How to enable additional shaders on Radeon HD 6950

[Mp0wer]

6950 @ 1GH/1500

What voltage are you using?

 

[Mark22]

6950 @ 1GH/1500

Good overclock but why have you put it in here? It seems you haven't unlocked the shaders, try that and see what diffference it makes with the same oc.

Should give it a nice boost.

 

[wmblalock]

actually im quite sure it is vid3 that is the 3d voltage (for the 6950 anyways)
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/7189/vid3.jpg

you can see in afterburner that vid3 is getting used for 3d (1.175v)
i think there is a bug in trixx reading vid4 instead of 3

Well, then it seems that different cards use different VIDs for 3D voltage. If your sure yours is VID3, and I'm sure mine is VID4, then it seems that way. I know for a fact mine is VID4 which previously had 1060 in it (vid3 had 1100), because no matter what I changed VID3 (1100) to, my temps and overclock stayed the same. Once I changed VID4 (1060) to 1200 my temps went up under 3D load considerably and my coverclocking went up a good bit. I could only get like 910mhz with VID4 at 1060 (stock), I upped it to 1200 and now I am getting 965mhz on the core and had to increase the fan quite a bit to keep my load temps below 80*. Are you just comparing your Afterburner voltage reading to the bios, or have you actually tested your temps and overclocking abilities when changing voltages in VID3? Maybe AB is written to only control a certain VID (3 or 4) and since it seems different cards use different VIDs for 3D, AB may not work for everyone, could be a bug they will have to fix.

 

[f0d]

Well, then it seems that different cards use different VIDs for 3D voltage. If your sure yours is VID3, and I'm sure mine is VID4, then it seems that way. I know for a fact mine is VID4 which previously had 1060 in it (vid3 had 1100), because no matter what I changed VID3 (1100) to, my temps and overclock stayed the same. Once I changed VID4 (1060) to 1200 my temps went up under 3D load considerably and my coverclocking went up a good bit. I could only get like 910mhz with VID4 at 1060 (stock), I upped it to 1200 and now I am getting 965mhz on the core and had to increase the fan quite a bit to keep my load temps below 80*. Are you just comparing your Afterburner voltage reading to the bios, or have you actually tested your temps and overclocking abilities when changing voltages in VID3? Maybe AB is written to only control a certain VID (3 or 4) and since it seems different cards use different VIDs for 3D, AB may not work for everyone, could be a bug they will have to fix.

my vid4 was 1060 too - i just changed it to 1100 for the sake of it in that bios (and to see which voltage is being used) but yeah i have tested clocks and im pretty sure mine is vid3 because i can hit 970mhz on 1200 but can only hit around 900 @ 1100

 

[wmblalock]

my vid4 was 1060 too - i just changed it to 1100 for the sake of it in that bios (and to see which voltage is being used) but yeah i have tested clocks and im pretty sure mine is vid3 because i can hit 970mhz on 1200 but can only hit around 900 @ 1100

Strange, because I know mine is definitely VID4. When I put my VID3 up to 1.3v, I couldn't overclock anymore and my temps were exactly the same as stock. When I put my VID4 up to 1.2v I could overclock MUCH more and my temps went way up. It makes me wonder what my VID3 is for then and what your VID4 is for then. Anyone have any insight? What brand is your card, mines Gigabyte.

 

[f0d]

mine is sapphire

what voltage does yours say it is in afterburner?

 

[wmblalock]

mine is sapphire

I hope the programmers of these overclocking programs know that some cards use VID3 and some use VID4, or that could definitely cause a problem. Now that I think about it, I know its a problem in Afterburner because I tried using it to overclock and up my voltage, but it seemed like the voltage adjustment wasn't doing anything. I couldn't get past 910mhz with Afterburner set to 1.3v, while I can get to 965mhz with my VID4 set to 1.2v. I'll inform the afterburner guy of my findings.

 

[wmblalock]

mine is sapphire

what voltage does yours say it is in afterburner?

My afterburner is reporting 1.1v, which is what my VID3 is in the bios.

I have my VID4 at 1.2v running Kombustor at 965mhz/1400mhz for hours... something I COULD not do with 1.1v or do with ANY voltage increase in Afterburner, further proving that my VID4 controls voltage and that different cards use different VIDs.

 

[dky]

hm i cant find the vsync settings @CCC :/

im using 10.11 and the only points at "3D" are:
standard settings
anti-aliasing
anti-aliasing mode
anisotropic filtering
all settings

so im missing vsync and mipmap settings (under "All Settings" are only anti alias, anisotropic, catalyst A.I.)


best regards,
stuu

 

[DJManiac]

Something new strange:

Switched to TRIXX just minutes ago (from Afterburner)... Everthing looks fine first time..
but it looks like that the Power Control in CCC do not work properly with TRIXX...

The Slider is still on +20% but in Furmark I get lower FPS that before.... The slider wont work when TRIXX is running... cant change it or save it - Jumps evertime back...

