How to enable additional shaders on Radeon HD 6950

[cadaveca]

All that I asked is that you go into more detail about these cards that you claim are dieing.

I claimed no such thing.



I claimed there are reports in this thread of such, beginning on page 12. I assume people are telling the truth, as I stated in my last post, so those are my source of info, not myself. My cards work great.


Still trying to understand where your info some from. It's my job to seeking these things out, so if I'm going to repeat your information, I want to be able to confirm it with a souce I can quote, and an anonymous user as a source just doesn't cut it.

I exlpained my position, and who I am and what I do to explain why I require such. I asked for similar info from you, to answer why we should take your info over posts of others in this thread. It's quite simple...you think I'm talking shit, meanwhile, I justifying my requiest for info due to how I might use it. I guess your response reveals more than you intended, anyway, and you harbour some sort of resentment towards me. At least, that's how it seems. Does me talking about what I do here on the forum, and elsewhere make you uncomfortable? Becuase I'm not pulling any card, I'm stating facts about myself, and what I do here on TPU.

Then they would have problems as soon as you flash to a 6970 which several people have seen. I haven't seen this cause permanent damage down the road. I would expect more reputable reports like we saw on early 4870 with degraded memory.

Um, let me jsut leave this example...first run elpidia hypers...and those were memory IC's that were sold as high-speed IC's and failed over time. Micron D9 chips, too. Or how about the good old Winbond UTT of days long passed...Nevermind all the 5870's that had bad memories...

 

[Aliaus]

Hi everyone, I’ve been following this topic pretty much since it started. I bought a 6950 immediately after I read W1zzard’s article and have been running it with a 6970 bios since New Year’s. One of the reasons I’m posting now is because there seems to be a lot of unwarranted fear mongering against the 6970 bios.

I have read through the 90+ pages of this thread, we all know the stock setting for a 6950 is 1.1v / 800 core / 1250 mem and the stock for a 6970 is 1.175v / 880 core / 1375 mem during their 3D clocks. But the question that has yet to be answered is this: what are the voltages for the memory? Are they the same as the voltages for the core? If not, what are the memory voltages for a 6950 and 6970 bios? If so, can a difference of .075 volts really brick a card?

Then there is the theory that it’s the different timings and frequency that are bricking the cards. The memory chips on the 6950 are rate for 5 GHz and 6970 are rated at 6 GHz (or so I’ve read). But I have yet to see proof that timing/frequency would brick a card. Frequent crashes, BSODs, and artifacts I would understand, but bricking the card? I don’t think so. As far as I know, the factors in damaging your memory chips would be: Heat? Definitely. Voltage? Maybe. But timing/frequency? I’m going to have to see some kind of proof before I believe that.

There was another theory going around saying it’s the vrm that are failing, not the memory. This theory is much more plausible. W1zzard’s article told people to set the power control to +20%, a mistake IMO. This sets the threshold to almost 10% above the rated power draw, no wonder so many cards are failing…. As many people have already confirmed, changing the power control does NOTHING. My recommendation would be to monitor your clocks with GPUz in the background while playing your games. If you see throttling, move the slider to the right by 1-2%.

The only thing that should throttle your clocks back is Furmark. With that said, DO NOT USE FURMARK TO TEST YOUR CARD. I truly believe that Furmark is the culprit for a lot of damaged cards. It’s not even a matter of testing against a worst case scenario, there will NEVER be a case where you will stress your GPU to nearly that sort of limit. If it passes benchmarks, then it’s fine. The only thing Furmark does is shorten the lifespan of your graphics cards. So unless you are obsessed with that furry donut, don’t use it.

One last thing, the default fan curve in CCC is completely retarded, I can’t believe that AMD would let your card cook at the high 80s while the fan sits at 30%, wtf? This is probably fine at stock, but if you’re buying this fairly high-end card, then you’re probably looking to overclock it, and the default just won’t suffice. I would recommend a linear curve set in Afterburner, i.e. 40% at 40c, 60% at 60c, etc, or a slightly shallower curve if you’re really anal about noise.

P.S. Using Sapphire 6950 with 6970 bios, core and memory maxed out in CCC with default voltage, running for four and a half month now.

 

[cadaveca]

Fan speed is low to minimize noise.The fact that the cooler is capable of more is indicator that AMD has overclockers in mind, as well as various climates...we do have several users here in the middle east, where 40c ambients are quite common.

Timings and frequency, if faster, create a higher CURRENT draw. It's is, quite specifically, CURRENT that kills any bit of silicon. It's not volts...volts just merely change the slope of the voltage, and the wattage, but that voltage is turned into CUREENT that can blow right through any transistor...looks like the OC game needs a reboot in it's terms.

