How to enable additional shaders on Radeon HD 6950

[jayc]

After about 2 months of being stumped with flashing my card I figured it out, needed to switch the Bios on the card to #2, Gigabyte must lock the first one or something. After my comp has what can only be described as a seizure and the Mobos Bios freaking out Im back up and running.

What a night!

That's the 3rd time I've heard of a Gigabyte owner saying that their erasable bios is on the #2 switch of the card, and the read only bios is on the #1 switch.

 

[hito]

I'm getting random restarts, as if I pushed the reset button on my tower. No BSOD, Windows doesn't log anything besides that it failed to shutdown correctly, and happens pretty randomly, from just starting up FireFox, to after an hour+ solid of gaming.

Purchased an HIS 2GB 6950 about 2 months ago and flashed the 6970 BIOS (which was the mistake after reading this thread) rather than the 6950 shader unlock BIOS. It has been running fine until about 4 days ago when random restarts came up. After diagonising every possible thing, it seems this was probably the issue. I've flashed the original BIOS back using the guide posted, done a clean driver install, and still get the random restarts. Aside from testing a back up a video card (which I will be stealing my roommates tomorrow afternoon when he's gone...) to confirm it, it seems to be pointing to this.

My question is... am I gonna have to send it in for warranty replacement (and hope they don't find out...) or is there a way to salvage it?

 

[arroyo]

Every HD6950 that was baked by using HD6970 bios returned from RMA to our shop with "Repair Denial" status (even if client flashed back to stock HD6950 bios). We had a real plague of bricked cards in January. I am glad that people started to use unlocking script rather than HD6970 bios to perform HD6950 mod.

 

[hito]

Seems I've baked it. I'm getting a restart on the 6950 on any game I start, while using a 9600GSO plays just fine.

Every HD6950 that was baked by using HD6970 bios returned from RMA to our shop with "Repair Denial" status (even if client flashed back to stock HD6950 bios). We had a real plague of bricked cards in January. I am glad that people started to use unlocking script rather than HD6970 bios to perform HD6950 mod.

Sounds like I shouldn't bother with the RMA then. Well, thanks for the tidbit of info

 

[Dog]

in trouble

Hello guys,

I'm in trouble.. I just bought a card and flashed it according to the article. It was done with no issue from command line. But after when I wanted to make my happy feedback, the screen has gone black, and the machine has frozen. It's strange that outlook, internet explorer, GPU-Z and a lot of other programs are working with no issue. Windows is stable, starts up with no error. But when I start Google Chrome, or a game, the screen goes black and it's over.

Then I read the forums and seen that the article is a bit outdated and I should have been used the modded bios instead of 6970. No prob, I wanted to flash back the original, than the modded bios, but it does not work anymore. Unlock and flash starts without any error message, but the flashing progressban is going only for about 1/3 then quits with no error, and flash does not happening.

Then I was looking for the "backup bios switch" but it seem there is no switch on my card. :/ It a Gigabyte 6950 OC 1G. Please help if someone have experience with this card.

 

[x900lbGorillax]

How hot does it get if you do 6970 BIOS? An what are you guys running your fan speed at for idle an while in games?

 

[Dog]

How hot does it get if you do 6970 BIOS? An what are you guys running your fan speed at for idle an while in games?

The fans are quiet, the card is on 46C, seems not an issue. It's a 3 fan version.

 

[x900lbGorillax]

The fans are quiet, the card is on 46C, seems not an issue. It's a 3 fan version.

What brand is your 6950? I just bought a 2GB Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 and thinking a lot of things over. I see you had an unsuccessful attempt at flashing with the first guide that has been up. They really should update that.

Considering you're dealing with 6+8 6970 vs dual 6 PCI E on 6950. How can it possibly draw enough power to run 880-1375 6970 clocks over dual 6 pin and no voltage increase to GPU? Are dual 6 pins able to handle the power consumption? Assuming the voltage you have to play with on 6950 is good enough for those 6970 clocks? It's just not making much sense to me. The modscript to unlock your shader count to 6970 with no voltage/cock changes seems much safer. Have you attempted the modscript using your 6950 bios? I was curious if you get your card back to being functional. I have only read reviews of the card I bought working with 6970 BIOS. I do see though 6950 same size unit as the 6970 making it seem possible to handle the heat with the current heatsink/fan. The given information here though is nice but not detailed enough. Everything seems iffy an I see already a lot of failed attempts.