If I close TRIXX and move the Power Control slider and save it frame are back again in Furmark... If I start then TRIXX everthing looks like on function now...

But if I do a restart Frame in Furmark are again low. Frames are looking like if Power Control slider is on 0%... But the slider is set on +20%....

Any suggestions?

 

[tecnoworld]

I can only guess that any third party overclocking tool disables power control. This is very bad, since CCC is quite limited for the 6950. We can only hope that in future releases, both trixx and AB implement power control feature as well, along with voltage control.

 

[wmblalock]

Something new strange:

Switched to TRIXX just minutes ago (from Afterburner)... Everthing looks fine first time..
but it looks like that the Power Control in CCC do not work properly with TRIXX...

The Slider is still on +20% but in Furmark I get lower FPS that before.... The slider wont work when TRIXX is running... cant change it or save it - Jumps evertime back...

If I close TRIXX and move the Power Control slider and save it frame are back again in Furmark... If I start then TRIXX everthing looks like on function now...

But if I do a restart Frame in Furmark are again low. Frames are looking like if Power Control slider is on 0%... But the slider is set on +20%....

Any suggestions?

Hmm, not sure about that. Are you saying your FPS is low when Trixx is running, or does Furmark show your MHZ for core/mem dropping (throttling down by power play due to lack of power)? I am not sure if the power control slider actually functions when using Trixx, I know it does NOT function when using Afterburner from what I understand. So Trixx might have the same issue with disabling the power control slider function as Afterburner does. Not sure, right now I have my 6950 using 1.2v and running Kombustor (furmark) for the last 8hrs at 965mhz/1400mhz with no throttling down of the clock speeds.

 

[wmblalock]

I can only guess that any third party overclocking tool disables power control. This is very bad, since CCC is quite limited for the 6950. We can only hope that in future releases, both trixx and AB implement power control feature as well, along with voltage control.

Seems that way.. although I have my card at 1.2v (using RBE) and have been running Furmark all day at 965/1400 without any throttling down of the clock speeds

 

[DJManiac]

Hmm, not sure about that. Are you saying your FPS is low when Trixx is running, or does Furmark show your MHZ for core/mem dropping (throttling down by power play due to lack of power)? I am not sure if the power control slider actually functions when using Trixx, I know it does NOT function when using Afterburner from what I understand. So Trixx might have the same issue with disabling the power control slider function as Afterburner does. Not sure, right now I have my 6950 using 1.2v and running Kombustor (furmark) for the last 8hrs at 965mhz/1400mhz with no throttling down of the clock speeds.

mmm Yes - didnt saw this first time. GPU drops while Furmark is running... But why? Can I switch this off? If I run my clocks without TRIXX everthing is fine....

 

[manofthem]

Seems that way.. although I have my card at 1.2v (using RBE) and have been running Furmark all day at 965/1400 without any throttling down of the clock speeds

I need to try Trixx and RBE. (When you open RBE, do you need to load a BIOS first? When I open it, there are no values anywhere, and since I've never used this program, so I don't know what to look for)

Today I've been messing with MSI AB with the voltages and GPU clocks, but I can't get it past 900/1400. Everytime I try to run 3DMark 11, it gives me an error. Or the last time I tried, my PC shut down.

From the looks of your numbers, it's a better way to go. I'm stable at 900/1375.

 

[wmblalock]

mmm Yes - didnt saw this first time. GPU drops while Furmark is running... But why? Can I switch this off? If I run my clocks without TRIXX everthing is fine....

Yeah, Trixx probably disables the use of the PowerControl slider in CCC. Why, I don't know, but from what I know Afterburner does as well. If your using Afterburner instead of Trixx, for the same MHZ, does your GPU speed get throttled down? What bios are you using, what clocks are you using during throttle down, and what program are you using to set your clocks when they DONT get throttled down?

 

[DJManiac]

Yeah, Trixx probably disables the use of the PowerControl slider in CCC. Why, I don't know, but from what I know Afterburner does as well. If your using Afterburner instead of Trixx, for the same MHZ, does your GPU speed get throttled down? What bios are you using, what clocks are you using during throttle down, and what program are you using to set your clocks when they DONT get throttled down?

With Afterburner (cfg set to 1) everthing is working! Have the ASUS 6970 BIOS (on XFX 6950). But in AB PowerPlay didnt work. Therefore I wanted to switch to TRIXX...

Stable are 950/1450 +20% (only in CCC) @ 1225mV (RBE)

now I wanted to test more

Set 1250mV (RBE) and TRIXX 960/1500 +20% - That works also if I set those Clocks, close TRIXX remove the slider to eg. 15% save it and remove to 20% Power Control and save it again... Framre again high as they should be and almost stable (30mins Furmark)....

 

[Gaul]

What voltage are you using?

v1.275 and no bios mod jus msi ab v2.1 beta 6

Good overclock but why have you put it in here? It seems you haven't unlocked the shaders, try that and see what diffference it makes with the same oc.

