9800XT vmods

sky very interesting there. You do have the vpu recover thingie turned OFF no? Tell you what, i got an Saphire 9800Pro with 256mb. It's not a remarked whatever XT one. It's died playing a game. Maybe i should RMA it and maybe i can get one of those remarked ones. I can't tell you exactly how to fix yours. If i had it i could make it run better i'm sure. Post some links to bigger pics of both sides of the card and maybe i can see something.

Hobocrow was that an r9800pro or xt? I don't think i need any parts since the one i have matches so close. Only thing is i really suck at soldering chips. I got a couple friends that might be able to do it for me. I'm gonna try it first. I still may take you up on that offer though.

Right now i got more important issues. This Herc 9800xt is getting about 10fps less than my ati in this game. I had everthing maxed before AA and AF etc. Only thing is i had some registry tweaks on my other card for benching. Hmm wonder if that's it. I noticed the textures look cleaner on this card. hehe i'll have to figure out what registry tweaks i was using before when i bench again.

Now tough decision i have to make right now. Do i keep my pack mule that carries approx what 4 characters can carry or trade him for this nature magic user with good stats? Hmm maybe a beer or a doobie will help me decide. ;) Surf's up dudes dudes :)

Hobocrow what's not to understand? Basically one of the 8 legged chips is fried internally. I don't have an exact replacement for it. All you have to do is find another one with same pin outs and close to same RDS(on) and close to same amount of amps. RDS(on) is very important in that instead of a current sense resistor, RDS(on) is the current sense resistance. No resistor needed. However a current sense resistor can be added to it. They don't use current sense resistors for VDD, VDDQ or Vref. They do use it for gpu Vcore though. Notice the stock one had an RDS(on) of 17meg ohms and 8.0 amps and the one i'm gonna use has an RDS(on) of 14meg ohms and 9.4. Usually but not always RDS(on) the lower it is the higher the amps. For instance an International Rectifier 7809 is 9meg ohms and 13.3 amps and thier 7313 is 29meg ohms and 6.5 amps. The 7822 is 6.5meg ohms and 18.0 amps.

Oh you also have to figure out the switching frequency of the chip. The one i fried and the new one are way different. I'll have to change the switching freq coming from the isl6522 chip based on theese equations.

Fs 200kHz + [5X(10to the 6th power)]/RT

Hope that doesn't confuse you. hehe

MrCrusher to see if one of your FET's are fried try checking resistance of pin 9 to ground of the Vref and vddq controller chip. It should be close to 45k ohms. Also check resistance for the 5v line next to the molex plug. If resistance of pin 9 matches the 5v resistance then the FET is fried. I'm not positive about any of this. But comparing my nex xt to my old one does confirm this. If you find that one of the FET's are fried wait until i attempt to fix mine. It's very possible we can both bring the cards back to life. Although mine isn't really dead. It just artifacts bigtime at any speed cause Vref volts go high and low like mad.

Hey also plug it back in and check all your volts and see what they're at. I mean check em when you load a 3d ap and or bench and not just windows. If you see any freakage like mine i think we got a fix. If you don't get a freakage then you may have fried something else. Maybe send the card this way and i can look at it and maybe get lucky. :)

Just a question, but on the vGPU mod, has anyone here seen 1.9v kill a 9800xt? The reason I ask, is that a friend of mine asked me to perform this mod for him so I did. The soldering was flawless (if I do say so myself, as I do this type of work for a living and have done for some time), the connections were right, and everything was just as in the threads I've read. However, the card wouldn't post when the computer was turned on. No post error codes, not anything. We backed down on the voltage (which in retrospect, we probably should have made sure it was all ok before going to 1.9 with it but everyone seems to have had quite a bit of success at that voltage) and still nothing. Kind of a bummer, but it's the kind of risks you take when doing this sort of thing I suppose. The good news is, we removed the mods and cleaned the card up nicely, and I think we will be able to RMA it with no problem...

But, back to the question, has this happened to anyone else?

Yes and no. I did what i thought was the best solding job ever on my abit ic7 mobo. Well it didn't boot at all. It was dead for a couple months but finally came back to life. So it could have been your soldering job. I've killed a couple vid cards because i didn't have it seated in the agp slot all the way. I've never killed one doing a gpu core or vdd or Vref mod. O/Cing sometimes kills mine. Hell playing a game stock can kill em.

Here's the secret to volt modding. Draw a diagram of the area you'll be working at. Write down resistance from resistors in that area and for caps and diodes as well. After you volt mod check resistances again. This has saved me quite a few times. It takes time and is worth it.

Sorry I have not been responding. I got the new toy yesterday at xtremegear.com since the 9600XT just was not cutting it. I got use to playing COD ultra smooth with 4aa & 16af with the clocked 9800XT. Xtreme has a OEM BBA 9800PRO for $207 plus shipping. I spent the day doing the mods (Vgpu, Vdd, Vref). Now that I have some experience, the mods and soldering came out really clean.

