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Which 6950 to get?

sd_dracula

sd_dracula

sd_dracula

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Joined
25 May 2006
Posts
26
Was thinking its time to upgrade from my GTX280 and decided to go for a 6950 but one with dual bios that can be unlocked.
Has the MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 [R6950TWINFROZRIIIPE/OC] or the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 "Dual Fan Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 been tested and can someone confirm that either of them can be unlocked?
Or do all the new versions come locked?
 
Buying a new 6950 will pretty much be guaranteed to be 'locked'.

Only real chance of getting one with the shaders unlocked is to buy second hand.

Tbh, the performance increase isn't really that big with the unlocked cards, so I wouldn't worry about it.
 
I ordered the Sapphire 2GB Dirt 3 edition from here a few days ago and both of the cards that I got will not flash to a 6970.

It has the dual bios switch, though.
 
Nymins said:
Buying a new 6950 will pretty much be guaranteed to be 'locked'.

Only real chance of getting one with the shaders unlocked is to buy second hand.

Tbh, the performance increase isn't really that big with the unlocked cards, so I wouldn't worry about it.
Click to expand...

Totally agree, plus the performance of two 6950's in CF isn't a million miles away from the performance of a single 6990, only at £150+ cheaper.
 
nerobart said:
Go for MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III It has awesome cooler. :)

Also it has a bios switch and 20% of this cards are unlock able.

Guide how to unlock -

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/msi_r6950_twin_froz_iii_power_edition_unlocking,1.html
Click to expand...

Yes, I was thinking of going for that due to the 2 fans and after reading the reviews it seems the 6970 is like 5-10% faster which in actual games is like a couple of frames.
For about the same price as a 6970 according to reviews its apparently better to just get 2 x 6850s, the performance being way higher.
Is anyone running a similar setup?
 
sd_dracula said:
Yes, I was thinking of going for that due to the 2 fans and after reading the reviews it seems the 6970 is like 5-10% faster which in actual games is like a couple of frames.
For about the same price as a 6970 according to reviews its apparently better to just get 2 x 6850s, the performance being way higher.
Is anyone running a similar setup?
Click to expand...

2x 6850 is about £250, £50 more than 6850

2x 6850 more power consumption, and better psu needed at least 700w

But Yes there is a gain in performance over single 6950 : http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950-cayman,review-32073-8.html
 
To be honest I had bad experiences with factory OCed GPUs in the past where they would easily overheat/not last too long for a minimal increase in performance.
 
fowler002 said:
I think the toxic has more chane of being unlocked but good luck, I paid the extra for 2x toxic :)
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I was thinking of ordering the Toxic as well!! Then I thought, really if I wanted a 6970 and could afford it then I woudl have ordered one!

So all in all, I hope I am happy with my MSI, if not I need to save a few quid and upgrade!

In all honesty, I don't think anyone should be buying any 6950 new on the off chance it will unlock the shaders!

Good luck with yours as well mate. Let us know how you get in please!
 
when I decided to order the toxic the price difference was only £10, but then they did a sneak price increase on the toxic(I had them in the basket ready to order @£225 but left it and came back several hrs later and they increased the price to £30) plus the reduction in price of the msi has ended up with £25 difference.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm better off saving £50 by cancelling the toxic and getting the msi, but the fact that the toxic extracts the hot air outside the case rather than dumping it inside the case will be better for me as I'm going crossfire and have a small case(lian li a05). the 30mhz oc and switch flick shader unlocking possibility(with the msi you'll have to flash the bios yourself, risk corrupting the bios if anything goes wrong) just an icing on the cake(tho a £25 per card cake) :)
 
I'm in the same position as Fowler with 2 x Toxic on pre-order. I managed to get the order in early enough to get the lower price, but i missed out on the Deus Ex offer :(.

But i dont think i will swap, even to save the £40, as the odd of getting a card that unlocks seams to be a lot higher with the Toxic over the MSI (I hope and have my fingers crossed that they do), and I much prefer the idea of the hot air being dumped outside of the case.
 
I found that overtime with the gpus that put the air outside that fan so getting clogged with dust very quickly and they're a pain to clean properly. I think the MSI will be easier to clean due to the different type of fan.
 
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