512MB HIS X1800XT PCI-E adventure

[eva2000]

Bought a 512MB HIS X1800XT PCI-E from Auspcmarket.com.au and it arrived yesterday



256MB BFG 7800GTX next to 512MB HIS X1800XT



Full pictures here http://fileshosts.com/videocards/HIS/X1800XT/html/


System

Opteron 146 CAB2E 0540FPMW Corsair Hydrocool 200 Water cooled
DFI NF4 Ultra-D R.AD0 704-2BTA bios
512MB HIS X1800XT with Cat 5.11 drivers
1x 74GB WD Raptor 10K SATA OS drive
1x 160GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA NCQ
Liteon 48x24x48x CD Burner
Floppy drive
510W PC Powercooling SLI psu

WinXP Pro SP2 - very old install left over from DFI NF4 SLI-D i had (haven't bothered to do a fresh reinstall yet)
NF4 6.53WHQL chipset drivers

Ram = 2x 512MB Gskill PC4400LE TCCD 431

Some CCC screenies:




Default fan speed in windows is 27%

GPU @27% fan speed = 54C idle


Using ATI Tool set fan speed at 100% and GPU temp drops 8C at idle!

GPU @100% fan speed = 46C idle
- weird CCC shows 20C if ATI Tool is running together heh
- according to ATI Tool at idle GPU current draw = 8.2A and stock speed load GPU current draw = 21.8A - 24.5A






Overclocking Tools
Now there seems to be 3 way to currently oc the card but it seems it ain't as straight forward as first thought - see Update below as to how to properly set 3D clocks:

1. ATI CCC control panel - seems to limit max GPU clocks but loosens memory timings ALOT so that you clock mem higher using this tool.

2. X1800 Overclocking tool - available from Driverheaven.net's download section
- this seems to also loosen memory timings ALOT so you can clock mem higher, but you can clock GPU higher than that of with ATI CCC control panel. Read http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpo...1&postcount=88
- Also voltage reporting is out of whack and not accurate.

2D


3D


3. ATI Tool 0.25 Beta 9 - http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=6615
- artifacting scanning doesn't work properly as it reports artifacts at stock (known bug)
- now this tool tightens the memory timings so much tighter than the other 2 tools above, so you can't clock mem as high.
- BUT! According to http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ad.php?t=80637, 600ish mhz on mem in ATI Tool 0.25 Beta 9, is already 200-300pts higher in 3dmark05 than 700-800+mhz mem in X1800 Overclocking tool apparently.
- Also voltage reporting is pretty spot on with ATI Tool.

Unfortunately, this version of ATI Tool is far from perfect for X1800XT users see
- I get this problem too when oc'ing a tad in ATI Tool screen goes blank when i hit run in 3dmark05 and other benchmarks http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpo...4&postcount=58
- http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpo...&postcount=154
- http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpo...9&postcount=69
- minor change in clock with ATI Tool on GPU to 600mhz and 3dmark05 completed and my ATI Tool reported GPU at 378mhz and dropped 3dmark05 score from 8,400ish to 6,900ish similar to this guy's issue at http://www.rage3d.com/board/showpost...3&postcount=47

ATI Tool seems to only report the 2D speed when run first go. Here's voltages and temp panel:



I think all X1800 owners should start bagging the cards oc'bility to force ATI to release their WinCLK overclocking utility that Macci used for his preview/pre-release benchmarks for his X1800XT and save us X1800XT owners the headaches we paid AUD$960-1,000+ for :nod:

Update on how to properly set 3D clocks:
- Some interesting info posted at http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...29#post1160329

NONE of the 2 programs mess with timings guys. i tested it yesterday. people just think so becourse that oc tool dont set the actual clock that you set. thats why i wrote above that you have to use ati tool to SEE the clocks...not to SET the clocks. ati tool will show you the right clock....oc tool can show you 800/800 but ati tool will maybe show you 790/800. then the actual clock is 790/800. thats why people get confused, and think that oc tool mess with the timings...it does NOT.....it just dont set the clocks right )

#eva2000# use ati tool for volts....use oc tool for clocks...but clock the 2d clocks...(600/700 defult)

All these can only be used if ati smart and ati hotkey is disabled.

