AMD Radeon HD 6950 to HD 6970 Mod

TWolf79 said:
I did the mod but found temps to be unacceptable in my case (in excess of 90c) Went back and installed an ASUS bios (so that I can mess with voltages), figured temps were not worth the 8% gain, at least until I can get better cooling.
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I did only the shader mod and my temps didn't go up at all. Use Wizards tool to modify the stock 6950 BIOS and unlock the shaders.
 
haha wow do I feel dumb, spent half an hour trying to flash my card and getting mad that it wasnt working. Make sure your cards bios switch is set in position one so you can flash it and not look like a tool like me lol

I dont have the [H] in me to do a full 6970 flash, so I've just unlocked the shaders and left all the other settings (voltages, timing ect) at 6950 levels. Whats the best program to overclock this card? I wanna see how high I can go without touching voltages.
 
There are some great images of a stock 6970 and 6950 over at Guru 3D.

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=335318&page=14

These show some interesting differences between the two Products. More images on page 13.

32991979.png
 
TWolf79 said:
got a link?
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You can download my modified ASUS 6950 BIOS here: http://images.toratek.com/asus_6950_unlocked_shaders.bin

Everything is left at stock HD6950 speeds in this BIOS version except for the shader count (unlocked at 1536 shaders, same as the HD6970). After you flash your card you can use ASUS Smart Doctor to overlock, control fan the fan speed, overvolt and much more. Don't use MSI Afterburner 2.1 BETA 5, it screws up Catalyst fan control for some reason. It is what gave me so much grief, and even after Afterburner is uninstalled the problems still persist unless a clean Windows install is performed.

You can get Smart Doctor here: http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=dekcICIFak0zpxUk&templete=2
 
ok well using msi afterburner and a unlocked shader bios I got my 6950 from 800/1250 to 860/1370, which is not right at 6970 speed but close enough for me without having to touch my voltages, card hits 75c on load with gputool testing for artifacts

Considering this is all a free nice boost in shader count, an extra 60mhz on the core and 120mhz on the memory is good enough for me and I can sleep happy knowing its all without increased volts and such from the 6970 bios.
 
Ragenrok said:
ok well using msi afterburner and a unlocked shader bios I got my 6950 from 800/1250 to 860/1370, which is not right at 6970 speed but close enough for me without having to touch my voltages, card hits 75c on load with gputool testing for artifacts

Considering this is all a free nice boost in shader count, an extra 60mhz on the core and 120mhz on the memory is good enough for me and I can sleep happy knowing its all without increased volts and such from the 6970 bios.
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Have you flashed with the BIOS that I've posted?
 
my sapphire 6950 with asus unlocked shader 6950 bios crashes@76c while running furmark at both 880/1375 and at 900/1400 (both with stock fan control) now if i turn the fans up to maybe 40-50 percent its ok. loud but fine. card idles between 33 and 37c. I wish CCC had custom fan control like afterburner..
 
another small note: tried overclocking using asus smart doctor and didnt like the 90's corvette dash feel. and i noticed that the powertune slider was missing in CCC. BUT WHAT was interesting is that after i uninstalled smart doctor my CCC overclocking limits are like 1620/2500 lol. right now im at 885/1390 using CCC
 
Flashed my XFX 6950 with ASUS 6970 image provided in the original techpowerup article. Using the default 6970 speeds (880/1375) and 10% power bump the card works just fine in WoW. Temperatures are around 70-75C.
 
I have a pair of Sapphire 6950's on the way, got a quick question.

Would it be better to flash with a 6970 BIOS or use the thing Wizard posted and modify the regular 6950 BIOS to allow the extra shaders, then overclock from there?
 
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. said:
I have a pair of Sapphire 6950's on the way, got a quick question.

Would it be better to flash with a 6970 BIOS or use the thing Wizard posted and modify the regular 6950 BIOS to allow the extra shaders, then overclock from there?
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Unlock the 6950 bios and overclock from there. It's "safest" mod with the best chance of stability following the flash.

If you go the 6970 bios route it'll either work fine or you may have the following.

1. Permanent Ram problems
2. Card is unstable at 6970 clocks (unsuccessfull mod)
 
wolfman3k5 said:
Which version of MSI Afterburner are you using and what did you use to unlock the BIOS?
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I used the batch file method, and im using version 2.0.0. Seems to be working perfectly, the auto fan control is sweet. Have it set so when my cards below 70c it runs at 30% fan speed, when it hits 70c+ it goes to 40% and when it hits 85c+ is goes to 50%. Seems to work awesome for me.
 
