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Firegl softmod for x1600 in mbp


kfc
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I've stumbled upon a couple of forums which describe the detailed workflow for softmodding our x1600 in mbp and turn it in to a firegl v5200.

when i was using radeon x1600 driver in xp. it turns out that it has got display problems in maya viewport when i was trying to use high quality viewport rendering together with normal maps.

i've check the compatibilty list in autodesk website and it seems like the radeon x1600 isn't compatible with maya 8. in order to fix this, i've tried the driver which i've modded according to guide from the forum i've found. and it turns out working beautifully.

here's the before and after.

fireglresultiu3.jpg

fireglinfoav0.jpg

 

Here's the link of the driver i've modded for my mbp 17".

http://rapidshare.de/files/36315290/firegl...-34003.rar.html

just extract it and install manually by using the "have disk" option (do not use the setup exe for the driver). and install the ati control manually from the installation folder. just go to <location of your unpacked drivers>\CPanel and run Setup.exe.

 

for more details to make the firegl driver works for imac or macpro. just jump in to the thread where i found the info and follow the instructions to make ur own modded firegl driver.

cheers.

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/19550-anothe...eon-owners.html

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while this seems REALLY cool, do you know of any ill side effects? Does doing this screw up the driver in OS X? I understand they're completely separate operating systems but I'm more concerned about whether this permanently changes any settings on the graphics card.

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so far it seems stable to me.

no problem yet. atleast not the vpu restart error.

i haven't try underclock the vid card yet.

as for the osx part. it's completely untouched. it just installed in to winxp for it's device recognition and functions. in osx it's still radeon. no flash bios (or efi) mod involved.

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Holy {censored} this is pretty wicked. I haven't done the mod yet (just got done installing XP in Parallels, but I'll be installing it natively soon also). I did this kind of thing a few years ago with an Nvidia FX5900, softmodding the drivers to make it a Quadro FX3000 and saving me $1500 in the process.

 

The one thing you might want to remember (if you're an MBP owner like I am) is that Apple purposely underclocks the ATI X1600 in the laptops on the order of 50% to keep the temps down. Stock ATI clocks for the X1600 should be 470/470 and Apple has them at around 300/300.

 

Pretty severe drop in performance, so I intend to test these softmodded drivers out extensively to see what I can get from 'em.

 

Thanks for the info and linkage...

bb

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Just an update:

 

I did that softmod on the MacBook Pro before I returned it and performance almost doubled in SPECViewperf as expected, even on the slow side of things since the X1600 is severely underclocked in the MBP.

 

I returned the MBP, however, for various hardware issues I simply wasn't going to tolerate and got a 20" iMac with a properly clocked X1600. I did the softmod once last week in testing, same results: the scores in benchmarks like SPECViewperf and Cinebench nearly doubled across the board, so if you're wanting "pro" level 3D response from your graphics card for Maya, 3DStudio, etc, this is the ticket to do it.

 

NOTE: This only applies to running Windows on your Mac (or a real PC for that matter). No one has ever successfully figured out how to softmod actual Mac ATI drivers to accomplish this same goal of unlocking the card as a FireGL version; if anyone has done such a thing on a real Mac, we'd sure love to know about it.

 

bb

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Let me understand...

 

I have a x1600XT in my PC/Hackintosh, so if I want to improve my performance in 3dS or something similar I can try this?

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Ok, I've been goofing off the past few days and not doing the proper benchmarks as I should have done, but here they are including the relevant hardware info:

 

- XP Pro SP2 with no updates as of today, just the bare SP2 install

- Current BootCamp 1.1.1 drivers for all the hardware except the modified FireGL v5200 softmodded drivers during testing as noted

- 2GB PC2-5300 RAM

- 250GB Seagate SATA II hard drive, BootCamp partition for XP sits at the end of the drive, 32GB

 

Here are the results:

 

As an X1600 using the default BootCamp 1.1.1 Catalyst drivers:

 

CINEBENCH 9.5

****************************************************

 

Tester : br0adband

 

Processor : iMac

MHz : 2.16

Number of CPUs : 2

Operating System : XP Pro SP2

 

Graphics Card : ATI X1600 128MB

Resolution : <fill this out>

Color Depth : <fill this out>

 

****************************************************

 

Rendering (Single CPU): 347 CB-CPU

Rendering (Multiple CPU): 632 CB-CPU

 

Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.82

 

Shading (CINEMA 4D) : 428 CB-GFX

Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting) : 1659 CB-GFX

Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting) : 2991 CB-GFX

 

OpenGL Speedup: 6.99

 

****************************************************

 

followed by the results of SPECViewPerf 9.0.3:

 

Run All Summary

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\3DSMAX\SUMMARY.TXT

3dsmax-04 Weighted Geometric Mean = 9.308

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\CATIA\SUMMARY.TXT

catia-02 Weighted Geometric Mean = 9.673

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\ENSIGHT\SUMMARY.TXT

ensight-03 Weighted Geometric Mean = 5.238

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\LIGHT\SUMMARY.TXT

light-08 Weighted Geometric Mean = 10.33

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\MAYA\SUMMARY.TXT

maya-02 Weighted Geometric Mean = 11.47

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\PROE\SUMMARY.TXT

proe-04 Weighted Geometric Mean = 4.225

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\SW\SUMMARY.TXT

sw-01 Weighted Geometric Mean = 7.200

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\TCVIS\SUMMARY.TXT

tcvis-01 Weighted Geometric Mean = 1.350

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\UGNX\SUMMARY.TXT

ugnx-01 Weighted Geometric Mean = 4.356

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

As a FireGL v5200 with softmodding the drivers:

 

CINEBENCH 9.5

****************************************************

 

Tester : br0adband

 

Processor : iMac

MHz : 2.16

Number of CPUs : 2

Operating System : XP Pro SP2

 

Graphics Card : ATI FireGL v5200 128MB

Resolution : <fill this out>

Color Depth : <fill this out>

 

****************************************************

 

Rendering (Single CPU): 353 CB-CPU

Rendering (Multiple CPU): 630 CB-CPU

 

Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.78

 

Shading (CINEMA 4D) : 418 CB-GFX

Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting) : 1597 CB-GFX

Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting) : 4287 CB-GFX

 

OpenGL Speedup: 10.24

 

****************************************************

 

followed by the results of SPECViewPerf 9.0.3:

 

Run All Summary

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\3DSMAX\SUMMARY.TXT

3dsmax-04 Weighted Geometric Mean = 18.87

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\CATIA\SUMMARY.TXT

catia-02 Weighted Geometric Mean = 24.08

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\ENSIGHT\SUMMARY.TXT

ensight-03 Weighted Geometric Mean = 6.303

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\LIGHT\SUMMARY.TXT

light-08 Weighted Geometric Mean = 23.53

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\MAYA\SUMMARY.TXT

maya-02 Weighted Geometric Mean = 20.14

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\PROE\SUMMARY.TXT

proe-04 Weighted Geometric Mean = 13.38

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\SW\SUMMARY.TXT

sw-01 Weighted Geometric Mean = 30.61

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\TCVIS\SUMMARY.TXT

tcvis-01 Weighted Geometric Mean = 3.831

 

---------- SUM_RESULTS\UGNX\SUMMARY.TXT

ugnx-01 Weighted Geometric Mean = 6.252

 

---------------------------------------------------------------

 

So, as you can see, it works. Amazing jumps in performance on most of the tests, some boosts in others that aren't quite as noticeable, but hey, consider that all I had to do was spend 2 minutes editing a simple config file and then reinstalling the drivers and control panel (it helps since the FireGL version gives you a few additional goodies for specific 3D applications) and look at what I got for it. :(

 

Well worth the time to accomplish the softmod, but if you're a lazy bastige, I'll post the drivers I used on a RapidShare link, just ask. I'm thinking about providing detailed step-by-step instructions also, so if anyone is interested, let me know.

 

btw, the FireGL drivers were based on 8.293, the latest and greatest from ATI.

 

bb

 

ps

I explained this in the IRC channel last night for people to understand, so I'll do it here just in case some of you get the wrong idea about this:

 

OpenGL games like Quake 3, Quake 4, Return To Castle Wolfenstein, etc... games based strictly on OpenGL rendering *may* see very slight boosts in performance if you choose to softmod your X1600 into a FireGL v5200. The reason the performance boost will be/probably will be/most likely will be slight is because games that use OpenGL for rendering only use a tiny subset of the entire OpenGL standard.