Yay, can confirm it works:

1. In service manage in windows disable ATI Smart and ATI Hotkey services and reboot pc. You loose temp reading in CCC but can use ATI Tool to view temps.
2. Use X1800 Oc'ing tool and set 3D desired clocks using the 2D panel
3. Use ATI Tool to only verify and view the 3D clocks are set correctly. So should be same as what you set in X1800 Oc'ing tool.
4. Whenever you set the mem clock, remember to set the GPU core clock again, or it will fall back to lower clocks and when you set the GPU core clocks again, remember to set the mem clock again, or the same will happen.
5. Setting voltages, OC'ing tool reports wrong voltages so DO NOT use OC'ing tool to set voltages, use ATI Tool to set voltages. Example, GPU voltage reported in ATI Tool is 1.275v will show in OC'ing tool as 1.3v. Set ATI Tool GPU volts to 1.3v will show OC'ing tool at 1.325v but the real voltage measured by DMM is closer to 1.3v as set in ATI Tool.

As you can see it works!

3dmark05 @default 621/747 clocks set in 2D panel of X1800 Oc'ing tool app.



I then tried setting 2D clock in X1800 Oc'ing tool higher in same windows session and got:

650mhz = 648mhz real GPU 3D clock
660mhz = 654mhz real GPU 3D clock
670mhz = 668mhz real GPU 3D clock
680mhz = 675mhz real GPU 3D clock
685mhz = 681mhz real GPU 3D clock
690mhz = 688mhz real GPU 3D clock <-- had to increase and fix fan speed from 31% to 100%
700mhz = 695mhz real GPU 3D clock (upped GPU volt from 1.275v stock to 1.325v in ATI Tool - shows at 1.35v in OC'ing tool)
702mhz = 702mhz real GPU 3D clock (1.35v ATI Tool)
703-708mhz = 702mhz real GPU 3D clock
710mhz = 708mhz real GPU 3D clock (1.375v ATI Tool)
711-715 = 708mhz real GPU 3D clock
716mhz = 715mhz real GPU 3D clock (1.4v ATI Tool)
717-723mhz = 715mhz real GPU 3D clock
724mhz = 722mhz real GPU 3D clock (1.425v ATI Tool)
730mhz = 729mhz real GPU 3D clock (1.425v ATI Tool)
740mhz = 735mhz real GPU 3D clock (1.425v ATI Tool)
745mhz = 742mhz real GPU 3D clock (1.425v ATI Tool)
750mhz = 749mhz real GPU 3D clock (1.425v ATI Tool)


Note:
- interesting ATI Tool reports default GPU volt = 1.275v
- but ATI CCC according to folks measuring via DMM GPU volt default to 1.33-1.35v ????

same goes for mem clocks in X1800 Oc'ing tool

780mhz = 774mhz real mem 3D clock
800mhz = 792mhz real mem 3D clock
810mhz = 810mhz real mem 3D clock
820mhz = 819mhz real mem 3D clock
830mhz = 828mhz real mem 3D clock

840mhz = 837mhz real mem 3D clock - (artifacts when GPU voltage is stock but at 1.375v GPU volts no artifacts even though mem volts are still untouched at stock! )

850mhz = 846mhz real mem 3D clock (1.375v GPU ATI Tool)
860mhz = 855mhz real mem 3D clock (1.375v GPU ATI Tool)
870mhz = 864mhz real mem 3D clock (1.375v GPU ATI Tool)
880mhz = 873mhz real mem 3D clock (1.375v GPU ATI Tool)
890mhz = 882mhz real mem 3D clock (1.375v GPU ATI Tool)
900mhz = 900mhz real mem 3D clock (1.375v GPU ATI Tool) - artifacts

3Dmark Benchmarks

Stock cpu 10x200HTT = 2000mhz + @X1800XT clocks
stock 2D = 594/693
stock 3D = 621/747

