Author Topic: Saphire 128mg 9500 to 9700 Pro Update (Read 837 times)

Vermillion · « **on:** February 02, 2003, 06:31:50 AM »

Well, I had read all the reports of being able to take Radeon 9500's and overclocking them up to 9700 Pro standards, with RivaTuner & Soft9700, and I thought "what the hell".

So last week I bought a OEM Saphire 128meg 9500 Radeon card for $158 including shipping, and it arrived Friday evening.

Yesterday I sat down and read all the instructions in depth and started the process.

The card installed cleanly and easily, with the only item of interest being it has an external power adapter to the card (from a normal hard drive power supply plug off the main power supply).

I had already "patched" the latest version of the ATI Catalyst 3.0 drivers, which went effortlessly and the installation was again effortless.

And when I checked the system ID after configuring my desktop.... the system identified the card as a "Radeon 9700". Woooo Hooooo. It worked. Basically the patch, activates the other 4 pixel pipelines (of the 8 total) that are inactive on the 9500, and makes it a 9700.

My old system is basically a Athlon 1.3Ghz with a Radeon 7200 card, with a 3DMark2001se score of 2834

So I jumped into 3DMark2001 utility too see what I had gained with the new card. A very nice 7985!

Only one little problem. Well a major problem. The 4 pipelines that you activate in the 9500 were never tested at the factory, and in a fair number of systems are bad. This creates massive visual artifacts in any 3D game. It looks like a huge checkboarding pattern. And there is no way to fix it. At least according to the forums over at Rivatuner.

So I went back and installed stock drivers, turning my 9500 back into a normal 9500 again. Still a very nice card for $158, with a 3DMark2001se score of 7691 a huge improvement for this old system. But not quite the 9700 Pro standards I was looking for (yes I'm definitely processor limited, but that will be fixed very soon).

Hmmmm.... I wonder if they will let me return it and upgrade to a stock retail 9700 Pro ???

mrsid2 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 02, 2003, 06:57:52 AM »

Vermillion if you scored only 7000 something, your conversion didn't work. (Or.. read the edit below)

The succesful upgrades have obtained higher-than 9700pro scores in benchmarks.

Edit: Of course in your case with only 1.3 gig athlon, your cpu was the limiting factor and you will get no benefit of upgrading the card anyway. It's time for a cpu upgrade. In fact, the small difference you saw with the 'normal' and hacked 9500 is most probably a result of your limited cpu power.

Vermillion · « **Reply #2 on:** February 02, 2003, 09:49:52 AM »

MrSid, the conversion did work. Read the Soft9700 FAQ forum over at RivaTuner, the checkerboards themselves are an indication it worked, because when I went back to the stock driver, they went away.

Its just a matter of having a bad set of pixel pipelines.

I know I'm CPU limited, and I'm buying a new P4 2.8Ghz as soon as the motherboard I want is in stock.

mrsid2 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 02, 2003, 09:52:43 AM »

Ah so you got the checkers yourself?

Anyways, the difference with proper cpu would have been much bigger. Too bad it didn't work out for you.

Vermillion · « **Reply #4 on:** February 02, 2003, 02:25:46 PM »

Yup the dreaded checkerboards.

I also tried to see how far I could clock the core and memory even with the checkerboards out of curiousity.

My board is now where near a 9700 Pro in capability. Stock speeds are I think 275/275 on mine, and the best I could get out of it without major artifacts (other than the checkers) was about 310/300 in comparison to a 325/310 in the retail box.

Magic · « **Reply #5 on:** February 02, 2003, 07:09:06 PM »

Heya Verm!

Sorry to hear about the "artifacts" you were getting with all 8 piplines enabled. You are precisely correct in that with all "over-clock" situations, your mileage may vary. The 9500 series cards are not "Q/A'd" to the 9700 spec (although they are mechanically identical).

Not to rub it in... but my R9500 card (Saphire 128mb OEM) runs just fine up to speeds of 325HZ core / 300HZ mem. That's with the mod and all 8 pipes enabled.

3D Mark approx 10600 with an Athlon 1600+ (running stock speeds). Even if I upgraded to a 2100+ the performance increase in AH would be hardly noticeable.

If its any consolation, with the CPU you have, you would still be FPS limited in AH had you gotten the 9700 non-pro. And that would be at hi-resolutions with FSAA/ ANISO maxed out.

Still, I believe for most systems under 1.4 mhz the Radeon 9500 non-pro is still a kick bellybutton little card for running AH. (Oh, almost forgot... after shipping I paid $153.00.)

Regards,

minus · « **Reply #6 on:** February 03, 2003, 01:29:33 PM »

wonder why my frekin ati 9700 pro labeled card at 450 Euro price show drivers name like 9700/9500 series ????

i use catalyst 3.0 driver , how to be sure the card what i have is a real 9700 pro ?

Skuzy , any idea ? plz ?

Vermillion · « **Reply #7 on:** February 03, 2003, 02:04:18 PM »

Minus, if your machine shows "9700" then check the clock speeds with some overclocking utility such as RivaTuner.

If the clock speeds are 325 core / 310 memory, you have the 9700 Pro.

minus · « **Reply #8 on:** February 03, 2003, 02:37:12 PM »

it show the speed , but anyway , just tested with sisoft sandra and on openGl it show id like 9700 pro and 8 pipeline so i more sure now , honestly was realy suspicious just becose the first card what i recived have artefacts on scren

Skuzzy · « **Reply #9 on:** February 03, 2003, 03:09:46 PM »

Minus, don't panic. The 9500 and 9700 video cards are all based on the same R300 core, thus the drivers show both product numbers they support.

Vermillion · « **Reply #10 on:** February 05, 2003, 07:05:04 AM »

Another Update.

A buddy of mine that works just down the hall, ordered the same card one day after I ordered mine.

He installed his last night, used Soft9700, to upgrade it to a 9700 with no problems in the least. AND he got his to clock up to 325/310, the full 9700 Pro retail speeds.

So he paid $158 to get a full blown 9700 Pro.

Pfunk · « **Reply #11 on:** February 05, 2003, 11:52:04 AM »

Vermillion where did you buy yours from?

Vermillion · « **Reply #12 on:** February 05, 2003, 01:38:48 PM »

Both mine and my co-workers came from googlegear.com ordered one day apart.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #13 on:** February 05, 2003, 01:46:22 PM »

It is a bit of a crap shoot. The R300's for the 9500 are culled from parts that were not good enough to be 9700Pro's. This just means that may be marginal in certain areas.

When cranking a 9500 to 9700Pro levels, you really should be careful. The rams on the 9500 are slower than the 9700Pro and the heat sink on the 9500 is not as good as the 9700Pro.

Just keep a good air flow in and around the board to solve the heat problem.

Vermillion · « **Reply #14 on:** February 05, 2003, 04:55:04 PM »

Hehe my buddy is a mechanical engineer who used to work on Power plant boilers. (Imagine a real life Tim Taylor off Tool Time)

A couple of nights ago, he decided he wanted more airflow on his case and installed "a few extra fans". Now he has a computer attached to his FANS

Its quite impressive, but sounds somewhat like a small jet engine.