unlocking 6950->6970?

[erh]

ive seen quite a few times on these forums people mentioning buying a hd6950 and "unlocking" it or "flashing" it to a hd6970. now i was wondering what this meant? is the unlocked 6950 the same as a 6970 and if so why would radeon make stronger cards and lock them to make them weaker so they can sell for less?

another question is how would one go about doing this and is there any danger of damaging the card?

thanks

[Xeley]

From what I understood it's REALLY simple and loads of guides on the internet. However, the "safety" and cooling and other stuff are meant for a 6950 meaning the risk of the card being damaged is much bigger.

At least that's what I've read/heard. Never tried it myself.

[BicycleMafioso]

First of all, you need a 6950 of reference and 2GB-model.
Second of all, you force the bios of a 6970 onto one of the Bios-modes on the 6950, which makes it acknowledge the dormant steam-processors.

However, the 6950 slightly changed and not meant to handle them, so in some cases, it bricks the card, especially if you're uncareful.

[dvstec]

newer 6950 cant

[erh]

can this be done with the 6850? or 5850?

and what kind of performance gains are we talking about (6950->6970)

[BicycleMafioso]

can this be done with the 6850? or 5850?

Nope.

and what kind of performance gains are we talking about (6950->6970)

Well, any that you can normally find on between a HD6950 and a HD6970? :P
Check provided benchmarks, and tell for yourself.

[Deleted]

I think that breaks the warranty btw.

[BicycleMafioso]

I think that breaks the warranty btw.

As does overclocking. However, some companies have "no questions asked", ie, including overclocking in their warranty. XFX, for example, however, that's only in the North Americas, so it doesn't matter.

[Deleted]

If you don´t need it, don´t touch it.
I play every DX11 loaded game on FullHD @ Ultra Settings with 8xAA Vsynced on 60Hz and have absolutely no Problems.

You will loose your Warranty and may execute your VRam or IC´s. On some Cards it works, on some Cards there are Problems with the Voltages and the Chipset.
The High Temperatures that will be produced also make the Fan turn higher, and i think nobody wants a noisy PC. (90-100C° on Full Load are normal without a Fan Mod)

In Fact...this 15-20% Performance Boost on SOME Games isn´t worth the Risks - this Card is powerful enough Retail.


That are my Thoughts about that.

[Renascido]

This is almost 100% that will brick your card, because the memo temperature is to high, and you will have permanent damage...
Your safety option is look for 1 bios that dont change your 6950 to a 6970, but only unlock the remains shaders in your 6950. This one is safety, because this dont change much things.
You can look in google for the bios with shaders unlocked, the procedure is simple and is safe to do that, since the new AMD cards have a switch where you need to change his position to be able to do bios mod, and you will always have a protected bios, where if anything goes wrong you can change for this one and repair the 2nd bios, just changing the switch position.

[BicycleMafioso]

This is almost 100% that will brick your card, because the memo temperature is to high, and you will have permanent damage...

More like, 10-15%? :P Exaggeration gets you nowhere.

[Scoobasteve1226]

This is almost 100% that will brick your card, because the memo temperature is to high, and you will have permanent damage...

I can throw random facts around too. Like how 95% of statistics are made up on the spot. See what I did there?

Now really. Here is the website I'm going to use and have heard good results from
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/...ng/vidcard/159
Check at the bottom. 1 in 40 bricked for the Asus. Other than that, not many did.

[Esg]

You need a 2GB ram version of the card and has to be reference, you also want XFX because of their overclock friendly warranty. The chances of getting a reference 2gb xfx card now is pretty low especially if you want it new.

[Scoobasteve1226]

You need a 2GB ram version of the card and has to be reference, you also want XFX because of their overclock friendly warranty. The chances of getting a reference 2gb xfx card now is pretty low especially if you want it new.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-518-_-Product

No?? I found it quite hard to look those up. Let me tell you!

Keep coming with the endless stream of ignorance!