If the 6970 is sporting 1.6v memory voltage, tied in with a higher speed, translates into more wattage and heat, and quite possibly, death. Easy to verify with a multi meter.

The other unmentioned bit is that the PCB from 6970 to 6950, even in reference form, is NOT the same, although in all appearances it is...however a close inspection revels several distinct differences in the power delivery section of the card which could lead to unexpected behavior by installation of a bios that is not intended for that circuit.

It is definitely possible that a 6970 bios can kill a 6950. Is it happenning? MAybe, but at the same time, since the release of the shader-only mod, very few people are actualyl running the 6970 bios any more...so it's really hard to pin any specifics to the situation other than that yes, it's possible, and yes, soem cards will handle it just fine.


What the focus of this part of the discussion should be HOW it's possible, and WHAT happened to these supposed dying cards, not running around screaming that it's not possible, becuase it most definitely IS possible.

And because it IS possible, I do feel it's my duty to disclose that info to those that may ask, so that when they do jump into it, they do so with their eyes wide open, not squeezed shut.

I take my job here seriously.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

I claimed no such thing.



I claimed there are reports in this thread of such, beginning on page 12. I assume people are telling the truth, as I stated in my last post, so those are my source of info, not myself. My cards work great.


Still trying to understand where your info some from. It's my job to seeking these things out, so if I'm going to repeat your information, I want to be able to confirm it with a souce I can quote, and an anonymous user as a source just doesn't cut it.

Ok, this is one of the first users here to post that this bios damaged his card. Here is the thread where he finds out that he was experiencing a couple of known driver issues. Here is a thread that user started with a poll where several people voted that the bios damaged their card and then later mention their specific driver issues. That is actually the thread where this rumor started. This is why I ask for a reputable poster. I have yet to see a post where after some digging you find out that they are just dealing with driver issues. I saw a user at Rage3d and another at OCN rma their card for what turned out to be driver issues. There are a fair amount of games on ATI cards that artifact at least when these cards were released.

I exlpained my position, and who I am and what I do to explain why I require such. I asked for similar info from you, to answer why we should take your info over posts of others in this thread. It's quite simple...you think I'm talking shit, meanwhile, I justifying my requiest for info due to how I might use it. I guess your response reveals more than you intended, anyway, and you harbour some sort of resentment towards me. At least, that's how it seems. Does me talking about what I do here on the forum, and elsewhere make you uncomfortable? Becuase I'm not pulling any card, I'm stating facts about myself, and what I do here on TPU.

I'm sorry, I asked you to explain your opinion and seem to have gotten offended and adversarial. I'm not the one claiming that there is a problem.

Um, let me jsut leave this example...first run elpidia hypers...and those were memory IC's that were sold as high-speed IC's and failed over time. Micron D9 chips, too. Or how about the good old Winbond UTT of days long passed...Nevermind all the 5870's that had bad memories...

You make a very good point but those were all well known issues. Quite a few people across various forums are running a 6970 bios on their 6950 right now. I would expect to see more reports of issues popping up, any really.

That said I am using just the shader moddified bios. It runs cooler and quieter. Both of my cards hit 6970 speeds at the default voltage. I'll even admit that I feel better knowing that I'm running a moddified version of the bios that shipped on my card. I see no reason to use the 6970 bios. I also haven't seen any proof that a 6970 bios has caused any harm to a 6950.

 

[cadaveca]

No, you are not claiming there is a problem, per se, however, you are indicating that there is false info...that'd be a problem, no?

I'm not offended! LoL. I keep repeating this..you guys gotta get on TeamSpeak and get to know me. You might understand a bit better. I simply chaulk most of it to a language barrier, as although we both know english, not all forms of english are the same.

Any processor or memory given additional voltage or running at a faster speed, can die from doing so. Something as simple as an ambient temp increase can increase leakage, and leakage is BAD!!! Leaky chips are good for clocking, when you cool them realyl cold, but that's not true at al ltemperatures! It's SEMI-conductors!

I'm actaulyl laughing at all fo this, that you think it's important to tell peple that it's perfectly safe, when it very well may not be.

Still won't tell me your name? C'mon dude, what's wrong with that?

You know, I'll also add in the P67 chipsets, that fully launched, and then were recalled..many times there are thing released into the market that aren't quite up to snuff. The issue with Elpidia Hypers wasn't well known..those of us that bought them when they first came out learnt the hard way.

