9800 N/P w/infineon Scores

[McBain]

Ok guys,

Finally installed and ran some tests on the circuit city 200$ n/p deal. It has the infineon ram @ 3ns rated @ 330mhz.

Heres the results:

4872 3dmark 03 340/290(Stock)
5422 3dmark 03 380/315
5540 3dmark 03 380/330
N/A 3dmark 03 380/340 Heavy Artifacting

Not too shabby eh?

What do you guys think I should do? Just use Rage3d tweak to keep it, or flash it with the other bios that runs the mem @ 325.

Also, a little quirk, with the 3dmark03 running, there was a wierd stutter in all of the tests except the plane one. Like it would run 20-30 frame and then just 'skip' a frame. Very odd, but no artifacting.

[SimGuy]

I'd run a stability test on the 380/330 for 6 hours to make sure the overclock is stable/artifact free.

Then, download the infineon bios, convert the values to 380/330 and flash away :)

[McBain]

How do I edit the values to run @ 330 and where can I snag the bios?

[SimGuy]

I'll pull them up for ya and do the edits :D

Back in a second :)

[SimGuy]

Here's the BIOS.

It's the generic 9800 Non-Pro BIOS, with modified clock speeds of 380/330.

Flash it according to my 9800NP guide here @ SM. Make sure to make a backup of your current BIOS just incase something doesn't work right (just to be on the safe side).

[SimGuy]

RadEDIT BIOS Shot.

[McBain]

Thanks a bunch simguy! I'll keep ya posted on how it goes....again...thanks!

[SimGuy]

It's been 40 minutes... I hope McBain's BIOS flash went okay! :confused: :confused: :eek3: :eek3:

[MoTHA_NaTuRE]

OoOOOoOOoo, look at what you done.............

[McBain]

lol

I haven't done it yet. I'm lazy and hungover.

I'll let ya know.

[McBain]

All went well......thanks a bunch simguy!

[Xenogeared]

ok so i r retarded when it comes to overclocking and flashing bios and stuff... does this mean you can still turn a 9800 np to a 9800 pro even with the infineon ram? gah i gotta learn more about this.

[McBain]

well I turned it into something damn close....pro speeds are 380/340 for the core and memory respectively.

I got mine to 380/330. For 200$ I think its a helluva deal. I think simguy would advise that not all infineon is made equally and others sucess may vary. I think my buddy is getting one for christmas so I'll let y'all know how his o/c goes.

[SimGuy]

Definately. Infineon has a history of producing piss-poor overclocking RAM. There are exceptions every once in a while (ie, some stuff actually can hit it's rated speed), but most of the time Infineon won't hit the speeds it is rated for.

Xenogeared, you can flash a 9800NP with Infineon with a special BIOS that can be modified to lower clock speeds on the memory (ie, stock 9800 Pro with Samsung is 380/340, while the most Infineon memory can reach is 325-330.

So, I hacked together a BIOS with a rating of 380/330 for McBain and he flashed it onto his card. It now operates just shy of a real 9800 Pro, but still faster than a normal 9800 Non-Pro :)

Glad to know everything worked out McBain :)

[McBain]

Hey simguy, what do you suppose the core could go up to with stock cooling?

[SimGuy]

I can get mine up to 420 with stock cooling (but removed the stock cooler and applied AS3). Then it artifacts like mad.

Try testing it at 5 MHz increments...

I'll say 400 isn't out of the question.

[McBain]

Hmm....should i just o/c with a program? Or should I just flash the bios with a faster core?

[keto]

Use a program (I recommend Rage3DTweak) then you can back off easier if it's overcooked a little.

[SimGuy]

McBain had this to say
Hmm....should i just o/c with a program? Or should I just flash the bios with a faster core?

Definately what Keto said. I keep my 9800 Non-Pro Samsung @ 380/340, but manually adjust the card with a new program by W1zzard that overclocks the core/memory in real time to 412/365.

That way, if the card ever starts to act up wierd, I can back the clock off to 380/340 without a problem, yet still maintain that level of operation, even if I don't have the overclocking program installed.

[TheLostSwede]

Cards are very different. Mine does 450 with stock goop/cooler. 490 with a waterblock and AS3. All without artifacts and totally stable in games. I just wish i could have some sammy's on that card. :=/

[SimGuy]

450?! WTF?!!!! :D Lucky Swede! :D

Cards are very different. Just because one card overclocks as high as another, doesn't mean that you are guarunteed that yours will overclock the same.

All depends on the ASIC revision included on your card and how mature the process was when your ASIC was produced.

[Preacher]

Just picked up an OEM 9800 Pro AIW. Any idea what she'll overclock to?

[SimGuy]

RAM is rated for 350 MHz operation. I'd bank on 370-380 as a minimum... and you can go from there.

Again, the cores are all different, but with stock cooling, I'll say 400-420 is not out of the question. :D

[MoTHA_NaTuRE]

i havent got to put my pc together yet, but i got a 9800xt, don't the drivers overclock this beast automatically when the condition arises?

[SimGuy]

Yep, Catalyst 3.8's and up can utilize the onboard temperature sensor to detect the core temperature, and when it is sufficiently low, the drivers will automatically overclock the card to 1 of 2 settings (I think from 412 to 425 and then to 440).

Once the temperature gets too high, the card throttles back, but will never go less than stock speed (412).

The memory does not get overclocked automatically.

[MoTHA_NaTuRE]

what's the use of overclocking without overclocking the memory

[SimGuy]

Today's high-end cards are fill-rate limited (IE, the core can't run fast enough to completely saturate the available memory bandwidth.)

Hence, overclocking the core helps significantly in increasing performance in today's games. :)

Memory really doesn't become an issue until you crank the AA & AF on :)

[Preacher]

Be interesting to see what I can get out of the card with a Koolance video cooler.

[Xenogeared]

oh ok. i still dont understand the whole backing up bios and **** like that. i'm looking into getting another video card sometime soon so this stuff interests me.

[McBain]

Just an FYI....a buddy of mine got one of those 200$ circuit city 9800 n/p cards for christmas. Got it to 380/340 w/infineon chips no problemo.