Modding a XpertVision 5900XT

[Grechie]

Hey everyone

i have bought a 5900XT, havent overclocked it or anything yet, i was wodnering, how would i go about in modding my 5900XT into say a 5900ultra i think it is or 5950? i dont know what people can turn these 5900XT's into but ive seen that its possible to mod it to a faster performing card.

is there any clear instructions step by step perhaps on which cards and exactly how to do it? i no you have to flash its bios etc, and the risks involved, i just want to know, is it possible on my xpertvision (palit daytona) 5900XT 128MB :)

thanks


MiK

[Kev1]

You can do it, I did, but success depends on how fast your memory is. Most 5900XTs come with memory that at best will do 800 to 850 mhz overclocked. To run at 5900 Ultra or 5950 speeds your memory needs to do 900 mhz or faster. Most XTs are not equiped with the 2.2 ns memory required to run this fast.

If I were you I would just use Coolbits or RivaTuner and overclock your card as far as it will go while maintaining stability. With any luck you'll hit 450 to 500 mhz on the core, and 800 to 850 on the memory.

Here is link to read about flashing bios and modifying the 5900XT series:

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?threadid=85394

In reading that thread maybe one of their modded bios would work great. I flashed my bios no problem, but I did my homework. If you do it, talk to others who have a 5900XT and have done the flash. Good luck :)

[Grechie]

hey man i can hit 460 core and 780 memory with the 61.77 drivers is that good?? btw here are some test scores can anyone tell me if there normal @ 460/780

Stock
3dmark2001: 13360
3dmark2003: 5000

oc
3dmark2001: not tested yet
3dmakr2003: 5460

[OMAC]

My sytstem is pretty much identical to yours.I have a BFg 5900 OC @ 470/760 and I get close to 15000 in 3dmk1 and about 5600 in 3dmk3. I run 512 ram, but I don't use onboard audio. :confused:

[harl]

It's a good idea to try the gainward 5900XT bios on my
gainward 5900 SE (400/700)?

[Grechie]

hey overclocked to 460/780 i got 14100 marks on 3dmark01, no were near your stock 15000 OMAC ??? :S

[Kev1]

Grechie, your 3D Mark scores look good for a 5900XT. There are lots of system and driver tweaks you can play with to get it higher (Vsync turned off is one, no AA or AF, overclock your cpu, not just video card, shut down useless programs in windows, enable fastwrites, sideband addressing, set AGP aperture size to 128, 256, or 512-whichever scores higher, etc)

Harl, flashing your 5900SE to a 5900XT should work as they are basically the same thing. However, I would click that link I posted and ask some people in the Guru3D thread.

Flashing video card bios to other video cards to improve performance can work if the bios's are compatible. There are some risks. Do your research to minimize them. It really helps to talk to someone who has already flashed a 5900SE or 5900XT.

[OMAC]

I get anywhere from 14,500 to 14,800 in 3dmark2k1. To tell the truth I though it should be higher..................... Almost forgot, I run image quality on "performance"

[Kev1]

Well OMAC, seems with the latest Nvidia Forceware drivers (60 series), 3D Mark 03 scores go up while 3D Mark 01 scores go down.

I use to get around 15900 in 3D Mark 01. Now its somewhere around 15300 :rolleyes:

[Gator]

hey overclocked to 460/780 i got 14100 marks on 3dmark01, no were near your stock 15000 OMAC ??? :S

That's fine! 900 marks in 3dmark2k1 isn't that big of a deal. That difference could be related to the memory, CPU, or some other factors. I wouldn't stress over it, your 3dmark2k1 is excellent and I think you should leave well enough alone. The only way you'll get more overclock on that FX5900XT is by volt-modding and some serious after market cooling, neither of which is worth it in my opinion.

If you really wanna see the 3dmark2k1 score fly, increase your FSB, even if it's just a little bit, because 3dmark2k1 is VERY sensitive to the FSB setting. That's something they "corrected" in 3dmark2k3

Enjoy your FX5900XT, I know I love mine :)

[Grechie]

That's fine! 900 marks in 3dmark2k1 isn't that big of a deal. That difference could be related to the memory, CPU, or some other factors. I wouldn't stress over it, your 3dmark2k1 is excellent and I think you should leave well enough alone. The only way you'll get more overclock on that FX5900XT is by volt-modding and some serious after market cooling, neither of which is worth it in my opinion.

If you really wanna see the 3dmark2k1 score fly, increase your FSB, even if it's just a little bit, because 3dmark2k1 is VERY sensitive to the FSB setting. That's something they "corrected" in 3dmark2k3

Enjoy your FX5900XT, I know I love mine :)


thanks man for the info, i managed to overclock it to 460/780 perfect no problems, looks like i wont mod it unless i do my homework, and to be honest, would moding it into a 5900 ultra be worth the fps ?

[jimmor]

thanks man for the info, i managed to overclock it to 460/780 perfect no problems, looks like i wont mod it unless i do my homework, and to be honest, would moding it into a 5900 ultra be worth the fps ?


You can't mod it into a 5900ultra, only ultra speeds of 450/850 if thats what you wanted. Although overclocking it to max stable speeds would probably be better choice.

Whether any extra fps would be worth the no cost effort, only you can say after having tried it ??

[Grechie]

You can't mod it into a 5900ultra, only ultra speeds of 450/850 if thats what you wanted. Although overclocking it to max stable speeds would probably be better choice.

Whether any extra fps would be worth the no cost effort, only you can say after having tried it ??



Thanks for the reply :)

I Thought Ive seen people flash there bios of this XT card into other Geforce FX's ? maybe not a 5900 Ultra but maybe a 5950? anyways i overclock it to a max of 460/780 and it gets me 800 more marks in 3dmark2001se, it isnt to bad, i get 5500 in 3d mark 03 overclocked, so thats 500 more then stock, its not bad i guess, just wondering how would just plain old overclocking it be better then making it a 5950 for eg? i mean wouldnt it unlock more power ?

[jimmor]

Thanks for the reply :)

I Thought Ive seen people flash there bios of this XT card into other Geforce FX's ? maybe not a 5900 Ultra but maybe a 5950? anyways i overclock it to a max of 460/780 and it gets me 800 more marks in 3dmark2001se, it isnt to bad, i get 5500 in 3d mark 03 overclocked, so thats 500 more then stock, its not bad i guess, just wondering how would just plain old overclocking it be better then making it a 5950 for eg? i mean wouldnt it unlock more power ?


Not many XT type cards flash very successfully with 5900nu, 5900u or 5950u bios's simply because of design and component differencies.

Sometimes it is just better modding your own XT bios for best performance. Which in your case would first mean that you change the memory Latencies and Timings of your bios to those shown in my 59xx bios modding guide. This will affect memory overclocking, so now overclock memory to its max and then change GPU and memory stocks in bios to the GPU of 460 previously established and memory to new overclock established after timing mods. Also set throttling volts and speeds to same as for 3D.

Now check 3Dmark performance !

If you want to try a 5950u bios, then go with BFG type as it has shown good results with lots of cards. But also remember to do memory latency/timing/throttling mods to this bios. The tighter timing mods should greatly improve performance of 5950u bios.