6950 Owners: Was Your Unlock Successful?

Were You Able to Successfully Unlock Your Radeon HD 6950 GPU?

  • Yes, my R6950 did unlock.

    Votes: 278 86.1%

  • No, my Asus R6950 did not unlock.

    Votes: 5 1.5%

  • No, my Diamond R6950 did not unlock.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No, my Gigabyte R6950 did not unlock.

    Votes: 1 0.3%

  • No, my HIS R6950 did not unlock.

    Votes: 2 0.6%

  • No, my MSI R6950 did not unlock.

    Votes: 5 1.5%

  • No, my PowerColor R6950 did not unlock.

    Votes: 7 2.2%

  • No, my Sapphire R6950 did not unlock.

    Votes: 15 4.6%

  • No, my VisionTek R6950 did not unlock.

    Votes: 1 0.3%

  • No, my XFX R6950 did not unlock.

    Votes: 9 2.8%
  • Total voters
    323
So let me get this all straight... I've always been a little confused on what makes a graphics card model superior to another, as in does the company spend the same amount of money to make a lower and higher end model but the lower end model just has settings turned down?

Because from this thread it seems these companies spend the same money to make the 6970 as the 6970, but they just disable some features and sell the 6950 for less? So essentially the difference in sale price for the 6950 and 6970 is pure profit? :mad:
 
While I successfully flashed both my 6950s, one or both of them does not like the 6970 timings/volts or who knows what. Wouldn't run anything 3D at 1375mhz, so I went down to 1350 or 1325. Then ran Heaven benchmark with 935mhz core just fine for a few minutes. Started up Netflix in full screen mode and shit went out of whack, caught in a permanent crash loop, no matter how many times I restarted.

Had to go into safe mode, uninstall drivers, and flash back to 6950+unlocked shaders.

If only someone would make some competent software to increase core voltage in crossfire mode...Afterburner only applies the settings to one card.
 
Yes, I got a modified sapphire 6950 bios that only unlocks the shaders. The voltages, etc stay the same as stock 6950.
 
Last night I ordered 1 MSI and 1 HIS 6950 and I'll update the thread with my findings, hopefully I'll add to the my 6950s unlocked successfully. I picked those 2 models specifically as they both have 0 failed unlocks in this thread and in another thread from another forum. Here's hoping that trend continues :D
 
Lord_Exodia said:
Last night I ordered 1 MSI and 1 HIS 6950 and I'll update the thread with my findings, hopefully I'll add to the my 6950s unlocked successfully. I picked those 2 models specifically as they both have 0 failed unlocks in this thread and in another thread from another forum. Here's hoping that trend continues :D
Click to expand...

Dear God, its a cold day in hell indeed. :p

My advice is to do a full reformat to purge your Nvidia drivers before installing the 10.12a's. I had random CTD's and issues that this likely would have avoided, in the end I went back to 470's for folding. The 69xx cards have a ton of potential though and I was very impressed with the hardware, its just the drivers that still feel a bit finicky.
 
R-Type said:
Dear God, its a cold day in hell indeed. :p

My advice is to do a full reformat to purge your Nvidia drivers before installing the 10.12a's. I had random CTD's and issues that this likely would have avoided, in the end I went back to 470's for folding. The 69xx cards have a ton of potential though and I was very impressed with the hardware, its just the drivers that still feel a bit finicky.
Click to expand...

Oh I'm with you there, these cards are not going in the rig in my sig, everything will be redone, however they are the last pieces to my new build and all the other parts are here next to me, the build is;

Asus P8P67 deluxe
Core i7 2600k
OCZ Vertex 90GB SSD (for os and games)
Raid array in sig (for storage only)
8GB Patriot Sector 5 GDDR 3 12800 PC 1600
Creative X-Fi PCi in Sig
3x Asus 23.6inch 120hz 3d Ready monitors (eyefinity)
2x 6950 (1 MSI and 1 HIS) Hopefully unlocked to 6970 and overclocked further slightly when on water


Will watercool cards and cpu in about a month. I'm gonna try and shoot for 5Ghz with my 26t00k
 
R-Type said:
Dear God, its a cold day in hell indeed. :p

My advice is to do a full reformat to purge your Nvidia drivers before installing the 10.12a's. I had random CTD's and issues that this likely would have avoided, in the end I went back to 470's for folding. The 69xx cards have a ton of potential though and I was very impressed with the hardware, its just the drivers that still feel a bit finicky.
Click to expand...

