) I *should* be able to
overclock to pro speeds, but I can barely overclock at all. I saw something
about a soft-mod, but I thought this was just for 9500s that were really
9700s but with 4 extra pipelines deactivated (or something). How many
pipelines has a 9700 got, 4 or 8? Anyone know why I can't overclock the
9700 by more than a trivial amount?

While I'm here I a have an embarassing problem. Not THAT kind! I tried to
remove the 9700 card as I'm selling it, but I can't detach the power cable-
it's stuck! Has this happened to anyone else? I don't wanna force it and
risk turning the card into a worthless piece of plastic.

 

[Richard III]

I have an ATI built 9700 which is only IDed by the part number 109-94200-11.
I can't even tell for sure it's a non-pro. The handfull of google links
would indicate a Pro version, but the clock speeds are really low for a pro.

From what I can gather (I rarely look at this group) I *should* be able to
overclock to pro speeds, but I can barely overclock at all. I saw something
about a soft-mod, but I thought this was just for 9500s that were really
9700s but with 4 extra pipelines deactivated (or something). How many
pipelines has a 9700 got, 4 or 8? Anyone know why I can't overclock the
9700 by more than a trivial amount?

8 piplines. Your card probably has marginal ram and that's why it
won't OC. Overclocking is *never* guaranteed.

While I'm here I a have an embarassing problem. Not THAT kind! I tried to
remove the 9700 card as I'm selling it, but I can't detach the power cable-
it's stuck! Has this happened to anyone else? I don't wanna force it and
risk turning the card into a worthless piece of plastic.

Mine is hard to get off too, you just have to jiggle it off.

 

[Skid]

Depending on the kind of ram your card uses, you may not be able to
overclock the memory that much but you should be able to raise the gpu to
Pro speeds without problems.

I have a 9500 non-pro, modded to 9700. It was originally clocked at 276/270.
The core will go to 340 or so, the memory starts producing artifacts above
300. I am able to run it every day at 325/297 without problems, and it's
much faster than before in games and benchmarks.

You just need to experiment. With the core and memory locked or synchronous,
raise it a little at a time until you start to see glitches, spots or
breakup in a high-stess benchmark like 3DMark '01 or '03.

Back it down until the problems disappear, and the unlock the core to raise
it asynchronously. It might lock up or kick you back to the desktop when you
go too far, and you might want to let it cool a minute before rebooting.

As for the stubborn connector, rock it a little and be careful not to pull
it by the wires -- if they break you've got a bigger problem. A
mini-screwdriver or knife blade can help you pry it from below.