I agree that it's a matter of luck. I've had 2 each BFG and PNY. BFG's were earlier models and both were unlockable, but one had some minor defects in the locked pipelines while the other was perfect. Of my PNG's, 1 was old version and 1 was new. The old could be unlocked but locked pipelines had major problems, the newer card didn't unlock (maybe it will w/new RivaTuner?) but has good analog output quality, which none of the other 3 did. Anyway, my experience looks like the 50/50 mentioned above and that's also about the same proportion shown in Guru3D's broader success poll. Whether it ends up working with 12 or 16 pipeliines, you'll have a really good card (especially if you take advantage of some of the discount deals currently available).