Can 6950s' idle shaders still be unlocked?

[Ghiddy]

I read somewhere that only the initial batch of these cards were unlockable. Is this true? I've read in other places that any card that is a reference design is unlockable. Which is true, and if the latter, which brands use the reference design?

 

[3DVagabond]

When they first came out it was almost assured your card would unlock. Something like 97%, and I wouldn't be surprised that the 3% that didn't could mostly be attributed to user error (IMHO).

The reason people said to use reference designs is because they have dual bios so if you ah heck the process you have the stock bios to fall back on so you don't brick your card.

Now, it seems AMD might be actually fusing off, physically disabling, the unused SPU. Even cards with the bios switch aren't unlocking in the same numbers that they used to. MSI even had marketing claiming their 6950 Twin Frozr II card would have ~97% unlocking, as the original cards did, but had to backtrack when customers were having low success rates.

Another problem is cards that are being pictured with the original reference boards and with the same model number online are in fact not the same as the original reference designs. You can't order one and be certain you will get an original reference model.

 

[viivo]

At this point in their life span, your chances of finding a retail reference board capable of unlocking are quite slim. They've all been bought out, and the few that are left go for $350+.

Your best bet would be to look at some FS forums. I saw one for sale either here or Hardforum someone was selling for $210, saying it was already unlocked. As for new/retail, forget it.