I must get super lucky with drivers. I switch between a 6870/6950/570 on the same OS install almost daily and haven't had a problem on 2 different rigs. Who knows never had a problem with ATI/AMD drivers either besides xfire in Arma2. But yeah probably better off reformating.
 
YamahaAlex37 said:
So let me get this all straight... I've always been a little confused on what makes a graphics card model superior to another, as in does the company spend the same amount of money to make a lower and higher end model but the lower end model just has settings turned down?

Because from this thread it seems these companies spend the same money to make the 6970 as the 6970, but they just disable some features and sell the 6950 for less? So essentially the difference in sale price for the 6950 and 6970 is pure profit? :mad:
Click to expand...

Yes its called binning and Hardware manufacturers have been doing it for decades. Basically its about hitting the supply vs. demand curve. It costs to much to design all of these cards separately to hit each purchasing segment. More people will buy a $300 card over a $400, and it costs less to design the $400 card and cut it feature wise down then it does to design a $300 card that has to be handpicked to run a the $400 cards performance. Not only that but its harder to keep performance people from buying the $300 dollar card and running it at $400 if clock speeds are the only difference. It also allows for less waste, a GPU core that has a block of streams that won't hit spec can have those streams disabled and sold as the $300 card. That's where the 10% fail comes in.
 
Topweasel said:
Yes its called binning and Hardware manufacturers have been doing it for decades. Basically its about hitting the supply vs. demand curve. It costs to much to design all of these cards separately to hit each purchasing segment. More people will buy a $300 card over a $400, and it costs less to design the $400 card and cut it feature wise down then it does to design a $300 card that has to be handpicked to run a the $400 cards performance. Not only that but its harder to keep performance people from buying the $300 dollar card and running it at $400 if clock speeds are the only difference. It also allows for less waste, a GPU core that has a block of streams that won't hit spec can have those streams disabled and sold as the $300 card. That's where the 10% fail comes in.
Click to expand...

That 10% is way above par as well, AMD/ATi is getting excellent yields on the 6970.
 
alienate said:
That 10% is way above par as well, AMD/ATi is getting excellent yields on the 6970.
Click to expand...

Agreed though people who are looking for something for nothing and are not the adventuring type need to make sure that they understand that there is a ~8%-10%, that they are stuck with exactly what they purchased.
 
R-Type said:
Dear God, its a cold day in hell indeed. :p
Click to expand...

Warning this image may cause heart attacks and bring about the Apocalypse. The 4 horsemen are headed to the realm of earth as I type this and hell froze over. I expect those kinds of jokes. LOL

Here it is, my build still boxed, will be building tonight probably

Still waiting for my mini DP to dual link dvi active adapters.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Last edited:
Don't hate on AMD or displayport when your adapters show up and dont support 120hz.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
dook43 said:
Don't hate on AMD or displayport when your adapters show up and dont support 120hz.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
Click to expand...

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=6904&seq=1&format=2

Here is the link. According to the reviews it supports full dual link dvi up to 2560x1600 which as you know requires dual link to even work. If it doesn't work then it'll probably be a casualty of the cable, I'll try the apple one too and if it doesn't work either I'll send the cards back and get something else.
 
Lord_Exodia said:
Warning this image may cause heart attacks and bring about the Apocalypse. The 4 horsemen are headed to the realm of earth as I type this and hell froze over. I expect those kinds of jokes. LOL

Here it is, my build still boxed, will be building tonight probably

Still waiting for my mini DP to dual link dvi active adapters.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Click to expand...

Usually I'd be jealous but when I saw it was yours I was stoked! You deserve it for all you contribute to the forums! Those graphics cards are sick I definitely think you made the right choice
 
YamahaAlex37 said:
Usually I'd be jealous but when I saw it was yours I was stoked! You deserve it for all you contribute to the forums! Those graphics cards are sick I definitely think you made the right choice
Click to expand...

