[AcEmAsTr]

what can the 9500Pro be modded into/to-have?

256bit memory possibly instead of 128?
it already has 8 pipelines so theres no need to do anythign there.


thanx

[james.miller]

....nothing. zip. notta. zilch.

all you can do is overclock it.

[AcEmAsTr]

oh


shame, sure there isnt ANYTHING that can be done?

[james.miller]

only the usuall - volt mods and bios flashes.

[Albuquerque]

Indeed.

9500pro has nothing to "enable", as the 8 pipelines are already turned on and the 128-bit bus is hardwired from the factory (and I'm not talking ONE wire, we're talking the entire gammut of wiring that links your R300 core to the four outboard memory chips)

[Milkman]

But flash it and overclock that thing,they overclock very well and you will be suprised how high the core will go I loved mine until I crushed the core but my new ones coming for Tuesday and back to the flash and overclocking we go

-Mamer

[Albuquerque]

Well, they can overclock high so far as the core is concerned, but the problem is with the 9500Pro's paltry 128-bit memory bus. You need to be able to overclock the RAM into the stratosphere for it to start really matching what the 9700 series can do.

See your sig? See my sig?

We've got pretty equal processors, in fact yours might bench out just a tad faster in some areas. We've got the same basic ram configuration and almost the same speed. You have a highly OC'd 9500Pro, I have a highly OC'd 9500 non-pro. The difference between our two video cards is basically a few mhz of core speed AND the fact that I've got a 256-bit memory bus.

That difference is at least partially responsible for my almost 2000 point lead in 3DMark2K1...

[AcEmAsTr]

would getting a 9500np be good?
would the 4 pipelines make a big difference?

[james.miller]

yeah it was castrate you sevearly. if you got a card that could be successfully modded into a 97xx (8 pipeline, 256bit) then your performance would improve a lot. but if you ended up with a non-moddable card, you would be much worse off.

[AcEmAsTr]

i guess ill stick with a overclocked 9500 pro

[Albuquerque]

By default, the 9500 non-pro is slower than the 9500 Pro. It is supposed to come with only four pixel pipelines and the weenie 128 bit memory bus.

There are some variations of the 9500 non-pro that are using the 9700 PCB (the actual card that all the chips are mounted to) Combine that special PCB with 128mb of memory and you automatically get a 256 bit memory bus. There's no mod involved for this, you either get it or you don't. People know these as the "L-shaped memory layout" boards. Thus, if you're lucky to find one of those, you have a four pipeline card but with the full 256 bit memory bus.

That by itself makes it a hell of a performer when overclocking the core -- since the memory already has uber-bandwidth.

However, this is where the "moddable" 9500 non-pro cards stick out... The "mod" is to enable the dormant four pipelines that aren't used in the 9500 non-pro. If you're REALLY lucky, you can find a 9500 non-pro that can actually use all eight pipelines without error. The success rate on that, based on a relatively recent poll, is about 60%...

So, if you can find a 9500 non-pro card with the L-shaped memory layout, you're already doing good. If you can find one of those that also has one of the lucky R300 cores that can operate all eight pipelines without error, then you in effect have a 9700 non-pro. Overclock it a touch, and you have an exact copy of a 9700 Pro without any missing features.

You can still do the "mod" on a 9500 non-pro card that has the standard inline memory layout; you will end up with a 9500 Pro (all eight pipelines running, but only a 128 bit bus).

You can also have an un-moddable 9500 non-pro that still has the full 256 bit memory bus, just look for the memory in the L-shaped layout.

[AcEmAsTr]

what would u suggest?

http://store.yahoo.com/a-c/saprad9512dd.html
is that an L shaped one?
Black PCB too, make any difference?

[Albuquerque]

The black PCB ones are almost always guaranteed to have the 128-bit bus. They're the "proper" PCB for the 9500 to be built on. I believe you really want to look for a red one...

[james.miller]

it has nothing to do with the colour. people say look for red ones because they definatly have the L-shaped ram. But, a little known fact, there were also black cards with the L-shaped ram made. look at that pic again - its got the right ram.

[Milkman]

Yes, newegg has the red Pcb model specified and also carries the
black pcb.

[AcEmAsTr]

forget it, ill get the 9700np and save myself all the hassle of modding it, overclocking it is fine but soldering it may be above my league, at 15 money is a rarety

[james.miller]

no soldering is involved. A driver-hack is all that is needed. Anyway i agree, i too would go with the 9700np