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6950, flash to 6970 or increase the volts?

Blackhorse

Blackhorse

Blackhorse

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15 May 2006
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495
Many threads popping up and im seeing both ways have people saying its the best thing to do?
Ive currently flashed my 6950 bios with a 6970 bios, gone into ccc changed to 880mhz/1375 also set power to extra 20%.

Now im not noticing any problems, all seems to be running ok?
Am i best scrapping this option and looking at going for a modded 6950 bios and increasing the voltage?
Although im not 100% certain how to do the latter im sure after a quick search through these forums id easily find the answer, im just uncertain the way ive currently changed the card is the right one!! ?

Sorry if i sound really thick!? A little noobish when it comes to pumping more power from graphics cards
 
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The 6970 bios isn't suitable for the 6950 card, things like memory timings are different and the cards use different memory chips.

Go for the modded bios and up the voltage yourself. I believe you can either use RBE to modify your bios for increased voltage, or you can use MSI Afterburner. You're aiming for 1.175 to match stock volts of the 6970 IIRC.
 
I would run the 6950 BIOS. The 6950 is not the same PCB as the 70. They have different resistors, caps, and memory chips. Memory IC's are rated 5Ghz-1.5V on 6950 and 6GHz-1.6V on 70. Just because the card boots with a 70 BIOS doesn't mean it should or will be OK, these are sensitive components. And GDDR5 memory IC's are very, very, sensitive to V.

There is just no real advantage to running the 70 BIOS, so why risk it? Use the shader hack on your own cards 50 BIOS to unlock the shaders, raise V with AB or RBE and overclock as normal. 50 stock V is 1.1V (some are 1.06V), 70 is 1.175V (some are 1.15V). Performance clock for clock of 70 vs 50 hacked BIOS is nearly identical and mostly within the margin of error.

Here is the tool to unlock your cards own BIOS (shaders). You use the BIOS that is on YOUR card and run this tool to hack the shaders, then put the very same BIOS back on the card. There is a README in the download. Credit to Wizzard and rui0317:

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=2137760&postcount=381


Here is the latest AB Beta. Works well with PowerPlay on 6900's (remember not to use V monitoring long term):

http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=3869764&postcount=1


Here is latest RBE if you want to set V in BIOS (although no real need if you use AB). Careful though, all you can change right now is the GPU V registers, nothing else:

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/Utilities/RBE/



EDIT: I should note...Personally I only flash BIOS from Real DOS (ATiFlash on a Boot Disk) but if you must use WinFlash I understand it is important with these cards to Power Off the system then unplug power for a minute after the flash is complete. Those that use WinFlash say this results in a better flash. Also because you are re-installing the very same BIOS on the card it is not necessary to remove-reinstall the driver (unless of course you are coming from a 6970 BIOS).



EDIT 2: As some always have problems with flashing, here is IMO the best way and the only way I know (never use WinFlash). Every PC enthusiast should have a DOS bootable flash drive on hand anyway so here goes.


1) Use this to make a bootable USB flash drive:

http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197


2) Then add AtiFlash version 3.84 (for 6900's) - (atiflash.exe) to the root directory of your flash drive:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=625CFY0V OR http://radeon.ru/downloads/bios/util/atiflash/


3) You may also need to add atiflash.chg to the root directory of your flash drive from here:
NOTE: only add atiflash.chg from this download, not atiflash.exe or it will over write the version 3.84 you just added.

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1731/ATIFlash 3.79.html


4) Boot to your flash drive (All mainboards are different so you'll have to figure on your own how to boot to your flash drive) and run "atiflash xx xx" (XX = same commands as WinFlash). The whole process takes 2~3 minutes and is foolproof. No need to power down your PC after flash, just reboot.

NOTE: If you are flashing a 6900 for the first time, the EEPROM is locked and will need to be unlocked first before flashing. If not unlocked you will get an error of some sort to that effect when trying to flash. Just run "atiflash -unlockrom 0" for a single card and/or "atiflash -unlockrom 1" for the second card OR if you have a single card in the lower slot (0 or 1 only designates the physical location of the card on your board). If you're not sure what postion your card/s is in " atiflash -i " will tell you. In the unfortunate event you need to RMA your card you will need this command to re-lock the EEPROM after putting the original BIOS back on, otherwise someone looking could tell the BIOS was tampered with. Same as above, only "-lockrom". If you ran Wizzards 6970 WinFlash script your EEPROM would have been -unlocked without you knowing/noticing.
 
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Sorry for the breif off topic.

@Mike...I just noticed you are in the Isle of Wight. That's cool...I was just checking out the area for a trip there for the Bestival in September to see The Cure.

Sad thing though..I don't think I'll be able to afford the trip. So difficult to get there, which can be an adventure, but expensive.
 
Once again guys thanks!
The amount of knowledge base on these forums is insane!!
Whats more unlike some other forums, the power of knowledge is not held back and people flamed for requesting it!

Hat off...
 
After all this ( ie BIOS flash ) is it now more advised to run a 6950 BIOS? Dunno if I wanna change it back after issues I had getting it flashed
 
TropicLightning said:
Sorry for the breif off topic.

@Mike...I just noticed you are in the Isle of Wight. That's cool...I was just checking out the area for a trip there for the Bestival in September to see The Cure.

Sad thing though..I don't think I'll be able to afford the trip. So difficult to get there, which can be an adventure, but expensive.
Click to expand...

Where are you coming from? Bringing a car? The cost of a ferry is a killer, but it might be worth talking to Red Funnel or Wightlink as one/both of them did deals for the ferry and your ticket combined last year for either the Festival or Bestival.

The Bestival is a good crack and there is music, tents and entertainment there for just about everyone.
 
I am in the US so I have to fly (into London or Southampton). I couldn't figure if I needed to rent a car or not. And I couldn't find any packages that would deliver me from the airport to the Bestival, or any real details for lodging once I got there. It seems that it would just be a real seat of the pants kind of trip, an adventure, and without any real itinerary I just really couldn't come close to estimating the costs. And with funds so low right now I really need to have a grasp on the costs.

I would really, really love to see The Cure as I am afraid they will not do many, or any more shows, but this one just doesn't seem to be possible. I can only hope they do another show either here (not likely) or at least on the UK mainland where travel would be easier. And yes, the Bestival sounds like an adventure all it own, would like to see that too...I don't know..
 
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