questions about modding 9800PRO 128MB to XT

quadomaticquadomatic
edited June 2005 in Hardware
I'm putting a VGA Silencer on my 9800PRO 128MB. Will that cooler be sufficient for me to be able to use higher than 9800XT stock speeds while still cool?

I also found some vga memory heatsinks that i can use, they cost $10 (aluminum), or there are copper ones for $4 more ($14) and what would I use to put them on if i didn't use the tape?
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1283740&CatId=496
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1283741&CatId=496
would these work?, or are they unnecessary?

And does anyone have a guide to installing the VGA Silencer on a 9800PRO 128MB?

Comments

  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited May 2005
    ramsinks don't do anything, and won't help your memory OC. don't waste your money on them. with the artic silencer you may be able to reach XT core speeds
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited May 2005
    don't leave it overvolted and overclocked 24/7 ...it will only live a few months.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited June 2005
    i tried raising my memory speed in my 9800pro last week. I used ATI Tools so it found the best clock for me, and it stayed at i think 358mhz. So i set it like that, went to go play css, and then ran into so many problems. I will never OC my vid card (or probably anything for that matter) again. It may have been just my bad luck, but for a small OC like that it shouldntve messed up so much.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited June 2005
    I was able to get my 9800Pro to over 470MHz core on stock volts.. Cooling is everything with that card. My H20 made a world of difference.

    The silencer should make XT clocks easy to reach. You may have to reduce the memory clocks a touch, but the core shouldn't be a problem I would guess..
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited June 2005
    wow im amazed and jealous if the card runs at 470mhz ram and is still stable!!!! Maybe my problem was I was still using the stock heatsink/fan. Could that have made a difference for a ram OC to only 358mhz?
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited June 2005
    pilotwings119 wrote:
    wow im amazed and jealous if the card runs at 470mhz ram and is still stable!!!! Maybe my problem was I was still using the stock heatsink/fan. Could that have made a difference for a ram OC to only 358mhz?

    470 was the core speed, my memory wouldn't push much more than stock XT speeds. If I remember correctly, it didn't do much more than 365MHz. Memory will fail pretty hard, and give you some really nasty artifacting once it heats up. The core is much more forgiving on the 9800pros. When getting to the ceiling of the core, I found that I got the occasional white pixels in rendered images, that were difficult to see if you were not looking closely.

    Your graphics card memory will heat up due to the core heating up the PCB, with the core in close proximity to the memory. By cooling the GPU better, you are effectively cooling the entire card, as the GPU is the pretty much the biggest source of heat.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited June 2005
    ooooh it was core not mem. ok
  • JChretienJChretien Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited June 2005
    My radeon 9600 nonpro came at at stock 324/189.. i have to say, the TSOP ram that came with it SUX. like, REALLY bad. lol But the core i've gotten to 440 and the ram to about 210.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited June 2005
    wowee
  • FidesFides
    edited June 2005
    I have a 9800 pro running with an "Artic Cooler". Let me tell you that this is great and will keep the heat from entering your CPU, and keep that PSU @ a lower temp as well. Also ramsinks do work, if you have the proper ventilation and airflow (but no great for overclocking).

    To remove the pins you can go through the BS examples that supposedly works to remove them. You know plyers and a pushing on the pin (yeah this atleast for me was not working). Real suggestion: Get toe nail clippers flip the VGA card over, and cut the tips off. This will save you time, and the risk of damaging your card. The warranty? Yeah its gone once you remove those pins, and the plyers are gonna crush those tips anyhow, so its not like you can put them back on without any sign you tried to tamper with the device.

    Now remove the screws and heatsink disconnect the fan. The rest is easy, try to manually screw the Artic Cooler on as you may bend the card. This is not cool. If you can't do the rest, you should try to lie down before you hurt yourself.

    About those thinking of Thermaltakes's extreme giant III, you should know this it heavy, messy, and out performs the artic cooler, but "Only if you have great ventilation". The PSU alone is not a good idea, I know because I had it. It lets out so much heat that your CPU temps will rise. See the tests most companies run on these suckers, are not even done inside a case, they just have it out on the open. For that I'll just hang my motherboard under my A/C vent (with a condensation trap).
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    adding the arctic cooler to my 9800 pro 3 times didn't void the warranty. In fact I couldn't find the old hsf last time I had to rma it and I shipped it back to newegg with the arctic cooler and told them to keep it.
    I'm on my 4th 9800pro but now I have no arctic cooler to add on.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited June 2005
    why have you had four??
  • GrayFoxGrayFox /dev/urandom Member
    edited June 2005
    pilotwings119 wrote:
    why have you had four??
    Customers pcs probably.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited June 2005
    I'm on my 4th 9800pro

    just didnt sound like that to me
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2005
    Just a guess, but csimon ran a computer lab for years. They may have been used there.

    I'm sure he'll let us know when he sees this. :)
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    nope home pc ...I ran them all @ 1.6v.
    The first I overclocked a bit and left it oc'ed 24/7 ...it lived several months.
    the next I overclocked 24/7 but not as high ...it lived several months.
    the next I oc'ed only to game and bench and then set it right back ...it lasted several months.
    Now I have this newest card running stock everything.

    Each card I rma'd back to newegg for a replacement. The second card had no replacement so I took the money back offer and bought a new one which renewed my warranty for another year. Basically I got around 9 mos out of each card. I've had this one only a month or two so my fingers are crossed.

    Oh yeah there was another I bought and placed in a students pc and it lasted a few mos as well with a 24/7 oc ...the new one is stock now.

    Um ...I'm not doing something right ... ;D
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited June 2005
    csimon wrote:
    nope home pc ...I ran them all @ 1.6v.
    The first I overclocked a bit and left it oc'ed 24/7 ...it lived several months.
    the next I overclocked 24/7 but not as high ...it lived several months.
    the next I oc'ed only to game and bench and then set it right back ...it lasted several months.
    Now I have this newest card running stock everything.

    Each card I rma'd back to newegg for a replacement. The second card had no replacement so I took the money back offer and bought a new one which renewed my warranty for another year. Basically I got around 9 mos out of each card. I've had this one only a month or two so my fingers are crossed.

    i was wondering if it was something like that... I'll never OC my video card. I have the 9800pro also. [See Gray? lol]
Sign In or Register to comment.