It's undenyable that the bios siwthc is there so we can mod the bios. No other reason for it to be there, IMHO. I think if the switch is there, it's fair game, but like you, I see no need for the 6970 bios, nor do I see a need to unlock the shaders...I'm running two cards, and even in eyefinity, the extra poerformance offered is not enough to make any difference to my gaming expereince.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

I never said that it was completely safe. No one in their right mind would think that flashing a bios from completely different card onto theirs would be 100% safe. Overclocking isn't 100% safe to begin with. What I am saying is that there is no proof that a 6970 bios has caused any damage to a 6950.

I'll be honest with you I don't see how my name is relevant. If you had addressed me in a friendly or professional way in a pm you would have found out. It's also not hard to find. It's in my post history. I guess talking down to people is one of your tools for what you call a "discussion".

I've made my point, I'm done.

 

[cadaveca]

Um man, me asking for you name WAS me being friendly. You know, "Hi, my name's Dave, who are you?" Is that not how you greet people? You know, I told you a bit about myself, what I do here on TPU...of course I expect the same back...




Maybe I want to be able to say "UNKNOWN says this, what do you think?"

But saying "UNKNOWN" Just doesn't work. So yeah, I'd like to know ya better. Of course it has nothing to do with this conversation, per se.

You seem to have taken offense to my posts, I apologize, if this is the case, but maybe our differences in personality/country simply are at fault?

I'm not talking down to you...I'm confused? What are you talking about now? Can you point this out to me so that I can endevour to not do so again?

I'm sry, man, I don't get it.

 

[Upuaut]

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[xrror]

Argh

Ugh, too much FUD around here.

The reason the 6970 bios is an unknown is that the PCB design (specifically the memory voltage regulation) is DIFFERENT than the 6950 PCB. Check it out:

6950
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6950/images/front.jpg

6970
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6970/images/front.jpg

Do you see the additional components on the 6950?

Thus the question is, when using the 6970 BIOS on the 6950, nobody really knows WHAT voltage is being applied to the memory. The voltage reported by the card isn't a measured result, it's just a value from a BIOS table of what the regulator is supposed to be providing - not what is actually being provided.

Now whether or not this degrades the 6950's T2C memory (vs 6970's ROC) over time is another debate. I have a feeling that the voltage supplied is just too high, but I have no proof and that's just speculation on my part. Someone just needs to find some voltage measuring points and probe it with a multimeter.
-----

Non-reference cards. Are unlockable.

Don't just download a pre-modded BIOS and flash it. Use the script to modify YOUR card's bios. When you run winflash, BE SURE TO MAKE A BACKUP OF THE BIOS THAT CAME WITH YOUR CARD. ESPECIALLY IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BIOS SWITCH.

Make a copy of that saved BIOS, and modify that. That's what you flash to your card. Thus you avoid any compatibility issues and no-POST because it's the BIOS that your card came with, just with extra shaders enabled.

 

[Upuaut]

edit

 

[FL4K]

Still no progress on flashing my XFX ZDDC. I always receive a rom not erased message, even after unlockrom returns successfully.

What ROMs do people have on their boards, I reckon atiflash does not support the pm25lv010 that is on this card.

 

[xrror]

Unlockable or not, tried your method with the original bios, but my Asus DCII hates to generate extra shaders, still 1408.

I did some googling on unlocking the Asus DCII. I'd link to a translated german forum thread but I'm not sure what the policy is here about linking to other forums.

It appears that newer revisions of the Asus DCII may not be unlockable. They went as far as flashing the DCII 6970 bios to the 6950 and while the clock speeds increased, the shader count did not.

This does not bode well to the 6950 remaining unlockable =(

edit add:
gezz, the more I read up on this card, the weirder it is. Asus uses the bios switch (or at least a switch in the same location where a BIOS switch would be) to change one of the DVI ports from dual-link to single-link and I assume uses that to enable one of the four displayport ports...

Granted, they could just be switching between two BIOS's to do this, but that also means that both copies stored are not identical stock. This is a weird card.

 

[Upuaut]

edit

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Is it still compatible with new cards when it comes to stress testing/artifact scanning?
The driver didn't install in to my computer [win 7 64 bit ultimate] although I was still able to scan artifacts and such. The thing is, I flashed my 6950's to 6970's and I'm getting artifacts [not detected by the program, but the yellow is coming up]. I'm just wondering if it's a bug due to non-compatibility or are my cards fubar'd [There still is artifacting at 500Mhz , though it could be due to the increased memory clocks ]

This is why I don't want to hear about how the card "died". It always ends up being a driver issue.

 

[tylercarbone]

HD-695X-CNFC Issues

Hi all-

I have an XFX HD-695X-CNFC (non reference 2GB). I've been trying to unlock it via the shader-unlock-only method, as described here, but the BIOS simply will not flash.

