How to enable additional shaders on Radeon HD 6950

[nawe]

I made another thread about my problem here: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2301689&posted=1#post2301689

and was told to ask this thread for help.

So here goes: I can't get my bricked (non reference) XFX HD6950 to flash back to its old bios (flashing it in the first place was easy) using a second, old, PCI card. Atiflash in DOS recognizes the card fine, and the -unlockrom 0 command seems to work, but whenever I attempt to flash the card, I get "Rom not erased". AtiWinflash, on the other hand appears to recognize the card when I run the GUI, but I get a subsystem ID mismatch error (as expected, I needed to unlock the rom when I first flashed it). Running it in command prompt, however, fails to do much of anything. Every command (unlockrom, flashing a bios, and even "-i") results in the progress bar flashing up for a second, before disappearing completely without leaving so much as an error. RBE won't recognize the card at all.

Anything else I could try before I end up returning it?

 

[fullinfusion]

I made another thread about my problem here: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2301689&posted=1#post2301689

and was told to ask this thread for help.

So here goes: I can't get my bricked (non reference) XFX HD6950 to flash back to its old bios (flashing it in the first place was easy) using a second, old, PCI card. Atiflash in DOS recognizes the card fine, and the -unlockrom 0 command seems to work, but whenever I attempt to flash the card, I get "Rom not erased". AtiWinflash, on the other hand appears to recognize the card when I run the GUI, but I get a subsystem ID mismatch error (as expected, I needed to unlock the rom when I first flashed it). Running it in command prompt, however, fails to do much of anything. Every command (unlockrom, flashing a bios, and even "-i") results in the progress bar flashing up for a second, before disappearing completely without leaving so much as an error. RBE won't recognize the card at all.

Anything else I could try before I end up returning it?

A bricked 6950 gpu from flashing the bios? ya dont say! So xfx should give you a new gpu because you willingly knowingly voided your warranty flashing something you shouldn't .... ahh but anyways

What version of Atiflash you using? Try 3.84 *I have better luck using that version* and grab your gpu bios file from the data base here on TPU.
What other gpu are you using to see while flashing? another 6950? if so move the working gpu to the bottom pci-e slot and the non working one to the top slot.. plug your monitor into the lower gpu and get into DOS.

type atiflash -i and see what comes up. It should show the bricked gpu.
now type atiflash -f -p 0/1 file name.bin (whatever number i shows you for your bricked gpu)
so again it's
atiflash -f -p 0 filename.bin
or
atiflash -f -p 1 filename.bin

If it works and askes for a restart, restart but go into the bios and hit the power button on your case. That will shut down. Now unplug your power and wait 60sec and then power back up.. Good luck and just a note.. I was just bustin your balls at the top of my message lol

 

[fullinfusion]

Stupid link is weird but look HERE to unbrick your gpu

 

[nawe]

A bricked 6950 gpu from flashing the bios? ya dont say! So xfx should give you a new gpu because you willingly knowingly voided your warranty flashing something you shouldn't .... ahh but anyways

What version of Atiflash you using? Try 3.84 *I have better luck using that version* and grab your gpu bios file from the data base here on TPU.
What other gpu are you using to see while flashing? another 6950? if so move the working gpu to the bottom pci-e slot and the non working one to the top slot.. plug your monitor into the lower gpu and get into DOS.

type atiflash -i and see what comes up. It should show the bricked gpu.
now type atiflash -f -p 0/1 file name.bin (whatever number i shows you for your bricked gpu)
so again it's
atiflash -f -p 0 filename.bin
or
atiflash -f -p 1 filename.bin

If it works and askes for a restart, restart but go into the bios and hit the power button on your case. That will shut down. Now unplug your power and wait 60sec and then power back up.. Good luck and just a note.. I was just bustin your balls at the top of my message lol

Afraid I've tried all of the above :-( I'm using an ancient PCI card for my monitor output - the -i command detects it in atiflash, but when I try the actual "atiflash -f -p 0 bios.rom" command, or any variation thereof, I get "rom not erased".

