RADEON X800GTO Graphics Cards.

[allanmunro]

Hi there.
I have an AGP RADEON x800GTO graphics card (the card is a CRUCIAL type but had a sticky fan so I replaced the fan with a GECUBE fan and pipe set from my broken x800GTO and she works fine).

I keep reading on the GPU comparison sites that I can enable disabled pipelines on this card and improve its performance, but can't seem to find anything on the web that tells me how to do it? I have been able to determine that it seems to be something to do with a BIOS upgrade.

Anyone any ideas?
Also...
Am I likely to create a serious problem with my machine by undertaking this?
Do I need a better fan system to cool the card at this higher performance? Recommendations appreciated if needed.
Is it even worth it and will I notice any difference?

Look forward to hearing from you all.

Allan Munro

 

[KevinLeigh22]

I wasn't aware that was possible (disabling pipelines). And wouldn't it degrade performance, because you're disabling the hardware that helps accelerate rendering?

By the way, if in the near future you're looking to upgrade, drop AGP completely and adopt a mid-range dual-core (like an AMD Athlon X2 5200 or higher) and an 8800GT (you can find one for $200). DDR2-800 RAM is strongly recommended.
Just a tip.

Or if you're strapped for money, if you have a board capable of the lower end X2's or Pentium D's, invest in one of those, and get an NVIDIA 7800GT or 7900GT.

 

[worshipme]

I think it has to something to do with flashing the card's BIOS, but my knowledge of this subject goes no further than that.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

You can use RivaTuner to unlock any disabled pipelines. There's no real danger in doing so. That only thing that may happen is that you'll get graphical errors. In that case, you would just have to disable the pipeplines you opened. Not all cards work well with all pipleines and shaders enabled.

This tutorial will show you how: Unlocking Pipelines Using RivaTuner

 

[allanmunro]

Hi there.
Got RIVATUNER and the tutorial, but my system does not load up as described. I don't get an NVSTRAP option on the tabs only AGP...possibly 'cos my card is not NVIDIA. Due to this, I'm a bit lost as to what to do once I get to the customise part and where to go from there.

Anyone got any more ideas on this...or perhaps an AGP tutorial for RIVATUNER.

Thanks in advance.

Allan Munro

 

[foobby]

I wasn't aware that was possible (disabling pipelines). And wouldn't it degrade performance, because you're disabling the hardware that helps accelerate rendering?

By the way, if in the near future you're looking to upgrade, drop AGP completely and adopt a mid-range dual-core (like an AMD Athlon X2 5200 or higher) and an 8800GT (you can find one for $200). DDR2-800 RAM is strongly recommended.
Just a tip.

Or if you're strapped for money, if you have a board capable of the lower end X2's or Pentium D's, invest in one of those, and get an NVIDIA 7800GT or 7900GT.

do wat he says
it a better idea cuz cards like agp don run faster then a pci express
i garantee u that if u do wat he said u WILL SEE A DIFFRENCE IN PERFORMANCE!!

 

[KevinLeigh22]

Actually, forget the NVIDIA 7-series, they're useless for new games now (mainly Crysis)

$400, high-end video card, high-end CPU (once you OC it to match the E6750 like they did on that Tom's Hardware article), plenty of RAM. Use your existing case, hard drive, and power supply. (assuming you have a 400watt or higher power supply).

 

[worshipme]

The 8800GT suffers a lot from the memory slash to 256MB, it falls behind the HD 3850 in most benchmarks and the ATI card is cheaper. I also think that an AMD platform is a better choice if you're on a budget:

 

[ace777]

You can use RivaTuner to unlock any disabled pipelines. There's no real danger in doing so. That only thing that may happen is that you'll get graphical errors. In that case, you would just have to disable the pipeplines you opened. Not all cards work well with all pipleines and shaders enabled.

This tutorial will show you how: Unlocking Pipelines Using RivaTuner

will that work for an 8400 gs?!?! THAT WOULD BE AWESOME, it has all the power of the 8600 gt but not the pipeines to carry it out.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

It should work with your 8400GS ace777.


Allan -
After further research, it appears that you can't use Rivatuner to unlock the X800GTO. They either need to be BIOS flashed or modded. Here's a page that has some links you should check out: Unlock from 12 to 16 pipes "PowerColor X800 GTO".