Unlocking the GeForce 6800 (softmod)

[NikolaX]

Firingsquad is running a story on how to unlock all 16 pipelines in nVidia's GeForce 6800. By default the card only ships with 12 pixel pipelines enabled, but with a tool and a few mouse clicks, the card can be unlocked to run with all 16 pipes. Performance improvements are seen everywhere, so it's a pretty nice free upgrade.
These cards are currently selling for $200 online, so a 16-pipe GeForce 6800 delivers great bang for the buck

http://firingsquad.com/hardware/geforce_6800_unlocking/

 

[J_Tweedy]

As the worried owner of a 6800gt, does it run the same as a 6800gt, or what?

 

[duffers20]

The card might run faster, but you have to make sure that teh card's cooling can manage the extra load, because I would imagine that unlocking the pipelines brings more heat. Also I think that some of the chips were kept as a 6800 and not used on GT or Ultra cards for a reason, possibly that they can't run properly at the higher speeds and more pipelines. I remember this was the case with some 9800pro to XT upgrades, the chip simply couldn't run properly at the higher speeds.

 

[holydeadpenguins]

Yeah sometimes the chips just have broken pipelines, and you would have to overclock the 6800 in order to meet the performance of the 6800gt.

 

[NikolaX]

i did upgrade my 9800 pro to XT with new bios and some overclocking, worked fine.
and 9800 SE with softmod to all 8 pipes , worked fine, there is always a risk, and it is better if you have some old PCI gfx, to revers to old bios.

 

[duffers20]

i did upgrade my 9800 pro to XT with new bios and some overclocking, worked fine.
and 9800 SE with softmod to all 8 pipes , worked fine, there is always a risk, and it is better if you have some old PCI gfx, to revers to old bios.

Yeh its really a gamble on how well it goes when you unlock pipelines. I have heard of times when they didn't go very well, and as you said, its always best to have a PCI card if it does go wrong.

 

[jondy]

The card might run faster, but you have to make sure that teh card's cooling can manage the extra load, because I would imagine that unlocking the pipelines brings more heat.

Nah, apparently there's no affect on temperature according to the article.

 

[holydeadpenguins]

Unlocking the pipelines won't kill the card as long as you're not flashing the bios. It just may give you artifacts if you have broken pipes. My friend got that on his pixel pipelines, so he just left the unlocked vertex unit up.

 

[J_Tweedy]

WOPPE DA DOOODAH, just buy an 6800gt and excuse yourself the trouble, get a 6800gt with a student allowed interest free overdraft. (how it works in NZ)

 

[holydeadpenguins]

Or you could get an x800xl.

 

[NikolaX]

Or you could get an x800xl.

Yep, it is in same price range.
but if you allready have 6800, then it is a steal.