Okay I ordered two 2gb Sapphire Toxic 6950's last night with hopes of turning them into 6970's or close. I have a fantastic (I think) article from CPU magazine (awesome magazine!) that explains the mod but I thought I'd post my understanding of it here in hopes that those of you that have gone before me on this quest can verify that I have it down correctly before the cards arrive and I give it a shot.
1. Download ATIWinflash and RBE from TechPowerUp.com
2. Download GPU-Z
3. Install graphics cards as normal (I also have an M4 and Windows 7-64 on the way with a back up hdd as well, so hopefully that will go smoothly first).
4. Restart system and disable antivirus software and close all other applications.
5. Verify the BIOS switch is in position number one.
6. Right-click ATIWinflash and run as administrator.
7. Make sure graphics card is properly identified.
8. Save to extract the stock BIOS.
9. Back up the stock BIOS on my thumb drive just in case.
10. Right click RBE and run as administrator.
11. Click load BIOS button and navigate to the stock BIOS.
12. Click additional features and click on 6970 shader count instead of 6950 shader count.
13. Save the modded BIOS as mod BIOS.
14. Close RBE.
15. Right-click and run ATIWinflash as administrator.
16. Click load image button.
17. Select the modded BIOS.
18. Click the program button.
19. Reboot the computer.
20. Run GPU-Z to check for the unlocked shaders from 1,408 to 1,536.
Thanks for any missed steps or advice etc.
1. Download ATIWinflash and RBE from TechPowerUp.com
2. Download GPU-Z
3. Install graphics cards as normal (I also have an M4 and Windows 7-64 on the way with a back up hdd as well, so hopefully that will go smoothly first).
4. Restart system and disable antivirus software and close all other applications.
5. Verify the BIOS switch is in position number one.
6. Right-click ATIWinflash and run as administrator.
7. Make sure graphics card is properly identified.
8. Save to extract the stock BIOS.
9. Back up the stock BIOS on my thumb drive just in case.
10. Right click RBE and run as administrator.
11. Click load BIOS button and navigate to the stock BIOS.
12. Click additional features and click on 6970 shader count instead of 6950 shader count.
13. Save the modded BIOS as mod BIOS.
14. Close RBE.
15. Right-click and run ATIWinflash as administrator.
16. Click load image button.
17. Select the modded BIOS.
18. Click the program button.
19. Reboot the computer.
20. Run GPU-Z to check for the unlocked shaders from 1,408 to 1,536.
Thanks for any missed steps or advice etc.