TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

There was another picture of the back and the label very clearly said "x800 pro". Maybe it's a 9800 Pro?

It's not - it's a 9700 or 9500. The x800 PCB looks different. For one it uses either MOLEX power or a 6 pin PCI-E power connector. There are some cards (x800GTO) that do not require an auxiliary power connector at all - but none use a FDD connector. 2nd thing the X800 series have a much MUCH bigger cooler. Usually a blower style cooler - and they get pretty hot even then. If that were to be an X800 card it would not make it past 30 min in 3dmark with that tiny thing on.

That is the trademark black ATi cooler for the reference 9500/9700. The radeon 9800 reference cooler is usually larger and silver. There are cards with a smaller black cooler but it's the wrong shape. Trust me, that's a 9500 or 9700. The seller probably printed and put a sticker on the back. I'll bet my left nut it's not an X800.

It might be a radeon 9800se - crappy little card - about half the speed of a regular 9800 and slower then a 9700, but the 9800se like the 9500 PRO have only 1 row of memory modules to the top of the card - yours has two rows in an L shape. Here's what the 9500pro / 9800se look like: http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/Produc … -102-303-07.jpg

EDITED - right - someone put a x800 sticker on a 9700 card. The PCB layout is completely wrong for an x800 card. Here's what the back of an x800 should look like:

https://www.google.com/search?q=x800xt+back&s … eJhcZESA9EKM%3A

kanecvr wrote:

It's not - it's a 9700 or 9500. The x800 PCB looks different. For one it uses either MOLEX power or a 6 pin PCI-E power connecto […]
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TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

There was another picture of the back and the label very clearly said "x800 pro". Maybe it's a 9800 Pro?

It's not - it's a 9700 or 9500. The x800 PCB looks different. For one it uses either MOLEX power or a 6 pin PCI-E power connector. There are some cards (x800GTO) that do not require an auxiliary power connector at all - but none use a FDD connector. 2nd thing the X800 series have a much MUCH bigger cooler. Usually a blower style cooler - and they get pretty hot even then. If that were to be an X800 card it would not make it past 30 min in 3dmark with that tiny thing on.

That is the trademark black ATi cooler for the reference 9500/9700. The radeon 9800 reference cooler is usually larger and silver. There are cards with a smaller black cooler but it's the wrong shape. Trust me, that's a 9500 or 9700. The seller probably printed and put a sticker on the back. I'll bet my left nut it's not an X800.

It might be a radeon 9800se - crappy little card - about half the speed of a regular 9800 and slower then a 9700, but the 9800se like the 9500 PRO have only 1 row of memory modules to the top of the card - yours has two rows in an L shape. Here's what the 9500pro / 9800se look like: http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/Produc … -102-303-07.jpg

So its most likely a 9700 and i probably got scammed judging by the fake label?

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

kanecvr wrote:

It's not - it's a 9700 or 9500. The x800 PCB looks different. For one it uses either MOLEX power or a 6 pin PCI-E power connecto […]
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TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

There was another picture of the back and the label very clearly said "x800 pro". Maybe it's a 9800 Pro?

It's not - it's a 9700 or 9500. The x800 PCB looks different. For one it uses either MOLEX power or a 6 pin PCI-E power connector. There are some cards (x800GTO) that do not require an auxiliary power connector at all - but none use a FDD connector. 2nd thing the X800 series have a much MUCH bigger cooler. Usually a blower style cooler - and they get pretty hot even then. If that were to be an X800 card it would not make it past 30 min in 3dmark with that tiny thing on.

That is the trademark black ATi cooler for the reference 9500/9700. The radeon 9800 reference cooler is usually larger and silver. There are cards with a smaller black cooler but it's the wrong shape. Trust me, that's a 9500 or 9700. The seller probably printed and put a sticker on the back. I'll bet my left nut it's not an X800.

It might be a radeon 9800se - crappy little card - about half the speed of a regular 9800 and slower then a 9700, but the 9800se like the 9500 PRO have only 1 row of memory modules to the top of the card - yours has two rows in an L shape. Here's what the 9500pro / 9800se look like: http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/Produc … -102-303-07.jpg

So its most likely a 9700 and i probably got scammed judging by the fake label?

Yup. The FCCID on the front of your card reads 109-94200-30 - it's identical to two cards I showed you, and if you google it it will say "radeon 9700 pro". The card might be a 9500, but it can be easily modded to a 9700 by replacing the BIOS. You won't know until you test it.

If it works, it's a great card. The 9800 is an overclocked 9700 as a matter of fact (with slightly different GPU revision). Put it in a PC, connect a FDD power cord to the aux power socket on the card and see if it posts. 9700 cards are also pretty rare to my knolage - especially here in eastern europe - so if it happened to me I'd be pretty happy 😀

Pretty expensive too - check out this guy - http://www.ebay.com/itm/AGP-card-ATI-Radeon-9 … D-/131004398649

Damn, I'm beginning to think I'll never find an X800 or 9800 for under 10 dollars. 🙁 oh well, maybe itll overclock to 9800 Pro speeds. Otherwise it will likely be traded off or given to a friend.

