Little bit of 9800 Vid Card info

WannaBeNerd

Distinguished
May 7, 2004
25
0
18,530
OK so as some of you know, i bought a dell that came with a radeon 9800 pro, and it runs great (5707 in 3dmark 03). I do, however have a few questions about the video card...here goes

1.) I was taking a look at the card and all of the memory chips are made by samsung. i think i remember reading somewhere that the cards with samsung memory were more stable in terms of overclocking. is this true?

2.) How do i find out my core/memory speeds? also, is there any program that i can use to overclock these values to 9800XT speeds?

3.) what kind of cooling should i use if i overclock?
 

cryo

Distinguished
May 3, 2001
88
0
18,630
1. don't know... most brand-name 9800Pro's 128 DDR I know come with Samsung memory. So this means is good for o/c, but I don't know with what to compare in terms of stability

2. There are multiple programs (like Rage3DTweak), which both tell you the frequencies of your card, and allow you to easily overclock, just by dragging two sliders.

3. Stock cooling should be ok for reasonable o/c-ing (even to XT speeds). If you want to go extreme with the o/c, use a more serious fan cooler (like zalmann, for example), or water cooling. Beware though, because, from what I know, replacing the GPU cooler voids your warranty.

Edit: you can put also ramsinks on the memory chips, to increase the chances of overclocking the memory.

"I cannot give you a brain, but I can give you a diploma"
- The Wizard of Oz, talking to the Scarecrow<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by cryo on 05/16/04 06:01 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

Willamette_sucks

Distinguished
Feb 24, 2002
1,940
0
19,780
<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=680130#680130" target="_new">Read my thread on flashing the BIOS of ATI cards, specifically 9800s.</A>

Many people would recommend the "VGA Silencer" to cool your video card, and they only cost like 12 bucks or something. For the best cooling possible w/o going water cooling, use a CPU heatsink on the core, and some 1337 ramsinks.

Me: are you saying I can't provide?
Me: cause I know I can provide.
Me: oh and I can provide money too;)
Rachel:): why do we need money when we can just stay in our room and have sex all day?
 

Coyote

Distinguished
Oct 1, 2003
1,007
0
19,280
I just got a BBA 9800pro. Had the Samsung memeory too. I d/l the rage3d tweaker tool and in about 2 seconds had it up to and beyond the 9800XT specs.

If those speeds are good enough for you, and you don't have artifacts, prolly no need to bother with aftermarket cooling and void your warranty.

Barton 2500+
Abit NF7-S v 2.0
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133 7200RPM
512MB Corsair Twinx 3200LL
BBA 9800 Pro
Enermax Noisetaker 420 watts
Win98SE
 

ytoledano

Distinguished
Jan 16, 2003
974
0
18,980
I have Sapphire 9800Pro with 2.8 Hynix chips, gets to about 790MHZ with no RAM sinks which is considered high for this brand - so I read. The chips heat up a lot but I heard that only Samsung benefit from sinks - Any thoughts?

Also I recommend ATItool - OCing for newbies made EZ, just remember to take a speed MHZ lower than what it has found. Also, check the limit of the RAM when the core is at stock and the other way around.

How exactly can ATI tell if you've changed the heatsink?

Abit IS7 @ 275 FSB, OCZ PC4200 RAM @ 550Mhz, P4 2.4 @ 3.3Ghz Vcore @ 1.625, Sapphire Radeon 9800P @ 410/780.
Thermalright SLK-947U, P3 HS @ NB.
 

Willamette_sucks

Distinguished
Feb 24, 2002
1,940
0
19,780
395mhz on hynix!!?!? Damn.

And ATI can't tell if you've changed the sink if you put the old one back on (and use that crappy white paste).

Ramsinks probably wouldn't get you a higher OC, but it could improve long-term stability and extend the life of your card.

Me: are you saying I can't provide?
Me: cause I know I can provide.
Me: oh and I can provide money too;)
Rachel:): why do we need money when we can just stay in our room and have sex all day?