How to enable additional shaders on Radeon HD 6950

[bystander]

While there are differences, it would seem all the cards can use any of the bios. Could it be that the different brands may have coded the bios differently, but they are using the same hardware?

 

[Fluffy]

successfully flashed my XFX card. Now to try some games out

 

[itsdanny]

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/...ufacturer=&model=HD+6950&interface=&memSize=0

Download the first and the second one, compare the binary data , and see.

My internet is shaped, so I will not bother. Although, binary data does not say anything. It could have been compiled different with different compiler settings, the PE header hence will easily be changed and hence the different binary data. And I assume that they will contain different information as well because of the brand, so of course they will have different binary data. That does not mean they have different GPU Bios settings although, but it could be the case.

Is your method a complicated task to accomplish? Either way, why not post a tutorial then for users and members who wish to do a DIY task instead of going through the inconvenience?

 

[rui0317]

I had build a small utility , can do this modification almost auto, beta testing stage.

 

[baud]

i'm actually very interested in writing a rom, i've picked up a few things from flashing 4870s for use in my mac, and reading about flashing 5770s and 5870s for mac use. before the community got a hold of the apple rom some of the more experienced users were writing roms piecemeal from other apple cards.

btw, i returned my XFX and picked up a Diamond, but flashing it still results in a black screen at startup and the comp won't load windows. i honestly don't know what would cause this; maybe the mobo being an EFI mobo, or possibly that it's got pcie 1.0 instead of 2.1. the card works flawlessly with its stock rom, it's just flashing it that borks it all up.

 

[stingushon]

i was kinda stupid when asking how to flash the 2nd card.. eventually i got it working...
weird thing tough...
in 2D i get artifacted on black backgrounds and stuff... and when entering a game/benchmark/furmark i get artifacts for like 20 seconds and than when the cards get "calibrated" they get away(the artifacts) and everything works great (even on 920/1440 clocks)
any idea ?

edit : for 2D artifacts to get away i need to lower the memory clocks to 1250~

 

[521ztz]

I had build a small utility , can do this modification almost auto, beta testing stage.

Dear rui大,
Looking forward to your utility!!

 

[vvulture]

Who wants to have some fun ??

Go over to the AMD Game forum and start a thread about this... see how long it lasts before they delete it LOL... Mine was deleted in record time.

 

[H82LUZ73]

lol i glad most of the 27 out of 27 Sapphire cards worked,I seen a young kid and his girl in my computer store yesterday (I bought a 6970) and he was ready to buy one himself...So i said hey you want to save a few bucks get the 6950 and go to techpowerup.com and read the 6950 to 6970 thread lol So now this morning i will be heading back to pick up the last 6970 in the store wish me luck lol If it is gone i will just buy the 6950 and flash it.

 

[dom99]

Modifying the 6950 bios to unlock the shaders/SIMDS/anything else in that chip, sounds like a much better idea to me, then overclocking up to 6970 speeds.

Looking forward to this program from RUI0317!

 

[tecnoworld]

Hello all! I just ordered a Powercolor 6950 for about 250€. I'll be getting it in a week or so and then I'll try unlocking it. I really hope to succeed!

 

[Qed]

I'm confused.

1) HD 6970 and HD 6950 have the same voltage on dram/gpu? Checking the bios description it says "Voltage: VID1" on both versions but VID1 can be different in the 2 cards.

2) In this picture

How can the "HD 6950 modded +20%" use 22W less and have exactly the same temperature?

Thanks.

 

[dom99]

I would like to know the pros/cons of the two methods, unlocking the shaders in the 6950 bios itself, or simply flashing the 6970 bios?

 

[tecnoworld]

With the first method (modifying 6950 Bios) you'll have the extra shaders, but everything else will be the same as in the original 6950 (clock, memory timings and so on)

With the second method, you'll have a 6970, but only if your memory holds.

 

[dom99]

With the first method (modifying 6950 Bios) you'll have the extra shaders, but everything else will be the same as in the original 6950 (clock, memory timings and so on)

With the second method, you'll have a 6970, but only if your memory holds.

Yes "if your memory holds". I would like to know if there is any performance difference between using 6950 unlocked bios at 6970 clock speeds, and the stock 6970 bios.

 

[tecnoworld]

I can only guess, here, but I think the difference is negligible, if you then overclock the 6950 to 6970 speeds.

 

[dom99]

Well I would say that doing it by using the 6950 modded bios then overclocking as far as you can seems the way to go for maximum stability/performance. Because a lot of people are reporting green artifacts

 

[Patjuh]

Yes I've restarted the computer over and over, installed it over, uninstalled it over, and still not working...

Anyone? my Ati Catalyst isn't installing... Yes I've already flashed the card...

 

[Rule-R]

Yes I've restarted the computer over and over, installed it over, uninstalled it over, and still not working...

Anyone? my Ati Catalyst isn't installing... Yes I've already flashed the card...

Use a program to erase all amd drivers first than reinstall?

I always use DriverCleaner

 

[Icer Jo]

Placed an order @ NewEgg for 2 Sapphire 6950's one to replace my 8800gts 512MB rig and one for my future Mini-ITX build. When they arrive I'll test them both to make sure their are no defects, then ill unlock and flash. Thanks for the Find and now I'm glad I turned down the 4890, 5870, and the 6870.

 

[postumus]

Hey guys,

Wondering if somebody can help me out here. I obtained an odd looking "6950", it's probably an engineering sample. It has the 8+6pin out of the 6970 but the sticker on it reads 6950. Anyway, the drivers just will not install! I've tried them over and over again, and even though they seem to install just fine, I'm not prompted that I need to reboot at the end. Even if I reboot manually, when I get back into win7 64 it's still just a standard vga adapter. I've tried the latest drivers off AMD's site. Also, under GPU-Z I noticed the device ID is just 1 digit away from what they say it should be. Could it be that b/c of that ID being off the drivers won't go in? I've tried flashing the card using W1z's guide, hoping that would change the ID, but wasn't successful in that endeavor either.

Any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Yidaki]

Could you take a picture? Where did you get it? Retail market?

What VGA did you use before your 6950?

 

[postumus]

I'm at work, but could take a picture later, there's not much to see though, looks exactly like a 6970 but with a 6950 sticker on it. I've used many gpus before this, but most recently the GTX 460. I've never had a problem installing drivers or flashing a gpu before though.

 

[obsoletepower]

I am also looking forward to RUI0317's utility. If it works, I will gladly donate some money for it.

 

[Yidaki]

@ postumus

Okay, I get it. Like a AsRock 890GX Extreme3 mainbaord with a 880G sticker on it

Have you tried any driver cleaner? Or installing the driver under "safe mode" (if this is possible).