With SIOUX's work around for X1800 Overclocking tool set

3Dmark05
with cpu stock managed

@680(675)/800(792) = 8,986
@690(688)/800(792) = 9,044
@702(702)/800(792) = 9,060
@710(708)/800(792) = 9,084
@710(708)/802(801) = 9,106


3Dmark2003
with cpu stock

@621/747 = 16,368
@708/801 = 17,698



How sweet is this for 512MB HIS X1800XT on stock heatsink air

------------------------------------------
Opteron 146 CAB2E 0540FPMW @10x280HTT = 2800mhz at stock vcore
2x 512MB Gskill PC4400LE @280mhz 2.5-3-3-6 7-14-2222

3dmark05
@621/747 = 9,235
@708/801 = 10,163
@742/891 = 10,795
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=1504826

3dmark2003
@621/747 = 17,707
@708/801 = 19,169

------------------------------------------
Opteron 146 CAB2E 0540FPMW @10x300HTT = 3000mhz at 1.408V
2x 512MB Gskill PC4400LE @272mhz 2.5-3-3-6 7-14-2222

3dmark05
@621/747 = 9,287
@708/801 = 10,221
@715/882 = 10,601
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=1501277
@750(749)/890(882) = 10,869
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=1501440


3dmark2003
@621/747 = 17,945
@708/801 = 19,449
@735/882 = 20,328

Aquamark3
@621/747 = 98,100
@708/801 = 101,262



------------------------------------------
Dam local thunderstorms in the area so shutting down unecessary pc activity so this is where I am for tonight

Opteron 146 CAB2E 0540FPMW @10x310HTT = 3100mhz at 1.536v
2x 512MB Gskill PC4400LE @282mhz 2.5-3-3-6 7-14-2222

3Dmark05
@621/747 = 9,321
@750(749)/890(882) = 10,915



Thanks goes to SIOUX for the tips to get me clocking quickly



Update:

Well 23pts to go

And for a treat an original non-resized screenie

Opteron 146 @3120mhz
HIS X1800XT @749/891
3Dmark05 = 10,977



Update:

I have my 11k #4 rank on ORB now

3Dmark05
@749/900 = 11,007

GPU: 1.45v
VDD: 2.171v
VDDQ: 2.165v






Had to squeeze out 900mhz on mem for that bit extra, plus tightened mem timings a tad


pretty nice for single card but definitely lower than what 512MB 7800GTX can do for 3d2k3 especially with dual core cpus and dual core optimised drivers. Although WarCat 5.11b drivers seem to give 1,000+ pts more than Cat 5.11

3Dmark2003 = 20,784




But 3Dmark2001 has always loved ATI cards

3Dmark2001 = 40,094



Updated: Dec 8, 2005
changed to the drivers on the HIS CD-ROM which are cat 5.11 6.14.10.6575 WHQL FM Approved versus cat 5.11 on ATI.com web site which are 6.14.10.6583 WHQL not FM approved and clocked a tad higher

512MB HIS X1800XT stock heatsink air
@756/900 = 11,049
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=1530346

(currently equal 7th ranked on ORB for X1800 series OR #2 ranked for WHQL - FM approved drivers )




edit:

meanwhile managed to get #2 ranking on ORB for FM approved drivers in both 3dmark05 and 3dmark2003 for X1800 series categories

Opteron 146 @3130mhz
HIS X1800XT stock heatsink air @756/900

3dmark05 = 11,049
3dmark2003 = 20,860

[perkam]

Some cpu clocks should go great with that 9k

Perkam

[SIOUX]

WinCLK uses the same sensor/program to overclock as OC tool. there will be no difference

Macci had a press sample X1800XT with a different BIOS

Also..OC tool do not lower the timings. it just set a lower clock than actely showen by the program. i though that it lowered the timings as well to begin with, but after getting 12k yesterday with oc tool, i found out that oc tool just lower the clocks a little. when setting oc tool to 823/972, ati tool shows 816/972. then all i had to do was just to set the clocks again in OC tool, ands it worked. my score was exactly the same as with ati tool

[Hicks]

Heheheh, nice.