 

[Dog]

What brand is your 6950? I just bought a 2GB Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 and thinking a lot of things over. I see you had an unsuccessful attempt at flashing with the first guide that has been up. They really should update that.

Considering you're dealing with 6+8 6970 vs dual 6 PCI E on 6950. How can it possibly draw enough power to run 880-1375 6970 clocks over dual 6 pin and no voltage increase to GPU? Are dual 6 pins able to handle the power consumption? Assuming the voltage you have to play with on 6950 is good enough for those 6970 clocks? It's just not making much sense to me. The modscript to unlock your shader count to 6970 with no voltage/cock changes seems much safer. Have you attempted the modscript using your 6950 bios? I was curious if you get your card back to being functional. I have only read reviews of the card I bought working with 6970 BIOS. I do see though 6950 same size unit as the 6970 making it seem possible to handle the heat with the current heatsink/fan. The given information here though is nice but not detailed enough. Everything seems iffy an I see already a lot of failed attempts.

I have a Gigabyte HD 6950 OC with 1G RAM, no backup BIOS switch. The card obviously does not work well. I don't know much about voltages, and ccc is not working on my machine due to Visual Studio fucked up the .NET framework. I just want to flash back the original BIOS. The problem is that I can't. WinFlash starts up normally but @ 1/3 progress it quits. There's no error, any message, just quits. I also tried to use the -log swith to make an error log, but it's only 1 line in the log: "Ready to Flash". But it does not flashing the card. I have also tried the communication test. If I use the command on slot 1, it obviously shows error (the card is in slot 0). When I try it with slot 0, it does not say anything.

It's also interesting that if I don't use the unlock then I get the "ID mismatch" error, so the program can communicate with the card. But if I use unlock, the program quits at the same point, just without the error message. Strange.

 

[renq]

Considering you're dealing with 6+8 6970 vs dual 6 PCI E on 6950. How can it possibly draw enough power to run 880-1375 6970 clocks over dual 6 pin and no voltage increase to GPU? Are dual 6 pins able to handle the power consumption?

The 2 extra pins on an 8pin connector are GND (ground), not 12V, so it shouldn't really matter.

 

[Vargtass]

Guys,
if I read Dog right, he flashed a 6970 bios on to a 6950 1GB card. How is that possible?

 

[cadaveca]

The 2 extra pins on an 8pin connector are GND (ground), not 12V, so it shouldn't really matter.

The extra plugs are not just ground, BTW, so yes, it can very well matter.

Most aren't even aware that a 6-pin plug only require 2x 12v leads, either, but OK.

Table 2. 6-Pin PCI Express Power Connector Pinout
Pin Number Description
1 +12 V
2 +12 V
3 +12 V
4 GND
5 Sense
6 GND


Table 3. 8-Pin PCI Express Power Connector Pinout
Pin Number Description
1 +12 V
2 +12 V
3 +12 V
4 Sense1
5 GND
6 Sense0
7 GND
8 GND

 

[hv43082]

So what's the consensus on the 2GB reference 6950's card?

-Unlock shader only and not load 6970 bios.
-Overclock manually with powertune to 20%, OC the core clock to 840-860 at stock voltage. What's the highest voltage and clock frequency I can go here without frying it?
-Leaving memory at 1250 and default memory voltage? Seems like people are frying the memory when push to 6970's frequency and voltage.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dog]

Can someone save me a BIOS from working Gigabyte GV-6950-OC-1GD?

 

[vvulture]

The extra plugs are not just ground, BTW, so yes, it can very well matter.

Yes they are... just GND ( common GND to be more specific ) !! If they were anything else, they would be coloured differently.
Also, for experimental purposes, i have cut the wires on a pci-e plug and rejoined them in a different order ( keeping yellows together and blacks together ) and it made no difference whatsoever.. I did this on a 6 and 8 pin connector.
My multimeter also confirms that the black wires are ALL GND and that they are ALL connected together internally using continuity test.
Opening up the PSU also confirmed that ALL the black wires are connected together.

One last thing, if your claim were correct, a standard molex to PCI-E adaptor would not work...

Cheers

Check --> http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html

 

[manofthem]

So what's the consensus on the 2GB reference 6950's card?

-Unlock shader only and not load 6970 bios.
-Overclock manually with powertune to 20%, OC the core clock to 840-860 at stock voltage. What's the highest voltage and clock frequency I can go here without frying it?
-Leaving memory at 1250 and default memory voltage? Seems like people are frying the memory when push to 6970's frequency and voltage.

Thanks in advance.