 

If you pull up your OpenGL game and look at the driver properties and what GL extensions are supported, you might find a list of supported extensions, but only a few of them are ever actually used in gameplay.

 

This means that in a game that uses OpenGL for rendering, it's only going to touch upon a small percentage of the full OpenGL feature set, and typically that small percentage is part of the driver support that remains nearly identical between the normal drivers for the card and the "pro" feature drivers, aka the softmodded ones that use the FireGL functionality.

 

To put it bluntly, softmodding the drivers to make the card work like a FireGL will not double your gaming performance; in fact, if you notice any difference at all between the regular Catalysts and the softmodded ones I'd be surprised. But...

 

As shown above by my results and the others that have done this mod, if you're into 3D graphics with apps like 3DStudio, Maya, SoftImage, SolidWorks, etc etc, then you'd be doing yourself a favor if you own a MacBook Pro with an X1600 in it, or an iMac like mine with the same X1600 in it.

 

One last thing: this only applies to running Windows on these machines. No one has been able to figure out how to softmod drivers for ATI cards (or Nvidia for that matter either) for use in Macs. Sorry. :)

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It wouldn't do much of anything for the OS itself. I just explained how the gaming features only use a subset of the entire OpenGL library; the OpenGL support used for CI/QE and the upcoming features of Leopard for CoreAnimation are still only a very small part of the entire OpenGL library.

 

So, with respect to the OS and GUI itself, it's not like you'd be staring at CI/QE/CA stuff in Leopard with a 100-150% increase in rendering speed over what we have now on the same hardware.

 

This type of softmodding only helps high end 3D work of the nature of 3DStudio, SoftImage, AutoCAD, Maya, etc - it's not going to magically make windows open and close faster in your every day usage of OSX.

 

If you want a nice boost to the overall rendering performance you already have under OSX, install Xcode 2.4 and use the Quartz Effects debug tool to disable BeamSync or some other way of turning that off. Your overall GUI responsiveness will skyrocket on most hardware compared to it being on. A stopgap measure in some respects since you'd need to re-enable (or disable as the case may be) after each reboot unless you use some other method of making the change a bit more permanent/sticky.

 

bb

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I know it will seem that I am a bit lazy, but as I understood I have to edit one part of the Catalyst driver to the system recognize my card as an FireGL.

 

Okay, I can do, but there are to many info on this, so 2 questions:

 

1) Which is the appropriate code for my x1600 XT

2) Is there something ready to install?

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3 steps:

 

1) Mod the drivers with a patch file found in forum postings linked from the first posting in this thread, and...

 

2) Edit the .inf file to use the correct PCI vendor ID code for your particular card, and...

 

3) Install the drivers by using the forced method, aka "Have disk..." with Device Manager. You can't use the setup.exe method most drivers normally work with after this is done; you'll always get the "Setup cannot find any compatible hardware" error. So you force the updated/modded driver by finding it with the "Have disk..." button, then finding the relevant .inf file and selecting FireGL v5200 from the hardware list and then you're all set.

 

After this is done, if you keep the drivers in a folder on the hard drive, you can roll back to the real X1600 ones almost at will with a reboot, then reinstall the FireGL modded drivers again and again as required.

 

I'll say it again: this won't do jack squat for boosting performance in gaming, even OpenGL games. You might get a boost of a frame per second or two, but it's not a gaming performance mod to start with as explained above.

 

Hope this helps...

bb

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Thanks for the guide.

 

I don´t play games on PC, eventually a new one, or so, but wanna see the improvements in 3D rendering.

 

I´ll do the changes here and then let you know about my success!

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yeah it's true that it won't do {censored} for ur gaming performance.

atleast it's great for professional 3d artist who make use of their 3d applications for daily work.

so far it performs very well for my textures display or even hardware rendering for Maya and Max. I've even installed the firegl driver for max to utilize the card features. it turns out excellent and i have to list firegl mod for mbp is a must for 3d artist.

for ppl who are lazy, u can get my driver posted above (mbp owner only). if u are using an imac or mac pro. u have to manually edit the inf file in the extracted driver to change the device id to yours. so far my id is only assigned to mbp 17".

if u guys wanna custom ur own driver for the newer release. just follow the link i've posted above.

 

thanks guys for testing this out. i feel so happy that i didn't buy a dell for firegl or quadro. :D

 

cheers. :(

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