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The Difference Between FireGLs And Radeons
Let's take a look at the differences between ATI FireGL and Radeon cards!
| Name |
Architecture |
Core Speed |
Memory
Bus |
Memory |
Memory |
| Radeon 9500 "I" |
R300 |
275 MHz |
128-bit |
DDR |
270 MHz |
| Radeon 9500 "L" |
R300 |
275 MHz |
256-bit |
DDR |
270 MHz |
| Radeon 9500 Pro |
R300 |
275 MHz |
128-bit |
DDR |
270 MHz |
| FireGL Z1-128 |
FGL9500 (R300W) |
325 MHz |
256-bit |
DDR |
310 MHz |
| Radeon 9700 |
R300 |
275 MHz |
256-bit |
DDR |
270 MHz |
| Radeon 9700 Pro |
R300 |
325 MHz |
256-bit |
DDR |
310 MHz |
| FireGL X1-128 |
FGL9700 (R300W) |
325 MHz |
256-bit |
DDR |
310 MHz |
FireGL X1-256 |
FGL9700 (R300W) |
325 MHz |
256-bit |
DDR |
310 MHz |
As you can see from the chart, the Radeon 9500 cards are identical to the FireGL Z1 cards, while the Radeon 9700 cards are identical to the FireGL X1 cards. So, it is possible to mod every one of those cards into their FireGL equivalents. Basically, the possible mods are :
- The Radeon 9500 series into the FireGL Z1 series
- The Radeon 9700 series into the FireGL X1 series
- The Radeon 9800 series into the FireGL X2 series
- The Radeon X800 series into the FireGL X3 series
After examining the PCB of the FireGL and Radeon cards, I noted that the Radeons are identical to the FireGL, except for their display output. The FireGL cards have Dual-DVI ports while the Radeon cards only come with one DVI output. You should be able to mod them into true FireGL cards, albeit with only one DVI port.
For more information on the specifications of these cards, please refer to our Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide and Workstation Graphics Card Comparison Guide. For more information on the use of R360 cores in the Radeon 9800 Pro, please refer to our Radeon 9800 Pro to 9800XT Mod Guide.
Although flashing those Radeon cards makes them to be detected as FireGL cards, the performance in workstation softwares would still be the same. Why? I discovered that there are some minor differences between the resistor/capacitor layout on the Radeon and FireGL core chip which determines the Device ID of both cards. Flashing the FireGL bios image to your Radeon card won't be able to change the Device ID because ATI already 'hardwired' them.
So, the FireGL driver installation routine will detect your 'fake' FireGL card and skipped some installation process, such as the FireGL panel. In addition, the installed driver will detect your 'fake' FireGL and disable FireGL-specific optimizations for workstation applications. This is why the performance of the modded FireGL card will remain the same after the BIOS flash.
Luckily, RivaTuner has patch scripts that allow us to bypass the Device ID protection by patching the driver. This allows the Radeon to function as the FireGL. Patching the driver is quite a tedious process. However, you should not experince any problems with this mod if you read through the whole guide carefully.
For those who are curious, the next page will show you what you will see if you flash your card into a FireGL card and install the unpatched FireGL driver.
Please Note!
Before we go through the steps on modding the Radeons into FireGLs, I would like to remind you that we cannot guarantee that this mod will work for everyone.
