radeon 9500/9700 "new" pcb 3.0 vmem mod partially discovered!

[Dane]

Hi, this is my firts post on xtreme :toast:

I have a sapphire 9500 NN Pro modded @ 9700 with infineon 3.3 ddr.

Stock I have 3 voltages: 2.5v and 1.25v for ram and a 2.85v for ....???

this is a pic of the 2 voltage regulators:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=107079

I've tried the mod similar to the first rev of pcb, by soldering a 20k variable resistor to pin5 of ISL6522CB on the right of pic. I turned the pot up to 1k and I'd seen that the third voltage (2.85v) increased up to 5.xx v :slobber:

Then I chaged the mod to the voltage regulator on left (ISL6522CB). I turned the pot to 15k and done the mod on pin 5.
Now I have 1.31v on the second voltage for ddr :banana: (but pot is turned on less than 15k)

Now I'm going to check if this mod improves the overclock for infineons (stock volted = 297 Mhz :( )

Bye!
(sorry for my bad Enghish)

[DoGMaN]

Damn, I hope this works out!!! I just got a second Rev 3.0 that looks like this. Nice job man. Post your results ASAP and welcome to Xtreme!

[Dane]

The image is your of the other post :D

Now i go to test.

In your opinion which is the max voltage that I can use with 2.5v?

[Dane]

i've tried with 310 (1.31v) and there is nothing to do :(

I'll try with more voltage (1.4v)

[DoGMaN]

It would be a good idea to stay within tolerance while testing. +/-5% would be a good place to start, and I wouldn't go beyond 10% until you are sure it is relatively safe.

[Dane]

k, 1.37 ;)

[DoGMaN]

Ok I just took some readings off my 9700. 1st measurement point, closest to the power plug end of the PCB 1.436v. Second CAP in from there 2.961v. Measurement take from top cap near VGA plug 2.859v last measurement taken from cap directly below this one 1.545v.

[Dane]

I tried using 1.37v, but nothing change :(

It's time to find the way to increase the 2.5 ;)

[DoGMaN]

Yep, on my Sapphire R9500np those do control the memvoltage. The one on the right on that pic is for the operatingvoltage of the memchips and the other is propably for the termination voltage of the memchips (anyone care to explain what that voltage does?). By default, i get 2.85V for operatingvolt and 1.25V for termination voltage. If i rise the terminationvoltage over 1.3V, i need to have mem i/o-voltage over 2.5V to remain artifactfree, regardles of videomode.
Also, if i rise opvoltag over 2.95V, after reset i have similar artifacts. Still it works ok UNTILL i reset.

The memcips i/o-voltage is controlled with a the chip that is under the heatspreader, near the VPU-regulator. It's ISL6522CB chip as those two.

I have all 4 voltages under control, but sadly my card doesn't seem to benefit much from higher voltages. Even with watercooling and memsinks. Interestingly enough the only time when i got through 3D Mark run @397 was with undervolted VPU.




This is from a post at Rage3d. I don't know if it will help, but I think it has some valuable info. Like, what is that voltage you are playing with. ;)

[Dane]

ok, thanks ;)

[DoGMaN]

Any news?

[DisposableHero]

we need to figure this out!

[DoGMaN]

Yes, yes we do. I guess I'll break out the old soldering iron tomorrow. I think Dane has taken a vacation. :(

[Dane]

Ok,
I asked to Hygge from rage3d forum which voltages I have to increase,
he answered 1.25 -> 1.42 and 2.87 -> 3.6 to get 350/360 for ram.

Now I'm coming to redo the first mod to increase the 2.87v ;)
It seems that both isl6522cb regulators must be modded to take this voltages.

This is my actual mod: http://digilander.libero.it/daneviz/9500/9500%20vmod.JPG

[Dane]

It works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:banana:

The mod on pcb rev 3.0 consists in applyng a resistor to both isl6522cb chips, on pin 18. The chip on the left regulates the vref, (with infineons 3.3 stock is 1.25v), the chip on the center of board regulates VDD, (with infineons 3.3 2.85).
Now i can run @310 (or more) with only 3.26v (9.5KOhm resistor).

