NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Forums › Dell Legacy (single-core notebooks) › For the people still hesitating to mod their 9800s
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

For the people still hesitating to mod their 9800s

post #1 of 63
10/1/05 at 5:27pm
Thread Starter 
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=1271653

Would have moved into first place, but #1 got 16 pipes on his unlock and I only got 12. Oh well! If you're still wondering if it's worth it to unlock your 9800s, this should be reason enough!
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 63
10/1/05 at 5:50pm

Yes, but...

Yes, but is it worth the risk of frying your card and not being able to replace it as Dell only has warranty replacement cards left? I'm not about to pay 800 bucks on ebay for one. X0)
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 63
10/1/05 at 6:30pm
im not ready..... not like any games wont play on my meager 9800 / 445-400
the 9800 DID used to be a good card Before these mods, right?

im with corvus, its not near worth the cost to replace it, if the worst happens.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 63
10/2/05 at 1:06am
Thread Starter 
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=1275505

4618 is the best I can do. Any higher overclocks and I get artifacts. I'll settle for 4618.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 63
10/2/05 at 12:47pm
I play all the games I have (Splinter Cell, Far Cry, BF2) with my stock video card and no OC. So I don't see why I would mess with my PC when it's not even one year old and it's doing everything I want without pushing it...

May be a year or two from now, if I find my PC starting to limit my game, I may play it with OC or even mod the video card... And if I messed it up, I won't cry as much and just buy a new laptop as this one would have done its job.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 63
10/5/05 at 12:30am
I have an MR 9700 and it plays everything including the Cod 2 demo well. Why take the risk if you have a 9800 ... It should play well into the future.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 63
10/5/05 at 2:18am
Have you tried playing the F.E.A.R. demo? Crank up everything and your computer will stutter running @ 640 x 480!
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 63
10/5/05 at 10:32am
Thread Starter 
If you had a car that went 0 to 60 in 15 seconds and if you could connect one wire to make it go 0 to 60 in 8 seconds, why not do it? I understand some people don't want to risk it, but the performance gain from it is tremendous. Anyone with an unmodded card, what is your best 3DMark05 score?
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 63
10/5/05 at 10:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by roshambo
If you had a car that went 0 to 60 in 15 seconds and if you could connect one wire to make it go 0 to 60 in 8 seconds, why not do it? I understand some people don't want to risk it, but the performance gain from it is tremendous. Anyone with an unmodded card, what is your best 3DMark05 score?
Yes, but it's like an everyday person strapping a rocket engine to a car, and hoping it won't explode with them in it. If the card dies, there *is* no replacement. Laptop dead, kaput, no second chances. (Possibly a rare 800$ card on ebay possibly, but...) Not only that, my best 05 score is close to 4k with an overclock. That's just fine for me. The performance gain isn't "tremendous" enough to warrant the trouble and risk in my opinion. Not only that, but your assuming that every single card is exactly the same. They are not. You're also assuming that it will work so easily for everyone, when it has been documented by many users here that it does not always work. It depends on the card's age, core, etc. Some have pipes that do not work, some do. Connecting that wire does not neeccessarily guarantee that you will have a faster card by default.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 63
10/5/05 at 10:38pm
I agree with Corvus Corax. Sure if I had 2 or 3 grphx cards laying around thats something different, then I could afford to experiement.

As for stock 3dmark I get 2660. No oclock no nothing.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 63
10/6/05 at 11:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by suryad
I agree with Corvus Corax. Sure if I had 2 or 3 grphx cards laying around thats something different, then I could afford to experiement.

As for stock 3dmark I get 2660. No oclock no nothing.
Considering that I can milk almost 2200 out of my 9700 stably I'd almost definately unlock a 9800 if I got it. I can't see spending $1 per point on 3dMark05
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 63
10/10/05 at 8:43am
Or if you have an UXGA screen you can buy an XGA screen. You will see more performance increase by playing at 1280x800 than by modding the card to 12 pipes.
I think I may have to do that, as my computer can't handle some of the new games (Call of Duty2,Black&White2,Brothers in Arms earned in Blood)) decently at 1920x1200.
That will extend the life of my laptop a few more months
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 63
10/10/05 at 10:12pm
Anyone playing BF2? what resolution do you have yours? or what is the best/max resolution for i9100/xps gen1?
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 63
10/11/05 at 1:56am
1600x1200.

Disable everything that is "dynamic" under graphic settings.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 63
10/11/05 at 9:31am
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 63
10/11/05 at 5:26pm
My warranty on my XPS gen 1 was about to expire, so I tried the mr9800 mod. It did not work for me. I used a conductive pen first after scraping the leads then I got out the 15 watt iron ( I had to find a precision tip as the one I was using looked awefully big under a 15x loupe ) and made a permanent connection: still at 8 pipes.

I have scans of the card plus all info printed on my GPU:

The silkscreen on the backside of the card has the following:

2004-06-17
LS1717 R1.0
DAADQ2OL410
VENDOR: GCE

The GPU itself: ( 34th week of 2004 )

216PECGA12F
GC5916.1
0434AA
TAIWAN

RAM:

SAMSUNG
K4D55323QF-GC33 ( suck 300MHz )
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 63
10/28/05 at 3:42am
does unlocking pipes in your mr9800 ruin your card? I mean I still don't understand, if the architecture is based on x800, and extra pipes are available... Why would it ruin your card? or burn it out faster? It's not like you are physically adding pipes, you are merely unlocking them.

The reason why I asked is because I got an older mr9800 with unlockable capablilty on the cheap. Should I do it?


-P
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 63
10/28/05 at 9:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pdogg93
does unlocking pipes in your mr9800 ruin your card? I mean I still don't understand, if the architecture is based on x800, and extra pipes are available... Why would it ruin your card? or burn it out faster? It's not like you are physically adding pipes, you are merely unlocking them.

The reason why I asked is because I got an older mr9800 with unlockable capablilty on the cheap. Should I do it?


-P
I got 16 pipes and the temperature remained exactly the same. So I believe that unlocking the pipes wears out the card far less than overclocking it. The only problem is if you have one of the newer cards that can't be unlocked. One other guy and me destroyed our cards doing this. But my new card works like a clock.
What week is your card made?
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 63
10/28/05 at 11:06am
i just acquired a 20th week card.

i'll be benching in 3dmark05 and CS:S before and after i do the mod, hopefully this weekend.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 63
10/28/05 at 11:29am
20th!! Lucky b***ard!!!
Say hallo to my sixteen little friends.
27th week Anticizen got 16 pipes. And 29th mine got 16 pipes as well.
Good luck.
Two pieces of advice. Scrape the two dots with a flatbed screwdriver until they get shiny. And leave the conductive paint to set for 5-6 hours.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Forums › Dell Legacy (single-core notebooks) › For the people still hesitating to mod their 9800s