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Hack 9500 into 9700...

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Tipycol

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2002
Xbitlabs Original Article
Xbitlabs follow up Contains info about the different R300 GPU boards
Xbitlabs 9500 64MB into 9500 Pro 64MB Original Article
Xbitlabs Step-by-step Instructions
Xbitlabs RADEON 9500 64MB into RADEON 9500 Pro 64MB BIOS
Xbitlabs About Failure in Modding having nothing to do with the mod
Wizzard's Software Mod Recommended way to mod
TruckChase!'s Thread about failed mod attempts
Rivatuner

This is for the turning the 128MB 9500 non-pro into a 9700 non-pro. The Pro boards are designed differently, and so this will not work. And as far as I know, this will not work on 64MB boards, however, they can be equipped for 8 pipelines instead of 4. So far, the recommended 9500 to be modded is the Sapphire RADEON 9500 128MB. Also, there IS A SOFTWARE MOD.

Remember however, there are NO guarantees with this mod. Some have reported no problems but many have reported artifacts and other video card issues after doing this mod. The decision is yours to make.

Soldering Tips:
james.miller said:
yes its small, but as with everything it comes with practice. if you have a dead motherboard or graphics-card or something similar practice removing and replacing SMT (Surface.Mount.Technology) parts on that. That will help you a great deal.

it IS easy, but requires a steady hand and LOT of patience. A magnifying glass is optional, but not a requirement (i work with SMT parts half that size - less than 1mm in length - easy to me, but ive been doing it for a year)...

1) get the right tip - idealy a long and pointy tip with a slight flat edge at the tip. NOT a small fat tip, that wont get you anywhere and coiuld cause a lot of damage.
2) keep your iron clean.
3) take your time. Theres no need to rush.
4) DO NOT put any pressure on the board or the SMT part with the iron. If you are doing this, than you are doing something wrong. That is where most people go wrong, and it can cause a lot of damage
5) A common misconception is that most poeple asume you need a low wattage, or low heat iron for SMT work. this is completly FALSE and can actually cause damage, not avoid it.
for example: for normal surface mount work i use an 80watt iron set to 350c and it works perfectly. For extra fine pitch work ( <0.8mm or there abouts) i use a special extra fine tip set at 400c. the moral : GET YOURSELF A DECENT IRON (wellar or ersa spring to mind) that's at least 40watts


Who would have thought that by buying the 9500 you could get a comparable 9700 out of it by moving a resistor. I just hope ATi doesn't change this any time soon.

Forum Members with modded 9500's with no problems:
Member: Kid98 Celeron Tualatin @ 1466 Abit ST6 512MB 3DMark2001SE: 10188 Bridged with solder NOT Recommended
Member: diehlr Sapphire 9500 128 MB Non-Pro Wizard's Software Hack
Member: LiGhTBoY Sapphire 9500 128MB Non-Pro Wizard's Software Hack
Member: Creig Epox 8K5A3+ T-Bred A 1800+ 1.83 GHz 512mb Crucial PC2100 ATI Radeon 9500 @ 325/600 3DMark2001SE: 13329 Software Hack
Member: AC Slater 9500@378/606 3d mark score 3DMark2001SE: 12151 Software
Member: CizMeyeAzz 3DMark2001SE Wizard's Software Hack
Member: couchpotato Radeon 9500np 128mb 3DMark2001SE: 8730 Wizard's Software Hack
Member: UnLoadeD Epox 8k5a2+, XP1600+ @1805mhz 3DMark2001SE: 13188 Wizard's Software Hack Problem with ATi Control Panel
Member: <Grisu4> 3DMark2001SE
Member: WaZZaBi 3DMark2001SE: 11500
Member:ManOfKnight: Thread
 
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haha thats awesome, now people will be wishing they bought 9500s instead of 9500Pro lol
 
Hehe...well we'll just have to see how a overclocked and hacked 9500 compares to an overclocked 9700 (unfortunately, I don't have money for that :)). Of course, there was that foul up at some site where they misprinted their 9700 Pro for $166 and sold it that way. So, I guess those people got the best deal ;)
Come on guys, 23 views and only 1 reply? And I thought this would be a very popular topic ;)
Oh well, to all those that have a 9500, enjoy :beer:
 
I can't get it to load. Can you answer a couple of questions please?


Since the 9700 has a 256-bit fsb, this is something that you can't change by moving a resistor. How did they over-come this and how did they change the GPU. The GPU on the 9500 is some how altered (what is it? it has 4 pipelines instead of 8). How did they over-come this?

Thanks.
 
OC Noob said:
I can't get it to load. Can you answer a couple of questions please?


Since the 9700 has a 256-bit fsb, this is something that you can't change by moving a resistor. How did they over-come this and how did they change the GPU. The GPU on the 9500 is some how altered (what is it? it has 4 pipelines instead of 8). How did they over-come this?

Thanks.

the 9500Pro comes with 128bit memory the 9500 still comes with 256 bit, and the resistor swap was to make it have 8 pipelines
 
The links not working any more for me either. Is it working for anyone?

Well I still have it on my Temp files, so I'll make some screen shots...err...guess I'll put them on my angelfire site

Please be patient
 
Uploading pics now, it's just taking a while since they're a total of 5MB, and I'm on my 56K :(
And how do I turn IMG on in my posts? I try to do just <IMG> links, but they end up like <URL> links and in the post screen it tells me IMG code is off.
 
Well here it is, the Xbitlab page, chopped up and put back together LINK

Also, that bios they flashed is linked to this site LINK

Hope this clears things up. Now I wonder what's wrong with Xbitlabs.
 
Hmm...I dunno...I can see all of them.
Any one else see/not see it?
 
This is a very interesting topic however I have a 9500 Pro so does not look like it will really benefit me.

I am looking forward to someone giving this a go on a 9500, if so I will sell my 9500 Pro and trya 9500 mod while I ca still get decent buck back LOL

Cisco KId
 
tempest993 said:
ok, they dont show up in the page, but if i view source and copy the image url into the nav bar, they work.

Well I guess it'd be chopped into separate pages then huh...
Ok, for all of you that cannot see the pics directly, here are links to the pics separately

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6
Page 7
 
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Cisco Kid said:
This is a very interesting topic however I have a 9500 Pro so does not look like it will really benefit me.

I am looking forward to someone giving this a go on a 9500, if so I will sell my 9500 Pro and trya 9500 mod while I ca still get decent buck back LOL

Cisco KId

Hey Cisco Kid, does the main link work or did you have to separate the pics into separate ones like tempest993 did?
 
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