Thanks YamahaAlex I really appreciate it. :) Glad your GTX 570 is kicking ass. Enjoy it.
 
Lol. Only thing I'd ever advocate a 1500W PSU for is an overclocked 3xGTX580 setup. For everything less a Corsair AX 1200W will be ample.
 
samuelmorris said:
Lol. Only thing I'd ever advocate a 1500W PSU for is an overclocked 3xGTX580 setup. For everything less a Corsair AX 1200W will be ample.
Click to expand...

An overclocked GTX 480 setup would be a more appropriate stress test. Don't have a link off-hand, but I know from a comparative chart and firsthand experience that the power consumption of first-gen Fermi once you crank the OC and volts is truly, truly, ridiculous.

Tripped my 1KW on just two 470s when I pushed to max volts (flashed BIOS) and OC.
 
Sojuuk said:
with the way PSUs are going maybe he is future proofing ;)
Click to expand...

Ding ding ding!!! U got it! I'm fuckin tired of buying PSU's every 2 years. Also I'll be running a heaviliy overclocked water cooled system, along with several rads etc.. and possibly add a 3rd 6950 and new mobo cpu combo soon when bulldozer and the new high end intel come out. I'll more than likely choose the best of that pack. This i7 2600k should tide me over until that heavy stuff is out.
 
Three HD6950s and an overclocked 130W CPU is still only around 700-750W out of the unit, max, unless you flash all the cards to 6970s, in which case maybe 850-900W. Either way, a long way from 1500!
 
samuelmorris said:
Three HD6950s and an overclocked 130W CPU is still only around 700-750W out of the unit, max, unless you flash all the cards to 6970s, in which case maybe 850-900W. Either way, a long way from 1500!
Click to expand...

don;t they say you get the most out of a PSU at 50% load?
 
Unlocked a sapphire 6950 successfully. Hope someone comes up with one application to overclock it, set a fan profile, and adjust voltages if needed.
 
danExclusive said:
Look at MSI Afterburner.
Click to expand...

AFAIK Afterburner can't adjust voltages on 6950->6970 cards. I'd be happy to find out otherwise though :) Perhaps flashing with an Asus bios will let you use their smartdoctor or whatever to change voltages. I haven't tried anything like that yet.

For the record, got a Gigabyte 6950 and flashed to 6970, running at 925/1450 stable.
 
madhatter340 said:
AFAIK Afterburner can't adjust voltages on 6950->6970 cards. I'd be happy to find out otherwise though :) Perhaps flashing with an Asus bios will let you use their smartdoctor or whatever to change voltages. I haven't tried anything like that yet.

For the record, got a Gigabyte 6950 and flashed to 6970, running at 925/1450 stable.
Click to expand...

It does. Take a look at 2.1.0 Beta 6. Supports voltage control on the new chips. Although, it seems as if it is only modifying the VID3 voltage variable. But cards ordered after early January should be fine as they are controlled via VID3 as well.
 
Yes, both of my cards unlocked. 1 MSI and 1 His. Running 6970 crossfire now. Scaling is near 100% temps are good since I have the cards spaced far apart. Overall I'm very happy with the setup so far. And yes, my monoprice cables did allow me to run my 3 displays at 120hz. I have to play around with some overclocking, but to add to the poll mine did unlock just fine. :)
 
samuelmorris said:
Lol 1500W PSU. Just lol.
Click to expand...

For real. I mean you won't be able to pull that load from wall without a custom outlet. Shit I'm not even close to maxing my PC with a Corsair 1200 watt PSU with 2 GTX 480's OC'd BIG time.

Still though Lord , nice system :) Enjoy it.
 
Just got my Sapphire 6950 to unlock. That couldn't have been easier... wow. Now on to o/c land! :D
 
Mine unlocked... MSI 6950 reference. I used a generic AMD branded BIOS. I kept the clock at 800MHz to keep the heat down but I did bump the power profile 9% to help feed the extra cores and the higher memory clocks. Anyone else keep it at 800MHz?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top