Quadro FX 4000 Softmod

[DudeMiester]

Might be old news, but the latest versions of RivaTuner allow you to softmod any old 6800 into a quadro fx 4000. I just did the mod, and it works quite well. You just need to download RivaTuner from www.guru3d.com (http://www.guru3d.com) find the NVStrap tab, install it, set the adapter ID to Quadro, check use ROM straps, and check Unlock Pro capabilities. Then restart. You may need to reinstall your drivers too. Fortunitly you can get the latest ones also at guru3d. I'm useing 76.45 and they work just fine!

In any case it's nice to know you can get a $1500US card for $450US, hehe!

PS: This is proven to work SpecViewPerf doesn't lie, the Quadro features are all enabled. I'll download and test it myself when I get the time tommorrow.

[Joonas]

http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/redface.gif

Must try!

BTW, any differences with heat producing?

[dark_angel]

Did you notice any decrease in gaming performance?

[Tedades]

I also did the softmod, and 3DMark has higher results.

3DMark 2005 gave me 2200 points in 6800 mode,
3DMark 2005 gave me 2890 points in FX4000 mode.

Thats quite a difference not ?

And it must be pure nVidia power, because these are
my specs:

AMD XP 1500+ (@1.3GHz)
384MB DDR (@266MHz)
Win XP-pe (for 3DMark05/Doom3 only)
GF6800LE 128MB(@AGP4x+SoftMod)

[avatar_58]

What about actual performance in games, not just synthetic tests? What kind of FPS boost is normal?

[Tedades]

I actually only tested in 3DMark, and Unreal Tournament (1).

Didnt know any other OpenGL depended games then UT1. Quadro-Mod should be extra great for OpenGL applications.
I do have lots of games on my pc, but haven't tryed it yet.

[avatar_58]

Tedades said:
I actually only tested in 3DMark, and Unreal Tournament (1).

Didnt know any other OpenGL depended games then UT1. Quadro-Mod should be extra great for OpenGL applications.
I do have lots of games on my pc, but haven't tryed it yet.



So there is little to no improvement in D3D? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[Tedades]

avatar_58 said:

Tedades said:
I actually only tested in 3DMark, and Unreal Tournament (1).

Didnt know any other OpenGL depended games then UT1. Quadro-Mod should be extra great for OpenGL applications.
I do have lots of games on my pc, but haven't tryed it yet.



So there is little to no improvement in D3D? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif



3DMark2005 is D3D only.
I had a speed increase of 31%, thats great.
I didnt notice a speed increase in UT because it already runs like it never ran before.

[avatar_58]

Tedades said:
3DMark2005 is D3D only.
I had a speed increase of 31%, thats great.
I didnt notice a speed increase in UT because it already runs like it never ran before.



Oh I see...never tried out 05 so I wouldn't know http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/redface.gif Silly me.

UT is kind of at its peak in performance even on low end machines... http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Does this mod have any bad effects? No errors or anything?

[Tedades]

avatar_58 said:

Tedades said:
3DMark2005 is D3D only.
I had a speed increase of 31%, thats great.
I didnt notice a speed increase in UT because it already runs like it never ran before.



Oh I see...never tried out 05 so I wouldn't know http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/redface.gif Silly me.

UT is kind of at its peak in performance even on low end machines... http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Does this mod have any bad effects? No errors or anything?



I didnt see any errors at all, installing the card was even simpler then before!
In Win98SE the card would be auto-detected, and I didnt have to give a path or what (wohoo!).

3DMark can be downloaded from:
www.futuremark.com (http://www.futuremark.com)
(From creators of Max Payne http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif)

[Joonas]

This is reversible, right?


Tedades said:

(From creators of Max Payne http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif)



Not exactly... almost. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


EDIT: One more thing... if it basically becomes a Quadro... still can't use Quadro drivers but ForceWare?

[avatar_58]

/\ Thats what I'm worried about. This card is too expensive for me to mess up... http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[Tedades]

Joonas said:
This is reversible, right?


Tedades said:

(From creators of Max Payne http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif)



Not exactly... almost. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif



True, the 3DMark concept was if they told me correctly.

[Joonas]

Tedades said:

Joonas said:
This is reversible, right?


Tedades said:

(From creators of Max Payne http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif)



Not exactly... almost. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif



True, the 3DMark concept was if they told me correctly.



Not sure about that, but they share tech and shares and some of the crew has been occupied with both. Hey, but the main point is that both Futuremark and Remedy are from Finland, right? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tinyted.gif

[Tedades]

Joonas said:

Tedades said:

Joonas said:
This is reversible, right?


Tedades said:

(From creators of Max Payne http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif)



Not exactly... almost. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif



True, the 3DMark concept was if they told me correctly.



Not sure about that, but they share tech and shares and some of the crew has been occupied with both. Hey, but the main point is that both Futuremark and Remedy are from Finland, right? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tinyted.gif




http://www.remedygames.com/company/company_history.html

start reading at 1997 http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Joonas]

I know the history. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

BTW, it worked. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/redface.gif

[Tedades]

I tested the results in Half-Life 2: Counter Strike
its has a build-in stress-test.

These where my settings:
----------------------------------
Resolution: 1600x1200

Model Detail: High
Texture Detail: High
Water Detail: Reflect All
Shadow Detail: High
Anti-Alaising Mode: 16X
Filtering Mode: Anisotropic 16X
Shader Detail: High
Wait for Vertical Synchronisation: Disabled
-----------------------------------

6800-Softmod 16x1;6

HL2:CS Average FPS= 46:98
(after running it again FPS=47:57)

FX4000 Mod activated

HL2:CS Average FPS= 46:09


After these results I concluded that HL2:CS stress test is NOT a good program to test your results.
But I want to share them with you anyway.

[DudeMiester]

There is a slight (read a few percent) drop in performance in most games (not all though). However, the reason for this is the increased image quality of Quadros. Also, you may want to try Maya or 3DMax with some complex models, you'll notice a BIG performance improvement when manipulating the model. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Spyd]

As far as I know, the only difference between a Quadro and a 6800 are the drivers.
The drivers on a Quadro are optimized to give you better results (in frame rate and/or quality) in design programs only. And they get rid of all game-related inprovements to gain stability (nobody buys that kind of card for gaming), so the performance in games is actually lower.

[Tedades]

DudeMiester said:
There is a slight (read a few percent) drop in performance in most games (not all though). However, the reason for this is the increased image quality of Quadros. Also, you may want to try Maya or 3DMax with some complex models, you'll notice a BIG performance improvement when manipulating the model. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif



Didnt that had to do with the overdraw function, a option only availble for the Quadro?
(Only used in Maya and 3DMax)

I'll retest 3DMark2005, because after these stories it looks like something might be gone wrong in the first test.
I can't imagine, but I did have higher results with the FX4000 mod.

[Joonas]

Works like a charm. +10FPS rise in Max Payne 2 for me. Forced 16xAA instead of my usual 2x... and flawless run. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/redface.gif