How to enable additional shaders on Radeon HD 6950

[godslam]

I have a Diamond Radeon HD 6950 and I flashed it to an HD 6970 with success, but once the computer restarted there was nothing to display. I'm wondering what it is that's wrong. I tried the modified Diamon .bin and still nothing. Any help is appreciated.

I'm pretty sure it's not booting at all actually.

 

[jonathan1107]

I'd like an answer pls...

Bump, I'd still like an answer to my questions in RED plzzz

 

[godslam]

Seeing there seems to be about 100~ pages in this article...

Could anyone help me get up-t0-date about overclocking the radeon 6950?

I have a XFX 6950 2gb and a HIS 6950 2gb in CF... They're both "shaders unlocked" only...

Here are my Questions:

1. Is there any new concrete info about the "safety" of flashing 6950 to 6970 bios? Is it still dangereous to do this? Have there been any discoveries about "how to push the 6950 further without permanently damaging it???"

2. Is it really worth it to push the 6950 clock speeds further than the CCC Overdrive limits ???

3. What exactly is there to gain when you OC a radeon 6950? something like 10-15% perf boost? And what about when you're using them in CF ???

Basically, I haven't checked in for radeon 6950 OC info for the last 4 months... so is there anything new I should know ???

I'll try and answer to the best of my ability.

1. If you have the correct card then the chances of running into issues are pretty slim. Pushing anything over its listed limits is chancing it.

2. I guess it depends on the person. The risk-reward factor is there. If you want to risk it all, you can end up with a card that is much better than before.

3. This one I'm not sure about. You gain a performance boost, but I'm not sure how great it is.

 

[doveman]

I've got a Powercolor 6950 2GB (non-reference) that shader unlocked with RBE no problem. I've also used Afterburner to overclock it to 900/1350 @ stock 1.1v (without editing the .cfg file).

What's puzzling me is that the article shows an increase of 50W and 27FPS in Furmark when PT is set to +20%, but when I tried it, it didn't make any difference (I've tried at +5% increments from 0-20% as well). I've been testing with GPU Tool rather than Furmark, but I'd still expect to see a noticeable increase in consumption and it loads the card to 98%.

 

[WhitePrQjser]

I've got a Powercolor 6950 2GB (non-reference) that shader unlocked with RBE no problem. I've also used Afterburner to overclock it to 900/1350 @ stock 1.1v (without editing the .cfg file).

What's puzzling me is that the article shows an increase of 50W and 27FPS in Furmark when PT is set to +20%, but when I tried it, it didn't make any difference (I've tried at +5% increments from 0-20% as well). I've been testing with GPU Tool rather than Furmark, but I'd still expect to see a noticeable increase in consumption and it loads the card to 98%.

Could it possibly have been this one?

http://www.komplett.dk/k/ki.aspx?sku=624065

Don't mind the Danish

If it is, could you PM me how exactly you did it starting from 1.? Kinda like a little guide?

 

[r2edu]

I recently bought one XFX HD-695X-CNFC 2GB vA.1, and no dual-bios switch in it, neither two phisical bios chip, only one inside the card so I take the cooler out and bridge the pins 8 & 3 (as I read in other forum or in other thread here)...

Now the card flash ok (before the bridge I get the "Could not erase rom" error) but now ATIWinflash via CMD finish the work and ask me to reboot but nothing change... 1408 Shaders

I tried via DOS with Atiflash, flash ok, but nothing...1408 Shaders

@cadaveca: Could you tell me please what version number is yours? Mine is A.1, so I think it might be flashable cause I got another XFX HD-695X-ZNFC 1GB vA.1 with dual-bios switch and unlock ok...

I am really stuck here, tried everything, RBE, script mod, with drivers, without drivers, with different flags in Atiwinflash, etc, etc....

By the way, could you upload the bios modded of your card just to see if that work in mine?

Thank you and sorry for my english (I´m from Argentina)

 

[doveman]

Could it possibly have been this one?

http://www.komplett.dk/k/ki.aspx?sku=624065

Don't mind the Danish

If it is, could you PM me how exactly you did it starting from 1.? Kinda like a little guide?

Yep, same card. Rather than PM you I thought I'd post here in case anyone else can benefit.

