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6950 flashed to 6970

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Just to update, I definitely have a successfull flash of a Sapphire 6950 using the Sapphire 6970 bios.


Card is running stable (using Furmark) at 935/1420, which I guess isn't crazy OC's but absolutely a great value!
 
Whats the highest anyone has been able to OC after flashing the bios? I ask due to the 2 6-pin power plugs vs the 6 and 8-pin ones on the 6970. I wonder if the card would conk out on a high OC due to this.
 
bargetrav said:
Just to update, I definitely have a successfull flash of a Sapphire 6950 using the Sapphire 6970 bios.


Card is running stable (using Furmark) at 935/1420, which I guess isn't crazy OC's but absolutely a great value!
Click to expand...


epic value, buying a 6950 and flashing it to a 6970 🙂
 
OCGuy said:
I'm not sure if this says something good about 6950, or bad about 6970.
Click to expand...

what could it say that is bad about 6970? if this were 570's unlocking into 580's you'd be carping about how nvidia is super consumer friendly by allowing their enthusiast owners to unlock high end cards.
 
bargetrav said:
Just needed all the files in the same directory, I'm dumb. Anyway, I flashed the card, and it DOES NOT like ATITool, seems to be incompatible.

However, it ran fine through 3dmark11, and 12 minutes of Furmark with no issues other than some good heat (94C max) leaving fan on auto.

Does furmark automatically detect artifacts?
Click to expand...

atitool probably needs an update to be compatible with 69x0. different shader design means it could be a while.

edit: don't use furmark to stability test, the card automatically throttles using that app. kombustor (if it works) is likely better, and I also use 3dmark vantage (probably will go to 11 at some point) and crysis. even on my nvidia cards 3dmark and crysis typically artifact/freeze/etc at lower oc levels than furmark.
 
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ArchAngel777 said:
I have a really hard time believing that AMD did not see this coming... Pretty sure that little lever switch was designed for this type of thing... Oh well, I guess we will never know unless AMD comes clean. 😀
Click to expand...

Apparently AMD investors are not very happy about this whole flashing thing. Their sentiment is that while it's great that the geeks get some braggin right, the high profit margins of the 6970 may go out the window.

BTW: I think this will be a bigger rage then unlocking the X3 to X4 cpu, because let's face it, in the CPU world, you wouldn't want your mom be caught using anything AMD.

Be interesting to see how the retail prices of 6950 and 6970 be like in a month.
 
shangshang said:
Apparently AMD investors are not very happy about this whole flashing thing. Their sentiment is that while it's great that the geeks get some braggin right, the high profit margins of the 6970 may go out the window.

BTW: I think this will be a bigger rage then unlocking the X3 to X4 cpu, because let's face it, in the CPU world, you wouldn't want your mom be caught using anything AMD.

Be interesting to see how the retail prices of 6950 and 6970 be like in a month.
Click to expand...

Do you have any source? Is it many shareholders that have expressed this sentiment? It's a quite odd reaction...
 
It's great news for gaming community

I think AMD screwed up. Not only by preventing this sort of thing from happening but also doing it this way to begin with!

fact is, Nvidia has been doing the same exact thing for few years now....they just don't enable you to unlock it. hehe
 
Not a bad deal, but the performance difference isn't exactly night and day between the 6950 and 6970. This isn't the 9500pro-> 9700pro performance jump we have seen before.
 
I wish I could afford a 6950 🙁 But I am bad when it comes to the unlocking game.

I tried 2x 5000+ X2 AM2+ cpu's and neither would unlock
I tried a PII 740 x3 BE and a no go
I tried 2x Sempron 140's and 1 unlocks perfectly fine up to 3.8ghz but the other has a bad core.

So I would probably just buy the 6970 just so I know for sure that I get one without having to try and unlock it. Although the ratio seems to be pretty good so far!


bryanW1995 said:
what could it say that is bad about 6970? if this were 570's unlocking into 580's you'd be carping about how nvidia is super consumer friendly by allowing their enthusiast owners to unlock high end cards.
Click to expand...


That cracked me up. Its probably even true as well...
 
shangshang said:
Apparently AMD investors are not very happy about this whole flashing thing. Their sentiment is that while it's great that the geeks get some braggin right, the high profit margins of the 6970 may go out the window.

BTW: I think this will be a bigger rage then unlocking the X3 to X4 cpu, because let's face it, in the CPU world, you wouldn't want your mom be caught using anything AMD.

