Sapphire Radeon 9250 256 Mb AGP 8x 333 MHz (powered by ATI)

Boondock Zaint · Feb 10, 2009, 03:58 AM

Hello all! I am new here and if this particular card has been discussed before, I truly apologize for the re-hash. I know that this card is a relic, but I am operating on an old, yet fairly stable machine and money isn't exactly falling from the sky! What I am trying to do is to flash the BIOS of this archaic device to try and breathe some new life into it. Every where I have searched, it seems that a BIOS upgrade is non-existent for this card. If anyone knows where to find one or if another BIOS will work, please let me know! Thanks!

Judas · Feb 10, 2009, 04:41 AM

your likely not going to squeeze anything more out of it.. it is the top of the line R250 series GPU and there simply no breathing room left over.

the best drivers you can install is ATI catalyst 6.11's ..if the 6.11's don't work, the 6.5's or lower will.

update your motherboard chipset drivers if possible and that's about all i can recommend unfortuneatly...

Boondock Zaint · Feb 10, 2009, 05:28 AM

Thanks Judas. Well, I did the motherboard BIOS upgrade so unless I get a new card, this is all I can hope for. Thanks again!

Judas · Feb 10, 2009, 07:00 AM

sorry for the "not so great news"

I know you can pick up some DIRT CHEAP AGP ATI radeon 9500's and so forth on ebay... that would be a possibly solution that would extend the life of your machine. a 9500 would perform CONSIDERABLY better.

I do not recommend getting anything beyond a x1650 AGP card just a fyi if you come across anything of the sort for a good dollar.... but i know some x1650's are selling for as cheap as 30 bucks or less now.

Boondock Zaint · Feb 10, 2009, 09:28 AM

Cool man. Thanks for the info! I will definitely keep my eyes open for a good deal.

Boondock Zaint · Feb 10, 2009, 09:37 AM

What do you think of this?

PartsPC.com-PowerColor ATI Radeon X1650 PRO 512MB DDR2 Dual DVI/HDTV PCI-Express Video Card:PCI-Express - 512MB

Oh...and BTW. When it says dual DVI (support dual VGA)...does that mean I would need adapters (DVI to VGA) in order to run the VGA interface? Thanks!

Judas · Feb 10, 2009, 04:03 PM

should be good.. just make sure your Power Supply in your computer has at least 28-32AMPs on the 12v rail (it'll list 12v followed by either a chart for the amperage on that rail, which can be found on the Power Supply in the computer.. usually on the side or top)

Reason i suggest this is because the x1650 uses usually either a floppy 4 pin power connector or a standard 4 pin molex (hardrive/cd-rom drive) connector.

Course you may have nothing to worry about reguardless as they just genereally work very well out of the box.

And about the DVI... the package usually includes a SINGLE DVI-VGA adapter... so unless you have 2 VGA monitors only, you'll need to only get 1 more. (your 9250 may have come with one anyways though)

Boondock Zaint · Feb 10, 2009, 07:41 PM

Thanks Judas. I'll check it out.

kn00tcn · Feb 12, 2009, 08:17 AM

techPowerUp! :: Video Bios Collection

in case you need bioses in the future, though make sure you absolutely need to use one

Boondock Zaint · Feb 12, 2009, 10:08 AM

The biggest reason I thought I needed a BIOS upgrade was because when I would watch video (streaming or loaded locally) it would seem to hiccup. What I mean is that it would studder every 3-4 seconds or so as it played. I also noticed that the studder would occur simultaneously as the HDD light on the front of the tower would come on. I downloaded the latest drivers and it seems to have helped. I still get the effect sometimes when streaming, but I find that if I pause the video and wait for the full buffer, it plays pretty smoothly. Thanks.

Feb 10, 2009, 03:58 AM	#1
Boondock Zaint DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Sapphire Radeon 9250 256 Mb AGP 8x 333 MHz (powered by ATI) Hello all! I am new here and if this particular card has been discussed before, I truly apologize for the re-hash. I know that this card is a relic, but I am operating on an old, yet fairly stable machine and money isn't exactly falling from the sky! What I am trying to do is to flash the BIOS of this archaic device to try and breathe some new life into it. Every where I have searched, it seems that a BIOS upgrade is non-existent for this card. If anyone knows where to find one or if another BIOS will work, please let me know! Thanks!

Feb 10, 2009, 05:28 AM	Thread Starter #3
Boondock Zaint DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Re: Sapphire Radeon 9250 256 Mb AGP 8x 333 MHz (powered by ATI) Thanks Judas. Well, I did the motherboard BIOS upgrade so unless I get a new card, this is all I can hope for. Thanks again!

Feb 10, 2009, 09:28 AM	Thread Starter #5
Boondock Zaint DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Re: Sapphire Radeon 9250 256 Mb AGP 8x 333 MHz (powered by ATI) Cool man. Thanks for the info! I will definitely keep my eyes open for a good deal.

Feb 10, 2009, 09:37 AM	Thread Starter #6
Boondock Zaint DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Re: Sapphire Radeon 9250 256 Mb AGP 8x 333 MHz (powered by ATI) What do you think of this? PartsPC.com-PowerColor ATI Radeon X1650 PRO 512MB DDR2 Dual DVI/HDTV PCI-Express Video Card:PCI-Express - 512MB Oh...and BTW. When it says dual DVI (support dual VGA)...does that mean I would need adapters (DVI to VGA) in order to run the VGA interface? Thanks! Last edited by Boondock Zaint; Feb 10, 2009 at 09:39 AM. Reason: add question

Feb 10, 2009, 07:41 PM	Thread Starter #8
Boondock Zaint DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Re: Sapphire Radeon 9250 256 Mb AGP 8x 333 MHz (powered by ATI) Thanks Judas. I'll check it out.

Feb 12, 2009, 08:17 AM	#9
kn00tcn DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Toronto Posts: 649 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Sapphire Radeon 9250 256 Mb AGP 8x 333 MHz (powered by ATI) techPowerUp! :: Video Bios Collection in case you need bioses in the future, though make sure you absolutely need to use one __________________ http://www.kn00tcn.net/site/ati-catalyst-profiles/ http://www.kn00tcn.net/FPSLimiter.rar

Feb 12, 2009, 10:08 AM	Thread Starter #10
Boondock Zaint DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Re: Sapphire Radeon 9250 256 Mb AGP 8x 333 MHz (powered by ATI) The biggest reason I thought I needed a BIOS upgrade was because when I would watch video (streaming or loaded locally) it would seem to hiccup. What I mean is that it would studder every 3-4 seconds or so as it played. I also noticed that the studder would occur simultaneously as the HDD light on the front of the tower would come on. I downloaded the latest drivers and it seems to have helped. I still get the effect sometimes when streaming, but I find that if I pause the video and wait for the full buffer, it plays pretty smoothly. Thanks.