6950 to 6970

[Syndicat3]

Hi all,

I know a lot of 6950s can't be unlocked to 6970s but I was given some advice in the overclocking section and I wanted more opinions.

This is my exact card:

http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_557_559&item_id=042354


This is the article I'm following:

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/159


These were instructions given to me:

I have this card... ignore the bios switch... on the techpowerup page linked earlier find the link for "RBE" the Radion BIOS Editor. You will need to use GPU-Z to pull the firmware from your card then open it up with RBE and on the last tab you can click unlock shaders. It will unlock the shaders on your card turning it into a 1GB 6970 essentially.


Is it worth flashing this card and what's the risk? I would like to get the most of the card. I just purchased it yesterday and if something goes wrong I could return it.



Thanks,


C

 

[blade061188]

The card you have is not a reference design. Only the reference design cards can be unlocked. If you read reviews about the card (from newegg or wherever) you can see the users of the card reporting that it cannot be unlocked.

I would not try flashing the BIOS. You can damage your card and render it inoperable. That card has a good cooler on it and you will likely be able to get a very nice OC out of it.

You said you have gotten advice about OCing? Did you need any advice about how to OC?

 

[Syndicat3]

The card you have is not a reference design. Only the reference design cards can be unlocked. If you read reviews about the card (from newegg or wherever) you can see the users of the card reporting that it cannot be unlocked.

I would not try flashing the BIOS. You can damage your card and render it inoperable. That card has a good cooler on it and you will likely be able to get a very nice OC out of it.

You said you have gotten advice about OCing? Did you need any advice about how to OC?

Are you sure? I did what the person told me in the other thread and now in GPU-Z it shows the 6970 shaders:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/710/flashkk.png/

I don't know if there will be any noticeable difference though.

Yes.. about OCing....

How do I know how much to increase the voltage? I have a very cool case and I want to OC the crap out of this thing so I can get the most out of it.

 

[blade061188]

Pretty sure. Read the user reviews from newegg (filtered by keyword "unlock")
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-125-385&SortField=1&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=unlock&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

As far as OCing, you want to watch your temps. Only increase the voltage when your clock speeds become unstable.

Increase clock speed until it is unstable, and then increase voltage til it is stable (by small increments)

Watch your temps the whole time, and if you can't get a stable clock speed without going above your thermal limit, back off the clock speed.

I recommend Furmark for stability (and temp threshold) testing

 

[slhpss]

The card you have is not a reference design. Only the reference design cards can be unlocked. If you read reviews about the card (from newegg or wherever) you can see the users of the card reporting that it cannot be unlocked.

I would not try flashing the BIOS. You can damage your card and render it inoperable. That card has a good cooler on it and you will likely be able to get a very nice OC out of it.

You said you have gotten advice about OCing? Did you need any advice about how to OC?

It works I have the card and as he stated it does work

Just cause someone says it's not unlockable on newegg does not make it so... and the lasered off shaders is crap... the whole reason for using the same silicon for 6950 and 6970 is to save money so why then would a third party (who is by the way cutting costs by only giving 1gb of ram) spend the time and money it would take to laser off the locked shaders?

 

[Syndicat3]

It works I have the card and as he stated it does work

Dude,

I love you.

 

[Syndicat3]

Best answer selected by Syndicat3.

 

[slhpss]

Dude,

I love you.

I went through the same thing a few weeks ago researching and being disappointed by all the people saying it was not unlockable... I found the other method listed and it said it might not work... so I said screw it I will try anyways... screen went crazy locked up then a reboot box... I rebooted and voila all the shaders... I wasn't very optimistic but it did work... actual performance gain is minor but hey whatever saved me like a hundred bucks

 

[blade061188]

Alright. Well, proceed at your own risk.

Post back here if it works. I would like to know as I have a friend who owns this card.

 

[Syndicat3]

Alright. Well, proceed at your own risk.

Post back here if it works. I would like to know as I have a friend who owns this card.

It did work. It was the easiest thing ever...

The hardest part was spending 20 minutes deciding if I should risk flashing the card!

 

[blade061188]

Alright. Thanks! I usually trust the newegg community haha. I guess I should trust the Toms community more.

 

[slhpss]

Alright. Well, proceed at your own risk.

Post back here if it works. I would like to know as I have a friend who owns this card.

He said it worked, and I can confirm that my card at home is the same one and it worked. You can also use RBE to set the max clocks available and default clock... though I have not tested this functionality.