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Revision as of 20:27, 7 March 2005 by Lakario (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)A Softmod is the act of using software to modify hardware such as a video card or sound card in a way that can unlock or enable disabled features, usually pipelines. Cards that can be modified using software to faster versions (without regard to clock speed) usually contain much of the same hardware. Softmodding a card should not include changing the video card's bios, as that's considered a bios flash. There are only 3 current softmods that can be done, a Radeon 9500 NP to a 9500 Pro, a Radeon 9800SE (with 256-bit L-shaped memory) to a Radeon 9800 Pro, and a GeForce 6800NU to a 6800GT. The act of a softmod usually enables pixel rendering pipelines, though may also include other enhancements. A softmodded card may not always reach the same performance as the real card it has been changed to, but the difference should be very little; and generally not noticeable. The softmodding is not guaranteed to always work, sometimes the pipelines have been disabled for a reason - enabling them produces artifacts.