Everytime i touch/buy something made by ATI i get fucked. We pretty much know it doesnt work and not from being improperly hooked up if the seller went to the length of trying to sell it as something its not.

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Damn, I'm beginning to think I'll never find an X800 or 9800 for under 10 dollars. 🙁 oh well, maybe itll overclock to 9800 Pro speeds. Otherwise it will likely be traded off or given to a friend.

I'd take it off your hands if shipping wasn't a concern - I'd even trade you an X800 for it but again, shipping = expensive.

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Damn, I'm beginning to think I'll never find an X800 or 9800 for under 10 dollars. 🙁 oh well, maybe itll overclock to 9800 Pro speeds. Otherwise it will likely be traded off or given to a friend.

Everytime i touch/buy something made by ATI i get fucked.

I wouldn't try that. If I remember correctly the 9800 is a different version of the R300 chip - the R350 to be exact - and the 9700 really doesn't like to be overclocked. http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=24&card2=34

But there's really NO NEED to OC the card - look here: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/3d_proph … _review,13.html - there's not to much difference performance-wise between the 9700 and 9800 pro.

kanecvr wrote:

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Damn, I'm beginning to think I'll never find an X800 or 9800 for under 10 dollars. 🙁 oh well, maybe itll overclock to 9800 Pro speeds. Otherwise it will likely be traded off or given to a friend.

I'd take it off your hands if shipping wasn't a concern - I'd even trade you an X800 for it but again, shipping = expensive.

but yeah like i said. If the seller went to the length of making it look like something its not we pretty much know it doesnt work regardless of having the FDD connector hooked up.

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

kanecvr wrote:

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Damn, I'm beginning to think I'll never find an X800 or 9800 for under 10 dollars. 🙁 oh well, maybe itll overclock to 9800 Pro speeds. Otherwise it will likely be traded off or given to a friend.

I'd take it off your hands if shipping wasn't a concern - I'd even trade you an X800 for it but again, shipping = expensive.

but yeah like i said. If the seller went to the length of making it look like something its not we pretty much know it doesnt work regardless of having the FDD connector hooked up.

It should actually display a message asking you to connect the auxiliary power cable. All 9500 / 9700 cards do, as well as some 9800 cards and some nvidia cards (even my old GTX 970 did).

Test it. It's a RARE card. It won't fu%k up your PC if you try - there's no risk, only reward 😁

So i probably paid 7 USD for a broken card?

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

So i probably paid 7 USD for a broken card?

Did you try it with the FDD connector on? It might not display the message on an AGP 3.0 8x mainboard because of the low 0.8v voltage. It needs at least 1.5 (agp 2.0 spec) to post. They are pretty robust cards - it SHOULD work. All the ones I've seen post - the broken ones display vram artifacts, but post nevertheless. Test it thoroughly.

kanecvr wrote:

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

So i probably paid 7 USD for a broken card?

Did you try it with the FDD connector on? It might not display the message on an AGP 3.0 8x mainboard because of the low 0.8v voltage. It needs at least 1.5 (agp 2.0 spec) to post. They are pretty robust cards - it SHOULD work. All the ones I've seen post - the broken ones display vram artifacts, but post nevertheless. Test it thoroughly.

I only ordered the damn thing 60 minutes ago. Im thinking about canceling the order. Though I'm pretty sure I'm going to try my luck. I lack the electrical engineering background alot of you guys seem to have that allows all of you to repair things.

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

kanecvr wrote:

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

So i probably paid 7 USD for a broken card?

Did you try it with the FDD connector on? It might not display the message on an AGP 3.0 8x mainboard because of the low 0.8v voltage. It needs at least 1.5 (agp 2.0 spec) to post. They are pretty robust cards - it SHOULD work. All the ones I've seen post - the broken ones display vram artifacts, but post nevertheless. Test it thoroughly.

I only ordered the damn thing 60 minutes ago. Im thinking about canceling the order. Though I'm pretty sure I'm going to try my luck. I lack the electrical engineering background alot of you guys seem to have that allows all of you to repair things.

For 7$ shipped I'd risk it - and I make ~200 euro a month, so that's saying something. Remember this is a rare card, and if it works (and you don't like it for some reason) you can resell it on ebay for quite a bit more then that. As for my electrical engineering skills - I'm self taught, and they are entry-level at best - bu enough to allow me to recognize most components on a PCB and solder even SMD parts 😀

"Mild mannered medical resident by day, self-thought electrical engineer and retro hardware enthusiast by night!" Super-KaneCVR away!

Considering i have an FX5950 coming in the mail I dont see myself having a use for it. I doubt that could outperform it.

Maybe ill keep it around to run ATI tech demos and for benching.

I can recognize the components of a PCB well enough, replace coolers, that sort of thing but thats it.

how hard is a ceramic cap to replace? Edit: Where did the comment about the cap go?

UPDATE - OK scratch that - I just noticed the card has bits missing. In the last picture you posted you can see in the top left corner a ceramic capacitor (small rectangular brown thing) is missing. Maybe you should cancel the order.

I'd still be interested in it tough - it's an easy fix.