Should give it a nice boost.

ok, soon i'll flash with asus6970oc

 

[wmblalock]

I need to try Trixx and RBE. (When you open RBE, do you need to load a BIOS first? When I open it, there are no values anywhere, and since I've never used this program, so I don't know what to look for)

Today I've been messing with MSI AB with the voltages and GPU clocks, but I can't get it past 900/1400. Everytime I try to run 3DMark 11, it gives me an error. Or the last time I tried, my PC shut down.

From the looks of your numbers, it's a better way to go. I'm stable at 900/1375.

Save your bios from your card to your had drive, atiwinflash can do this. Then use the Load Bios button in RBE to load your bios. Right now I think RBE only lets us modify voltage on our cards, so don't mess with anything else. Once your bios is loaded, go to the Clock Settings tab at the top. Now click the GPU Registers button near the bottom left of the screen. Either VID3 or VID4 is where you need to put in what voltage you want for 3D. Some people need to use VID3 and some need to use VID4. After you've put in the what you want (ex 1200 for 1.200v), click ok to close the register, then slick Save Bios at the bottom to save your new bios file. Use winflash to flash that new bios back to the card. You may have to try VID3 and VID4 one at a time to see which one raises your overclock ability and temperatures. Mine uses VID4, but I know some other have to adjust VID3.

 

[wmblalock]

With Afterburner (cfg set to 1) everthing is working! Have the ASUS 6970 BIOS (on XFX 6950). But in AB PowerPlay didnt work. Therefore I wanted to switch to TRIXX...

Stable are 950/1450 +20% (only in CCC) @ 1225mV (RBE)

now I wanted to test more

Set 1250mV (RBE) and TRIXX 960/1500 +20% - That works also if I set those Clocks, close TRIXX remove the slider to eg. 15% save it and remove to 20% Power Control and save it again... Framre again high as they should be and almost stable (30mins Furmark)....

You may be fine to go, but I would HIGHLY recommend modifying your stock 6950 bios with the method I posted here: How to enable additional shaders on Radeon HD 695... instead of using the 6970 bios. It's safer for your memory. I'd hate to see you fry the card with that 6970 bios when there is no need to run it.

 

[Gaul]

You may have to try VID3 and VID4 one at a time to see which one raises your overclock ability and temperatures. Mine uses VID4, but I know some other have to adjust VID3.

mind VID4 too, here def registers, coz def vgpu = 1.175



hmm, save with gpuz got *.bin, when edit whit rbe and save it, got *.rom file ? different extension ?
well this Winflash support bin or rom ? when we flash it ?

 

[manofthem]

Save your bios from your card to your had drive, atiwinflash can do this. Then use the Load Bios button in RBE to load your bios. Right now I think RBE only lets us modify voltage on our cards, so don't mess with anything else. Once your bios is loaded, go to the Clock Settings tab at the top. Now click the GPU Registers button near the bottom left of the screen. Either VID3 or VID4 is where you need to put in what voltage you want for 3D. Some people need to use VID3 and some need to use VID4. After you've put in the what you want (ex 1200 for 1.200v), click ok to close the register, then slick Save Bios at the bottom to save your new bios file. Use winflash to flash that new bios back to the card. You may have to try VID3 and VID4 one at a time to see which one raises your overclock ability and temperatures. Mine uses VID4, but I know some other have to adjust VID3.

Awesome thanks, that's what I needed to know. I should be able to work it from there with your instructions. Are you on an XFX by any chance?

 

[wmblalock]

Awesome thanks, that's what I needed to know. I should be able to work it from there with your instructions. Are you on an XFX by any chance?

Good, hope it helps you out. Here is how I run my card: How to enable additional shaders on Radeon HD 695...

Mines a Gigabyte 6950

 

[DJManiac]

You may be fine to go, but I would HIGHLY recommend modifying your stock 6950 bios with the method I posted here: How to enable additional shaders on Radeon HD 695... instead of using the 6970 bios. It's safer for your memory. I'd hate to see you fry the card with that 6970 bios when there is no need to run it.

Understand your suggestion but NEVER had any problems running 6970! Even not at 1500... Looks like that XFX has 6970 ram on it

Nevertheless but that did not solve my problem.... Just reinstalled driver but with no result...
Will go back to Afterburner 950/1450 @ 1225 mV with working clocks without dropping.... And wait what the near future will bring up!

 

[wmblalock]

Understand your suggestion but NEVER had any problems running 6970! Even not at 1500... Looks like that XFX has 6970 ram on it

Nevertheless but that did not solve my problem.... Just reinstalled driver but with no result...
Will go back to Afterburner 950/1450 @ 1225 mV with working clocks without dropping.... And wait what the near future will bring up!

To each their own. Good luck! Report back if you ever have any problems with your card!
Happy Overclocking!