It's time to cool these infineons to get 400 Mhz! :D

[Hobocrow]

Originally posted by Dane
It works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:banana:

The mod on pcb rev 3.0 consists in applyng a resistor to both isl6522cb chips, on pin 18. The chip on the left regulates the vref, (with infineons 3.3 stock is 1.25v), the chip on the center of board regulates VDD, (with infineons 3.3 2.85).
Now i can run @310 (or more) with only 3.26v (9.5KOhm resistor).

It's time to cool these infineons to get 400 Mhz! :D

Great work Dane! :toast:

When you say you applied resistors to both isl6522cb chips....are you referring to the (2) isl6522 chips on the backside of the card behind the power supply? Like on the pic in your 1st post?

Did you connect resistors to "both" chips there?

"Leg 18" used for the resistor means the the SC1175 chip near the metal plate near the vga connector?

Great work, you are the man! :D

[Dane]

this is my board (I'm sorry for bad quality)
http://digilander.libero.it/daneviz/9500/9500%20vmod%20ok.JPG
I have 3 trimmers, 10k soldered on sc1175 (pin 18) for gpu,
20k soldered on the isl6522 (pin5) on the left and one 20k soldered on the isl6522 (pin5) on the right.

Bye!

[Dane]

update: ram is running @320 without ramsinks (3.3v/1.25v)

[Jeff]

Is 3.3v too much for the RAM? The reason I ask is because I can get to 382MHz with ~3.2v and I'd love to try 3.3v but didn't really think that was a 'safe' voltage.

BTW, this is on a Sapphire 9500 Pro with 3.0nS RAM. :D

[DoGMaN]

Outstanding work man!!! Thanks. I will be doing mine up in a few mins ;)

[Dane]

Originally posted by Jeff
Is 3.3v too much for the RAM? The reason I ask is because I can get to 382MHz with ~3.2v and I'd love to try 3.3v but didn't really think that was a 'safe' voltage.

BTW, this is on a Sapphire 9500 Pro with 3.0nS RAM. :D

ok, but 3.3v is 15% upper than 2.87v, I think it isn't too much.

you have a pro, I have a 9500@9700 :toast:

[Jeff]

Thanks. :thumbsup: I'll give 3.3 a try next time I bench.

[phobix]

Originally posted by Dane
ok, but 3.3v is 15% upper than 2.87v, I think it isn't too much.

you have a pro, I have a 9500@9700 :toast:

I have been running VDD at 3.35v for the last month or so, haven't even touched VDDQ, touch wood, the card is still alive, but I am getting some minor pixelation at 371, looks like I am going to have to increase Vref, does anyone know approx what value resistor I should use to increase vref? (Is 15k about right?)

[phobix]

Originally posted by DoGMaN
Ok I just took some readings off my 9700. 1st measurement point, closest to the power plug end of the PCB 1.436v. Second CAP in from there 2.961v. Measurement take from top cap near VGA plug 2.859v last measurement taken from cap directly below this one 1.545v.

Dogman, which one of these 4 readings is Vref?

[Hobocrow]

Originally posted by Dane
update: ram is running @320 without ramsinks (3.3v/1.25v)

Dane :) Have you lowered Vref volts back down to the default 1.25v?

This is exciting and I should have my VR's any day now.. Great job, thanks for sharing. :)

[Dane]

Originally posted by Hobocrow
Dane :) Have you lowered Vref volts back down to the default 1.25v?

This is exciting and I should have my VR's any day now.. Great job, thanks for sharing. :)

Yes, I have 2.87@3.3, 1.25 for vref, and 2.5 isn't modded :stick:

[DoGMaN]

Originally posted by phobix
Dogman, which one of these 4 readings is Vref?

Ok, from what I can gather, the 1.436v is vref. But I am not yet 100% sure. It seems that some are calling this memory termination voltage. I don't know what that means. I'm pretty limited in my knowledge of this stuff. I dropped out of the Electronics Engineering Technology program after a year and a half. So here is what I figure all the voltages I measured are:

1.436v = VBT (Voltage to Bus Termination)?
1.545v = vgpu
2.859v = vmem (operating)
2.961v = vddq

I have no clue if this is right. If someone with some knowledge could help out it would be appreciated.

