Unlocking 2 HD 6950's + Overclocking, is it possible?

[Skullzak]

Heya guys, I'm going to be building a PC soon for gaming obviously, I'm asking a graphics card question after all



Before I get to my couple of questions about the Graphics cards, here's some helpful information about the other specs which the computer will contain:


Processor/CPU:
Intel core i5 2500k

Motherboard:
Asus P8Z68-V PRO

RAM/MEMORY:
GSKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (DDR3 1600 MHZ)

Basically, what I'm asking for here is, I've been debating what GPU(s) to put in my planned gaming machine. The resolution which I will be playing at is 1920x1080.
I will be gaming heavily, some of the most (intensive?) games which have yet to be released, which I'll play will Include Battlefield 3, Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, Borderlands 2, RAGE, DOTA 2, Guild Wars 2... you know the deal 😛

So I have been debating which Cards to go with:
the GTX 570's in sli (usually... about $340 each) (I found they didn't outperform the HD 6950's let alone the HD 6970's and costed about $100 more to get them both)

or the HD 6950 2GBs in CFX which are $299.99 each (The HIS ones 😛)

I have heard of the 2GBs and their Dual Bios and such, and how I can flash them to HD 6970's (Just unlocks shaders right? need some clarification on this)

If I was to unlock these 2 cards to HD 6970's, could I still overclock them when they are 6970's?

Also, 2 of the unlocked cards work in crossfire right? What If I wanted to do considerable overclocking to them both, will this work? (stupid question I know )


Also here's a notice: I will have a beefy high quality PSU so the PSU will not be an issue! thank you guys for your input! 😉

 

[benski]

I don't think there's any way to know, some of them can be overclocked, some aren't even stable after flashing even with no overclock. There is no gaurantee that the GPU you get will be stable as anything other than a 6950 at stock clocks. There is probably a better than 50% chance that they unlock and are stable, but if "considerable overclocking" is your goal I would just shell out the extra money for the 570s or 6970s with better cooling than that HIS has.

 

[dhicks19]

Hi, I bought 2 reference asus 6950's from ebuyer.com. If you want to mod the bios of these cards you must get a reference design 6950 as they come with the dual bios.

I followed this guide

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

the only bios the card would work with is the sapphire so try it first.

I did oc them slightly with a voltage raise also. they will work in xfire

 

[swifty_morgan]

I have a 2gig 6950 and was going to xfire it. found that there is no need so far to get a second card because it plays every thing smoothly......... . No need to flash BIOS or try to make it a faux 6970. I game at 1920x1200.

 

[dhicks19]

well i know it wont run crysis maxed out or metro 2033, even xfire metro 2033 is just playable