Is there any way it could boot without that cap? Correct me if im wrong but isnt that regulating one of the memory chips power?

and how would i go about such a fix?

EDIT: Heres the rest of the card incase i missed any other damage

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Is there any way it could boot without that cap?

and how would i go about such a fix?

It might post w/o that cap, but it's unlikely. It looks like it's used to filter power going to the memory chip right next to it. If it does post, it might artifact it 3d.

There's 2 ways to fix it:

1. The easy way - find a same size / same color part on another video card or motherboard or whatever, remove it from the donor card and solder it onto the 9700. It's not a 100% way since the part you remove might not have identical specs even if it looks like it is. If it's the same voltage or higher and similar capacitance it will work.

2. The hard way (and best way) - remove the part next to it, clean the pads were both parts were installed, measure the capacitor you removed with a capacitance and order one of exact size and capacitance. Voltage is probably 16v for it.

For both you will need solder, solder flux, and at least one soldering iron with a fine tip (I use two soldering irons when removing SMD parts). Preferably you should have a capacitor meter (ESR and capacitance) so you can go by method 2.

I remember accidently scratching the back of my FX5200 and a few of those type capacitors flung off 🙁

Card still worked.

Still does now too. It's been running 2 years on my 24/7 server.

kanecvr wrote:

It might post w/o that cap, but it's unlikely. It looks like it's used to filter power going to the memory chip right next to it […]
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TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Is there any way it could boot without that cap?

and how would i go about such a fix?

It might post w/o that cap, but it's unlikely. It looks like it's used to filter power going to the memory chip right next to it. If it does post, it might artifact it 3d.

There's 2 ways to fix it:

1. The easy way - find a same size / same color part on another video card or motherboard or whatever, remove it from the donor card and solder it onto the 9700. It's not a 100% way since the part you remove might not have identical specs even if it looks like it is. If it's the same voltage or higher and similar capacitance it will work.

2. The hard way (and best way) - remove the part next to it, clean the pads were both parts were installed, measure the capacitor you removed with a capacitance and order one of exact size and capacitance. Voltage is probably 16v for it.

For both you will need solder, solder flux, and at least one soldering iron with a fine tip (I use two soldering irons when removing SMD parts). Preferably you should have a capacitor tester (ESR and capacitance) so you can go by method 2.

By the time I bought all those items would it still be worth it cost wise? I've never soldered anything before.

Btw i uploaded the other half of the pic. Could you do me a favor and look it over? It looks like there might be an issue with the left top memory chip (little line on it, possibly a crack? idk)

The card, an early revision of the 9700 (Pro) like mine, also missing two capasitors on the front. On the back there should be a aluminium plate covering the area near where the missing capasitor should be. What kind of system did you test it on? The early revisions of the 9700 had compatibility issiues.

Kamerat wrote:

The card, an early revision of the 9700 (Pro) like mine, also missing two capasitors on the front. On the back there should be a aluminium plate covering the area near where the missing capasitor should be. What kind of system did you test it on? The early revisions of the 9700 had compatibility issiues.

I havent recieved it yet. I just ordered it a couple of hours ago. The info i have is from the seller.

When i get it I'm going to test it in my Dimension 4600 (Obviously, Im not expecting it to boot with 2 high volt caps missing on the front. May as well try though)

so basically this card is a disaster?

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

kanecvr wrote:

It might post w/o that cap, but it's unlikely. It looks like it's used to filter power going to the memory chip right next to it […]
Show full quote

TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Is there any way it could boot without that cap?

and how would i go about such a fix?

It might post w/o that cap, but it's unlikely. It looks like it's used to filter power going to the memory chip right next to it. If it does post, it might artifact it 3d.

There's 2 ways to fix it:

1. The easy way - find a same size / same color part on another video card or motherboard or whatever, remove it from the donor card and solder it onto the 9700. It's not a 100% way since the part you remove might not have identical specs even if it looks like it is. If it's the same voltage or higher and similar capacitance it will work.

2. The hard way (and best way) - remove the part next to it, clean the pads were both parts were installed, measure the capacitor you removed with a capacitance and order one of exact size and capacitance. Voltage is probably 16v for it.

For both you will need solder, solder flux, and at least one soldering iron with a fine tip (I use two soldering irons when removing SMD parts). Preferably you should have a capacitor tester (ESR and capacitance) so you can go by method 2.

By the time I bought all those items would it still be worth it cost wise? I've never soldered anything before.

Btw i uploaded the other half of the pic. Could you do me a favor and look it over? It looks like there might be an issue with the left top memory chip (little line on it, possibly a crack? idk)

Apart from the one I mentioned before, nothing else seems to be missing. What also worries me is that there is supposed to be a pink heatsink on the back, near the top / front of the card. That would cover the voltage regulator witch can get pretty hot. If the card runs you can glue a vram heatsink onto the VRM.

You don't need all the tools to fix the missing part. Just flux, a soldering iron and some solder. A soldering iron is 5-10$. Flux and solder is cheap - and you can possibly use them on other hardware you might come across, so think of it as an investment. Solder wick is also a good thing to have. It great for cleaning off solder and leftover bits from components that were torn off. It's also silly cheap.