[Pegelius]

Whoa, so it really seems to work. Damn, i've had voltmods on my Sapphire 9500np for a month now, but the problem is that i've tested only mild increases :). :rolleyes: . Ok, i just have to test this, after my Assembler exam is done :slobber: . My mem does 297, the memsinks didn't help, but i haven't rised voltages too much ;).

BTW, here's my card:

http://www.ratol.fi/~ppiippo/Mods/R9500/Radeon9500_front.jpg
http://www.ratol.fi/~ppiippo/Mods/R9500/Radeon9500_back.jpg

and some parts used for cooling:
http://www.ratol.fi/~ppiippo/Mods/R9500/Parts1.jpg

[Dane]

ok,
but probably with ramsinks (and cold air ;) )
you probably can do 310

[Pegelius]

Okay, had some fun with the card :).

I ran 3D Mark 2001 SE's lobby shooting to test memoc. 3 loops, both lo and hi.

As i had allready seen, 297 was max that didn't produce errors. This was 2.90V Vdd, 1.30Vref and 2.96V VddQ (i don't know how that was so high, i can't remember leaving it like that... :) ).

Next:
Vdd = 3.01V and
Vddq= 2.55V
303Mhz runs through the test fine.

3.11V Vdd 310Mhz runs throught the test fine.

For 317Mhz i need 3.31V to get it through fine.

324 is too much, even with 3.45V. I left it to 3.4V, because i got some mild rendering errors with 3.35V and 317Mhz when running whole 3D Mark through. Will see if that works :D.

Vref and Vddq don't seem to have much impact on the overclockability.


Another thing i've noticed with my card: rising Vgpu produces only lower oc-possibilities. With 1.47V i get the best oc for GPU, which is ~380 stable. I can run benches @390, but not 100% stable.

[Pegelius]

Yeah, played Jedi Knight II ~2 hours 384/317 and no probs :). 1600x1200 and smooth as silk. Gonna run some benches later.

OT: just came from 'avantouinti' which means that in the winter time, you make a hole on ice and go swimming on the +4 degree WARM water :). What an rush of energy, whoa! Sea is a good place to be in winter... heh.:banana:

[Hobocrow]

Originally posted by Pegelius
Yeah, played Jedi Knight II ~2 hours 384/317 and no probs :). 1600x1200 and smooth as silk. Gonna run some benches later.

OT: just came from 'avantouinti' which means that in the winter time, you make a hole on ice and go swimming on the +4 degree WARM water :). What an rush of energy, whoa! Sea is a good place to be in winter... heh.:banana:

Geeezzz! Until I read about the Warm +4 degree water and swimming in it....I thought vmods to the video card was exciting! LoL :D

[DoGMaN]

Dane, you've done well. I've applied all four mods to my 9700Pro Rev3 and now she just smokes. I'm just waiting for an MCW50-t to show up, then I can really start pushing. Thanks for all the help. :D

[Dane]

Originally posted by DoGMaN
Dane, you've done well. I've applied all four mods to my 9700Pro Rev3 and now she just smokes. I'm just waiting for an MCW50-t to show up, then I can really start pushing. Thanks for all the help. :D

hehe!
I'm waiting for wb and later coldplates :D :D

[DoGMaN]

Well here is the tale of the tape so far. Before any mods 380 core 348 mem. After all the mods 425 core 366 mem. This is with the following voltages:
Vref = 1.447v
VDD = 3.000v
VDDQ = 3.015v
VGPU = 1.586v

I don't want to push too many volts into it just yet. At least not until I get some better cooling.

[youthemandan]

On my gigabyte 9700 pro the vref is stock at 1.43. I get some sweet mem overclocks with that combined with the stock 3v setting on the ram. I think a nice vref mod will help u guys with ur mem oc'es considerably

[DoGMaN]

The only problem is, if you up vref too fast, or too much, you smoke your card. :(

[grapeape]

Dane, what bios did you use to upgrade your 9500 NP to 9700?

[Svenn]

Okay, I'm totally lost here... I have several questions.
1) Why are there 4 voltages?!
2) What does each do and what are safe levels for them?
3) Which pins raise each?
4) Where are the measurement points for each voltage?
5) What did you use for ground on each mod?

I've only done 1 voltage mod and it was on my KX7 with clips...

[sysfailur]

Heh I'm w/ Svenn here... he asked me to try and make some sense of the mods...