I got pretty much exactly the same, with a complete stock system, at 2.2ghz, so your looking good there.

Never heard of this tool that Macci used? i think ATI should release it for the general public, totally agree with you EVA, ive just spent 400quid on this card. overclocking my 256mb GTX was far easier. If it wasn't stable, it told me it wasn't.

Hopefully rivatuner will help us out 2moro!

How good is this stock cooler? 100% fan speed is insanely loud, lol, i think 40% is max i wanna use.

[CrashOv3r1De]

Why did you decide to go with HIS? Why not BBATI?

BTW your crazy for taking 5,000pictures of the card HAHA jk

Great review bro

[Hicks]

Why did you decide to go with HIS? Why not BBATI?

BTW your crazy for taking 5,000pictures of the card

Price? availabilty? it doesn't really matter at all, there all the same, just a different sticker.

[SIOUX]

Heheheh, nice.

I got pretty much exactly the same, with a complete stock system, at 2.2ghz, so your looking good there.

Never heard of this tool that Macci used? i think ATI should release it for the general public, totally agree with you EVA, ive just spent 400quid on this card. overclocking my 256mb GTX was far easier. If it wasn't stable, it told me it wasn't.

Hopefully rivatuner will help us out 2moro!

How good is this stock cooler? 100% fan speed is insanely loud, lol, i think 40% is max i wanna use.

like i wrote above......the tool from ATI called WinCLK uses the same program to oc the card as OC tool. there would be no difference in overclocking with that or OC tool

[eva2000]

Ah didn't know Winclk used same sensors

Yeah went a wee bit overboard with the photos

Went with HIS due to availability, retailer had 2 cards in stock everywhere else had ETAs between 1-3 weeks smack bang into Xmas holiday closures heh

Yeah 100% fan speed is loud and whiny, even for me who has 6x 190cfm delta fans LOL... probably around 75-80% fan speed is ideal for me

[ugp]

I went with the HIS as well...seems to be a very nice card.

Hey eva2000 can you PM me when you find your highest OC on that card? And then I can compare mine to yours.

[CrashOv3r1De]

I ordered a BBATI X1800 Xt from ZZF. Should get it in 2days with my RDX200 CF-DR (also got an eXpert here). Will buy a CF mastercard as soon as they are avail. Now I am buying videocards the day they are out I learned my lesson. Had a chance to buy a 7800GTX 512 from Newegg day it came out for $700 (before price went up to $750) but I was like nahhh its only going to get cheaper. Sure learned my lesson. Now its immpossible to get. Period.

Eva did you decide to go with the x1800xt because of a lack of gtx 512mb availability or you reallly wanted to play with this card?

When are you going to put this card on your FX57 want to see how high of a 3d 05 score you can get

[eva2000]

Yeah will do... off to bed now at 5am LOL

Eva did you decide to go with the x1800xt because of a lack of gtx 512mb availability or you reallly wanted to play with this card?

When are you going to put this card on your FX57 want to see how high of a 3d 05 score you can get

Yeah lack of immediately availability of 512MB 7800GTX, ETA on XFX was like 2-3 weeks and Leadtek was out

Apparently Nvidia is keeping most of them in USA so allocation to Australia is scarce like there's less than a dozen or 2 for whole of Australia!

But I'm getting a BFG 7800GTX 512MB too

This Opteron of mine does 3130mhz at 1.536 to 1.568v on Hydrocool 200 water - my single 256MB BFG 7800GTX stock heatsink score of 9,644

[zabomb4163]

whats the highest you can score in 3dmark using the 7800gtx 256. interested in the comparison.

[G H Z]

Also..OC tool do not lower the timings. it just set a lower clock than actely showen by the program. i though that it lowered the timings as well to begin with, but after getting 12k yesterday with oc tool, i found out that oc tool just lower the clocks a little. when setting oc tool to 823/972, ati tool shows 816/972. then all i had to do was just to set the clocks again in OC tool, ands it worked. my score was exactly the same as with ati tool

Try running with ATI Tool only, no Overclocker. You will see that a much lower memory speed scores higher than a similar clock using Overclocker Remember, once overclocker is opened whatever it does cannot be undone until re-boot.