I definitely think shaders only is a smarter move, as opposed to full blow 6970 bios.

So that's what I've done with my card, being able to OC it to about 910/1425@1.175V via MSI AB with custom fan curve and voltage mod. It ran fine for the benches and games that I've tested it with . For a long time, i kept a modest 900/1345@1.16V via MSI AB w/o powertune. I didn't seem to notice any difference in bench scores with the powertune set to +12-20%, so I leave it at 0 (only exception is Furmark, which throttles clock speed but even does it at default clocks).

So it seems that leaving a 6950 bios and OCing to say 880/1375 is safer than a 6970 bios with default clocks of 880/1375. Anyone agree or disagree with this? Let me know; i don't want to fry anything.

 

[cadaveca]

Yes they are... just GND ( common GND to be more specific ) !! If they were anything else, they would be coloured differently.
Also, for experimental purposes, i have cut the wires on a pci-e plug and rejoined them in a different order ( keeping yellows together and blacks together ) and it made no difference whatsoever.. I did this on a 6 and 8 pin connector.
My multimeter also confirms that the black wires are ALL GND and that they are ALL connected together internally using continuity test.
Opening up the PSU also confirmed that ALL the black wires are connected together.

Cheers

Check --> http://www.playtool.com/pages/psuconnectors/connectors.html

There is alot of confusion over the PCIe power connector because you have to pay to get the real specs. That bit I quoted above, is from nVidia directly, on what thier plugs are for, for a specific SKU, and note that both the 6-pin and the 8-pin have sense wires, and that a 6-pin connector requires only 2x12v leads, as in the picture is put in the above post, contrary to your link.

Here's what you link says:

The PCI Express specification is, unfortunately, not a free, public specification. So most people have never seen it. Including me.

I've never seen a 6 pin PCI Express power cable with pin 2 not connected.

So your source admits they do not know the purpose of the connectors.

You know, I really try to make a point to bring real, accurate info, so please do keep that in mind.

 

[x900lbGorillax]

I can confirm the modded 6950 BIOS script works well. Very stable just unlocking shader count. Here is the card setup I have just recently done with a brand new 6950.

Video Card :: 2GB Sapphire Radeon 6950 HD. No 6970 BIOS voltage/clocks flash. But OC'ed and flashed w/modded 6950 BIOS to 840-1325 +20 power consumption, shader count 1536. My temps seem to get around 71c in game.

 

[jayc]

Hello guys,

I'm in trouble...

Then I read the forums and seen that the article is a bit outdated and I should have been used the modded bios instead of 6970.
Then I was looking for the "backup bios switch" but it seem there is no switch on my card. :/ It a Gigabyte 6950 OC 1G.

You flashed a 6970 bios on a 6950 1Gb card??
If you used the script from the first page, it would have created a backup bios. Unless you manually typed in the commands, and skipped this part about performing backups.
Look in the folder where the script is. It should be named "backup.bin".

When you get the original 1Gb bios back, try force flashing the card with the ATIFLASH commands in safemode DOS prompt or DOS bootup disk. I'm assuming you know how to create your own dos boot usb stick?

Don't use ATIWINFLASH. Note I said Atiflash. Download here...
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1968/ATIFlash_3.86.html

atiflash -f -p 0 "your_New_BIOS.bin"
where
-f = force flash
-p = write bios to adapter
0 = adapter 1 => primary card/GPU (-p 1 => adapter 2 => secondary card/GPU, etc)
your_New_BIOS.bin => be conscious to select an short BIOS name with no special characters.

Good luck.

At least you have confirmed what everyone thought was not possible. Now we know for sure.

<edit> Oh needless to say, don't game or run too many applications at once until you have fixed this.
It should be possible to fix this with no damage to the card. The drivers only think you have 2Gb of memory available, but you only physically have 1Gb. So then apps try to use that ram above 1Gb, cccrrrraaaassssshhhhhh.

 

[manofthem]

I can confirm the modded 6950 BIOS script works well. Very stable just unlocking shader count. Here is the card setup I have just recently done with a brand new 6950.

Video Card :: 2GB Sapphire Radeon 6950 HD. No 6970 BIOS voltage/clocks flash. But OC'ed and flashed w/modded 6950 BIOS to 840-1325 +20 power consumption, shader count 1536. My temps seem to get around 71c in game.

Do some benches with the +20% and then with +0%. When I did I didn't see any difference. Let me know what you get.

 

[jayc]

So what's the consensus on the 2GB reference 6950's card?