I think I'm just gonna return it. It was sold to me, and advertised as safely flashable from the OverclockersUK site, and I was given a slightly revised version of the card (which I wasn't aware of at the time), so regardless of whether I've voided XFX's warranty, I'm still technically within the T&Cs of the seller (the T&Cs they actually broke by sending me a slightly different model without telling me).

 

[fullinfusion]

^ good luck mate! I hope they do you good this time and not mislead ya

 

[Gabkicks]

I am using a powercolor 6950 1gb (dual fans/dual bios) and 11.5b drivers .

i just tried with atiflash and atiwinflash and sofar it still shows 1408 unified shaders

* i just tried the methods listed by techpowerup to no avail. Also, i tried flashing to 6970 and that just gave mea blank screen w/ artifacts, so I blindflashed it back to my "unlocked" bios that isnt really unlocked according to gpu-z.

Any Ideas? RBE says my bios is already set to 6970 shader count, but not GPU-z

 

[Gabkicks]

Before using thebear's bios (he unlocked his powercolor 1gb a couple months ago):

after:

 

[JPS1982]

packaged the hd 6950 bios modding script.

www.techpowerup.com/wizzard/Mod_BIOS_HD_6950.zip
give it a try and let me know how well it works

Podrias explicarme un poco más como se utiliza este script.

Tengo una MSI TwinFrozr III 6950 y quiero desbloquearle los shaders aunque sea.
Agradeceria tu ayuda. Desde ya muchas gracias.

---
Could you explain a bit more as you use this script.

I have an MSI TwinFrozr III 6950 and I want to unlock the shaders. (6970)
Appreciate your help. Regards !!

 

[Phrozin]

Hi all,first time here
Firstly thanks to all who contributed to this awesome thread!!!

The benefit of living in a third world country is that we were lucky enough to get some reference cards,MSI R6950 2gb-2PM2D2GD5.Mine will arrive tomorrow and the other nine later this week(for my friends).

I have read through the whole thread so far and have decided to do the modded 6950 bios via script and unlocking the shaders.

I was thinking then further is it possible to put in overclock settings via RBE?
There is a setting in RBE that allows this,but found this thread:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143965
and in the help file of RBE they say this:
"The overdrive limit in the BIOS is protected by this key. It can be changed, but if so, the key won't match any more which makes the catalyst driver not recognize the card any more and therefore, this BIOS is unusable. RBE can't decrypt this key, but it can transplant an overdrive limit and its key to another BIOS"

So the ideal would be to have a standard 6950 bios with unlocked shaders and the gpu and memmory overclocked in bios.
I don't wanna do it via software-I want it to boot up with selected clocks.

If this is not possible,what about using a overclocked bios from another 6950 like the "MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III Power Edition/OC" and unlock the shaders via script.

with these methods if possible it seems better than playing around with a 6970 bios that has different memmory timings/volts.

Hope the guru's here can point me in the right direction or have a possible solution to the bios OC part

Cant wait for tommorow to get my hd6950

[edit] Ok,got my card today,it's the black pcb with bios switch(awesome)..
So me pushing it through benches & games at stock level to test stability and look if the card is ok(no artifacts) before I go for shader unlock.
Will keep updating as I go - Will try to find out some more on the flashing of a factory overclocked 6950 bios to 6950-reference card..

 

[xrror]

It seems possible that using the PowerColor HD 6950 PCS++ 2 GB BIOS this should be possible, since if I'm reading this correctly it has a "signature" already that allows higher overdrive limits:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Powercolor/HD_6950_PCS_Plus_Plus/27.html
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't gotten around to trying this yet.

I need/want to try this myself when I have some time, otherwise it's always a race to see if the latest MSI Afterburner beta supports the latest catalyst driver each month.

Also I'm not sure if Radeon BIOS Editor (RBE) supports editing voltages yet, or if it's still experimental on the 6950. My goal is to make a modded bios for my 6950 with the voltage and overclock "baked in" to the card bios, so I don't need to worry about using other tools to get the card up to speed. That way it "just works" regardless of what computer or OS the card gets stuck in.

 

[antipesto93]

Just a note:

Asus HD6950 Direct CU2 2gb
- You CAN flash a 6970 bios BUT you CANNOT unlock the shaders.

- so basically, it cant unlock the shaders.