Here's some examples on my XL with same CPU Mhz

675/909 = 10,105 via Overclocker

668/703 = 10,145 via ATI Tool

I actually prefer Overclocker. It is harder for me to reach the same scores running ATI Tool. Even though I have beaten my Overclocker score by a small amount, it took alot of work to get there.

[SIOUX]

Try running with ATI Tool only, no Overclocker. You will see that a much lower memory speed scores higher than a similar clock using Overclocker Remember, once overclocker is opened whatever it does cannot be undone until re-boot.

Here's some examples on my XL with same CPU Mhz

675/909 = 10,105 via Overclocker

668/703 = 10,145 via ATI Tool

I actually prefer Overclocker. It is harder for me to reach the same scores running ATI Tool. Even though I have beaten my Overclocker score by a small amount, it took alot of work to get there.

I did run ati tool alone without oc tool open at any time. the results are exactly the same here. the thing that make people believe that it mess with the mem timings is, that the oc tool can show you 800/800 but it will infact be 790/800. set the clocks 2 times with the same clocks, and the result is exactly the same. i tested it yesterday

when you set your clocks to 675/909 with oc tool, then the actual clock is around 660/909. check with ati tool, and you will see the correct clocks.

[Dynasty]

nice card eva hope it clocks well for you.

[eva2000]

Thanks Dynasty

whats the highest you can score in 3dmark using the 7800gtx 256. interested in the comparison.

max are in my sig's compare urls

[ugp]

I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a nice Opteron CPU. They look like they are really nice.

[eva2000]

Yeah opterons are

question for SIOUX and others

- interesting ATI Tool reports default GPU volt = 1.275v
- but ATI CCC according to folks measuring via DMM GPU volt default to 1.33-1.35v ????

which is the default GPU voltage for X1800XT ?


@702(702)/800(792)

3dmark05 = 9,060

[ugp]

They really need to get a program out there that will do it all and not have any problems at all...

*Needs Patience*


Oh also...

For some reason VSync will not disable for me...

I have it disabled in ATI CCC but all my games are capped at 70FPS? Does anyone know why this is?

[Dynasty]

Yeah opterons are

question for SIOUX and others

- interesting ATI Tool reports default GPU volt = 1.275v
- but ATI CCC according to folks measuring via DMM GPU volt default to 1.33-1.35v ????

which is the default GPU voltage for X1800XT ?

I go by whatever is measured on my DMM as being correct.
In my case default voltages on my
Connect 3D are 1.3 vgpu , 2.15 VDDC , 2.15 VDDQ this is with default voltages set in ATI TOOL 0.25/9.

[eva2000]

so 1.275v ATI Tool = 1.3v via DMM approximately

better formatted results at stock 2000mhz

3Dmark05
with cpu stock managed

@680(675)/800(792) = 8,986
@690(688)/800(792) = 9,044
@702(702)/800(792) = 9,060
@710(708)/800(792) = 9,084

[Dynasty]

so 1.275v ATI Tool = 1.3v via DMM approximately

Yep, just tried again and used two different DMM's both giving me
same result of 1.30 vgpu.
PSU I am using on my test set up is Ocz 600W powerstream.

[Charles Wirth]

I know OC tool is reading a hex value to get the data displayed. It is not reading actual value.

Good read George

[eva2000]

ah Sampsa measured 1.31v too http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...80#post1075680

I know OC tool is reading a value hex value to get the data displayed. It is not reading actual value.

Good read George

Thanks

Now to work on mem clocks.. does mem clock potential rise when GPU volt is increased too ?

[rodman]

Had a chance to buy a 7800GTX 512 from Newegg day it came out for $700 (before price went up to $750) but I was like nahhh its only going to get cheaper. Sure learned my lesson. Now its immpossible to get. Period.

The BFG 512s were in stock for a few hours Yesterday