Unlock your ATI 6950 to a 6970 Thread

danceforfreedom · 26 Dec 2010 at 22:41

some one should try it...

OpenToSuggestions · 26 Dec 2010 at 22:42

easyrider should so be the first OCUK'er to do it.

Also if this flash is true then it is no different to the older ATI cards that were out at the same time as the Nvidia 6800 series. They were the 9800 series iirc (please correct me if I am wrong!).

easyrider · 26 Dec 2010 at 22:47

We can see that enabling the shaders without any clock increases improves performance. Once the clock speeds are adjusted to match the HD 6970, the card effectively performs just as well as a full blown Radeon HD 6970.

danceforfreedom · 26 Dec 2010 at 22:49

Just read the techpowerup article...

I bought a 5850 a few months ago its fine most games... its only with a few games like crysis and metro and a few others running at 1920x1080 with highest settings do I drop below 30fps...

Im not one too bothered by having the highest FPS... its only when minimum FPS starts dropping below 30 in the most demanding games do I get annoyed... was thinking one of these 6950's for a while now... think this just might swing it for me...

I know I can get over £130 for my 5850 even second hand on the bay... £80 upgrade... humn...

easyrider · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:07

I can't get the winflash to run

Triggaaar · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:07

mglover070588 said:
The twin bios thing sounds good - Does this mean that the manufacturer actually willingly allows the 6950 to be flashed?
Also, why are there two bios's in the first place and how do I switch between the two?

AMD are happy for you to flash either the 6950 or 6970, and so they gave us a switch such that if it all goes pear-shaped, we flick the switch and start again (because 1 setting always gives us the manufacturer default).

bridder said:
Remember the power connectors though, the 6950s are only equiped with 2x 6pin meaning theoretical top draw of 225, maybe you can unlock them but you may have to temper your overclocks, just a thought...

Don't the 570s only have 2 6 pin connectors, but draw more power?

OpenToSuggestions · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:14

bridder said:
Remember the power connectors though, the 6950s are only equiped with 2x 6pin meaning theoretical top draw of 225, maybe you can unlock them but you may have to temper your overclocks, just a thought...

My 6800GT had only one molex and the 6800 Ultra had 2 molex's. Aside from the clocks and coolers the cards were otherwise the same. This did not stop my 8800GT from clocking past the Ultra's clocks

.
I wouldn't worry about it at all

.

Bashy123 · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:21

Hmmm....kinda feel a little cheated now after buying a 6970

OpenToSuggestions · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:26

Bashy123 said:
Hmmm....kinda feel a little cheated now after buying a 6970

It has always been the case. Half the stuff in the supermarket is another brand in a different packaging.

My 2500+ (166x11) was a 3200+ when the fsb was upped to 200. The computer even said it was a 3200+ (not a 2500+ @ 2.2ghz).
Same part, different packaging.

My guess is that most 6950's will be spec'ed down 6970's. I bet there will be a few that are damaged 6970's with the broken bits disabled.

danceforfreedom · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:26

Bashy123 said:
Hmmm....kinda feel a little cheated now after buying a 6970

Yup it seems you got the same metals... the only thing you didn't get was the effort to it took to place a bios that bypased the extra shaders or a few fuse switch's onboard that bypassed them!

Seriously though... some one should try it...

Any place with results yet, techpower forums have only 1 result back in...

W1zzard · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:30

danceforfreedom said:
Any place with results yet, techpower forums have only 1 result back in...

at the end of my article is a table with cards.

4 out of 4 so far

edit: 5 out of 5 now

easyrider · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:31

How do I get the winflash thing to run?

win7 64bit

I'm ready to flash if i can get this to run

OpenToSuggestions · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:37

easyrider said:
How do I get the winflash thing to run?

win7 64bit

I'm ready to flash if i can get this to run

I will watch this thread like a Hawk. Good luck mate!

Bashy123 · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:37

then again, I do remember the 6200 series (I think) was a downgraded 6600, and you could just turn on the shader and pixel pipelines haha! thats another time I've been stung!

FrenchTart · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:38

Pah. My 6970 order is feeling more and more silly...

reflux · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:38

Ooooooo, tempted to grab two 6950s and flash for uber cheap super hardcore performance!

W1zzard · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:42

easyrider said:
How do I get the winflash thing to run?

win7 64bit

I'm ready to flash if i can get this to run

winflash should work fine under 64-bit, i actually tested on 64-bit.
i just uploaded the winflash version i used to tpu, click the winflash link in the article and try again. it won't work over a network share in case you are trying that

easyrider · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:48

W1zzard said:
winflash should work fine under 64-bit, i actually tested on 64-bit.
i just uploaded the winflash version i used to tpu, click the winflash link in the article and try again. it won't work over a network share in case you are trying that

Cheers W1zzard will give it a go :cool:

Pyr0m@nI@]{ · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:55

winflash won't open for me
when i double click on the exe there's a slight flicker of the explorer window, but the application never appears

i'm running windows 7 x64

[edit] sorry, just tried 2.0.1.13 and that one works

i had downloaded the one you originally linked (2.0.1.11)

easyrider · 26 Dec 2010 at 23:56

Just tried winflash 2.0.1.13 and clicked on save and it hung my PC

It saved it but then I had to reset my pc to get back on

Just checked and it did save but it scaring me somewhat as to why it hung?