6950 to 6970 flash thread

[tool_462]

For those of you who've been running flashed 6950s in crossfire, how do you guys like the experience (drivers experience primarily)? I've always heard a lot about how ATIs drivers are garbage and I haven't touch ATI since my old x1900xtx. If they seem to have fixed a lot of issues, I'd gladly jump back.

While over the years I've had significantly more issues with ATI drivers in multi-card setups, this round they are doing just fine. CF scaling is now better than SLI in terms of performance increase (a nod to good driver support) and is entirely a viable option.

Still won't be able to talk me into a dual GPU "single" card though, the 3870X2 ruined that for me with dismal drivers

[turok_t]

Ive got 2 questions for you guys if u dont mind:

1. So i downloaded MSI afterburner and adjusted the core voltage to 1.100mV. How come when a game is running the voltage jumps back to 1.175? but when im on desktop its at 1.00. I made sure that i checked "Force constant voltage" to turn it on.

2. I changed the thermal paste to AS 5 and my temperatures are still high. When playing splinter cell conviction with my fan at 55%, im hitting 93C. I need to turn up the fan really high to reduce the temps. Anything else I can do to lower gpu temps?

[turok_t]

So my 6950/6970 is still running a bit hot. With Crysis 2, Im getting around 90-92C (fan set to 65-70%) when the GPU is full load. I already changed the thermal paste to AS 5 and reheated the heatsink. Currently, my clock speeds are set to 855/1300 using 1.1mV for the gpu core. I want to further overclock my card but im worried about the temperatures. Any suggestions?

[BababooeyHTJ]

So my 6950/6970 is still running a bit hot. With Crysis 2, Im getting around 90-92C (fan set to 65-70%) when the GPU is full load. I already changed the thermal paste to AS 5 and reheated the heatsink. Currently, my clock speeds are set to 855/1300 using 1.1mV for the gpu core. I want to further overclock my card but im worried about the temperatures. Any suggestions?

That sounds way too hot. What are the ambient temps around where you are?

I'm running two in crossfire with a shader unlocked bios at 900/1350 and in Crysis (the first one) the core speed doesn't top 80c with less than 40% fan speed but I keep the house cool.


This is with at most 36% fan speed after about a half hour of Borderlands.

[Budwise]

Mine was running just as hot in Crysis2 until i put the Thermalright Shaman on

[turok_t]

Mine was running just as hot in Crysis2 until i put the Thermalright Shaman on

Actually, my temps were taken while playin Crysis 2.. my room is a bit warm because there is alot of electronics around.

How has the Thermalright Shaman served you?

EDIT: is the thermalright shaman even compatible with 6950? I read its specs and its for 5850, 5870

[InCredible]

yes it fits the 6950 as well, i have the shaman and its wonderful, VERY quiet and does a great job. I run 1000mhz core/1500mem on my flashed 6950>70 with 1.3v and i think i hit like 65c max so far. Usually most games only bring it to 55-56 including 3dmark11. Definitely a worthy upgrade. The down side is it takes up 3 slots so xfire is usually out of the question in most cases. However i dont mind i wanted a single card so i really enjoy it

[memory]

Ya. I just bricked my Asus Direct CU II 6950 when using bios flashing method. But the shader can be unlocked to 6970 using RBE 1.28. Tonite I have to flash back to original bios and hope the card on bios 1 still can be revived.....Bios 2 is already unlock to 6970 shader........

So, better use shader unlock method on non ref card rather than bios flashing.

[Ziwro]

So guys,
I want buy msi 6950 twn frozr ii , can i unlock shaders on this card and how can i do that ?

[BababooeyHTJ]

So guys,
I want buy msi 6950 twn frozr ii , can i unlock shaders on this card and how can i do that ?

The utility made by Wizzard might be your best bet. Radon Bios Editor might work too.

Just don't flash a 6970 bios like some people out there unless you want to brick the card.