Be interesting to see how the retail prices of 6950 and 6970 be like in a month.
Click to expand...

Huh? I would like to see some info on all of those investors who are very unhappy about this unlocking thing? I would even go on to say that most don't even know this is being done. and could care less for the most part.

Why wouldn't I want to use AMD cpu's or my Mom to have an AMD cpu? AMD cpu's won't browse the web fast enough or can't handle solitare? Can't bottleneck enough video cards at high resolutions or something? I must be overlooking something I guess...
 
shangshang said:
Apparently AMD investors are not very happy about this whole flashing thing. Their sentiment is that while it's great that the geeks get some braggin right, the high profit margins of the 6970 may go out the window.
Click to expand...
Yep, that sounds just like investors. Down the pub after work...
Investor 1 - Good day today, made a packet on the shift in oil price
Investor 2 - Yeah I didn't get in on that, I've been concentrating my investments in AMD recently, and while my sentiment is that it's great that geeks have got some bragging rights about what they're doing with a 6950
Inv 1 - a what?
Inv 2 - a 6950, I don't know, never heard of it but stick with me - I am disappointed in the reduced yield from the higher profit margin there is on the 6970
Inv 1 - the what?
Inv 2 - er, I don't know, my son told me these things were busting the 570 bad or something

etc
 
Triggaaar said:
Yep, that sounds just like investors. Down the pub after work...
Investor 1 - Good day today, made a packet on the shift in oil price
Investor 2 - Yeah I didn't get in on that, I've been concentrating my investments in AMD recently, and while my sentiment is that it's great that geeks have got some bragging rights about what they're doing with a 6950
Inv 1 - a what?
Inv 2 - a 6950, I don't know, never heard of it but stick with me - I am disappointed in the reduced yield from the higher profit margin there is on the 6970
Inv 1 - the what?
Inv 2 - er, I don't know, my son told me these things were busting the 570 bad or something

etc
Click to expand...

:biggrin: Nice. Sounds like a typical shareholder get together.
 
I'm sure the shareholders won't have a problem with it. This unlocking feature will probably sway many customers to buy a 6950 who might have otherwise purchased a GTX570 or some other Nvidia card.

Or, it may encourage people to buy a new AMD card now instead of holding out until Jan/Feb. Either way, more cards sold is a positive thing if you're an AMD shareholder.
 
I really can't see this hurting the 6970's bottom line. You'd be surprised how few people that buy high end cards know how to flash one, as simple as it is 😛
 
ExarKun333 said:
Not a bad deal, but the performance difference isn't exactly night and day between the 6950 and 6970. This isn't the 9500pro-> 9700pro performance jump we have seen before.
Click to expand...

I bought the 9700 at release . its was good out of the box but it got alot better with drivers. My fav card every was the x800xtpe. That was the second card in this PC. The third and final card in this PC is the x1950. I would imagine that SB IGP is better than the X1950. So it should be great browser.
 
Ordered a Sapphire 6950 and will flash it when it gets to me Friday. Got tired of the issues trying to get my 2 X 5850 Crossfinity setup as detailed in the other thread of mine. I will update.
 
Mine unlocked easily; flashing the BIOS has become totally user-friendly

... And this is perfect since i wanted to test both HD 6950 and HD 6970 CF .. and i can now do both testing with only two cards! i am going to be running a new evaluation of SLI vs CF.
:biggrin:
 
I read it from a thread on Silicon Investors (one of the biggest if not the biggest online tech investor forum). too lazy to look it up. Nothing big like institutional investors. Just saying, but don't care.
 
apoppin said:
Mine unlocked easily; flashing the BIOS has become totally user-friendly

... And this is perfect since i wanted to test both HD 6950 and HD 6970 CF .. and i can now do both testing with only two cards! i am going to be running a new evaluation of SLI vs CF.
:biggrin:
Click to expand...

Can you test the 6950 oc'ed versus the 6950 flashed????
We really need empirical data in this comparison given the flashing rage.

Need to know how much faster is a flashed 6950 over an oc'd 6950.
Can a flashed 6950 be then oc'd and if so by how much.
All vital data that nobody has bother to test.
 
Arsynic said:
The only people buying these cards will be high-end enthusiasts.
Click to expand...

I know a few guys that love to game and buy all the best components, yet know nothing about building/modding. I would venture to say most enthusiasts enjoy the challenge of squeaking as much as they can out of lesser components, so the 6970 hit would not be that big, but I could be wrong.
 
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