i HAVE A FRIEND WHO RECENTLY PURCHASED AN 'apollo
9800 pro. I got him into pc gaming built a rig for him and showed him how to do it. but anyway when the card arrived we found out that  the factory had put the wrong bios on it instead of being a 98oo pro it was a 9800 se, with only 4 pipelines instead of the standard 8
and lower clock speeds. I wrote the company support dept. and they apoloigized for thier mistake and I guess that all of thier 9800 pros had this problem. they said it is easily FIXED by flashing the correct bios for a 9800pro
and that it will not effect warranty and even sent a letter stating that, the problem is I cant find the bios for a apollo 9800 pro any where. I know other bios will work
but to be honest I have never done the bios for a video card. I have read how to do it, pretty much just like flashing the bios for a mobo,
but i dont know what bios to use could some one please help me with a set of bios that will work

here are the specs

Model
Brand Apollo
Model 9800PRO AGP 8X / 4X
Chipset
GPU Radeon 9800PRO
Core clock 380MHz
PixelPipelines 8
Memory
Memory Size 128MB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type DDR
3D API
DirectX DirectX 9
OpenGL OpenGL 1.4
Interface
Interface AGP 4X/8X
Ports
D-SUB 1
DVI 1
TV-Out S-Video/Composite Out
VIVO No
General
RAMDAC 400 MHz
COOLER Heatsink and Fan
Operating Systems Supported Windows 98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP

here is the link of the card from newegg where it was purchased
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814140058#DetailSpecs

I realize this is a very messed up deal on the behalf ofd APOLLO, THEY have been ignoring my REQUEST for help
I called them and they told me they would post the bios on thier site but they havent. we reaLLY dont have time to return the card TO NEWEGG they will replace it but that will take 2 weeks flashing bios takes 20 min.
so if anyone can help me help him, so he can START enjoying his gamer I would greatly appreciate itBe careful. Improper BIOS flashing can void your warranty, no matter who recommended it.yes I am aware of that, that is why I was hoping to get a second opinion on what bios to use. I guess my biggest question is how to find out what type of memory that card has, I know that most have the samsung, but not all, plus there are diffrent shaders under diffrent manufacturers I was looking at the radeon ati bios. but I cant find anything that says YES THESE WILL WORK. i MEAN AM I wrong to think it is ridicouls to pay that money for a new card only to find out the company made a mistake, knew about it,and sold the card any way:? they knew about it for awhile now, after reading the reviews on newegg everyone is having the same problem, I have BOUGHT my share of video cards,  NVIDIA, ATI, MADE BY MSI.LEADTEk,GIGABYTE,AGPTEK,RADEON, AND MORE but have never had to deal with anything other than driver updates.

It isnt my card, and the 3 gamers in my house are playing great, but I am still enraged that a company would treat thier customers like this then just ignore any pleas for help. I know now though that before I would buy anything from apollo, I would quit gaming first.
not becuase they made a mistake, we all make mistakes
but thier refising to anwser emails, say things they dont do, and thier seemingly "dont give 2 hoots' mentality

would he be better off in your opion just rteturning the card, or is it possible that if they give the correct bios to us it will be a trouble free card?

sorry if I am ranting I am very upset, that I have introduce a friend to the pc gaming realm. showing and telling that it is a whole new world of gaming, directed to the older more mature gamer, and this corp wants to treat him like a 14 yr old with a super nintendo. I am disabled [so is my friend]happen about 5 yrs ago. and pc gaming is a chance for me to do things cyberly.  that I cant do physically. I want him to see what I mean, and I take it very serious, probably way to serious after all it is just a game, RIGHT? but to us it is like being locked up in your room when ya cant get on line. if I sound like a kid, it is becuase I am ,I am a 45 yr old kid  lolI'd return it without hesitation.  Agreed. There is nothing to gain but prorblems trying to fix their mistake. Time may be an issue, but don't let it force you into a bad decision.I think I have a 9600 pro I'll let him use it till he can get his replaced, I told him to check out a x700 ati card
anyone know how they compare to the 9800 pro?One is PCI Express and the other is AGP?