Radeon 9500->9800 softmod FSAA anomalies

[Soumaxeridis]

Using the softmod I managed to turn my Radeon 9500 128MB non-pro to a 9800 (theoritically)

The results are GREAT!! The benchmarks numbers jumped and I was jumping up and down with joy...that was until I tried to turn the FSAA mode on and try the benchmarks again. The very well-known checkboard effect was visible!

Why is it only visible at FSAA mode (doesn't matter if it is 2x or more)?
I thought they said that the checkboard effect is because of bad pipelines, so are the pipelines used only at FSAA? Certainly not!
Or does the FSAA put extreme stress on the pipelines so that they fail?
Btw, with no FSAA I get perfect quality even when I overclock the card

Your opinion will be appreciated

 

[Killrose]

I've seen some checkerboard for like the first several seconds of RTCW with 6xFSAA / 16x Anisio, and it is only on some of the players, but it goes away, like it only happened while loading textures or something.
Kinda weird. Blue/black chekerboard only on backpacks and helmets and only on some of the player models.

You might want to try keeping your ram clocked to 290-295MHz range and see if that helps. I have a 9500>hacked 9700 too, and I think it helps to lower the ram speed.

 

[Soumaxeridis]

I have my card running at stock speeds, I guess you got a bit luckier than me and have a better card.

 

[Killrose]

Originally posted by: Soumaxeridis
I have my card running at stock speeds, I guess you got a bit luckier than me and have a better card.

Stock speed of a Pro or a non-Pro 9700? I think these chips were binned not only for "pipe" and other problems, but memeory controller as well. Mine goes to crap at anything above 300MHz on the memory side, and is not heat stable at 300MHz, even 297MHz is a problem sometimes and seems due to heat. Never have a problem at 295MHz

My core however is a champ and will do 360MHz all day long

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: Soumaxeridis
I have my card running at stock speeds, I guess you got a bit luckier than me and have a better card.

just turn the clockspeeds down a bit lower then and hopefuly that will help. a low clocked 9800 is still better than a high clocked 9500.

 

[Soumaxeridis]

Hey I just meant 9500 stock speeds! All I did was to enable the 9800 softmod, doubling the pipelines.
The clock is at default 275/270
I tried overclocking too but I didn't push it a lot, because my memory chips get too hot to touch.
The checkboard effect is irrelevant with overclocking. Irrelevant to anything apart from FSAA