I started with the mem and played with Vref and lowering a little from 1.41v stock to 1.39v got me from stock 333Mhz stock to 360Mhz. Next I upped Vdd from 2.93v stock to 3.31v and this got me to 375Mhz. I am not sure how much more this can take so I am stopping here for now so I do not fry 2 cards in one week.

What really surprised me with this r350 core was its overclocking potential. I started by raising the Vgpu from 1.73v stock to 1.85v and this got me from 378Mhz to 440Mhz. Next came 1.95v to the GPU and out came 480Mhz just 20Mhz shy of my crippled 9800xt. I then hit it with 2.0v and got up to 510Mhz. The tempature probe is at 48c on a load. I am stopping here since my 3dmark2003 score is now past the best I was able to do with the 9800XT.

Tomorrow I am going to replace the MCW50 with a MCW50-T that the 9800XT overwhelmed. The 9800Pro is putting out a lot less heat so I will see if the MCW50T can get anymore out of this core.

Catch22, I measure all the Volts on the 9800XT and they are all at the stock levels. I sit and watched vref for a few minutes and no change stayed at 1.40v. I can get into windows but as soon as I open up any programs I get the matrix screne. I will measrue those resistence's and get back to you with what I find. But I think Dr. Catch might need to preform surgery if this patient is going to live.

Quote:

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Originally posted by CATCH22ATPLAY
sky very interesting there. You do have the vpu recover thingie turned OFF no? Tell you what, i got an Saphire 9800Pro with 256mb. It's not a remarked whatever XT one. It's died playing a game. Maybe i should RMA it and maybe i can get one of those remarked ones. I can't tell you exactly how to fix yours. If i had it i could make it run better i'm sure. Post some links to bigger pics of both sides of the card and maybe i can see something.

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yea. do you have any special area in mind that you want covered by a pic? you name it, i take a pic of it.

i'm gonna check on vref and vddq and maybe mem aswell, as i think it's pretty strange that the core voltage rises just once to where it should be and then almost instantaneously drops back down to sort of default.
where do i check vref? right where mr crusher said, on that left pad in front of the ic right below the powerplug? right where he circled it in this pic? left pad = vref, right pad = vddq
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postid=370048

Hmmm.... ok.. Thanks for the input. I'll keep that in mind in the future.

update

so i measured the vref on my biatch.. guess what? it's freaking out like the vgpu. check out my these vref-values:

1.504v - powering up the rig
1.485v - entering windows, after that it basically stays there idling

firing up 3dmark '03:
1.488v - idle between tests / loading screens
1.561v - test #2 battle of proxycon, somewhere around halfway through that test
1.460v - test #4 mother nature, starting this test
1.476v - test #4 mother nature, around the temple thingy
1.46xv - test #4 mother nature, after that temple

now 3dmark '01:
1.525v - test #7 nature, starting
1.532v - test #7 nature, closest to the house
1.493v - test #7 nature, around the bridge
1.530v - test #7 nature, when it pans downward toward the water
1.51xv - test #7 nature, when more of that water is visible & for the last two sideways pans

all the other tests are around 1.46 - 1.51v and i did NOT do a vref mod yet. didn't bother checking vdimm and vddq, this POS is going back to where it came from :(
and i tried running it with my vgpu mod in place, but that didn't do jack on the vref-voltages (like with the actual vgpu voltages that only on entering windows change just once to the value i set them to and back down immediately after that again).

funny thing.. didn't it say in here the vref should be around 1.40v? not even close.. i mean 1.504v booting and max 1.561v loaded does seem to me to be way out of line to be normal. and this is all, of course, without vref-mod. so this biatch is going back to where it came from. pfff seems to me the yield of 9800xt cores isn't that high as there's plenty of these relabeled cards floating around.

sky this is the same problem that started with the R7200 card. It's the main reason i came up with the Vref mod years ago. It was to FIX a brand new card to keep it from frying. Your card will die within 2 months imo. A lot of people within 2 weeks. I can't believe they released a card with bad volts again. Just to make sure you're reading it correctly check the voltage at C98 or C99. The small yellow caps in pic above.

Mr Crusher if your volts ain't wacked you'rs i bet is history and i can't fix it. Sorry dude. I should have titled my v mods for use with cards that suffer from a lower o/c than the used to get and before they rma it.

Quote:

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Originally posted by CATCH22ATPLAY
Hobocrow what's not to understand? Basically one of the 8 legged chips is fried internally. I don't have an exact replacement for it. All you have to do is find another one with same pin outs and close to same RDS(on) and close to same amount of amps. RDS(on) is very important in that instead of a current sense resistor, RDS(on) is the current sense resistance. No resistor needed. However a current sense resistor can be added to it. They don't use current sense resistors for VDD, VDDQ or Vref. They do use it for gpu Vcore though. Notice the stock one had an RDS(on) of 17meg ohms and 8.0 amps and the one i'm gonna use has an RDS(on) of 14meg ohms and 9.4. Usually but not always RDS(on) the lower it is the higher the amps. For instance an International Rectifier 7809 is 9meg ohms and 13.3 amps and thier 7313 is 29meg ohms and 6.5 amps. The 7822 is 6.5meg ohms and 18.0 amps.