 

[Phrozin]

@ xrror,
Awesome buddy,seems we've got the same idea of getting our stable clocks into the bios..
Hope the guru's can shed some light here for us!

 

[1uk3]

I have the XFX 6950 2GB reference card - I used a bios from the XFX 6970 and flashed it using atiflash and no issues whatsoever. Perfect and temps are fine.

It's always nice to get something for free!

---

UPDATE: I decided to go back to original bios but unlocked the shaders. After a lot of reading I became slightly concerned that I might damage my card using the 6970 bios.

The card doesn't seem to like to overclock to 6970 speeds with the 6950 bios though even though it was fine with the 6970 bios. I get some flickering occasionally when I've enabled AMD Overdrive.

 

[deadman_uk]

I have a MSI Radeon HD 6950 2GB Twin Frozr III Power Edition which arrived today. Is it worth me flashing to an 6970? What is the best way for me to do this? I hear people saying it's best to flash, others saying revert to original BIOS and just OC. Also some saying they need to unlock the shaders, while others don't need to. I am confused, can someone take me by the hand and help?

Thanks!

 

[Boatski]

I have a MSI Radeon HD 6950 2GB Twin Frozr III Power Edition which arrived today. Is it worth me flashing to an 6970? What is the best way for me to do this? I hear people saying it's best to flash, others saying revert to original BIOS and just OC. Also some saying they need to unlock the shaders, while others don't need to. I am confused, can someone take me by the hand and help?

Thanks!

I just got my Twin Frozr III 6950 in today. I've tried using RBE to unlock the shaders in the existing BIOS, but that hasn't work for me.

 

[Olleing]

Read this article
http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/msi_r6950_twin_froz_iii_power_edition_unlocking,1.html

and use / try this bios file
http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/96402/MSI.HD6950.2048.110324.html

 

[Phrozin]

Hi All
Again thanks to all who posted their thoughts and ideas..helped me a bunch.
So here is my findings and updates since my last post on the MSI R6950 2gb-2PM2D2GD5 reference.revision1 card-http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2307086&postcount=2621

It's a shame not a lot responded on the questions asked there,but no biggie.
Thanks as well to "xrror" for your idea on the PowerColor HD 6950 PCS++ 2 GB BIOS.

Like stated in previous post I didn't want to run a 6970 bios,but rather a 6950 bios with unlocked shaders and overclocked gpu at 850 or 880mhz thus ensuring the memory timings/volts stay intact.

Ok, here is what I did.
1.Firstly I tested the card on benches and games at stock to see for artifacts(none found).

2.Then I upped my gpu clock and memory clock to 6970 specs via Msi After Burner(first have to unlock the unofficial overclocking values via the .cfg file found install diectory of app)

3.Then I ran it through benches again-I used 3dmark Vantage,3dMark11,Crysis Warhead,Crysis2,Metro2033 *benched for a half hour checking temps and game play.Used Msi Kombuster to max gpu to 99% to see temps and custom fan profile I created in Msi After Burner.- no artifacts or crashes.

4.I then tried a overclocked bios->http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/96402/MSI.HD6950.2048.110324.html Unfortunately manage to flash it via atiwinflash using cmd console due to "id mismatch error" in gui ,flash was a success,but didn't boot up-no signal..

5.So I switch to bios2 and boot up and tried the powercolor bios which only has gpu clocked to 880mhz->http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/94169/Powercolor.HD6950.2048.110121.html
It booted up no problems(my ati drivers were already uninstalled) then I installed the new ati driver 11.6 and checked via gpu-z and it showed unlocked shaders and gpu clock 880mhz.

6.So then I did the usual benching and stress test to check heat etc..all is ok
Memory is at 1250Mhz,this i can clock to 1300mhz if i need/want to via Msi AB

So in short,yes you can flash a overclocked 6950 bios which is better i.m.h.o. than a 6970 bios to a MSI R6950 2gb-2PM2D2GD5..Mwuhaha

Here is my benches:
Vantage:

3DMark11:


Happy unlocking

 

[b0uncyfr0]

Just a quick update guys, i got the soic clip but i was unable to unlock it. Very disappointed though, i thought it was a guranteed unlock.