It's been a while since I did it, so I can't be precise but basically:

1. Dump BIOS from Card (maybe using GPU-Z)
2. Load BIOS into RBE and tick "unlock shaders" and save modded BIOS
3. Upload modded BIOS to card (with switch in whatever position is NOT the read-only backup). I think you can do this from within RBE
4. Reboot and check that GPU-Z shows increased shader count
5. Test with GPU Tool or Furmark to check it's stable (I didn't, but it's a good idea)
5. Install Afterburner 2.1 and increase core and memory clocks to 900/1350.
6. Test with GPU Tool or Furmark to check it's stable

 

[WhitePrQjser]

Yep, same card. Rather than PM you I thought I'd post here in case anyone else can benefit.

It's been a while since I did it, so I can't be precise but basically:

1. Dump BIOS from Card (maybe using GPU-Z)
2. Load BIOS into RBE and tick "unlock shaders" and save modded BIOS
3. Upload modded BIOS to card (with switch in whatever position is NOT the read-only backup). I think you can do this from within RBE
4. Reboot and check that GPU-Z shows increased shader count
5. Test with GPU Tool or Furmark to check it's stable (I didn't, but it's a good idea)
5. Install Afterburner 2.1 and increase core and memory clocks to 900/1350.
6. Test with GPU Tool or Furmark to check it's stable

What do you mean by #3?

And thank you very much!

 

[jonathan1107]

bump, I'd still like you guys to give me more info about my questions in RED from ealier (same page as this: page 109)

 

[r2edu]

Seeing there seems to be about 100~ pages in this article...

Could anyone help me get up-t0-date about overclocking the radeon 6950?

I have a XFX 6950 2gb and a HIS 6950 2gb in CF... They're both "shaders unlocked" only...

Here are my Questions:

1. Is there any new concrete info about the "safety" of flashing 6950 to 6970 bios? Is it still dangereous to do this? Have there been any discoveries about "how to push the 6950 further without permanently damaging it???"

2. Is it really worth it to push the 6950 clock speeds further than the CCC Overdrive limits ???

3. What exactly is there to gain when you OC a radeon 6950? something like 10-15% perf boost? And what about when you're using them in CF ???

Basically, I haven't checked in for radeon 6950 OC info for the last 4 months... so is there anything new I should know ???

For what I know/read:

1) NO. "Use it at your own risk" claims all the pages/forums/info about that.. In my knoweldge the mems on those cards are different, so IMHO there is no perceptible change between Only Shaders Unlock + OC and 6970 bios in a 6950.. perhaps a 5-10%? Does this percent make you take that risk?

2) No problem with that, if you dont rise the Vcore too much it´s like any other card.. test and error, temps, etc...

3) It´s up to you and your needs... if you need a 6950 CF, unlocked + OC I think you might have a 30" at 2560x1920 at least... any other way doesn´t make sense to me...

This is my opinion, I´m not an expert... so maybe you are better waitting for another answer

Good luck!

 

[doveman]

What do you mean by #3?

And thank you very much!

On the card there's a switch. In one position, it makes the card use the backup BIOS, which is read-only, and in the other position it uses a flashable BIOS, so the switch needs to be in that position (I think it's position 1) before you can flash the card with your modded BIOS.

 

[WhitePrQjser]

On the card there's a switch. In one position, it makes the card use the backup BIOS, which is read-only, and in the other position it uses a flashable BIOS, so the switch needs to be in that position (I think it's position 1) before you can flash the card with your modded BIOS.

Once again - thank you!

And, what do you mean by uploading the BIOS? Got confused :/

 

[elvis0305]

Unfortunately it doesn't work for my gigabyte hd6950 1G, used RBE to enable Unlock 6950->6970 option (ticked "6970 shader count"), saved the new BIOS, and freshed it into my card, reboot.. the shader count is still 1408 ! Any help?

 

[b0uncyfr0]

Unfortunately it doesn't work for my gigabyte hd6950 1G, used RBE to enable Unlock 6950->6970 option (ticked "6970 shader count"), saved the new BIOS, and freshed it into my card, reboot.. the shader count is still 1408 ! Any help?

Trust me elvis you are not the first to try. Ive even bought the soic clip and tried to hard-flash and it still didint work. Take it from me, forget about it and overclock the hell out of the card.

We were lucky to get a very nice cooler so you should be able to get at least 920/1300. Monitor your temperatures though.