I've tried to flash it using both ATIFlash and ATIWinflash. In both cases I attempted to unlockrom first, and in both cases I was told that the ROM had been successfully unlocked. Despite that, when I then tried to flash the modded bios, it failed.

I've tried both the modded bios via Wizzard's script, as well as a modded bios via RBE. No matter what I try to do, I get a "Cannot erase ROM" error.


Thanks very much in advance,
Tyler

 

[xanture]

Other than making sure your gpu is in the first pci-e slot closest to the cpu, I'm not sure what else..

I'm out for the night; hope it all works out. I'll check back tomorrow.

Went ahead and took back the xfx and got the MSI R6950 Twin FrozrII and flashed it one the first shot! Runs great, the only thing is in AMD overdrive I can't get the GPU clock to go over 840 and the Memory above 1325

 

[englandr753]

Hi Tyler,

I advise for you to copy and paste your thread in a new topic. When you add to a current thread that doesnt belongto you, it gets c

 

[jayc]

It would be a nicer fix to actually modify the 2D clocks in the BIOS itself so that afterburner is not required but I don't know if that's possible with the current tools.

Clock changes in the BIOS is NOT possible with the current tools.
Only voltage changes.
If you need to change clock speeds, you will need to change them via Afterburner or similar 3rd party tools after the O/S drivers are loaded at bootup.

 

[manofthem]

Went ahead and took back the xfx and got the MSI R6950 Twin FrozrII and flashed it one the first shot! Runs great, the only thing is in AMD overdrive I can't get the GPU clock to go over 840 and the Memory above 1325

And you won't be able to (in CCC).

MSI Afterburner will allow those changes if you enable unofficial overclocking. Too, allow for voltage control in the settings tab to coordinate with your higher clocks.

And BTW congrats. Must have been a headache to have put your heart and soul into that XFX and not get the results you were expecting!!!

 

[jayc]

Went ahead and took back the xfx and got the MSI R6950 Twin FrozrII and flashed it one the first shot! Runs great, the only thing is in AMD overdrive I can't get the GPU clock to go over 840 and the Memory above 1325

That's great.
Sounds like Asus DCII and XFX are cards to avoid (if you want an easy shader unlock).

CCC not going over 840/1375 is a driver issue. AMD doesn't want you overclocking the card more than that and killing it, thereby adding to the statistics of returned failed cards.

You'll need to use a 3rd party program like MSI afterburner and enabling the unsupported overclocks to achieve higher speeds with additional voltage.

 

[Hexblade6950]

Hiya guys just wanna update, my Sapphire R6950 is running great after almost a month since I got it and mod it, im running 44 to 48 in idle and 80 to 86 while running games, tho while running Metro 2033 in full spec I get to 92. I live in the Dominican Republic and some days it gets very hot and temp increases
http://www.sunbeamtech.com/PRODUCTS/VentMax/VentMax.html
my case runs very cool I have a ventmax with 2x 120mm fans on the side and another extracting one under the card, im running the 11.4 beta drivers, afterburner says voltage is 1150 wondering if thats odd or not ?

 

[Hexblade6950]

I was wondering what would be the best aftermarket cooling system for a R6950, water or air cooled what would you recommend ?

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Well water cooling will give you the best results. There is no doubt about that.

The thing that worries me about aftermarket air coolers is that almost all of them do a really good job on the gpu but the memory and vrms tend to run hotter than they would on the stock cooler. There isn't any real way to monitor these temps which worries me even more. This is another one of the big advantages of water cooling.

Have you tried using Afterburner to setup a custom fan profile? It may help but will probably get pretty loud.

 

[fullinfusion]

Hello everyone. 1st of all I would like you to forgive me my possible mistakes as I am not perfect in english. I am from Ukraine and there is very very few info about 6950 flashing in my native language. Google gives the most amount of responses to techPowerUp forums that is why I decided to discuss my problem here. I sincerely ask for your help guys.

I am a happy owner of this type of a card http://eu.sapphiretech.com/gm/images/product/gallery/1082/1082_20110124_7748.jpg

I had read a lot of info here but did not get the point if it is unlockable or not.
I tried myself all known methods of flashing posted here and nothing worked for my card.

Tried modded BIOS of my card via atiflash, atiwinflash, flashrom! NOTHING worked.
It says that it can not erase rom.

I wonder if there is any solution for flashing this card or it is completely impossible to do?

Thank all of you in advance!

have you tried unlocking the rom bios this way http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2134576&postcount=19

 

[manofthem]

Yes! It shows the progress bar. The line goes to 2\3 and the bar suddenly dissappears. I can see no window with "verified". After the pc is restared there are still 1408sp.

Are you doing this while the drivers are installed? If so, try uninstalling the drivers and then try flashing it.