i want to know also..
so far i just tried sapphire bios only.. no time to play..

the bios wont do miracles or anything, dont expect much. It just change your core/mem clock to the one which you flashed, basically, these can be done by overclocking it urself without the need ot flashing bios. The only purpose of flashing to the modded bios is to remove the 860mhz core barrier, other than that... well... just understand the risk of flashing before proceeding =)

A wrong move may just kill ur card.

Until now i still not dare to flash the card

-pWs-

agreed..

but i saw some got different voltage etc.. so should be one better suit for everage oc mode..
or any unnotice changes...

that's the thing, i saw many of u guys manage to overclock the ram till 1200...but mine even 1150 will cause system hang or shut down for a few minutes of CMR and Crysis .... I'm using saphirre 3870 n overclock thru Ati overdrive...

however i've yet to flash it with any modded bios ...which method is preferable and safe? Atiflash tools thru bootdisk or Winflash in windows?

preferable through dos.

And just for your info, if memory clock is unstable, it will produce artifact and wont just crash like that, in your case, its not your memory, its your core clock.

@AoiNatsume
my card max out at 855Mhz/2700Mhz, i think i cant break > 860Mhz without flashing bios.
However until now i still dare not to flash the vga bios.
Btw, how many percent of the performance improvement you get from flashing bios to oc till > 900Mhz?

it's not about oc.. it's raise the fan speed so reduce the core temp..
90 to 60 is a big gap..
u need volt mode to oc >900

but bro if i just overclock the core and leave the ram untouch at 1126, i manage to run crysis and CMR without any problem at all....already tried all modded BIOS but the problem is still there ....my default BIOS version is VER010.073.000.000.027243....

wonder if :
a) i didnt remove the last nvidia driver properly i.e. didnt use driver sweeper
b) my mobo is the culprit MSI K9N Ultra
b) my PSU is not enough to power-up my whole overclocked system...currently using 600watt silverstone strider, 40amp 12v rail...previously when i'm using an overclocked 8800gt and overclock my F3 to 3.2gig, the graphic terribly slow during 3Dmark06..only stable if downclock the proc to 2.9gig...i did the same thing while using 3870 (875/1250) but i need to downclock the proc further to 2.5g then it will be stable...
c) i need to reinstall the games since the problem arise only if i'm running game...i can run full 3Dmark06 at 860/1200 without any problem...the load temperature never goes beyond 70c...
d) i need to fresh install the windows

appreciate any opinion

there's something need to be clear here... IMO, the modded BIOS is for sure, OC till beyond >860MHz, plus... it's only good to flash after we managed to get >860MHz stable - maybe via software OC (RivaTuner, ATi Tools)

say you just got the card, a day later wanted to flash with modded driver which is preset clock @885/2500, not knowing your card well, you flash the card with the BIOS and the card was forced to run @885/2500 without knowing how high your card can go... get the idea?

900MHz is a possibility but not with stock cooler. I can get up to 900MHz stable on stock cooler with my HIS HD3870 but fan at 100% (damn noisy) and aircon room.


You don't need volt mode if you have a good stable motherboard, PSU and cooler to achieve 900MHz.


a) is a possibility but quite unlikely.
b) is not a possibility.
c) means your overclocked CPU is not stable in the first place...nothing to do with your PSU. Run Orthos, SuperPI, MemTest, and Demo the entire 3dmark06 using the HIGHEST resolution your display monitor can support...if none of them crash, your CPU is stable.
d) is not a possibility.
e) is irrelevant unless you want to do a) the easy way.

your solution E is not an option either, u can fresh install OS for a million times but whats the point of doing so when your system is not stable?

Anyways, 900Mhz is an easy job actually, but not likely on stock 1.33vgpu, @ 1.33v you may be able to run @ 900mhz but id guarantee that it would be unstable. The card itself isnt very hot to begin with, well.. just an assumption unless the stock HSF really sux. The first day i got the card, terus raped off the stock hsf

My card is currently running 999/1333 @ 1.4v rock stable continuous 7 hrs benching @ 45c full load.

thanks for the feedback

i did run and finished the followings:

1) Full 3dMark06 Pro 1.1.0 benchies and score 10200
- Proc 3.2gig 1.3vcore
- HD3870 at 860/1200

2) SuperPI 1M done at 28 seconds
- Proc 3.2gig 1.3vcore
- HD3870 at 860/1200

3) Crysis and CMR no problem at all
- Proc 3.2gig 1.3vcore
- HD3870 at 860/1126

all the above application and test running without any problems....HOWEVER:

4) Crysis - stuck at very first nvidia and intel ads
CMR - crash either at menu screen or at the early stage of the race.
- Proc 3.2gig 1.3vcore
- HD3870 at 860/>1126

sounds to me like its not your hardware problems already, more likely your software problem. try update to the latest catalyst and download all the gamefix and windows gaming related hotfixes. If you're running vista, visit http://www.nvidia.com/object/windows_vista_hotfixes.html for a few essential hotfixes.

could be the reason i guess..currently running XP and using the latest CCC 7.12...
but dont really know bout the gamefix and window related hotfixes...

what's make me going mad is the symptom really weird one just increase the VRAM then it's crash in game
even myself at first felt so ashame to ask u guys

1. I did state that it is IRRELEVANT...read again.
2. You pencil vmod old or new way?


Read my reply again. Run the DEMO and NOT the benchmark at HIGHEST RESOLUTION possible. Not at default 1280 x 1024. Unless that is your monitor's highest resolution.


I hope you are not using SP3...are you?

My 19' LCD only can max 1280x1024...3dmark06 demo? have to search it first la coz currently dont have...
For XP just using SP2....

besides that, just for info....if i run 3Dmark06 at 777/1126 the score is 99++...but if i overclock the card to 860/1200, only get extra 300 score ...

[attachmentid=379161]
See the circled button? That's the demo...

hehehehe tq2
never thought the demo come together with full version...my bad

Somehow the Demo stress the card more than its benchmark or running a game. I tried 900/1333 on Bioshock (max at 1920 x 1200), 3dmark06 (optimal at 1920 x 1200) and GoW (max at 1920 x 1200)...they all ran fine, except that the GPU was at 80+°C with fan at 75%. But when I start the Demo (optimal at 1920 x 1200), it fails somewhere in the middle of the firefly test. So I lowered it till 880/1333...baru it is fine.

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Added on January 14, 2008, 5:26 pmPlus, I suggest everyone who runs at more than 900MHz to do the same...run the 3dmark06 demo at highest resolution...and not just the benchmark at default resolution.

This post has been edited by clayclws: Jan 14 2008, 08:53 PM