9800pro with R360 core

[Esper]

I just bought a Radeon 90800pro and when I removed the stock fan and heatsink, I noticed the chip is marked R360 instead of R350.

Can I flash this to the 9800XT bios? Would it make a difference?

[Esper]

I figured maybe I should add some more details here, because I didn't get any responses

Okay, here's the deal.

Radeon 9800Pro cards are supposed to have a R350 core. This runs at 9800pro speed and does not have the capability to monitor the chip temp and use overdrive.

When I got my OEM 90800pro last week, I took off the stock fan and heatsink, and amazingly, the chip is marked R360.

The R360 is used for the Radeon 9800XT. It can run faster and has the ability to monitor the temp and use overdrive.

What I want to know is, can I flash this to the 9800XT bios?

If I do this, will I gain the ability to use overdrive?

Will I notice any difference by flashing it as compared to simply overclocking it?

Right now I have it running perfectly stable at 405 core and 357 memory. The XT only runs a bit faster, I think 412 and 365. I haven't tried it any higher than what I have it set at now, but I do have a nice Vantec Iceberq on it along with some Tweakmonster ramsinks, so I think I might be able to push it a bit farther yet.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Benssax]

I flashed my R350 core with the XT bios it worked fine expect test 2&3 in 3dmark 03. You can flash it and run 3dmark 03 and make sure you don't see a ghosting effect on thoses benches.

[Benssax]

If it runs it perfect I would say it worked.. I"m back to the 9800pro bios.

[causticVapor]

I've read up on the whole thing and it seems that most R360-cored 9800 pros don't do as well as their R350-cored counterparts. It's been speculated that they were binned cores that couldn't handle XT speeds, which is not surprising but a bit odd in the frequency of occurrence. I remember reading up that yields were never really high enough on the r350 and that could have passed over to the r360 generation, hence the bins on the r360 actually being not capable of as high speeds since they are known not to work at 412MHz whereas the R350s are in the air (and thus better).

The key thing to remember is that the r350s have no known ceiling, while binned r360s tend to.

[Esper]

I ran ATItool last night and mine is fine at 412 and above... with the memory overclocked as well.

[causticVapor]

yes...but the question is, can it run 440?

[Benssax]

My R350 is a POS. You can see artifacts after 430mhz on the core. This is also with the VGA Sliencer....

[bblqj78]

My R350 is a POS. You can see artifacts after 430mhz on the core. This is also with the VGA Sliencer....

Same here.

ATI Tool gave me a good sped of about 411/...which I thould was kinda low

[PlatoonSgtElias]

Originally posted by Benssax
My R350 is a POS. You can see artifacts after 430mhz on the core. This is also with the VGA Sliencer....

imo VGA coolers suck A hole.
Nuy a FalconRock2 and mount it on the Radeon and its gonna be *****ing... think Falconrock2@7v OCto like 450core

[causticVapor]

Mine won't go beyond 410 with a zm80c-hp, but I don't call it a POS

Greedy people

[Someone Stupid]

XT Bios, I wouldn't do it.

Overclocks: I'd say a 50 MHz increase is quite good on either core - if the card is an R360 core, but binned as a Pro, either it is due to silicon issues or demand for Pro's (I'd guess silicon issues) - so the R360 desgination doesn't mean much unless you know exactly why your Pro has that core. Some rarely don't even hit 400 with an AS if you read up enough on it. Most tend to hit btw 420 and 440 with no mods other than an AS. Juice generally is needed for most cores to reliably go past that. GPU's already run consdierably hot compared to most CPU's due to dinky coolers and the fact that they are pushed VERY hard as they never can run at 100% due to how coding is processed. So cores are pushed further since ATi and Nvidia know this, which makes it harder on the OC'er as the core is already an inferno, especially on certain test or games that happen to use more than what was expected.

