8500 volt mod - have you done it?

pRS317 · Jun 24, 2002

i've been debating as whether to do the pencil trick or not. i have ram sinks that i'll be putting on the card (with as3 epoxy) and i have a small water block for gpu cooling.

before i do the mod, tho, i'd like to know if most ppl have success, and how much success. i also know that the more line you draw, the more the voltage goes up.

my card is the hercules 8500le flashed with retail bios.

Mr. Chambers · Jun 24, 2002

i would NOT do the pencil trick, im sure SSS will be in here in a moment to agree with me.. i know countless people who've ruined their card doing the pencil trick on it.. the resistor method is MUCH safer, PM SilverSinkSam about it, i'm sure he'll happily point you in the direction of a guide, but i'd stay away from the pencil trick, unless you've got money to burn on a new card

my .02

advanR · Jun 24, 2002

i havent done it yet as im going to opt for the permanent mod with resistors. But ive heard that it can be done easily, to varying degrees, without additional cooling, ofcourse it wouldnt hurt. I think the trick is though, to have a multimeter to get the voltages to exactly what you want, so you dont accidentally damage it by overvolting.

pRS317 · Jun 24, 2002

okay, i found the link to the resistor mod http://www.overclockers.com/tips1010/

after looking at the mad cooling going on with that card, i just would like to have some thoughts as to whether my ram sinks will be enough to handle the heat. ps, i have good case airflow.

http://www.tweakmonster.com/products/ramsinkpage.htm
(i have the regular sinks....the first sinks listed)

advanR · Jun 24, 2002

It all depends on what voltage you are going to put through it and at what speed it runs. Any ramsink will do fine. But you may want to add gpu cooling. I know I will for sure before I try the mod just to feel safe. For a unit I suggest a 1u cooler instead of all these orb thingies. Orbs seem to be a bit of a cosmetic as a lot of the price goes to the shiny finish and "cool" design. 1u coolers cool much better for a little more. Newegg has the best unit, a cooljag coller for around $15 i think.

Lets here from ppl who have done the mod to see whether we'll need the extra cooling for gpu or not.

Yodums · Jun 24, 2002

No I haven't done it. I don't have the money to blow on a video card if I ruin my Radeon 8500 128mb. I think it's useless to do it since you have to buy to much, and my games run smooth and a higher overclock won't benefit anything. If you have money to blow, go for it. If you hesitate because you can't cover the damages then.. I wouldn't suggest the pencil since I've read alot of people killing their card like that. Get a soldering pen and use a resistor.

Yodums

pRS317 · Jun 24, 2002

i definately think more cooling is needed for the gpu. i'm going to be sticking a water block on it. water helps even w/o more voltage.

jdmcnudgent · Jun 24, 2002

i did it on am oem 8500, and get the same results as before i did it.

Yodums · Jun 25, 2002

jdmcnudgent said:
i did it on am oem 8500, and get the same results as before i did it.

Did you use the resistor or pencil trick?

jdmcnudgent · Jun 25, 2002

Yodums said:
Did you use the resistor or pencil trick?

i soddered the resistors.

grunjee · Jun 25, 2002

I did the pencil trick just because I was curious...

It seemed to help my overclock... it probably gave me about 10 MHz more stable (no artifacts in 3dMark 2k1) than what I had before...

The bigger issue to me is cooling. There IS no cooling on the 8500 out of the box as we all know, and I haven't added ramsinks or upgraded the gpu fan... if I did that I think I could get a real overclock.

As it is now though, I can get it up to about 300-305 w/o artifacts.

TranceBear · Jun 25, 2002

grunjee said:
I did the pencil trick just because I was curious...

It seemed to help my overclock... it probably gave me about 10 MHz more stable (no artifacts in 3dMark 2k1) than what I had before...

The bigger issue to me is cooling. There IS no cooling on the 8500 out of the box as we all know, and I haven't added ramsinks or upgraded the gpu fan... if I did that I think I could get a real overclock.

As it is now though, I can get it up to about 300-305 w/o artifacts.

I would turn that overclock down before you fry something, would you overclock your CPU with stock cooling? I hope not

Yodums · Jun 25, 2002

grunjee said:
I did the pencil trick just because I was curious...

It seemed to help my overclock... it probably gave me about 10 MHz more stable (no artifacts in 3dMark 2k1) than what I had before...

The bigger issue to me is cooling. There IS no cooling on the 8500 out of the box as we all know, and I haven't added ramsinks or upgraded the gpu fan... if I did that I think I could get a real overclock.

As it is now though, I can get it up to about 300-305 w/o artifacts.

What is your default core/mem? I'm currently at 300/300 but my default is 275/275. This is as far as I'll go since I know it works under summer, and I don't want to fry anything like TranceBear brought up.

grunjee · Jun 26, 2002

Yodums/TranceBear --

I forgot to mention that I do have a 120mm fan blowing right on my 8500, so it helps a little bit.

My 8500 defaults at 275/275.

Dragobich · Jun 26, 2002

I did the pencil trick and it worked flawlessly. 290/290 stable.

Yodums · Jun 26, 2002

grunjee said:
Yodums/TranceBear --

I forgot to mention that I do have a 120mm fan blowing right on my 8500, so it helps a little bit.

My 8500 defaults at 275/275.

Ah I have the same defaults. You needed a volt mod to get to 300/300? I was able to hit that right away. I have 120mm on the side panels, and quite alot of airflow though.

StankPuff · Aug 8, 2002

I followed the resistor mod found on the main site (www.overclockers.com), but I got artifacts at any clock speed (including stock specs). Does anyone know why this would happen?

I ended up unsoldering one side of each resistor, effectivly disabling the mod, but leaving all the parts in tact for a quick redo if needed.

On the bright side, I am able to overclock my OEM board (250/275) to 280/290 with no problems. (Note: My comp doesn't freeze at higher rates, I just haven't tried them yet).

However, if someone were able to explain why I was getting many artifacts, and how to fix it, I would greatly appreciate it.

Comp Specs:
Athlon 1.3 (133 Mhz)
Abit KT7A
512 MB RAM
ATI Radeon 8500 OEM

Oreo_The_Cookie · Aug 8, 2002

I got a cheap OEM 8500 LE that was severely undervolted, and would get artifacts at 275/275, but after just some wuick drawing and testing with a multimeter I got the core voltage up to 1.77 and mem up to 3.3 (Def - 1.75 core, mem - 3.65) No more artifacts, would've gone further with the mem but I'm lazy and don't wanna open ip my case again until the rest of my gear comes in

Cisco Kid · Aug 8, 2002

too bad if ya had just bought a retail card you would get 300/300 in most cases as far as I have seen , heck my 8500LE did

not to be a little knarly at all colt 45 got the best of me tonight..

cisco kid feeling a bit like a crisco kid , asprin and bedy bye

L8TR

unlike me

Overclocker456 · Aug 8, 2002

Yeah I did it to 2 cards and I fried both of them. DON'T USE THE PENCIL TRICK

8500 volt mod - have you done it?

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