AMD Radeon HD 6950 to HD 6970 Mod

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The gang at techPowerUP! have posted a guide to modding your Radeon HD 6950 into a Radeon HD 6970.

Just like on all other similar products, AMD's two Cayman variants, called Cayman Pro and Cayman XT, are based on the exact same GPU silicon. The model variant a GPU chip becomes is decided after the die is produced, at some point before it is put on the card. Creating new SKUs from the same silicon by locking features has been common practice in the industry since at least the Radeon 9500 in 2002.
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I love the current state of the GPU arms race. So much power is now pretty affordable. I'm hoping to convert some of my console friends while things are so cheap.
 
The success rate is 100% so far according to the article. Can't beat that.
 
I'm not impressed unless this requires a #2 pencil. :p
 
Damn. It's like reliving the past with the 9500 unlocking to the 9500 pro with a simple bios flash. Cheap way to save 80 bucks.
 
I loved the pencil trick.

I am now nervous that by the time I get my card it will be fixed. I need a month, and I am all about doing this.
 
oh damn, now I will have to go buy a 6950!

I can't stop thinking about this, I have to unload my 5870 first, and spend the extra $75 (assuming I can sell for $250ish) for the 6950. Am I crazy? I really want a 2GB framebuffer.
 
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Spare-Flair said:
oh damn, now I will have to go buy a 6950!

I can't stop thinking about this, I have to unload my 5870 first, and spend the extra $75 (assuming I can sell for $250ish) for the 6950. Am I crazy? I really want a 2GB framebuffer.
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Your not CrAzY at all..your A [H]ardOCP kind of guy ;)
I even have been thinking about this since I read about it yesterday.. :confused:
 
So tempted... I'm going to wait it out and see how it goes for others. True, there is a backup BIOS, but I'd like to see how the higher power draw affects the 6950.
 
Bop said:
So tempted... I'm going to wait it out and see how it goes for others. True, there is a backup BIOS, but I'd like to see how the higher power draw affects the 6950.
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The issue is that the 6970 usually has a 6pin + 8 pin power connector and the 6950 only has two 6 pin connectors. That said, the extra pins are grounds to ensure power stability and should not draw extra power.
 
Bop said:
So tempted... I'm going to wait it out and see how it goes for others. True, there is a backup BIOS, but I'd like to see how the higher power draw affects the 6950.
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Bios flashes are nothing to worry about.. the only thing I could think would be the power draw but if it really is the same board minus the power connector changes I dont see any big issues.
 
You know that when the non-reference cards stop coming out that the AIBs will cheap out and start excluding the backup bios and switch and then they'll hard lock the GPUs so they can sell their special edition cards etc. so all the more reason I feel like I need to hurry up and buy a reference 6950!

The problem is that in most games the most I'll get is like a 6-7 FPS boost over my 5870 and there is no real gain for spending an extra $75 and the headaches of selling an old card to friends or ebay. Gah!!!

Whenever a easy bios mod, pencil mod, or guaranteed overclock good ol'Celeron 300A style comes out, I just get so obsessed about it!!! Even if I don't need it!
 
Spare-Flair said:
You know that when the non-reference cards stop coming out that the AIBs will cheap out and start excluding the backup bios and switch and then they'll hard lock the GPUs so they can sell their special edition cards etc. so all the more reason I feel like I need to hurry up and buy a reference 6950!

The problem is that in most games the most I'll get is like a 6-7 FPS boost over my 5870 and there is no real gain for spending an extra $75 and the headaches of selling an old card to friends or ebay. Gah!!!

Whenever a easy bios mod, pencil mod, or guaranteed overclock good ol'Celeron 300A style comes out, I just get so obsessed about it!!! Even if I don't need it!
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I feel the same way, I want to do it just "because" but no games I play touch the 4870 X2 yet so its really not worth it lol.
 
This seems particularly nice on a card that has dual bios and a switch, so you can always get back to factory.
 
Wow! What a great find for AMD users/fans. I don't have reason enough to upgrade right now, but this is a great thing for everyone!
 
figured this would come.

both cards are identical minus the one 8 pin power connector on the 6970. Same pcb and everything.

but this is very sweet. 300$ for performance of a 6970 is just pure awesome.
 
Wow thats just awesome. Just like the days of old , the old 9500 pro. It always feels like your sticking it to the man when you get something like this for nothing.
 
Makes me wonder if amd did this purposely as a "give back" or merry xmas to it's consumers. Just seems too simple to be overlooked...either way, very old school awesomeness
 
Try this on Wednesday when my XFX 6950 comes in from Amazon. Amazon Prime is the best!
 
As posted in the original thread:
-----------------

XFX 6950... Flashed, rebooted, CCC bitched, made me reboot again... GPUZ now shows 1536 shaders :)

Unigine 2.1 benches:
DX11
High Shaders
Extreme Tesselation
16x AF
2x AA
1920x1200

6950 @ 840/1325 (CCC limit): 659 (26.2fps)
6950 w Modded BIOS @ 840/1325: 704 (28.0fps)
∆ Due to 6970 BIOS: 45pts/1.8fps
6950 w Modded BIOS @ 900/1425 (New Maximum OC, higher causes a VGA recovery): 745 (29.6fps)
∆% Due to BIOS and new OC: 13.05%

6970 BIOS @ 900/1400 Furmark Stats (2xaa, xtreme burning, 1920x1200):
~45fps, 91c @ 45% fan.

Other things I noticed. The stock XFX bios idled my card at 500/something - this new BIOS idle clocks to 250/150 Nice! I also get fan control which I couldn't get working with the XFX bios. AWFUL fan control on this BIOS... Going from 90c to 91c makes the fans jump from 43% (acceptable) to 55% randomly... At least for me. I'll have to make a custom fan ramp.
 
One in the cart! In before the price increase, unavailability.

Thanks AMD
 
Before I pull the trigger and sent the wife into fits...

How much of an upgrade is this over a GTX465?
 
Do you lose anything from not just getting a 6970? I mean is that really all that the 6970 is for extra cash; just a bios setting? Nothing physical on the card itself?
 
preyed said:
Do you lose anything from not just getting a 6970? I mean is that really all that the 6970 is for extra cash; just a bios setting? Nothing physical on the card itself?
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The 6970 has more stream processors and texture units, but I think that's about it.
 
Oldie said:
I'm not impressed unless this requires a #2 pencil. :p
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Oh. That's good. I wonder how many of us know just how cool that a trick that was back in the day. Building "bridges".

Nice one Oldie! :cool:
 
convexion said:
The 6970 has more stream processors and texture units, but I think that's about it.
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The whole point of this mod is that it gives the 6950 the same number of texture units/SP's as the 6970. So to answer the post you replied to, no it does not. The 6970 only guarantees an unlocked card.

I've been having some really random artifacts in Unigine - tiny texture flashes that weren't there before. The power slider reduced their frequency from 5/benchmark to 1/benchmark. I want voltage tweaking.
 
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