[Slagathor]

My 6950 XFX will be here soon, is it more advisable to just unlock shaders, or actually flash a 6970 bios????

A buddy says he been reading a lot about people using the 6970 bios and frying there ram cause it raises the volts and the ram is different.

What do you guys advise???

[BababooeyHTJ]

My 6950 XFX will be here soon, is it more advisable to just unlock shaders, or actually flash a 6970 bios????

A buddy says he been reading a lot about people using the 6970 bios and frying there ram cause it raises the volts and the ram is different.

What do you guys advise???

That is a bunch of fud, I have yet to see one reputable person post that a 6970 bios has caused any damage to their reference 6950.

Either way I think that a shader unlocked 6950 bios is best. Of the three 2GB 6950s that I have owned every one had been able to hit 6970 clocks without touching the core voltage. They run cooler, quieter, and draw less juice because of that. The only downside is having to use a utility like Trixx to edit the clock speed.

[turok_t]

Anyone know where I can get the Thermalright Shaman in Canada? I cant find a single retailer.

[Slagathor]

I flashed to unlock shaders, games run fine, temps rpetty good, using MSI AB to control fan, but, when I boot, the text on the screen has little speckles around it.
Tomorrow I can get some pics of it, but has anyone else encountered it???


EDIT:
Speckling was from loose monitor cable....tee hee

[EagleRock]

I was thinking to buy Asus 6950 Direct CU II , Do you guys think it is a good idea?

[JohnnyV]

I was thinking to buy Asus 6950 Direct CU II , Do you guys think it is a good idea?

I was thinking about those as well. As I want to put 2 6950s in CF and these cards take 3 slots I think it's not the best for me. Also, I've heard rumours that these cards can not be flashed properly.

[jaredpace]

flashed with an unlocked 6950 bios, using afterburner and enable unofficial overclocking method, I still cant get the slider to go higher than 950mhz core (which it does with ease)

I want 1000mhz or 1050mhz... help!!! haha

[soyea]

flashed with an unlocked 6950 bios, using afterburner and enable unofficial overclocking method, I still cant get the slider to go higher than 950mhz core (which it does with ease)

I want 1000mhz or 1050mhz... help!!! haha

how do you guys deal with the lack of power tune settings when overclocking with AB?

[Slagathor]

flashed with an unlocked 6950 bios, using afterburner and enable unofficial overclocking method, I still cant get the slider to go higher than 950mhz core (which it does with ease)

I want 1000mhz or 1050mhz... help!!! haha

After adding this to AB cfg:
[ATIADLHAL]
UnofficialOverclockingEULA = I confirm that I am aware of unofficial overclocking limitations and fully understand that MSI will not provide me any support on it


I can slide core to 1320mhz



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[HelixPC]

Hey guys, flashed 2 6950s with their stock bios and unlocked shaders, I get bsod when using unofficial overclocking with msi afterburner, does this have something to do with ulps? I did disable it but I don't want to risk the constant bsod. Can someone confirm disabling ulps will fix this, this is with crossfire cards.

[Bullu$]

Did u disable it all in registry? I had to disable 8x or so. After that restart your system.

[st0ned]

Hey guys, flashed 2 6950s with their stock bios and unlocked shaders, I get bsod when using unofficial overclocking with msi afterburner, does this have something to do with ulps? I did disable it but I don't want to risk the constant bsod. Can someone confirm disabling ulps will fix this, this is with crossfire cards.

It will

[HelixPC]

Did u disable it all in registry? I had to disable 8x or so. After that restart your system.

these three registry entrys correct? Is there more to disabling the ULPS?

http://www.overclock.net/ati/667144-...ling-ulps.html

[st0ned]

run regedit
search for ULPS and disable them all, it was what I did and I had 0 problems. But IMO there are better ways for CF with high clocks.

[HelixPC]

run regedit
search for ULPS and disable them all, it was what I did and I had 0 problems. But IMO there are better ways for CF with high clocks.

like what?