Overclocking a Hightech 9800Pro to XT Level

[Nick F]

Anyone got any guides or links to overclocking my new Hightech ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Iceq 128MB Graphics card?

Anyone got any experience in doing this, I would like to run it at the XT standard performace level if possible, can I expect it to reduce it's lifespan?

Many Thanks

[blockers]

Dont have a r9800 pro myself, but the Omega drivers come highly rated, and include an overclocking tool.

Basically, get an overclocking tool (rivatuner, powerstrip, and another one i cant remember the name of.) Then increase the memory, after every increase run a few loops of 3dmark (01 or 03) and see if there are any artifacts. If there isnt any increase some more, back off until there isnt. Do the same with the core, however lockups are more likely in games if you have overclocked it too far.

Many people will tell you that better cooling will improve your ability to overclock, im not too convinced about this...im sure others will tell you otherwise.

The only way to decrease the life of your card is to increase the voltage, overclocking with default voltage should not harm the card in the long term.

If you find you get to XT speeds (google search, or search the forums for what they are) then you may be able to flash the BIOS to XT, so it is recognised as an XT. This will increase the voltage slightly (as the XT has a higher votlage than pro) so it may be able to overclock even more

Hope that helps.
Will

[LouG]

LeyZeh should be able to help you, he's got a guide for flashing 9800 pro to 9800 xt. Here's a link to a similar thread http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=19001

[SilentDeath]

use radlinker (part of omega drivers). dont bother flashing.. more effort than its worth imho, and if your going to bother flashing you mayaswell find out what the max it can clock to stabily first, and edit the bios to set that.

useing radlinker, do either the mem or core first,test the mem with 3dm2k1 second car chase and other apps, ati tool is usefull. 3dm2k3 and rthdribl are usefull for checking the core overclock.

The fact that the XT bios gives more voltage will mean you WILL need to change the stock cooler or risk your overclock being limited by the heat it makes (which in turn does damage the card).

[Nick F]

Is there much difference between the Omega drivers and the offical ATI ones?

[LayZeh]

If you frequently re-install windows i'd flash, it saves you having to change the memory and core speeds each time and also a large number of 9800 bios' today have anti-overclocking features that reset the overclock on reboot. Another reason for flashing to the XT bios is it relaxes the memory times adds some additional tweaks and lets you overclock higher than with the original 9800 bios'.

I personally gained an additional 700 3dmark2003 points.

[SilentDeath]

If you frequently re-install windows i'd flash, it saves you having to change the memory and core speeds each time and also a large number of 9800 bios' today have anti-overclocking features that reset the overclock on reboot. Another reason for flashing to the XT bios is it relaxes the memory times adds some additional tweaks and lets you overclock higher than with the original 9800 bios'.

I personally gained an additional 700 3dmark2003 points.

reset the oc on boot? then it wont matter, radlinker sets it on startup (in windows). How long does it take to change the speed? 5 seconds maybe? dont think anyone would do it for that reson, I wouldnt...

Relaxing mem timings would, most probably make it perform worse, overclock more yes, but doesnt always help performance (well with system ram anyway... 2-2-2-12 @ 200 will beat 2.5-3-3-7 @ 230fsb).

More voltage obviosly helps, but will also inc heat. I wouldnt consider flashing a good thing for someone to do to there new card thats only just started o/c. The cooler needs to be changed atleast. The amount of extra votlage will also be something small like 0.02-0.7v at a guess, id prefer a proper vmod to get me +0.3v (9700 stock 1.48, + 0.3v = 1.78v). 9800pros have enough voltage at stock for 425mhz+ so new cooler definatly if your going past that.

Omega drivers have better image quality and generally better, though sacrificing about 1-3 fps for every 80 or 90.

[LayZeh]

My 9800 Pro bios would not allow my overclock settings to remain, using RadLinker ATi Tools, Power Whatever or anything else out there. I think my 3dmark2003 score increase speaks for itself.