 

[reddie007]

MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III Power Edition - OC 2GB

was anyone able to unlock the card recently and which bios to use?

I am asking because on the page:
http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/msi_r6950_twin_froz_iii_power_edition_unlocking,1.html

a custom bios is provided to unlock the both OC and nonOC version of the card and the 'modified' bios has only 64kb. Atiwinflash will come out with a warning screen that the bios is probably corrupted. Wouldn't dare just to load this to the card as such

thanks for any reply

 

[kalawera]

was anyone able to unlock the card recently and which bios to use?

I am asking because on the page:
http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/msi_r6950_twin_froz_iii_power_edition_unlocking,1.html

a custom bios is provided to unlock the both OC and nonOC version of the card and the 'modified' bios has only 64kb. Atiwinflash will come out with a warning screen that the bios is probably corrupted. Wouldn't dare just to load this to the card as such

thanks for any reply

I've both the BIOS you linked and the one from TPU database with unlocked shader, they both unlocked my TFIII (no matter the size) but both rendering artifacts even on desktop w/out any OC (at first it was all OK, but once I started DAII the artefacting started) so now I am just OC with the stock BIOS: 950/1400@1.24 Witcher2 stable, can not get to 1GHz stable
tried also Lightning BIOS- it did not work at all

 

[reddie007]

I've both the BIOS you linked and the one from TPU database with unlocked shader, they both unlocked my TFIII (no matter the size) but both rendering artifacts even on desktop w/out any OC (at first it was all OK, but once I started DAII the artefacting started) so now I am just OC with the stock BIOS: 950/1400@1.24 Witcher2 stable, can not get to 1GHz stable
tried also Lightning BIOS- it did not work at all

ok thanks - I had Sapphire Flex HD6950 2GB recently, OCed to 960/1400@1.20 w/o errors, but was not satisfied with the noise it was producing, so I am buying this one instead, expecting better cooling & less noise.
Pity it didn't work for you. Tried to modify your own bios with the RBE v1.28 to unlock too? Maybe the shaders are corrupted - if it is even possible(?). I'd also try with non OC-ed system, but that's a blind shot.

 

[kalawera]

ok thanks - I had Sapphire Flex HD6950 2GB recently, OCed to 960/1400@1.20 w/o errors, but was not satisfied with the noise it was producing, so I am buying this one instead, expecting better cooling & less noise.
Pity it didn't work for you. Tried to modify your own bios with the RBE v1.28 to unlock too? Maybe the shaders are corrupted - if it is even possible(?). I'd also try with non OC-ed system, but that's a blind shot.

maybe they were "corrupted" deliberately at the factory, I mean not properly laser cut or something... or the software- drivers, CCC, MSI AB, etc. have troubles understanding that a 6950 can have 1536 shaders... did not try RBE myself- too many options and was afraid not to mess something up...strangely enough even with the size difference according to TPU database both BIOSes are reported the same
I am moving to SB tomorrow and will see how things are with a fresh Win install

 

[blinzi]

Just a quick update guys, i got the soic clip but i was unable to unlock it. Very disappointed though, i thought it was a guranteed unlock.

you sure u bridged the right pins??

 

[reddie007]

maybe they were "corrupted" deliberately at the factory, I mean not properly laser cut or something... or the software- drivers, CCC, MSI AB, etc. have troubles understanding that a 6950 can have 1536 shaders... did not try RBE myself- too many options and was afraid not to mess something up...strangely enough even with the size difference according to TPU database both BIOSes are reported the same
I am moving to SB tomorrow and will see how things are with a fresh Win install

good luck with that; its even stranger to see its not working when on the contrary some ppl claim that the unlocking shader bios was issued by msi itself granting that ability :-(

if you would want to use RBE:
save the original bios to a file, run RBE, load the bios into it, click on the "additional features" tab, and on the right side of the window, there is "unlock 6950->6970" section. Here select the "6970 shader count" and save your new bios to a file...

well this didn't work for me on the saphire flex card, but that's how it should be done. tmorow i hope i get the msi twin frozr3 too, so.. we'll see

 

[uki789]

ASUS radeon HD 6950 DC II 1 gb

can the card from the title(or any other 1GB HD 6950) be ulocked to radeon HD6970???