8500 Volt mod (Built by ATI)

[El<(')>Maxi]

Anyone ever do one? Was it worth the trouble?

 

[taco_fox]

I'm debating whether I should do it. For some reason my top core speeds suck while my top memory speeds are great (306/344). I'm thinking a volt mod might help get the core up higher and maybe the memory even more so.

I think I'd better practice my soldering..

 

[juliendogg]

don't need solder, can do it with a pencil. you can follow the same guides used for the oem and powered by ATI products. i did mine, i happened to notice that both core and memory voltage were a bit less than should be for a retail 8500, i put the voltage up only slightly past where it shoulda been, and i got artifacts in some games and freeze ups in others. quickly erased and am happy to have my card back 2 normal. I wouldn't advise unless you got some much better cooling for the gpu and possibly some ramsinks (couldn't hurt eh?)

 

[taco_fox]

I don't know. I don't really trust pencil tricks for adjusting voltages.

But tell me something: are you saying you think you got artifacts because of the volt mod itself, or because you didn't have adequate cooling for the volt mod?

 

[El<(')>Maxi]

my top core speeds suck while my top memory speeds are great (306/344). I'm thinking a volt mod might help get the core up higher and maybe the memory even more so.

My card is the exact opposite. I can do 324 core and a weak assed 291 on the mem? But I was stuck around 285 on core speeds until I modded the stock cooling The reason I was asking about a volt mod was to address the lack of OCability on my mem as my core speeds are fine.

How many have done this?

And what were the results?

 

[juliendogg]

I don't know. I don't really trust pencil tricks for adjusting voltages.

But tell me something: are you saying you think you got artifacts because of the volt mod itself, or because you didn't have adequate cooling for the volt mod?

the pencil trick worked fine, just a little at a time then check with a multimeter.

and second, i'm thinking both. i believe if i had better cooling, (i've allready upgraded the crap hsf that came on the 8500, but i think the one i slapped on isn't doin much better) i was more interested in the mod for the memory as well, but i'm guessing that's where the artifacts came from. maybe with some ram sinks the chips could take a lil more juice?

my card will hit 310/290 as is. i got no better than that after the mod without artifacts or freezing up in apps.

 

[El<(')>Maxi]

the pencil trick worked fine, just a little at a time then check with a multimeter.

and second, i'm thinking both. i believe if i had better cooling, (i've allready upgraded the crap hsf that came on the 8500, but i think the one i slapped on isn't doin much better) i was more interested in the mod for the memory as well, but i'm guessing that's where the artifacts came from. maybe with some ram sinks the chips could take a lil more juice?

my card will hit 310/290 as is. i got no better than that after the mod without artifacts or freezing up in apps.

Hey Juliendogg, did you do this exact mod?

Mod

 

[taco_fox]

No, he said he used the pencil trick. The article you linked is the way I'm planning to do it.

 

[crusher]

First post...

Well... when i get a Retail 8500 from Gigabyte i voltmoded the card with a pencil...


312/312 before the mod

324/335 after the mod

The core was cooled by a Thermalright SK6 and some cheaper aluminium ramsinks in the ram...

And there is the best 3D Mark score with it:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=5829954

 

[El<(')>Maxi]

Originally posted by taco_fox No, he said he used the pencil trick. The article you linked is the way I'm planning to do it.

Let me know what your results are taco_fox. If you like it I'm gonna do it too.

Originally posted by crusher First post...

Well... when i get a Retail 8500 from Gigabyte i voltmoded the card with a pencil...


312/312 before the mod

324/335 after the mod

The core was cooled by a Thermalright SK6 and some cheaper aluminium ramsinks in the ram...

And there is the best 3D Mark score with it:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=5829954

Hey crusher any links on how to do that mod? Nice easy OC

And.............

 

[taco_fox]

Hey crusher any links on how to do that mod? Nice easy OC

Here's a link for the pencil mod

 

[crusher]

Hey crusher any links on how to do that mod? Nice easy OC

And.............

Thanks dude...

And yes... i use the same link that taco_fox posted. For the mod i use a 2HB pencil.

Voltage readings:

Before: 1,71v in the core and 3,50v in the ram... i think this last was a little undervolted, because this card use Hynix 3,6ns and the default is about 3,65v.

After: About 1,85v in the core (1,91v was a little unstable), and 3,82v in the ram.

I use the bios 7008 from Gigabyte.


Good luck.

 

[El<(')>Maxi]

I did it.....

New clocks 326/316

My voltages are 1.71 core
3.79 mem

First time I booted after the trick I had no graphics whatsoever checked the readings and had 5.5 on the mem....thought it was a goner. Quickly brushed some off with my t-shirt and re-checked the mem reading (3.59), and graphics were alive again.....whew ! But I had tons of artifacts. Well, after playin with it a bit I was actually penciling with power on the card and fine tuning. Lost all the artifacts and runs stable. When I first read Taco's link I noticed it was tailored to not built by ATI cards. But I noticed the voltages he quoted for the hnyix chips, pulled out my VM and checked.................way under volted.

I'm a guy now, thanks to crusher, juliendogg, and taco_fox.

 

[taco_fox]

Well, what the heck.. I might as well try the pencil trick instead

 

[El<(')>Maxi]

I can't drive 55

The nemesis of the Overclocker.........you can never go fast enough.

Postscript: Kept tweaking, got careless.....................I killed my beloved 8500 that has been with me for nearly 2 years

aDVICE, know when to call it a day, and use extreme caution on the resistor towards the offset/center. It's very close to the bigger resistor and my pencil strayed.

Maxi-stalking new ATI card

 

[taco_fox]

I can't seem to find a good pencil to do this with.. everytime I try, I end up increasing the core voltage from 1.625v to something insane like 2.4v. What kind of pencils did you guys use??

 

[El<(')>Maxi]

#2 very sharp. And you do not need to press very hard. I would measure the voltage after every stroke. If I were to try this again I would use a mechanical pencil and be extremely careful on the resistor that is not closest to the edge of the board. It is flanked by resistors on both sides unlike the one near the board edge. It has a clear/open side to pencil around.