what does modding a 9800 pro to a 9800XT actually do?

[Sham B]

Ive tried to search on the various NGs and search engines to tell me what I actually gain by
flashing my 9800 pro to XT, but cant seem to find anything... so what do I gain, given that I run at
XT OCs anyway?

My 9800 can run happily at 430/370 (and is often left on 24-7 at this speed) and I understand that
the XT runs at 412/370, so I seem to be in spec there, but I don't know if I have a 350 or 360 GPU
(will check if/when I have decided to do the mod).


S

 

[First of One]

From what I read, you may be able to get the Overdrive tab working in the
ATi drivers. This is the only "benefit" you will get, and even that is
dubious.

 

[Neil]

message

From what I read, you may be able to get the Overdrive tab working in the
ATi drivers. This is the only "benefit" you will get, and even that is
dubious.

For the same clock speeds there is some
performance increase. I can't remember what it's
caused by, someone explained once. And I don't
really know whether it shows up in real games or
not, because I never really had any "proper" games
before I flashed my card. It certainly shows up
in 3DMark03:

Pro BIOS, Pro clock speeds = 5550 3DMarks
XT BIOS, Pro clock speeds = 5760

Pro BIOS, XT clock speeds = 6000
XT BIOS, XT clock speeds = 6200

Everything else identical and as described in
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=2746241

It's small differences in all the game tests
(except the first).

Neil

 

[Sham B]

For the same clock speeds there is some
performance increase. I can't remember what it's
caused by, someone explained once. And I don't
really know whether it shows up in real games or
not, because I never really had any "proper" games
before I flashed my card. It certainly shows up
in 3DMark03:

Hmmm. I think I'll stick with what I have then. Didnt fancy reapplying that arctic 5 anyway.
Runined the last wallet because I didnt clean the credit card properly

Thanks for the info all

S

 

[First of One]

Interesting, even though the difference is only 3%. Do you have the Pro BIOS
results on the ORB for a line-by-line comparison? I just wanna see if the
other tests (fill rate, vertex/pixel-shader, ragtroll...) showed a
difference.

It could also be tighter memory timings in the XT BIOS, in which case the
improvement will propagate through all games.

 

[Neil]

message

Interesting, even though the difference is only 3%. Do you have the Pro BIOS
results on the ORB for a line-by-line

comparison? I just wanna see if the

other tests (fill rate, vertex/pixel-shader, ragtroll...) showed a
difference.

It could also be tighter memory timings in the XT BIOS, in which case the
improvement will propagate through all games.

I have, but having only the simple 3DMark I can
only publish one project at a time

Here's the comparison:

GT1: 158->158
GT2: 41->45
GT3: 36->38
GT4: 41->42

CPU tests: identical (45 & 8)

Fill rate tests: identical (1826 & 3167)

Vertex & pixel shader tests: identical (20 & 58)

Ragtroll: 26->30

Sound tests: identical (31, 27 & can't do it)

Neil

 

[Neil]

message

Interesting, even though the difference is only
3%. Do you have the Pro BIOS
results on the ORB for a line-by-line
comparison? I just wanna see if the
other tests (fill rate, vertex/pixel-shader,
ragtroll...) showed a difference.

It could also be tighter memory timings in the
XT BIOS, in which case the
improvement will propagate through all games.

I have, but having only the simple 3DMark I can
only publish one project at a time

Here's the comparison:

GT1: 158->158
GT2: 41->45
GT3: 36->38
GT4: 41->42

CPU tests: identical (46 & 8)

Fill rate tests: identical (1826 & 3167)

Vertex & pixel shader tests: identical (20 & 58)

Ragtroll: 26->30

Sound tests: identical (31, 27 & can't do it)

Neil