Oh you also have to figure out the switching frequency of the chip. The one i fried and the new one are way different. I'll have to change the switching freq coming from the isl6522 chip based on theese equations.

Fs 200kHz + [5X(10to the 6th power)]/RT

Hope that doesn't confuse you. hehe

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Ohhh, Ok! Thanks for clearing that up.... I got it, your from another planet! :D
It's a 9800p, but , you're welcome to it! :)

hehe i read too much. I found the FET i want. It's on a good r9700pro. I don't really want to take it from that one. I'm gonna try one from a ti4600. It isn't even close to what i need and puts out a bit less amps. The opposite of what i needed. I'll try to solder it right now.

OK update so far. I removed the bad FET and now pin 9 on isl6522 reads 45k ohm like it should :) Now the hard part. Soldering the replavement on. Damn it's a tight fit in there. I need to start cutting down on coffee. My hands are shaking way too much.

hey catch22, thanks for the heads-up. i didn't measure the other voltages yet. i took the card out, cleaned it of my mods tooks ome pics and prepared it to return it to the shop - or sapphire if they prefer that. doh what a bummer.

"*SUCCESS*"

OMG after resoldering and resoldering it's finally done. Had to ohm out each pin to make sure it was ok. What a major pain in the ass. I fired the puppy up and sweetness it runs fine now. Back up to 432 so far. Before i fried the card it had artifacts at default speed when i play a game are gone as well. Hell i think this FET works better than the old one. I may swap the vddq FET now as well. I think that ones going soon too. Am i stoked. Hell i can return that Herc now and get 500 bones back. I am content.

Quote:

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Originally posted by CATCH22ATPLAY
"*SUCCESS*"

OMG after resoldering and resoldering it's finally done. Had to ohm out each pin to make sure it was ok. What a major pain in the ass. I fired the puppy up and sweetness it runs fine now. Back up to 432 so far. Before i fried the card it had artifacts at default speed when i play a game are gone as well. Hell i think this FET works better than the old one. I may swap the vddq FET now as well. I think that ones going soon too. Am i stoked. Hell i can return that Herc now and get 500 bones back. I am content.

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:toast: Dr. C22@Play... You da man! :toast: :banana:

Now it's time to attempt to kill it again. ;) Swapping vddq FET as we speak.

Catch...

my vref is varying from 1.44 at bootup to 1.49 at full load. is this ok?

also, my vgpu... i set to 2.1V, and in drago it drops to around 2.01V, and then in nature drops to around 1.95V..

anyway to help this stay stable?? 9800PRO here..

It's normal for Vref on any card. The core is normal for most ATI cards except the 9800xt volts go up usually.

Vref before i replced the FET before it was fried stayed fairly steady at 4.04 The new FET goes from 4.04 to 4.12 max

oops noticed your Vref does go up a bit higher than what i'd like to see. But it's not terrible. It just isn't very good. Barely acceptable imo. It's ok if it's tracking 1/2 of vddq though.

So, now we have VGPU, VMem, VDDQ, VRef and 'r1596' mod. Am I right?

But I didn't get realy how to make Vref and VDDQ mod. Help please. And what resistance it's better to dial on the VR for 'r1596' mod?

Quote:

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Originally posted by 2PiZzA
So, now we have VGPU, VMem, VDDQ, VRef and 'r1596' mod. Am I right?

But I didn't get realy how to make Vref and VDDQ mod. Help please. And what resistance it's better to dial on the VR for 'r1596' mod?

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I haven't done the Vref or the Vddq mods yet, so I don't feel qualified to answer that one.... on the R1596, if you ohm it, it should read approx. 41.x kohms, mine was 41.2k and I penciled it to read 19.7k. that worked for testing it on my card. I believe most ppl used a 50k VR setting it to 20k. :)

Hobocrow Got it.

I need answers to other questions. pleeeeaaaase.

I say skip the Vref mod unless your cards ddr o/c has dropped 20mhz or so and you're about to rma it. I lower and or raise Vref and vddq. To raise each one use a 100k ohm vario from isl6522's pin 5 to ground just like for vdd mod. Vddq is located closest to agp slot.

Still stuck at 432 or so. I tried 441 and it was insanely messed up. I didn't try anything between those settings. VDD is at 2.717 btw. I can't run it above 2.725 because of another type of v mod i have going to vdd. I Used to have to run at 2.925 or so. I don't think vdd is holding me back. In fact i'm positive it isn't. I'm putting out plenty of watts there. Since this FET i'm using now for Vref puts out slightly less watts than the original i'm thinking that's what's holding me back. However i can boost vddq watts a bit and will try that. I didn't swap the vddq FET yet. I just desoldered the one off the ti4600. I just had to get a couple hours of gaming in.

Thanx. I think I got it. I have VGPU and VMem modz yet. 525/860 - that's what I got.

Phasechange is coming.

C22, what mods exactly did you make for 582/451? And what volages exactly did you dial?

And are there other VModz for this card?