The Red said:
I wonder how big of a chunk of nvidia sales this little mod just took.
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None what so ever. NVIDIA will be screwed in a couple of years from now do because of the CPU - GPU integration. Sandy Bridge, and AMD's Fusion Based CPUs are just a small indicative right now, but hardware like this is the future. NVIDIA has no x86 license, so they can't build legacy x86 functionality in their GPUs to create something similar. So if you hate NVIDIA, give them another 3 to 5 years before you see them hurting really bad. But who knows, maybe they re-purpose. And no, the discrete graphics market won't grow in the future, if anything, it will shrink.
 
wolfman3k5 said:
None what so ever. NVIDIA will be screwed in a couple of years from now do because of the CPU - GPU integration. Sandy Bridge, and AMD's Fusion Based CPUs are just a small indicative right now, but hardware like this is the future. NVIDIA has no x86 license, so they can't build legacy x86 functionality in their GPUs to create something similar. So if you hate NVIDIA, give them another 3 to 5 years before you see them hurting really bad. But who knows, maybe they re-purpose. And no, the discrete graphics market won't grow in the future, if anything, it will shrink.
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Last I checked in, a few years ago, Larrabee was a complete failure and I haven't heard any good news about Fusion, or anything really. Other than a few people here and there who occasionally mention the subject in passing. I recall seeing some early benchmarks with incredibly low scores, or them scrapping it altogether...
But I've been out of that loop for a long time.

Is there a reason to believe that kind of shift is actually going to occur? :rolleyes:
 
Got my XFX 6950 installed tonight and Eyefinity all set up.

When replacing the BIOS, is there any reason to crossflash to the ASUS Bios. Is that still the only one with voltage options?
 
UtopiA said:
Last I checked in, a few years ago, Larrabee was a complete failure and I haven't heard any good news about Fusion, or anything really. Other than a few people here and there who occasionally mention the subject in passing. I recall seeing some early benchmarks with incredibly low scores, or them scrapping it altogether...
But I've been out of that loop for a long time.

Is there a reason to believe that kind of shift is actually going to occur? :rolleyes:
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I remember reading a review not too long ago about an and fusion system which was likeentry level so it's performance was nothing to get excited about but it's architecture was intact and worked as advertised. Wish I could remember where that was.

Brightsideofnews.com has a good writeup on the hole larrabee debacle. I highly doubt intel has completely scrapped the idea, but I think they are being much more cautious this time around about building hype before they have a working product.

As the industries stand right now, as itapplies to all markets, if they don't evolve then they will die. All 3 companies seem to understand that the time for the CPU and gpu to become a single piece of silicon again is coming and each will go about it their own way. Intel is tryig to use CPU architecture to achieve the gpu processing (and has thus far failed). AMD is probably in the best position ATM with it's acquisition of ATI. Then Nvidia who seems to have pretty strong ties with the makers of the ARM processor as well as the major push in trying to get programmers to code their programs for their gpgpu.

Though I have zero inside insight, I think 2-3 years and we will see something from at least one of these companies, if not all 3 by then.



(typed on iPhone so be kind lol)
 
While right now integrated GPUs like the one on Sandy Bridge are low end, if you look closely you will see that the x86 portion on the die is shrinking more and more, with every release. Basically, in a couple on years we will have a GPU in the socket, with a small on die CPU that will run the legacy x86 code. Maybe I sound crazy, but we already have Sandy Bridge here, and Fusion is coming. NVIDIA knows this, and don't think for a second that they don't get sleepless nights over this.

We won't have these setups for ever that we have right now. The future will bring us a computer on a chip, an entire platform on one single piece of silicone. Only companies like AMD and Intel will be able to deliver something like that. Kind of sad to think that in the far future this entire planet will have to rely on only two companies for all our computing needs.
 
wolfman3k5 said:
We won't have these setups for ever that we have right now. The future will bring us a computer on a chip, an entire platform on one single piece of silicone. Only companies like AMD and Intel will be able to deliver something like that. Kind of sad to think that in the far future this entire planet will have to rely on only two companies for all our computing needs.
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What about relying on one company?
Microsoft.
 
I have no problems and am stable using the 6970 bios, but reading all these assumptions about the RAM going bad, so do you think it would be a good idea to just flash to the modified bios? I have the modified sapphire bios saved, but am unsure if it will allow me to OC back to 900/1410 or I guess I could just use MSI Afterburner for that I suppose...
 