-Unlock shader only and not load 6970 bios. - Correct

-Overclock manually with powertune to 20%, - Not necessary. You can leave it
at 0 or 5-10% to be safe from possible throttling, unless you like playing with Furmark.

OC the core clock to 840-860 at stock voltage. - varies, some can get to 860 on stock some cannot. You'll have a good chance of hitting 840 at least on stock voltage.

What's the highest voltage and clock frequency I can go here without frying it? - how long is a piece of string? 1.3v is the upper limits. up to 1.2 seems to be ok. BUT be careful FFS !!

-Leaving memory at 1250 and default memory voltage? - Memory voltage cannot be changed directly. The voltage we are talking about above is for core. It 'might' be linked indirectly to core, but I'm not sure.

Seems like people are frying the memory when push to 6970's frequency and voltage. - Only those that flashed to a 6970 bios. People using the shader unlock and then overclocking up seem to be a lot more successful.

Thanks in advance.

-

 

[jayc]

Do some benches with the +20% and then with +0%. When I did I didn't see any difference. Let me know what you get.

Like manofthem said. It's not worth the extra 'possible' heat at +20%.
Only Furmark seems to be able to pick up the difference. But who "plays" Furmark???

 

[x900lbGorillax]

Do some benches with the +20% and then with +0%. When I did I didn't see any difference. Let me know what you get.

To be very specific I only seen like 2-3fps more at the end of my total bench on Heaven.

Here is my best bench.

17:01:02 Time: 259.512
17:01:02 Frames: 10679
17:01:02 FPS: 41.1503
17:01:02 Min FPS: 21.5806
17:01:02 Max FPS: 90.0593
17:01:02 Scores: 1036.58

So yeah not worth it unless, the +20 keeps 840-1325 clocks stable feeding it more power. I haven't tested that. I am new to the catalyst radeon ap so is power control settings of +20 increasing voltage? I think it did but never checked GPUZ. I just know it now reads from .900-1.100 VDDC

 

[manofthem]

To be very specific I only seen like 2-3fps more at the end of my total bench on Heaven.

Here is my best bench.

17:01:02 Time: 259.512
17:01:02 Frames: 10679
17:01:02 FPS: 41.1503
17:01:02 Min FPS: 21.5806
17:01:02 Max FPS: 90.0593
17:01:02 Scores: 1036.58

So yeah not worth it unless, the +20 keeps 840-1325 clocks stable feeding it more power. I haven't tested that. I am new to the catalyst radeon ap so is power control settings of +20 increasing voltage? I think it did but never checked GPUZ. I just know it now reads from .900-1.100 VDDC

The +20% increases the wattage limits before it throttles the core clock down to a lower level. It doesn't raise voltage. If you want to raise voltage, then MSI afterburner works as well as manually setting it via RBE. But at clocks of 840/1325, you shouldn't have to raise voltage.

 

[Dog]

You flashed a 6970 bios on a 6950 1Gb card??
If you used the script from the first page, it would have created a backup bios. Unless you manually typed in the commands, and skipped this part about performing backups.
Look in the folder where the script is. It should be named "backup.bin".

When you get the original 1Gb bios back, try force flashing the card with the ATIFLASH commands in safemode DOS prompt or DOS bootup disk. I'm assuming you know how to create your own dos boot usb stick?

Don't use ATIWINFLASH. Note I said Atiflash. Download here...
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1968/ATIFlash_3.86.html

atiflash -f -p 0 "your_New_BIOS.bin"
where
-f = force flash
-p = write bios to adapter
0 = adapter 1 => primary card/GPU (-p 1 => adapter 2 => secondary card/GPU, etc)
your_New_BIOS.bin => be conscious to select an short BIOS name with no special characters.

Good luck.

At least you have confirmed what everyone thought was not possible. Now we know for sure.

<edit> Oh needless to say, don't game or run too many applications at once until you have fixed this.
It should be possible to fix this with no damage to the card. The drivers only think you have 2Gb of memory available, but you only physically have 1Gb. So then apps try to use that ram above 1Gb, cccrrrraaaassssshhhhhh.

Shame, but ye, I have flashed 6970 BIOS into my 1gig 6950. I did not know there is 2 different version, so I even did not bother with it when I have ordered the card. :/

As for the solutions, thanks, but it seems it's not possible to flash the card anymore. Under DOS at least I get a failure message: "Error 0FL01 - ROM not erased"

It seems the current BIOS can not be erased from the ROM, even if I use unlock then force flash. I have started the RMA process, hope they will help.