Which Graphics Card?

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TreeKo

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Hey guys. I bought a 6950 2GB with a Dual Bios Switch about a month ago, and the unlocking failed. Basically, whenever I try to boot my PC with the first switch position, I get a blackscreen. I don't want to risk killing the second switch position, but the card doesn't perform as well as I would like it too. So, I am planning on getting a new card. I'm currently stuck between getting another 6950 and Crossfiring it, selling my current 6950 (Which will hopefully get me ~100-150, considering the broken first switch, and the usedness) , and getting either a 6970 or 570. The Crossfired 6950's will probably perform better, but I wanted to see what people who actually understand this kind of stuff thought about it.

I will be playing a lot BF3 (Of course), Skyrim, COD 4, Minecraft (Yay), Black Ops, Saints Row the Third, and I might consider getting MW3. My current power supply is 750 Watts. My budget is probably around 300$ (Either buying a 6950 or selling my current one).

PC Specs:
MSI P67A-G45 (I used an OEM Windows 7, so I don't want to upgrade this anytime soon)
8GB DDR3 RAM
i5 2500k
Corsair 750 (As I said before)
And of course a Diamond 6950 2GB (Two Fans)
The whole thing is in a HAF 922, and everything is stock air coolers.

I would like a 1.5 or 2GB card, 2-monitor support, and good reviews (so 4 or 5 stars), but apart from that, the cheaper the better. I do live in Canada though, so no newegg.com for me. And I also don't like tigerdirect; I find their confirmation is too complicated.

Thanks in advance. If you need any more information just tell me.

P.S. The cards I'm currently looking at are

GTX 570
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130687&Tpk=570

6970 #1
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161382

6970 #2
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127581

P.P.S I also sent a message to Diamond's customer service, seeing whether or not I can get a RMA, and I'm waiting on a reply.

I'll update whatever I find tomorrow morning.

P.P.P.S If my RMA request fails, should I wait until the next gen of cards come out? This matter isn't too too urgent, but I thought I would get some advice anyways.
 
Solution
RussK1


You need another card, there's no other way... when you get another card PM me and I'll make you a list.

1)Once you get another card install it in the upper PCIe slot and install it's drivers (make sure your adapter to your monitor is connected to this card).
2)install bricked card in the lower PCIe with the switch in #1 position.
3)Open elevated command prompt as administrator.
4)type- cd %USERPROFILE%\desktop\winflash
5)type- atiwinflash -unlockrom 1 (this is the second card)
6)type-...
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pell380

pell380

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dont buy gtx 570 bcz its is like a middle card buy gtx 580 that was for nvidia

tell me one thing if you sell you this card then adding 300more can your budget get close to 500$?

bcz on newegg there are so many good deals in 500
 
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AbdullahG

AbdullahG

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Jun 17, 2011
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...

The GTX 570 is the sweet spot of cards in the $300 zone. It's a worthy buy and performs extremely well. No point in disregarding it.
 
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RussK1

RussK1

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Apr 15, 2011
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Unlocking failed? You didn't BU original bios? If my assumption is correct and you flashed and failed you won't get RMA... You could get another 6950 (same make/model) and use gpu-z to save it's bios and reflash the bricked card back to factory default. A bad flash isn't the end of the world and is reversable. That's why there is a bios switch in the first place.

Abdullah is right too, the GTX 570 is a sweet card and it's not a "mid-range" card (as someone said); in a nuttshell - what the 6970 is to AMD is what the 570 is to GTX... End of story.
 
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TreeKo

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Aug 22, 2011
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Oh yeah, I forgot I backed it up. The only problem is that I have no idea how to use it, since I'm on switch position two, and can't boot my PC on switch position one.

And I guess I'll wait for the RMA request to respond, and then I'll tell you guys what my options will be then. I'm hoping they'll respond by Monday or Tuesday.
 
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RussK1

RussK1

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Get another card and put the bricked card in the second slot and reflash with original bios... They may RMA but once they see you've altered the bios they will send it back stating user error.
 
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TreeKo

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Aug 22, 2011
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If that'll work, I can just get another card, reflash, keep it, and then return it when I get the first card flashed lol. :p I think I'm going to do that. Thanks. I'll just upgrade my Graphics Card when it can't handle newer games.
 
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RussK1

RussK1

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Apr 15, 2011
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What did you use? RBE and ATIflash?... or command?

and yes it's easy to flash the card back... all you need is another card.
 
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TreeKo

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Aug 22, 2011
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I had multiple attempts. The first was RBE+Winflash, which did not work. All it did was make me reboot a million times.
I then researched some more (And by that I mean I googled it), and came across some automated command prompt, which is what caused the first position to fail.

 
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RussK1

RussK1

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Apr 15, 2011
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were you trying to flash 6970 bios or soft mod shader unlock?
 
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RussK1

RussK1

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Apr 15, 2011
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You need another card, there's no other way... when you get another card PM me and I'll make you a list.

1)Once you get another card install it in the upper PCIe slot and install it's drivers (make sure your adapter to your monitor is connected to this card).
2)install bricked card in the lower PCIe with the switch in #1 position.
3)Open elevated command prompt as administrator.
4)type- cd %USERPROFILE%\desktop\winflash
5)type- atiwinflash -unlockrom 1 (this is the second card)
6)type- atiwinflash -f -p 1 original.bin (or whatever you named it)
7)you then should get a status bar with a "verified"
 
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Solution
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TreeKo

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Aug 22, 2011
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Thanks for the list, but after a hour of research I found that I can boot in position two, switch to position one, and do 4-6 with my backed up .bin file. Now position one is working again, and I'll keep on trying to unlock it. Thanks again, and I'll tell you if I succeed .
 
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RussK1

RussK1

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Apr 15, 2011
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Good that you got it working.

Use RBE and go to the last section and check 6970's shaders and save bios.
Then do 4-7 again. Don't flash 6970 bios as it's hard on the memory and timings (6950 & 6970 use different mem). Just unlock shaders and download this (below) to unlock OC limits in Catalyst Control Center~

http://www.techimo.com/forum/graphics-cards-displays/256789-enable-higher-overclocks-ccc-reg-entry.html

Then download MSI Afterburner and overclock to your hearts desire... try to keep the voltage below 1.2v; just to be safe...

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm
 
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