Can mod my x850pro vivo

[Mitorolo]

Can anyone tell me if my x850pro vivo can be moded and how.
Thanx.

[Schwarz]

First of I will state that I am not responsible if you do scrap your card.
BIOS flashing can sometimes go wrong.
Now the newer version of the x800 x850 need a solder mod wich I would not recommand and wont post.
But the flash would not cause any harm its just that you would still have 12 pipelines with higher clock speeds.

So here's the first step.
I do not know wich company makes your card but I will provide you with a link with most BIOS.
http://www.techpowerup.com/bios/
Now on there what you have to do is pick the upgrade version of your card.
Exemple if you have a ATI x850pro AGP
you would take the ATI x850 XT or XT PE AGP
( I heard that it does not really work on PCIe cards but then again.)
When you have finished downloading the file rename it to something easy like NEWBIOS.BIN

2nd
You will need a flash utility
http://www.techpowerup.com/bios/bios/atiflash309.zip
(This is flashrom 3.09)

3rd you have to make a bootable floppy
Insert floppy into floppy drive
Open My Computer
Right click on floppy drive
Select "Format..."
Put a checkmark to "Create an MS-DOS startup disk"
Click on "Start"
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/34/images/floppy.gif

4th Put the BIOS file you downloaded and the flash utulity on your MS-DOS startup disk you just made in step 3.

5th you need to get your floppy as first boot device.
You can set this in your BIOS.
If you need info on how to do this let me know what your MotherBoard is. (Model and maker)

6th
Now reboot your PC with the boot floppy I made you do.
Then if everything has been done well your floppy should load.
Now one important step is to save your old BIOS
use this command in the program
atiflash -s 0 oldbios.bin
Now you have saved your old BIOS the next step is to replace it with the new bios you just downloaded that you called NEWBIOS.BIN
use this command
atiflash -f -p 0 NEWBIOS.BIN
It should look like this
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/34/images/atiflash.gif

At last restart your computer and you should have made your
x850 pro into a x850 XT or XT PE

But i have to warn you I do not reccomand doing this if you do not know what you are doing.
You have to know that the risks are to ruin your card and its unreversable.
Unless you have another videocard.But then again if you do not know what you are doing its hard.
Also one thing to note that I have noticed.
Here are a few notes.
I do not recommand using the XT PE the core clock speed a memory speed is a little too high for the pro version.
Another thing if you flash it to XT or XT PE there is some kind of FAN problem.
For some reason with the new BIOS on the card the fan stops spinning there is 2 easy way out of this first get ATItool and boost the fan speed to 100% so it stays always cool and keep it loading on windows bootup.
Or get a modified x850 "pro" BIOS with 16 pipelines and pro speeds.
(This is my modified BIOS where only the pipelines are unlocked it remains an original PRO bios)
(If you really think you are up for it i could give you my modified BIOS with no fan problems)

If you want to check your pipelines do this
download ATItool (nice utility by W1zzard) at
http://www.techpowerup.com
In the program go to settings -> overclocking
on the 8th line it says Active Pipelines.
If it still says 12 its because 1 you messed up your flash or 2 your card cannot be moded.

If you think your up to it then go for it.

- Schwarz