Please draw either a diagram, or a digicam picture w/ LABELED points. I'm sure one of you guys can do that. Keep the pic high res too if possible!

[bowman1964]

ok guys let me help you a little click this link and you will get a little more than the pic. :D

looky here (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10102&pagenumber=2)

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=117898

[RuKuS]

For all of these mods that need to be done?

Was looking for pics as Bowman had stated, but couldn't find any.

So there are 4 mods in total that need to be done?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!! :toast:

Also need measuring points for voltages... :D

[Ragnarok]

i need to do this mod as well
my powercolor 9700 non pro v3.0 core oc so damn well

390 un modded, untouched

but mem as expected is a piece of §§§§.. 3.3 ns hynix but only 310 @ stock..

if anyone can wack up a conclusive volt mod pictorial will be greatly appreciated, all those links contained too much information for gfx volt modding newbies like me to absorb ;)

[RuKuS]

Originally posted by Ragnarok
i need to do this mod as well
my powercolor 9700 non pro v3.0 core oc so damn well

390 un modded, untouched

but mem as expected is a piece of §§§§.. 3.3 ns hynix but only 310 @ stock..

if anyone can wack up a conclusive volt mod pictorial will be greatly appreciated, all those links contained too much information for gfx volt modding newbies like me to absorb ;)

I did all 4 mods already. When I get home I'll put something together. I couldn't find one place that had a complete guide to all of the mods, but I managed to do them all successfully. :toast:

[Ragnarok]

ah cheers :) :banana:

[vertices]

I could also use a better guide to the mem mods. Modding the core was a piece of cake but I really need some mem mods for my Retail version 3.0 9700pro.

I got my core up to 479 but I can't get my friggin mem over 355.

[RuKuS]

I haven't forgotten about you guys, I'm working on it right now. I'll post it soon. :toast:

[Ragnarok]

:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

[DisposableHero]

i want to hear from dane about how his card is handleing 3.3 vmem

[Hobocrow]

Originally posted by DisposableHero
i want to hear from dane about how his card is handleing 3.3 vmem

I don't know how Danes' card is doing, but, I was running my 9500np at this everyday and on AIR with a 3Dmark03 score of 6095! :) VDDQ=2.800v, Vgpu=1.820v, Vref=1.350v and VDD=3.503v! :eek:
Now if my new 9800pro would just do that! ;)

[Dane]

my ram aren't so good :(

@3.33v I run very stable without ramsink and artifacts :D @ 317 :(

but the gpu......... 470/480 :D

[DisposableHero]

Originally posted by Hobocrow
I don't know how Danes' card is doing, but, I was running my 9500np at this everyday and on AIR with a 3Dmark03 score of 6095! :) VDDQ=2.800v, Vgpu=1.820v, Vref=1.350v and VDD=3.503v! :eek:
Now if my new 9800pro would just do that! ;)

wow... so how long have you ran the vdd @ 3.5?

[RuKuS]

Originally posted by Ragnarok
:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

This is the Vcore one...

[RuKuS]

Originally posted by Ragnarok
:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

This is the Vdd (mem) and Vref...

[RuKuS]

Originally posted by Ragnarok
:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

This is the Vddq...

[RuKuS]

I'm not sure what the best settings are for the VR's, but I set them all (for Vdd, Vref, and Vddq) to 2.7k Ohms and started adjusting from there...

I didn't burn out my card or anything, so it's a pretty safe place to start. If anyone else knows what to set them to, feel free to let us know! :toast:

[DisposableHero]

for VDD i just put it on at 10k ohms... and it put me right away at 3.05 or so... how could you possibly put it to 2.7k :eek:

btw.. what voltages are you running on each

[Dane]

I think that using 2.7k for all mods will burn the board :)

[Hobocrow]

Originally posted by Dane
I think that using 2.7k for all mods will burn the board :)

I used a 10k vr on the Vgpu (it measured 9.7+k) and it raised my voltaged to 1.7v default. I used 20k vr's on everything else, setting them to their max ohm readings...I got a default voltage increase even with 20k vrs of : VDD=3.11v, Edit://Vref=1.374 (should be Vref=1.324v) Edit://, VDDQ=2.76v.

Hygge over at rage3d forums was running VDD=3.64v. :eek:

Since I've retired the 9500np I'm going to lower everything back to default volts...it's a great card! :)

[Dane]

hobocrow, I use trimmers like you.