You also don't have the easy core increases due to the heat factor. So a 50 Mhz gain is quite good on a 380 MHz core. Most with scores that are higher (WITHOUT artifacts)are GENERALLY starting to get into high end cooling and v-modding. My Pro hit 422 stable on stock with rthdrbl and ATiTool running at the same time. Aftermarket was 450ish if I wanted it before an accident. I may have had a 475-500 card had it not lost most of the sink and if I would have modded it. If you want a higher clock speed your going to have to v-mod. GPU's on the high end are already pushed quite hard. If you want faster switching, eventually you'll have to increase the juice, and this is what seperates the hardcore people from others. Those who'll completely disregard the cards health for more MHz. Don't confuse them with you. You did an easy mod expecting huge results from people who literally rewired a key part of the board and are generally running watercooling or have an SLK600 or something such as that bolted to the card.

The days of easiliy getting 50 MHz out of a card are over for now it seems, a Ti didn't produce that much heat, so on stock it could hit 300 from 250. Now the die isn't covered as heat is that much more of an issue. As all overclockers should know, heat, the silicon itself, and voltage are two hurdles which inevitably are going to be hit.

I've heard of people buying 5 P4C's 2.8 or 3.2's IIRC) trying to reach 4 GHz, and having only ONE do it with extreme cooling, a hefty vcore increase and some very expensive memory. If you buy 5 Pro's, you'll probably get one that will hit 445-455 with good cooling, but any higher and your looking at vmods and more than air generally. Don't confuse simple modding with a hardcore modder who will go WAY out the way at times to get higher speeds. I'm now happy with my now 408 MHz after the accident as it isn't dead and it should be. Hell, I'd be happy with it even if that was it's max beforehand. I'm using the Zalman, which isn't the best, but was at the time unless you had a good CPU cooler to spare and some free time to mod it on there. It is modded (highly actively cooled and a duct in the dead spot). I don't think it would even run with the stock cooler as now it runs about 15C hotter by probe on heatpipe than before it lost the sink. It was reattached, but the damage was done.

I'm not trying to bash, but the cards aren't designed to be overclocked in general with a few exceptions. Companies want the fastest stable speeds they can get on stock for the dollar so cores are being pushed very hard. So f you want to go higher, you have to start tinkering and risk losing a card. I remember 4600 Ti's only getting a 15 MHz gain compared to a 4200 Ti which could get a 50-65 MHz gain - thus running clock for clock with a card that was MUCH more expensive at the time. Same core and that would be considered great for each. The 4600 and 4200's are more than half the speed of the 9800 Pro and runs tons cooler due to many factors yet the top of the line card only gets 15 MHz generally. Your at the top of the the line and still getting nearly the same gains. Hell my NP before I sold it gave me a decent OC, yet it wasn't like the old Ti's. Cores are hotter and more tempermental on both sides, ATi and Nvidia. Silicon isn't magic, there is more to just keeping it cool, especially when you have the whole board where one "bad" component can kill an overclock.

Sorry your expectations weren't met, but if you want higher, start doing some indepth reading, practice your soldering skills a ton, and get familiar with your local radio shack.

[Esper]

Finally! An answer to my question, YAY!

I never said that I was unhappy with the gains I got from my card, though. I was just curious to see if I could flash it to the XT bios, or even if it would be a good idea to try and get more outta it.

ATITool found that it can run well above what I have it clocked at now, but I am at the point where I don't want to ruin it -- I am happy that I got this much out of it, since it is running at just about XT speeds anyway.

So my pro will probably stay at the 405/357 I have it at now.

Thanks all!

[AdamST]

I used ATI Tool and i got a core speed of 425.25 with stock cooling, but i ran artifact tester and got some so i i had to back it down to 417/370 on stock cooling. Everyone tells me i need to get the VGA silencer, but other people say no way. OTHER then the VGA silencer whats the best cooler for a 9800pro?

[Esper]

It seems like a lot of people have the VGA silencer, but I am using the Vantec Iceberq along with Arctic Silver 5, which I like a lot.

It comes in a couple different models so make sure you get the right one for your card. It's really easy to install, and, it has a nice blue light built into the fan. Not sure if you like that sort of thing...

Then I also got some ramsinks because I am overclocking the memory as well.

I opted not to get the VGA silencer because a few reviews said that the heatsink that touches the CPU needed to be sanded/reworked so that it was a nice shiny surface. The Iceberq surface is like a mirror straight out of the box.

If you are still wondering though, you can always do what I did -- google the one you're thinking of getting and read the reviews.