Questions about softmodding my saphire 9800 pro to an xt

[Bboy_Jon]

ok well i read the guide but i have some questions

What exactly is softmodding? Do i just flash the bios and its an xt, or do i still have to oc the card? if i still have to oc the card whats the poiint of softmodding it? just for the name? ive oced my card to 414/373 and it worked fine, but i dont run it on that cuz im on stock cooling

So would it be a good idea to flash my card? do i need to get better cooling for it first? or is stock fine?

btw this is the card i have

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-268&depa=1

[Jacobman]

First off you will fry your card with stock cooling, this is what you need,
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-186-113&depa=1
and these
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-126-051&depa=1
Once you get those items your golden for flashing, and after you flash you wont need to OC or anything except sit and enjoy.

[Bboy_Jon]

hmmm how do thos sinks stay on? does the thermal interface keep it stuck onto the componetn?

[beta_mouse]

Yes with termal tape on the back of the heatsinks you just attach them to your RAM chips. Softmodding clocks your 9800PRO to XT speeds so you don't need to overclock after flashing.

[Bboy_Jon]

o isee, but my card is capable of doing it right? becuz it runs the ati tool tests perfectly with the oc

so i just need an arctic cooler thing and those ram sinks? kk cool, maybe i can order those when i get my ram and stuff hopefully Or with my psu instead of the ram

[tragdor6]

I have heard some RAMsinks dont fit with that cooler on the card. Be carful when buying make sure they will fit

[mtb856]

The BGA Monster sinks will fit (I have them on my card).... so I'd imagine the OCZ sinks would fit, especially if they're made to fit memory sticks that are side by side.... fitting on graphic's card memory shouldn't be a problem. They're only 1cm tall, so height wouldn't be an issue IMO.

You should be able to flash your card with no problems..... stock clocks for the 9800XT are 412/365, so as long as you can do that..... is your card an r360 or r350 core?

[Bboy_Jon]

i dunno what core it is, i dont wanna take off the heatsink to find out, well not until i have something to replace it since i might end up breaking the sink leg (someone said something about that)

hmm would this work with my saphire 9800 pro?

http://coolerguys.com/840556035268.html

its cheaper then the others, and id rather get it there so i can get my free ram heat spreader and ide/floppy cables

then ill probly get the sinks

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-126-051&depa=0

is there any better and cheaper sinks? ill probly get those when i order my ram

so those WILL fit with the cooler? with the cooler i linked?

[t_dub]

Ya I don't think there's as many issues with fitting heat sinks if you use the older vga cooler rev3. Although make sure you have good contact with that cooler and the gpu because there are issues with the shim on the video card stopping the cooler from making proper contact.

And as for softmodding vs OCing... By softmodding you OC it to default XT speeds and you unlock some additional shaders and stuff. You can still OC your card even more once you flash to XT if it can handle it.

[Bboy_Jon]

ya ill probly run ati tool and see how far it can get after i flash

so that vga cooler will work? how would i make sure if it makes good contact?

[felinusz]

o isee, but my card is capable of doing it right? becuz it runs the ati tool tests perfectly with the oc

so i just need an arctic cooler thing and those ram sinks? kk cool, maybe i can order those when i get my ram and stuff hopefully Or with my psu instead of the ram


Flashing your R350 9800 Pro to XT accomplishes two things:

It changes (overclocks) your card's "stock" speeds to those of a 9800 XT - You can just as easily edit your original 9800 Pro BIOS to these speeds, or higher, with 'RADEdit (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=72921)'.

You now have an XT BIOS on your card, optimized for 9800 XT RAM chips, and the R360 core - sometimes a small benchmark score gain is seen.


It is the exact same thing as overclocking your card to XT speeds, and as such, so long as your card runs artifact free, stable, at XT speeds, you can flash without worry.

But if I were you, I would get yourself a VGA Silencer, a set of the copper OCZ BGA RAMSinks, and keep the 9800 Pro BIOS for overclocking.

[tragdor6]

I would get the ATI silencer rev 1. I have heard that the cooler you picked out can be hard to install. But on the other hand there is a peice you may have to cut on the ATI silencer so your choice, but im for the ATI silencer rev1