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Will I void my warranty...
- Thread starter gcaster
- Start date
B and C definitely don't invalidate your warranty, regardless of what some on here may tell you, if you think about it AMD wouldn't include dual BIOSes if flashing your BIOS invalidates your warranty. A technically will, but it's very unlikely it'd be noticeable if you needed to RMA, as long as you put the original heatsink back on.
Tbh idk why we still have board with dual/triple bios these days. Asus put replaceable bios chips on their 775 boards after all. Seems a much more sensible solution.
A. Depends. Some places check the tim, screws can be sealed making it very obvious it's been removed. Someone made a thread the other month listing all the manufactures standpoints on cooler removal warranty etc. Can't find it though
A. Depends. Some places check the tim, screws can be sealed making it very obvious it's been removed. Someone made a thread the other month listing all the manufactures standpoints on cooler removal warranty etc. Can't find it though
A. Yes, Xfx don't let you change the cooler in the uk.
B. No, you can put original bios back in and lock it.
On a side note, if it's one of these:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-194-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752
I am not sure on whether the next load of cards are unlockable like the first wave were as techpowerup couldn't unlock the 6950 frozr. Why xfx and not the cheapest 6950 you can get as the first wave are all reference? They were all made the same(by sapphire iirc) with just a different sticker slapped on them.
B. No, you can put original bios back in and lock it.
C. No, they can't void the warranty because of a software oc.
On a side note, if it's one of these:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-194-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752
I am not sure on whether the next load of cards are unlockable like the first wave were as techpowerup couldn't unlock the 6950 frozr. Why xfx and not the cheapest 6950 you can get as the first wave are all reference? They were all made the same(by sapphire iirc) with just a different sticker slapped on them.
Cheers guys, I'll definitely be unlocking and overclocking it now.
Where's best to overclock it? Just in the software provided?
Really annoying that adding a waterblock will void my warranty, might hold off on it for a little while.
@tommybhoy
I already have the card. Don't really know why I went for XFX, mainly because of the longer warranty but I didn't think that adding it into my water loop would ruin that. It is a first wave card so should be unlockable.
Where's best to overclock it? Just in the software provided?
Really annoying that adding a waterblock will void my warranty, might hold off on it for a little while.
@tommybhoy
I already have the card. Don't really know why I went for XFX, mainly because of the longer warranty but I didn't think that adding it into my water loop would ruin that. It is a first wave card so should be unlockable.
As it's a first wave card then you should be sorted.
Afterburner 7.2 beta is your best bet for oc'ing.
If you go the >70 route rather than 50 with unlocked shaders, I would recommend just oc'ing the core and leaving the memory as it is.
I didn't notice any screws sealed on the cooler myself, I would just give it a quick 2 minute furmark run to heat the card up and take my time taking the screws off as not to scratch them.
Afterburner 7.2 beta is your best bet for oc'ing.
If you go the >70 route rather than 50 with unlocked shaders, I would recommend just oc'ing the core and leaving the memory as it is.
I didn't notice any screws sealed on the cooler myself, I would just give it a quick 2 minute furmark run to heat the card up and take my time taking the screws off as not to scratch them.
Cheers mate, as long as nothing's sealed then I probably will water cool it.
What are the main differences between the 2 unlocking options and what sort of temps should I stop at?
EDIT,
Wow, just been playing around with the fan speed and at 100% it sounds like it's about to take off!
Current idle temps are low 50's with fan speed at ~25%.
What are the main differences between the 2 unlocking options and what sort of temps should I stop at?
EDIT,
Wow, just been playing around with the fan speed and at 100% it sounds like it's about to take off!
Current idle temps are low 50's with fan speed at ~25%.
Last edited:
Some don't have a stable card when at >70, so they just unlock the shaders and oc it manually, plus it runs at lower stock 50's voltage and idles at a lower mhz than >70 on desktop too.
I would imagine the fan should keep the temps in check at the cost of noise though as long as you don't go crazy with overvolting.
I know, too loud for me with stock fan so I slapped my Accelero Xtreme 5870 cooler that I kept from my 5870 onto it.
It depends very much on the card and brand, I have seen and taken appart brand new Cards with no stickers or special marks on the screws, infact on two of the cards some of the screw heads were very slightly torn (probably from assembly).
The only way anyone could tell the cards had been disassembled is chemical tests on the Thermal compound, as the colour is basically identical.
So while with most manufacturers here it will in theory void the warranty adding a waterblock, in practice it could well be almost impossible for them to tell.
The only way anyone could tell the cards had been disassembled is chemical tests on the Thermal compound, as the colour is basically identical.
So while with most manufacturers here it will in theory void the warranty adding a waterblock, in practice it could well be almost impossible for them to tell.
What's the best way to unlock to a 6970 BIOS? Still as in the first post stickied above?
Coming to think about it (without taking it out) my card might have a sticker on it for warranty purposes. I'll just crack out the other half's hair dryer and be as careful as possible with the screws!
As for the TIM, I highly doubt they'd chemical check it on every RMA they got - that'd probably be rather costly.
Yes, all the info is in the stickie. The easiest way is to use the batch files, it is very easy to do too. Direct link to the batch files:
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1920/HD_6950_to_HD_6970_Flashing_Tools.html
Yeah I got them from the sticky in the sticky
Cheers for the help. I'll give it a go and report back. Looks like temps get pretty high once it's unlocked so I'll definitely be looking to wc it.
For water-cooling a GPU is a backplate needed or just an optional extra?
Also, are EK the way to go for a GPU block?