Enhance your 6950=unlock to 6970!

Don't think they will lock these. So just roll with it if it works for you! :up:

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Originally Posted by Loque

check the op's link.. techpowerup did that test and is 100% same thing as a 6970

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Minus 8 pin connector.

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Originally Posted by ~CS~

It looks like they are,but not exactly,6950 uses different memory chips.If people are having stability issues,chances are it's because of memory,but the fused off cores could be at fault as well.
[...]

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i think so too. it's either that the ram clocks are too high or the ram timings of the 6970 bios are too tight for or the memory on the 6950.

however, we don't know how the unlocked shaders on the 6950 behave if some of them are defect/broken. :shrug:

flopper (here on xs) already had one 6950 from powercolor that doesn't work properly after the flash.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Loque

check the op's link.. techpowerup did that test and is 100% same thing as a 6970

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Excellent. Now there's a good bit of news!

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Originally Posted by Loque

check the op's link.. techpowerup did that test and is 100% same thing as a 6970

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Yep, but it still says 6950 on the logo.

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Originally Posted by XSAlliN

Yep, but it still says 6950 on the logo.

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+ the device id is still 1002-6719 (6970 has 1002-6718).

we'll be able to fix the device id and memory timings etc. when RBE gets an update for the 6900s - which hopefully happens soon :D

I was wondering about RBE myself. Anyone else unable to even get ATIWinFlash to read the 6900 BIOS, yet alone have RBE edit it?

So does this maybe give us a clue as to maybe the 6970 was suppose to have more Shaders like 1920
And yields were bad so they had to detune it?

Regardless this is awesome... I will be ordering a 6950 today! Then pray for improved drivers on this new arch.

i really like how everything has backup BIOS now, its great no more bricked products from flashing. ASUS switch works well, so does gigabyte's auto flash and evgas auto flash, video cards I haven't messe dup the the point it needed the back up, but it is nice to knwo AMD put it in there.

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Originally Posted by RaZz!

i think so too. it's either that the ram clocks are too high or the ram timings of the 6970 bios are too tight for or the memory on the 6950.

however, we don't know how the unlocked shaders on the 6950 behave if some of them are defect/broken. :shrug:

flopper (here on xs) already had one 6950 from powercolor that doesn't work properly after the flash.

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one card works so I limp with it ;)

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Originally Posted by tbone8ty

So does this maybe give us a clue as to maybe the 6970 was suppose to have more Shaders like 1920
And yields were bad so they had to detune it?

Regardless this is awesome... I will be ordering a 6950 today! Then pray for improved drivers on this new arch.

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I don't think so. As far as we know, it was going to have 1920 shaders only so long as it was on 32nm. When it was clear they'd have to use 40nm, shader clusters were cut.

Unlocking pipes kicks ass!!!

but i dought amd wants you to do that,so enjoy it while you can.

Of course I find this out after I order a 6970... I surely hope the clock limits come down to show more headroom on my card otherwise who wants a 6970 and why did I pay the extra monies AMD?

Just tried it on my brand new 6950 (Gigabyte)
The interface gave me the Could not erase ROM error so I had to use the cmd line, but when I issue the flash command the progress bar comes up, advances 4 or 5 blocks and then closes silently :(
Also my 6950 is a bit strange (it's 100% retail tho) cause the bios switch doesn't pop up, it's just flat and I wonder how could I switch it (crappy pics of the "switch")

UPDATE: got it working.
I checked better and I was able to flash to 6970, don't worry!
The switch was flat but still actionable with a toothpick, and in fact it was sitting in the "2" position, preventing the unlock to work.
Once switched to "1" position with a toothpick I am now enjoying a gigabyte 6970 ;)

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Originally Posted by sin0822

i really like how everything has backup BIOS now, its great no more bricked products from flashing. ASUS switch works well, so does gigabyte's auto flash and evgas auto flash, video cards I haven't messe dup the the point it needed the back up, but it is nice to knwo AMD put it in there.

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Meh, i've flashed to bad bios images dozens of times and never had the card end up bricked. Even if you don't have a spare card, a bootable USB stick with an autoexec.bat that kicks off atiflash is all it has taken to revive 38xx, 48xx, and 58xx series cards that I've broken over the years.

--Matt

I'm going to miss my 6950. But now I can say, 6970 user reporting in. :)

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Originally Posted by screwtech02

Wonder how long it's gonna take em to put the halt to this????

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Don't think they will, just look at the reputation they gained from all the "hidden" unlocks and upgrades back in the old days with the 9500, 9700 and 9800 cards.
In other words, its not just good for us, it also gives the manufacturer a reputation of being nice which is hard to get as a company.

are the modded 6950's noisy at default 6970 clocks ?

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Originally Posted by Loque

are the modded 6950's noisy at default 6970 clocks ?

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Just got done playing Crysis for 2 hours and so far it seems exactly the same. Gets up around 70C. Idle fan speed is around 27% which is the same as before. It's still the loudest thing in my case but I have a very quiet computer.

OK - ordered the Sapphire 6950. This is just like my beloved MSI GTX 465/470. Props to the brave ones who went before me.

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Originally Posted by FlawleZ

Chances are always there, but if done properly you can even revert from a bad flash when the card has no video. Just slap in a PCI video card or use the on board. Everyone should be backing up their original BIOS before the flash.

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2nd BIOS activated by the switch...it's write protected.

No matter how bad the first flash is you flip the switch and you instantly get a funtional 6950 back...

Just upgraded 2x powercolor 6950 without a problem.
Benching now with new clocks.

Question: For HWBOT, this cards are 6950 with 6970 clocks or are 100% 6970 ?
Just asking before upping results :)


Cheers and hell of a pick on these cards :up:

Congrats on the free upgrade :up:

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Originally Posted by Stormgiant

Question: For HWBOT, this cards are 6950 with 6970 clocks or are 100% 6970 ?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by HWBot rules

3.4. Unlocked CPUs and Modded Video Cards

Again this is a subject where we have to trust on the honesty of the submitter; if you have a CPU with unlocked multiplier, please only submit results under the hardware category of its original model. Don’t emulate other models to gain HWboints, if you are caught you will get penalized or even banned. The same goes for video cards which are modified either with a flashed BIOS or modded software, post your scores in the category of the original hardware.

Update 27th July 2009: It is allowed to unlock extra cores and cache if your processor allows that. Again, you do have to submit your result to the category of the original hardware.

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Cheers for the info. Forgot to check on the more obvious place ;P

Getting some huge jumps in performance. that is nice coming from GTX460.

Can a 6850 be unlocked to 6870? I doubt it but anyone ever try it?

So maybe 6970 do have more than 1536 SP?