To do this change, you will need a program – Flashrom – available at http://softmod.ocfaq.com/bios.php and a Radeon 9800 XT BIOS of the same brand, with the same memory capacity (128 MB or 256 MB) and, preferentially, the same memory brand (Samsung, Hynix, etc) and speed (2.8 ns, 2.5 ns, etc) of your current board. For instance, if your current video card is an ASUS Radeon 9800 Pro with 256 MB of 2.5 ns Hynix memory, you will need to download and update it with an ASUS Radeon 9800 XT BIOS of the same features. You will find a complete list of BIOS for download at the link above and also at http://www.techpowerup.com/bios at http://www.mvktech.net/download.php.

You will need to copy Flashrom and the BIOS (which is a file with a bin extension) to a boot floppy disk and boot the computer through it. After the boot, you have to enter the following command to copy your video card current BIOS to the floppy disk:

Flashrom -s 0 backup.bin

Then, do the upgrade using the following command:

Flashrom -f -p 0 name_of_the_file.bin

During the upgrade the screen may become “fuzzy”. Don't do anything. Wait until the image returns to the DOS prompt with the update confirmation message. Then restart the machine and you’re done!

In our lab we tested this upgrade in a Radeon 9800 Pro with 128 MB and 2.8 ns Samsung memory from Gigabyte. After the upgrade, the card was recognized as a Radeon 9800 XT, however the image became “fuzzy” when we ran 3D games. Upon investigations, we concluded that the problem was that the card memory didn't support the new clock. The maximum clock 2.8 ns memories may work is 350 MHz (700 MHz). Since the new configuration made it work at 365 MHz (730 MHz), there were errors in the image. The solution we found was to edit the BIOS, decreasing its clock from 365 MHz to 350 MHz, save this new BIOS and make a new upgrade. Our card plate then began working as a Radeon 9800 XT without any problems (except the fact the memory was working at a lower clock than that of the original Radeon 9800 XT). In case you encounter a similar problem, the program to edit your BIOS is found at http://www.mvktech.net/download.php?view.157. You should use it to open the .bin file of the Radeon 9800 XT ROM and lower the clock to the maximum speed supported by the memory, save the file and do a new upgrade. If your card uses 2.5 ns memories you won't have any problems, because the maximum speed this memory may work is 400 MHz (800 MHz).

We carried out two performance tests. In 3DMark03, the 3D performance increased 10,48%, from 5,780 points to 6,386 points, and in Aquamark 3 the 3D performance increased 5%, from 42,949 points to 45,100 points. No bad for a modification that didn't cost a penny...

If something goes wrong, you can reprogram your VGA with its old BIOS, using the following command:

Flashrom -f -p 0 backup.bin

Figure 1: Our Radeon 9800 Pro before being modified.

Figure 2: The same board "transformed" into a Radeon 9800 XT.