BFG 6800OC HELP

[Clob]

Ok. Just got it and I looked at bechmarks of the base 6800 and it laggs behind the GT and Ultra, witch is what I expected. Is this mainly because of the 128mb of memory or the lack of pipes or both? It runs great up untill 1600/1200 res. Then it drops hard. Witch is not a problem because I dont need 1600x1200 to play my games. Will the extra 25mhz make any difference over the base card?

I am coming from an R9700pro,I hope Im going to be happy with this upgrade!

P4 2.8B 1gig of 1066rambus. AGP4x

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Clob on 12/22/04 09:27 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[cleeve]

It's a solid card. You will be more than satisfied if you're coming from a 9700 PRO.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 332/345)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>3200+</b></font color=red> <i>(Barton 2500+ o/c 400 FSB)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>5,354</b>

 

[Pavelow]

clob,

What power supply are you running in that?

Pavelow

Dell 8250, i850e 4xAGP 2.4ghzCPU 512mbPC1066RDRAM 120gb & 200gbATA
GeF4MX420 SBL5.1 SamSung48xCDRW LiteOn851SDVDRW
RJ-45 to Compaq 9660, 233mhzCPU 104mbFPRAM 12mbVoodoo2 Win95a

 

[KCjoker]

Not sure if you want to risk it but alot of people are using rivatuner to softmod to enable the extra 4 pipes.

 

[RX8]

a couple of friends brought the 6800 128 mb. and all have been able to unlock all 16 piplines.

Plus they had also been lucky as most of them OC from 325mhz core to 380mhz with out a problem, sum only managed a 370 - 375mhz OC on the core, memory can usually be OC to 800mhz.

I would say the MEMORY is the biggest factor over the small 25mhz difference between the gt and the normal card, as ddr1 is on the 128mb versions at a speed of 700mhz, and GDDR3 1000-1200mhz is on the GT + Ultra.

My mates did a comparison of the 12 pipline 6800 at stock speeds of 325mhz core and 700mhz memory then they unlocked 16piplines and ran 3dmark03 and then OC the Core and then memory. and then tryed a standard ultra.

We also tried my X800XT which kicked ass, it beat the ultra by just a few hundred. but the xt was better value for money than the ultra.

the System specs used are as follows.

XP2500 barton 400mhz fsb not OC
Nforce 2 MB
512mb 400mhz corsair LL ram single slot not duel
120gb 7200rpm HD seagate 8mb cache
560watt supply forgot what make

We used these system specs as this is what type of setup most of us have, so to be fair we averaged the specs out.

Scores

Basic 6800 with 12 PL and a core of 325 plus 700mhz memory scored : 8462

6800 with 16PL unlocked standard core and memory scored: 9586

6800 with 16PL unlocked with 385Mhz core 804mhz memory (this was the max the galaxy 6800 would go without artifacts or crashing each 6800 was different)
The score : 10448

6800 16 Piplines 350 core 750 memory: 9836
This would be the most suitable settings for a OC 6800 128mb we used rivatuner to unlock the piplines.

Ultra scored : 12895
X800XT: 13274

These benchmarks where just done a week and a half ago.
To be honest the 6800 128 is a solid card to upgrade to if your on a budget it runs as fast or nearly as fast as the X800 Pro which is more expensive, even though i think the ATI X800 is better. LOL

 

[Clob]

I just got the Aspire 500W to run it since Fry's didnt carry Antech truepower. It puts out more amps on all the rails. Im probably going to take it back because the rails are weird. 12V is low on idle (11.4) and high (12.3) on load. 3.3V is stable. 5V is way to high (5.4V).


What problems could I run into if I try to softmod the pipes with rivatuner?

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"

 

[Clob]

I still have 28 days untill I can take it back to Frys. Would they exchange it if I said it would not work? If somthing goes wrong when I unlock these pipes, I would be out of luck. I dont have the money for a seccond one, or else I would have the Ultra!

