XT flash worth it?

i've been going back and forth between XT bios's this week and i'm starting to wonder that maybe flashing to the XT bios isn't even worth it. my card is a ATI built 9800 pro 128MB with hynix memory on the pro pcb. I can overclock it to 412/357 without artifacts, but not 365 mem. I've flashed it using many different bios's and compared 3dmark scores...I'm just not sure whether it's worth it to flash to an XT or just leave it as an overclocked PRO.

I know this situation has been described a bunch of times but i haven't found anyone in my exact situation (same card).

::BASICALLY::is it better FOR ME to leave it PRO and just OC, or is it better to flash and leave it at 412/357??

I see people with clocks of 430-460 core and up to 380+ mem...my card can't even run 365mem, let alone 380..

::ALSO::when overclocking the core and mem, is it like a double-edged sword type deal? ex: if you clock the mem high, the core has to be lower...or if you clock the core really high, the mem has to be lower..?? ex2: better to have 420core/340mem or 400core/360mem?

::LASTLY::i'm getting tired of playing around with different bios's. I used one bios (can't remember which) and clocked my card to 420/355 and my score was lower than when i had another bios clocked to 412/344...why do i get a better 3dmark score with a lower clock than a higher clock just because of the bios...is the bios that supports higher clock better even though the score may not be as good as the other one?


edit::and one more thing, if i added a vga silencer would i automatically be able to clock to higher speeds or what..?

ive been wondering the same thing as well, from whatb ive read, going to an XT bios will yield slightly tighter timings and you can permanently embed ur OC speeds so you wont need to re OC it when u stick in another comp. That being said, I still havent found time to do it myself lol

i don't mind having to OC seeing as this is the only computer that i own...

the difference isn't that significant...... like 400 3Dmark points..... the only reason I'd advise it is to take advantage of the xt pcb if you have one...... just my two cents.....

edit: regarding the vga silencer..... less heat allows for a better overclock (in most situations). So if you get better cooling you should be able to overclock higher......

i would flash it. it is definetly worth the 400 extra points and the extra shaders and you can always underclock it back to 357 if your mem cant handle it.

after doing extensive testing, my results are almost at a conclusion..i'll post my spreadsheets when i'm done