3.64v is 28% vmem increase (2.85v = stock)
3.33v is only 17%

I run without problems and ramsinks @3.33.
with active cooling on ramchips I think that 3.64v is good only for some bench.

[Hobocrow]

Originally posted by Dane
hobocrow, I use trimmers like you.

3.64v is 28% vmem increase (2.85v = stock)
3.33v is only 17%

I run without problems and ramsinks @3.33.
with active cooling on ramchips I think that 3.64v is good only for some bench.

Dane :) I used trimmers like you! You were first! ;)

I'm sure increased voltages will shorten the cards life, but you gotta cool it and turn it up for benching!

[DisposableHero]

what do you think is an ok everyday use voltage? 3.2?

[Dane]

yes,
It's 12% overvolt.
If you use a good cooling I think that 3.2v is acceptable.

[RuKuS]

Thanks for letting these guys know where to set them. As I said, I started off at that and adjusted immediately. I did not burn my card. :D


I'm currently running the memory at 3.3v, no problems yet! :banana:

[DisposableHero]

Originally posted by RuKuS
Thanks for letting these guys know where to set them. As I said, I started off at that and adjusted immediately. I did not burn my card. :D


I'm currently running the memory at 3.3v, no problems yet! :banana:

for how long now?

[RuKuS]

Originally posted by DisposableHero
for how long now?

About a month. When I first got the card and was benching, I had raised it all the way up to 3.6v!

I managed to get the memory to 347 MHz, @ 3.4v with no problems whatsoever. I didn't try any higher because I need to get some ramsinks (on the way).

Here's a 3DMark score:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=628038 :banana:

[Dane]

which bios are you using, rukus?

[Ragnarok]

so wats the verdict :)

whats a safe starting resistance for vcore/vref/vdd/vddq?

[BMORIN]

Exactly. I don't have the equipment or the know-how to get all the voltage measurements.

I'm just wanting someone to help out us idiots by just giving us the resistor sizes to get a good overclock on all the mods.

I don't see the need for the vcore (vgpu) mod since my 8rda+ already lets me choose up to 1.8vagp already. Correct? Or am I stupid and need the vcore mod as well?

Thx

[Ragnarok]

vagp doesnt affect vgpu..

setting it higher wont do crap..

[BMORIN]

ahh, thx. I'm just an idiot then, hehe.

RESISTOR SIZES PLZ FOR EACH MOD

[The Juice]

Dane, I have the same card you have. However I cannot seem to overclock it for crap, I may have the wrong bios. What bios do you have for your card? There only seems to be one bios on Wizzards website that will work with this card, maybe I missed one or you got yours from somewhere else. Could you maybe backup your cards bios and post a link to it so I may download it? Thanks.

[Pita^Norf]

Hi,

A quick question...what BIOS are the 9500np users running ? and where can I get it ?

TIA

[naughty_guy]

Hey guys... I got a few question as a Vmod newbie.

I know by upping the VDD and Vcore will significantly help OCing the core and memory, but will upping the vref or vddq help in anyway??

And what do you guys suggest as maximum voltage for all of them (air cooled)??

Finally, what will be good Ohm settings for VDD and Vcore to start with? What Ohm will give default voltage for them? What are their default voltages?

Thx

[Pita^Norf]

Originally posted by naughty_guy
Hey guys... I got a few question as a Vmod newbie.

I know by upping the VDD and Vcore will significantly help OCing the core and memory, but will upping the vref or vddq help in anyway??

And what do you guys suggest as maximum voltage for all of them (air cooled)??

Finally, what will be good Ohm settings for VDD and Vcore to start with? What Ohm will give default voltage for them? What are their default voltages?

Thx

Naughty_guy,

Apart from a few thread on this forum I found the following threads most helpful as the info for all the mods were concentrated here (http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33662242&perpage=20&pagenumber=1) & here (http://thecrucible.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?t=83)

HTH

Jai jen ;)

[naughty_guy]

thanks, i'll have a look at them and post any more problems if i have any.


PS: it would be very nice if someone could do a summary and guide to Vmods (vcore vmem, etc) for a 9700pro, since it's a popular card and many people have it. Including me !::!:!