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9300 with nVidia 6800 Ultra, need help

post #1 of 109
4/10/05 at 9:14pm
Thread Starter 
I recently got an nVidia 6800 Ultra to upgrade the 6800 that comes with my 9300. I installed it and its working perfectly stable and all.

However when I run 3DMark05 the score on it is 3100, with the original 6800 score was 4410.

The ultra has DDR3 ram which allows for higher clock rates, but even after I manually tweak the frequencies via ForceWare, 3DMark05 thinks they are only at
249 core/687 mem. I have my frequencies set for both 2D and 3D at 450/1.06.

The only thing I can figure is that the nVidia Bios is somehow limiting the cards frequenceis to 249/687, current BIOS version on my Ultra is 5.41.02.36.A7.

Anyone got tweaked BIOS that is safe to install?

______________________________________________________
I9300 2.0GHZ, 1GB RAM, 60HD 72k RPM, 6800 Ultra 256MB, 17" WUXGA
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post #2 of 109
4/10/05 at 9:19pm
This post may or may not help you.

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=74653
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post #3 of 109
4/10/05 at 9:22pm
If you got a brand new card and it is in fact an ultra it should have ultra bios loaded on the card. What I would recommend is doing a reinstall of windows with a set a fresh new drivers. That should fix your problem...unless dell did something to the 9300 to where if you put in an ultra it would default back to the regular 6800 go specs, but I highly doubt that.

How much was your Ultra? Did you get it from dell?
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post #4 of 109
4/10/05 at 9:23pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Qosmio. I did look thru the entire thread, basically it seems like a reliable BIOS is not yet available.
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post #5 of 109
4/10/05 at 9:27pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Shoman24v.

Yes I got the 6800 U from dell, and the BIOS is the DELL installed bios, which DELL has tweaked to avoid the card from being overclocked, well at least thats what the Dell forums say.

I have tried full reinstall a couple of times with nVidia drivers 76.44 an recently with 76.50. Still no luck
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post #6 of 109
4/10/05 at 9:32pm
I would go for a reinstall, hopefully you won't lose many settings.

BTW how is the ultra in the 9300 if it ends up coming out cheaper to do that I may consider it, I am not too fond of the backside of the XPS.
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post #7 of 109
4/10/05 at 9:35pm
Thread Starter 
Shoman24v,

Actually the 6800 U is not available as an option on the 9300, the highest you can go when ordering from Dell is 6800. I simply ordered the 6800 U after I got my 9300, and swapped cards.
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post #8 of 109
4/10/05 at 10:15pm
How much was the 6800 Ultra by itself?
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post #9 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:06pm
perhaps it is a power problem. I believe the power supply for the iXPS2 is 130 watts, while the power supply for the 9300 is 90.

So did this Ultra come with the chipset heat sink and extra heat pipe as well? If not, you may be having a heat issue.
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post #10 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:20pm
Thread Starter 
sonicwind,

A power issue is a possiblity altho I think not probable. Normally when a video card is not getting enough power, the system simply tends to be unstable, hangs, blue screens, doesnt wanna boot etc.

I've been running the system since Friday, playing HL2, UT2k4, D3 without at hitch, problem is the card is not performing as should (slightly worse performance than with 6800).

My guess, MB BIOS doesnt know its got a 6800 U, Vid Card BIOS is underclocked by MB. Possible solution, manually overclock Vid Card at BIOS level using a tweaked/hacked BIOS as posted in http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=74653

However seems like no one has had much luck with tweaked 6800 U BIOS.

Other than the above thread, know of anyone else tweaking 6800 U BIOS?
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post #11 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:24pm
Thread Starter 
sonicwind,

Forgot to mention card heat sink came with both heat pipes and even after a 1:30 of gameplay runs at a relatively cool 65c
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post #12 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:26pm
I wonder would flashing the 9300 with the XPS2 BIOS would work? This is a little risky, so try at own risk.
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post #13 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:27pm
Hi,

Right now there are no suitable flash utilities to update the bios on the 6800 go ultra. I have a modified bios available but you wouldn't be able to do anything with it - and if you attempt to flash it using existing utilities, it will render your card useless (like it did mine).

If you are feeling bold, you could download a copy of the XPS 2 mainboard bios and flash your 9300 with it, that might fix your clock issue.
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post #14 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:33pm
If you can em,ail me the bios i have some "FRIENDS" in a couple online *private* groups that can probably help us.
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post #15 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:38pm
I really like how he ducked (several times) what he paid for the ultra card by itself
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post #16 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by maxrule
If you can em,ail me the bios i have some "FRIENDS" in a couple online *private* groups that can probably help us.
Yeah sure I'll PM you the bios link.
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post #17 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fredmerlo
My guess, MB BIOS doesnt know its got a 6800 U, Vid Card BIOS is underclocked by MB.
No way. MB knows nothing about the card other than it is pci-express. Video card has its own BIOS which controls its clock speeds.

So, how much did you pay for it? You ordered from Dell spare parts? Did they give you any hassle over buying it? Why didn't you just buy an iXPS2? I'm sure that would have been cheaper.

It's possible your BIOS may be different from the standard install. I'd get that stock BIOS from that dude that save his and flash that one over to yours.

EDIT: Don't attempt to flash your BIOS based on what 5150 was doing. He reports he killed the card.
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post #18 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:49pm
Thread Starter 
joseyu,

Actually I tried using the XPS2 bios, however the flash utility checks if its running on an XPS2. Basically all I got was an error message saying I couldnt use the XPS2 BIOS on a 9300. Now if only someone had a spare XPS2 EPROM, I could swap it and give it a go
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post #19 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:50pm
Well fred, seems you are out of options for now. I'd send that card back to Dell and get a refund. Or you could donate it to me since I have a dead 6800 Go U lol!
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post #20 of 109
4/10/05 at 11:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fredmerlo
joseyu,

Actually I tried using the XPS2 bios, however the flash utility checks if its running on an XPS2. Basically all I got was an error message saying I couldnt use the XPS2 BIOS on a 9300. Now if only someone had a spare XPS2 EPROM, I could swap it and give it a go
Just make sure you are not running a 6 cell. A xps2 wont boot with it. I tried
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