I have an idea....hard mod to 6800Ultra

[FB]

other than dual DVI's what else is the board difference between a GT and an Ultra.

after looking at a few reviews this morning, i saw one that caught my eye and gave me a crazy idea, (although i won't try it)
the review is HERE
now, i am no expert, but when you compare pics of an Ultra with a GT, it looks like all that is missing is 2 capacitors and a molex connector.
GT:

Ultra:


if that is all that is really different, i am thinking someone will find a way to add these items and get themselve a real ultra for a lot less money.

From the OC people are getting, i am thinking that power is all that is really holding them back from going over Ultra speeds.

any thoughts on this?

[FB]

hmmm, maybe not, now that i found a better Ultra pic, it looks like there are a few little chips missing from inbetween the 2 heatsinks.

maybe it is still possible, if someone had the parts, or access to them.

[Deliriou5?]

Im no electrical expert by any means but those 'little chips' look like mosfets?

[FB]

i can't tell from the pic, and i am no expert either. I have never dealt with mosfets, i have built amps, but never anything with mosfet.

do you think it would be a possible idea?

[XP-Chael]

About a decade ago I helped lay out (capture/layout) a high end custom glint chip 3dlabs video card for a small video imaging company. It's been awhile but I can definitely say that when laying out components you keep things neat and tidy and in their relevant positions.

The components directly off the molex power connectors are directly related to that piece. So the metal cans (i forget what those are, power caps maybe?), the filtering capacitors (the small brown discreets) and the 2-3 lead black chips which i'm gonna say could be voltage regulators or something to do with the filtering and should all be power related.

Best of luck and I hope this information somewhat helps and sorry if it is innacurate in any way (10 years is a long time when you've been out of the industry completely).

If you really want to make some progress you can/should call up a good/experienced electronics device catalog representative and show them the actual parts in question. A good rep should know right off the top of their heads what that part is with the visible markings, and possibly be able to match it to at least a mfg as long as it isn't super new and obscurely proprietary which those parts look not.

XP-Chael

[ChkSix]

FB,

That second pic is my Ultra to the T (before waterblock installation).

Update: Remember I said I was having problems with my first card and had to RMA it? There was nothing wrong with the card, it was my Asus P4C800 Deluxe Mobo. The rep at BFG told me that a lot of people with the same mobo are experiencing similiar problems, and sure enough I switched to an old gigabyte granite bay mobo (almost RMA'd the second 6800 Ultra for the same reason until the rep gave me some insight) and voila, it worked flawlessly.

I hope a lot of people with the P4C800 won't have trouble. It is really annoying and would lead anyone to think it is the videocard, when in actuality it is the motherboard.

Cheers,

Mike

[FB]

Originally Posted by ChkSix

FB,

That second pic is my Ultra to the T (before waterblock installation).

Update: Remember I said I was having problems with my first card and had to RMA it? There was nothing wrong with the card, it was my Asus P4C800 Deluxe Mobo. The rep at BFG told me that a lot of people with the same mobo are experiencing similiar problems, and sure enough I switched to an old gigabyte granite bay mobo (almost RMA'd the second 6800 Ultra for the same reason until the rep gave me some insight) and voila, it worked flawlessly.

I hope a lot of people with the P4C800 won't have trouble. It is really annoying and would lead anyone to think it is the videocard, when in actuality it is the motherboard.

Cheers,

Mike

we need lowenbotten to reply to this to prove to him that nv's have problesm too

[cmay119]

Originally Posted by FB -|-+

we need lowenbotten to reply to this to prove to him that nv's have problesm too

Too true, although I don't think that would be enough to sway him back to ATi even though this was the exact same problem with his 9700 Pro. Maybe he should really be hating Asus brand motherboards and not the video card manufacturers.

[FB]

Originally Posted by cmay119

Too true, although I don't think that would be enough to sway him back to ATi even though this was the exact same problem with his 9700 Pro. Maybe he should really be hating Asus brand motherboards and not the video card manufacturers.

yup, that was his problem, so all he needed to do was switch mobos and not vid cards.

[lowenbotten]

Originally Posted by FB -|-+

yup, that was his problem, so all he needed to do was switch mobos and not vid cards.

No, the problem was not with the motherboard. The problem was the ATI card and the Intel chipset. ATI screwed up with the 9700 Pro and subsequently released the 9800. This issue was all over the forums. It was not an issue between the 9700 and the Asus P4P800 Deluxe motherboard specifically, it was between that card and the Intel chipset. There was an article somewhere that discussed how ATI admitted that 9700s were not working at 8x AGP properly. I don't remember where I read it. I'd look for it and post the link, but don't feel like it right now.