Odly, the xl is actually a better card that they made perform slower.

See, the xl uses a smaller process which usually means it can over clock more. It also uses less power.

You might be able to flash a custom bios to it and make it recognize as a x850xt with even higher clocks than the xt. I’m not sure if the cores are exactly the same though so if you did do that, just modify the xl bios would be what I would try. That way you keep your voltages, and other stuff the same. Making the 850xt driver load shouldn’t be an issue but I’d try basing your custom bios off the xl stock bios.

There are programs that make editing the bios pretty easy.

Edit: I think the highest version of that card line was the x850xt pe.

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/576/ati-x … amsung16-050118

To make the original bios come up as a x850xt pe you would change your hardware Id I believe.

I've never modified a BIOS before, but Im all for giving it a go.....I've flashed cards with different BIOS lots of times, but never made any changes to the actual BIOS.

Can you recommend a program to edit the BIOS?
Any good sites to find Hardware IDs and other settings?

Yeah, the X850XT PE is the highest version, but finding an AGP version for a decent price is hard (I've looked and looked and all the ones I find are expensive)

EDIT - quick look on web and dont know if the BIOS can be flashed for this model. That being said, with this card running only in Windows 98, in terms of turning up graphics levels on demanding Windows 98 games, would the X850xt do much more than the x800xl in Windows 98?

I wouldn't bother trying to find a X850XT PE. You would gain somewhere between 0 and 15% performance, so not much.

You could try to overclock it and get a bit more performance.

If a Windows 98 game is struggling with your X800 XL then the problem is elsewhere (CPU, memory, AGP speed etc.)

Smack2k wrote on 2021-02-03, 17:29:

I've never modified a BIOS before, but Im all for giving it a go.....I've flashed cards with different BIOS lots of times, but n […]
Show full quote

I've never modified a BIOS before, but Im all for giving it a go.....I've flashed cards with different BIOS lots of times, but never made any changes to the actual BIOS.

Can you recommend a program to edit the BIOS?
Any good sites to find Hardware IDs and other settings?

Yeah, the X850XT PE is the highest version, but finding an AGP version for a decent price is hard (I've looked and looked and all the ones I find are expensive)

EDIT - quick look on web and dont know if the BIOS can be flashed for this model. That being said, with this card running only in Windows 98, in terms of turning up graphics levels on demanding Windows 98 games, would the X850xt do much more than the x800xl in Windows 98?

I was suggesting you try and make your card appear to be a xt pe and change the clocks in the bios after testing them for stability beforehand

browse techpowerup downloads section there are editors there that are quite easy to use I linked to a tx pe bios with the hardware id in the web link. mimic settings in that bios but use your original

atitool is a good overclocking program i forget what editor I used but just look around the downloads section you'll find something

lost77 wrote on 2021-02-03, 21:15:

I wouldn't bother trying to find a X850XT PE. You would gain somewhere between 0 and 15% performance, so not much.

You could try to overclock it and get a bit more performance.

If a Windows 98 game is struggling with your X800 XL then the problem is elsewhere (CPU, memory, AGP speed etc.)

Thanks, this is the info I was looking for. Im not having any issues with the X800XL, I just wanted to know if I missing anything great not getting an X850XT...but with a small performace gain, not worth it.

Sphere478 wrote on 2021-02-03, 23:08:

I was suggesting you try and make your card appear to be a xt pe and change the clocks in the bios after testing them for stabil […]
Show full quote

Smack2k wrote on 2021-02-03, 17:29:

I've never modified a BIOS before, but Im all for giving it a go.....I've flashed cards with different BIOS lots of times, but n […]
Show full quote

I've never modified a BIOS before, but Im all for giving it a go.....I've flashed cards with different BIOS lots of times, but never made any changes to the actual BIOS.

Can you recommend a program to edit the BIOS?
Any good sites to find Hardware IDs and other settings?

Yeah, the X850XT PE is the highest version, but finding an AGP version for a decent price is hard (I've looked and looked and all the ones I find are expensive)

EDIT - quick look on web and dont know if the BIOS can be flashed for this model. That being said, with this card running only in Windows 98, in terms of turning up graphics levels on demanding Windows 98 games, would the X850xt do much more than the x800xl in Windows 98?

I was suggesting you try and make your card appear to be a xt pe and change the clocks in the bios after testing them for stability beforehand

browse techpowerup downloads section there are editors there that are quite easy to use I linked to a tx pe bios with the hardware id in the web link. mimic settings in that bios but use your original

atitool is a good overclocking program i forget what editor I used but just look around the downloads section you'll find something

Thanks for the info, I am going to look into it and do some reading.

Smack2k wrote on 2021-02-03, 23:29:

Sphere478 wrote on 2021-02-03, 23:08:

I was suggesting you try and make your card appear to be a xt pe and change the clocks in the bios after testing them for stabil […]
Show full quote

Smack2k wrote on 2021-02-03, 17:29:

I've never modified a BIOS before, but Im all for giving it a go.....I've flashed cards with different BIOS lots of times, but n […]
Show full quote

I've never modified a BIOS before, but Im all for giving it a go.....I've flashed cards with different BIOS lots of times, but never made any changes to the actual BIOS.

Can you recommend a program to edit the BIOS?
Any good sites to find Hardware IDs and other settings?

Yeah, the X850XT PE is the highest version, but finding an AGP version for a decent price is hard (I've looked and looked and all the ones I find are expensive)

EDIT - quick look on web and dont know if the BIOS can be flashed for this model. That being said, with this card running only in Windows 98, in terms of turning up graphics levels on demanding Windows 98 games, would the X850xt do much more than the x800xl in Windows 98?

I was suggesting you try and make your card appear to be a xt pe and change the clocks in the bios after testing them for stability beforehand

browse techpowerup downloads section there are editors there that are quite easy to use I linked to a tx pe bios with the hardware id in the web link. mimic settings in that bios but use your original

atitool is a good overclocking program i forget what editor I used but just look around the downloads section you'll find something

Thanks for the info, I am going to look into it and do some reading.

If you can pull it off the final result may actually be better than a xt pe because the smaller chip manufacturing process will probably allow higher clocks and lower power use

Odly, the xl is actually a better card that they made perform slower.

No, they didn't. While R430 (XL) were made on smaller lithography, they can't reach clocks or original Pro/XT (R400) chips or later GTO (R420). Most chips won't do more than 10% overclock. You still get GeForce 6800GT level of performance though.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2021-02-04, 02:25:

Odly, the xl is actually a better card that they made perform slower.

No, they didn't. While R430 (XL) were made on smaller lithography, they can't reach clocks or original Pro/XT (R400) chips or later GTO (R420). Most chips won't do more than 10% overclock. You still get GeForce 6800GT level of performance though.

🤔 weird, maybe needs voltage bump or just a plain loser compared to older larger process?

AFAIK they were made on more cheap TSMC lithography, with emphasis on energy efficiency.