 

[T_L_O_T_D]

hey guys
i wanted to unlock my xfx 6950 2 gb and it's reference model. first i used xfx 6950 2gb modded bios to unlock shadders . and i successfully unlocked additional shadder. but problem is i tried to use 6970 xfx 2 gb. when i flashed my bios. my memory clock change to 1375.but core clock is still stock (800) . i checked in gpu-z texture fill rate is 76.8. i increased core clock to 880 but after i lunch a game at the beginning it will stop. but with 1375 memory clock and 800 core clock game is stable. i tried using second method i mean using Msi after burner version 2.1. first of all i flashed with modded bios and tried to increase voltage but in Msi after burner this option is disabled. so i tried to increase voltage via modifying bios in RBE.i've set voltage to 1.1. i flashed card with modified bios but after restarting windows won't boot. and i should place bios position to second position to boot windows again. any idea what should i do?
p.s: my psu is 585 watt.

 

[doveman]

Once again - thank you!

And, what do you mean by uploading the BIOS? Got confused :/

I mean flash the modded BIOS to the card.

 

[ehmdjii]

so after all i did manage to use this physical mod to flash my sapphire 9650 1gb.
i used rbe to set the shaders to 9670. saved the new rom.
used winflash and i said flash was ok!

unfortunately i still only see 1408 shaders instead of 1536

 

[T_L_O_T_D]

so after all i did manage to use this physical mod to flash my sapphire 9650 1gb.
i used rbe to set the shaders to 9670. saved the new rom.
used winflash and i said flash was ok!

unfortunately i still only see 1408 shaders instead of 1536

cuz it's n't unlockable

 

[WhitePrQjser]

I mean flash the modded BIOS to the card.

How? :S

 

[TORCH'D]

can someone please post how to do it with 1GB card ?
pics will be much of help,..

thanks​

 

[Alchemist]

Hi, I've got a PowerColor 6950 2GB and I've tried everything and I cannot even unlock any shaders.. Really frustrating! I've used the Wizards toolkits, made sure it is unlocked and every time I reboot after a successful flash my system fails to boot. reset to position 2 again.. restart.. I've tried most of the bios in the list, I've tried RBE to unlock shaders, I just cannot get it to work. I am using a reference card, have the bios switch, and know what I am doing.. cannot use the atiwinflash gui, have to use through cmd, only have one card, running win7 x64 on Q6600, overclocked 3.2GHz, even running the rig at stock (thinking the overclock could be screwing it up) - no joy..
I'm really rather frustrated with this, and some help would be greatly appreciated. I understand it is not a given that this will work, but not even being able to unlock the shaders?? As I've said, I've used the tools provided by Wizzard and modded by RBE (funnily enough that boots, but no extra shader in GPU-Z.0.5.4..) could the shaders be lasered off I've heard mention?
Nothing.. Nada.. Zilch.. it's not like I can take it back to the shop and say, sorry, cannot flash this card, give me a new one..
Has anyone else had this type of fault? I've been reading the forums but after 20+ pages, I had to go to bed; I've flashed the &^*% out of this card, and well, I'm about to give up and resign myself to having a nice shiny new 6950 that refuses to be anything but a 6950..
Thanks to Wizzard and everyone else for all your input over the thread, and if anyone does have any ideas... please share!!
Cheers in advance, one very unhappy and by the sounds of it, rather unlucky 6950 2GB owner..

 

[arroyo]

@Alchemist

Question: Is it reference card? And if I say reference I mean, is it have reference PCB and reference cooler?
Possible answers:
Answer 1: Yes, It is reference. (It can be modded.)
Answer 2: No. But looks similar to the reference. (Give it up! It won't mod.)
Answer 3: No. It is totally different. (Give it up! It won't mod.)

 

[Alchemist]

@arroyo
Thanks for your response. Checking I cannot see an AMD sticker on the PCI slot.. so I guess it's non-reference.. gutted.. however, the 6950 is a kicking card, so I'll guess I'll have to be happy with what I have..
what I don't get, is why put a bios switch on a card that has not the possibility of being flashed, or is it just easier from a production line point of view? and why would Powercolor disable this feature??
anyway, rhetorical questions only..
Cheers

 

[Skywalk]

Hmm - did my own unlock of the cards i have. 2x6950.
One of the cards shows as:

"PCI-E 2.0 x16 @ x8 2.0"

How come it won't show @x16 like the other one?

 

[WhitePrQjser]

Hmm - did my own unlock of the cards i have. 2x6950.
One of the cards shows as:

"PCI-E 2.0 x16 @ x8 2.0"

How come it won't show @x16 like the other one?

Do you have two PCI-E slots which both are at x16?

My PCI-E slots are x16/x8/x4, which means my GTX 460s operate at x8/x8