Two 6950 Crossfire Questions

[Deeky]

I'll make it quick!

1. Unlocking the 6950. It was big news several months ago, but has AMD since released a revision that won't unlock with a simple BIOS flash? Is there a way to tell whether a card will unlock before you buy? Is there something on the box to look for, or is it luck of the draw?

2. CFX + PhysX. I have an old GTX card, I wonder if it's still possible to hack drivers to allow a dedicated PhysX card with an AMD primary on Windows 7 64-bit? True, not many games use PhysX to any great effect, but I'd like to have my bases covered (especially since the Nvidia card will be gathering dust, otherwise).

Cheers!

 

[Stupid_Newbie]

Im interested in this "not unlockable" 6950s

 

[Mackenzie]

THere isn't a way to tell if it will unlock, most do though.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Any 6950 should unlock, just don't be an idiot and flash a non-reference or 1GB model with a 6970 bios.

 

[harmattan]

1. The newer 6950s are normally NOT unlockable. The newer reference models have a) a HSF with the fan in the center of the card (like this one) b) no backup bios switch. The easy way to identify a card that should unlock is that it will have a backup bios switch near the crossfire connection; also, the PCB will be either black or red, but not blue.

2. I think the hack is still out there, but it doesn't work with newer drivers. In any case, I did this a while back with a 5870+5870+9800 GT set up and the trouble wasn't worth it.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

1. The newer 6950s are normally NOT unlockable.

Any proof to back those claims up? AFAIK you can use Wizzard's 6950 bios modding script or Radon bios editor to unmask the shaders on any 6950.

You obviously can't flash a 6970 bios to a non-reference card like you linked to or a 1GB 6950.