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"

 

[pauldh]

Nice sig


<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=3400555" target="_new"> My</A>
<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=8268935" target="_new">Gamer</A>

 

[TheCoLd]

if the pipes don't unlock dont worry it will probably overclock decently. DO not take it back just because it doesn't open to 16 pipes.

 

[Clob]

Thanks... Just things I see and think that is funny.

So I cant mess up my card by attempting to unlock the pipes?

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"

 

[TheCoLd]

well for the most part no. If you see artifacts with rivatuner just uninstall it. However if you DO get corruption. even in the reg mode first check if your power supply is strong enough. My card artifacted with low power and I knew this so I ordered a new psu right away, and solved my problems.

 

[RX8]

Well if you enable all the masked piplines with rivatuner and your screen comes all garbaged and scrambled after a restart then your 6800 CANNOT be unlocked.

Sometimes you only get artifacts in 3dgames and not in the desktop giving you the illusion it works. But i have heard 90%Plus of 6800 128mb can be unlocked in the uk, most of the early 6800 for sum reasen could not be.

You will have to load up in SAFE MODE uninstall rivatuner and then evrything will be normal again.

the 6800 128 is worth the gamble.

 

[RX8]

it could be small white spots or folding of graphics on screen or black spots outlines of objects which are field in with grey.

PULSATING colours making you FEEL like your on LSD, or yo been smoking to much weed and all you can see is pink elephants on the screen.

Things like that really wusy, Wusy what type of name is that it sound familier?

 

[Clob]

Ok so no risk on opening up the 4 pipes. Do I have to have Riva Tuner installed to always have the pipes unlocked? Or is it "set it and forget it"? I reformat often, If it becomes a hastle then I may not do it.

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"

 

[RX8]

the program takes to seconds to instal stop panicking once installed and set which takes 20 seconds. you leave it.

If you reformat its obvious you have to reinstal rivatuner. LOL

 

[Clob]

Ok sounds good. 4 free pipes! What about the 1vs that doesnt come with it?

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"

 

[Unolocogringo]

Using rivatuner I was also able to enable it on my card. 16x1, 6vp But as always no gurantees. Im happy with my card.

I aint signing nothing!!!

 

[Clob]

Awsome... Think I should let my card "burn in" a little before I do this?

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"

 

[RX8]

Screen shots somewhere in guru3d they did a article on unlocking piplines on a 6800, while playing one of the games
it appears that the edges of shapes on screen have folded over itself, where the over half of the object was supposed to be was feeled in gray, also on the same screen shots there where weird outlines and straight lines where the graphics have gone skelton like you can see parts of the 3d structure i cant seem to remember the proper word.
-----------
folding of graphics on screen or black spots outlines of objects which are field in with grey
---------------

i have only joined these forums but the knowledge of games and tweaking is there.

Wusy i heard the name in GTA: SA, thats why i mentioned it.

 

[RX8]

Also unlocking PIPELINES would probably create different types of artifacts if it goes wrong 4 u, and totally different artifacts to OVERCLOCKING your 9800se PRO XT (LOL which one is it wusy) where you will see snow most likley.

Plus ATI cores and NVidia cores are different and can produce different effects on screen.

 

[Clob]

Can I get a link on the Guru article?

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"

 

[RX8]

i will find it asap for you if i can locate it.

 

[Clob]

Got it... stumbeled across it.. Thanks anyhow.

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Clob on 12/23/04 02:11 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Clob]

About 50% of 6800's get the unlock. Some get severe artifacts. No reports of damaged cards on Anandtech forums. I think I'll try it. Thanks for the input fellas.

There was some discussion on whether softmodding would void the waranty. Since there is no overclocking and bios/hardware changing, should it void waranty? When or If they recieve the card for a repleacement, will they know if the softmod actually happend?

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"

 

[Clob]

Yuck... was it green pea soup?

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"

"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"