UtopiA said:
Last I checked in, a few years ago, Larrabee was a complete failure and I haven't heard any good news about Fusion, or anything really. Other than a few people here and there who occasionally mention the subject in passing. I recall seeing some early benchmarks with incredibly low scores, or them scrapping it altogether...
But I've been out of that loop for a long time.

Is there a reason to believe that kind of shift is actually going to occur? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Fusion Link

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=28193
 
t0asty said:
I have no problems and am stable using the 6970 bios, but reading all these assumptions about the RAM going bad, so do you think it would be a good idea to just flash to the modified bios? I have the modified sapphire bios saved, but am unsure if it will allow me to OC back to 900/1410 or I guess I could just use MSI Afterburner for that I suppose...
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I would like to know this as well, specifically if aterburner allows overvolting?

My XFX 6950 is rock solid at 840/1320 (CCC max), are some people finding that their ram can do that stable but can't muster 1375?
 
R-Type said:
I would like to know this as well, specifically if aterburner allows overvolting?

My XFX 6950 is rock solid at 840/1320 (CCC max), are some people finding that their ram can do that stable but can't muster 1375?
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Well my xfx 6950 is stable at 850/1365 with stock 6950 voltages, I did have it running at 860/1365 but got a driver crash near the end of 3dmark 11.
 
Ragenrok said:
Well my xfx 6950 is stable at 850/1365 with stock 6950 voltages, I did have it running at 860/1365 but got a driver crash near the end of 3dmark 11.
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Good to know. At this point what I have gathered from this thread is that if I want the increased OC headroom I either have to flash to the Asus BIOS and use smart doctor or risk the 6970 flash in order to get the higher voltage. Is this correct? The card is going underwater so heat is not a real concern.
 
R-Type said:
Good to know. At this point what I have gathered from this thread is that if I want the increased OC headroom I either have to flash to the Asus BIOS and use smart doctor or risk the 6970 flash in order to get the higher voltage. Is this correct? The card is going underwater so heat is not a real concern.
Click to expand...

Pretty much, my oc wasn't heat limited. Never went past 76c unless I turnt my fan down, even when I did that and hit 85c it was still fine. Just volt limited, I might reflash asus later on and play with volts but right now this card is rocking out my games just fine with current clocks and the shaders unlocked.
 
I'm running a Sapphire 6950 with unlocked shaders (not 6970) @ 865/1320 and seems to be fine. My concerns are:

1) Does someone have knowledge of the spec on the Hynix H5GQ2H24MFR T2C memory used on these? Not the rated speeds as the 5gig is well reported but rather what does the industry use as planned safety net? Is it rated @5 but expected to perform at 10% more or whatever without failure? Seems odd that the 6970 mem is rated at 6 and running at 5.5 but the 6950 is rated and running at 5.

2) Should I back the mem off to closer to 1250 since it is not "rated" to do more than 5g to give the card an opportunity to gracefully age instead of flaming out?

3) I have a second card due to arrive today and will x-fire and unlock as well. I've read so many reviews the past few days I'm afraid I'm not retaining all of the information..but my PSU is 650w will this be sufficient? I'm guessing yes but not by a whole lot.
 
Jeeps said:
Here is a recent case of a geforce 570 user that overclocked his ram to 4.6Ghz for 10 days while his ram was only rated to 4Ghz, i thought it was relevant to 6950 users running at 6970 memory speeds.

http://www.overclock.net/nvidia/898919-rip-gtx-570-a.html
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News flash : Overclocking can cause system instability and even permanent component damange ..

This and more at 11..

I mean of course overclocking a stupid amount and not realizing it could lead to results like this .. doesn't mean its not worth trying.


I got lucky with my 6950 it unlocked and is currently running rock solid stable at 880/1375.
 
Just ordered another 6950 and I'm going to unlock it as soon as it arrives. Fingers crossed that it unlocks and OC's as well as this one.

Also ordered the Gigabyte P67A-UD4. Two 6970's in Crossfire for $600 is not bad at all.
 
Godmachine and Mancannon, are you running 6970 bios or unlocked 6950?

Whats scary about the ram being permanently damaged is that it is essentially unprecedented that higher memory speeds without higher voltage or heat would cause physical damage. Typically you see some artifacts, clock it back down a bit and everything is golden.
 
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