Do 6950s still unlock to 6970s?

[houe]

I currently have an 8800gts 512mb card it has been a great work horse, but its time to upgrade. I've been out of the loop and just came across that some 6950s can be unlocked to 6970s. The question I have is this still possible and if so can you recommend any certain video cards to get for the best chances at doing this? Thanks!

 

[RussianSensation]

Truthfully, even if you could, HD7000 series is probably going to launch before the end of this year. If you have waited this long with your 8800GTS, I don't think you should spend $200+ on an HD6950 at this point. The card was available for $230-240 in February 2011. So you missed the "sweet spot" time to get it. At current levels it appears overpriced to me given that the next generation 28nm chips are probably just a quarter away.

Latest rumors circling around indicate that AMD partners have laser cut a lot of working HD6970 chips and are selling those as HD6950s. Given this, it's impossible to say which cards can now be safely unlocked. Granted, there is only a 2-3% penalty of not having all shaders unlocked. Most of the gains come from GPU/memory overclocking.

 

[houe]

Thanks for the info. I should also note that my system specs are: i7-930, 6GB 1600 ram, 128GB m4 crucial ssd, and seasonic x650 power supply. I have 3 monitors 1920x1200 I'd like to drive with the video card so I was thinking eyefinity.

 

[Skott]

I think most, if not all, the manufacturers stopped the ability to flash up the 6950 cards. Like RussianSensation said, probably best to wait for the 7xxx series if they are launching this year. If anything they'll probably push the current 6xxx series lower in price.

 

[subtraction]

I think it would be most wise to wait until 7xxx series like everyone else has suggested. I am riding the 570 until then saving my monies to buy a pair when they become available for a crossfire setup.

After searching for a few weeks I finally found two open box unlockable Diamond 6950's at Frys. I went home with both of them for the unbelievably high amount of $290 each I ended up returning them though due to the fans on one of them just stopped functioning...

My point being good luck finding any more of the unlockable 6950's and dont be stupid like me and buy open box.

Edit: Looks like newegg has in stock the same model I had got at Frys. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103181
I can confirm this specific card most certainly is unlockable.

 

[houe]

I guess my timing for an upgrade isn't the best. But I really can't game at all anymore with an 8800gts. So I guess my choice to spend 250 now and be able to game for the next 2-3 months or wait and get a much better performing card for the same price. Hmmm...

 

[subtraction]

I guess my timing for an upgrade isn't the best. But I really can't game at all anymore with an 8800gts. So I guess my choice to spend 250 now and be able to game for the next 2-3 months or wait and get a much better performing card for the same price. Hmmm...

I say use your local electronics store 'rental' service... Frys, Microcenter, Bestbuy, etc.

 

[nenforcer]

Well since you already have a nVidia card if you want to stay with them the best card is the

Geforce GTX 560 Ti

which is right in your price bracket.

nVidia won't be coming out with any new cards until next year so you won't feel guilty if you purchased it now.

However, like the above people suggest, you might see some prices drops on it if AMD truly does release the HD 7000 series this fall.

You've still got about 1 month before any of the big fall PC games release (Rage, Batman:AC, BF3, COD:MW3) so I would hold off until then, too.

 

[Skott]

I guess my timing for an upgrade isn't the best. But I really can't game at all anymore with an 8800gts. So I guess my choice to spend 250 now and be able to game for the next 2-3 months or wait and get a much better performing card for the same price. Hmmm...

Well, the 6950 is a great GPU. If you absolutely need one now then look for some sales. The 6950 will carry you through for at least another year fine so if you did get one now you don't have to upgrade when the 7xxx series comes out. By the time the 6950 needs replacing the 8xxx series will be releasing I'm thinking. I guess you need to decide whether to stay behind the curve or on top of it. Many people stay one generation behind and do fine.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Those 8800/9800 series of nvidia cards still kick some butt.

I sold off my gtx560 non ti this week for just about what i paid for it for a better card.

Been using a 9800gtx 512mb for about a week with games like Duke Nukem Forever,the Hard Reset demo and Bulletstorm and that card still held its own at 1920x1080 hell it even does a fine job with Black Ops.

But Op considering you sat on that card so long a gtx560 ti will be a sweet upgrade,i purchased one last night for the upcoming release of BF3.

My vote a gtx560 ti or 6950 then perhaps you can pull another 4 years out of either one of those

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Compromise solution - get a used 6950 1GB. There is still a chance of unlocking it and you'll save a good bit of change (~$50 even compared to used 6950 2GBs).

 

[houe]

Compromise solution - get a used 6950 1GB. There is still a chance of unlocking it and you'll save a good bit of change (~$50 even compared to used 6950 2GBs).

I thought 1GB cards couldn't be unlocked. Also considering I have 3 monitors at 1920x1200 I think I need the 2GB ram.

 

[blackened23]

I thought 1GB cards couldn't be unlocked.

That was my impression as well.

To answer the original question, most 6950's won't unlock any longer - I think the sapphire toxic series may, but they also carry a price premium. Don't quote me on that though.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

I thought 1GB cards couldn't be unlocked. Also considering I have 3 monitors at 1920x1200 I think I need the 2GB ram.

They can be :
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143129&page=2
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143412