Will this 6950 unlock?

[Ruger22C]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161355

 

[happy medium]

yes. read the reviews on Newegg.

 

[Ruger22C]

I read One person who said that, but he may get his from a different batch, being older.

 

[BFG10K]

You won't know until you try it.

 

[3DVagabond]

There's always the possibility that you'll be one of the ~3%, or so, that won't have success. I don't think that's what your question is though. To answer your question, yes, it's a reference model so you can flash the BIOS to unlock the shaders, or change the BIOS to a 6970. Whichever route you want to try.

 

[Arkadrel]

The HIS and Sapphire ones seem to have good rates, as do most cards.
But its a reference model so it should be unlockable, with a bios flash.

 

[Ruger22C]

Just found out that some of them artifact after unlock, unrepairable. I guess I won't be doing this.

 

[Artista]

Just found out that some of them artifact after unlock, unrepairable. I guess I won't be doing this.

I saw that in another thread here. Artifact after flash and even after that changed the bios back. That would stink to have a ~$250 paperweight.

Makes you think twice about trying.

 

[HendrixFan]

I saw that in another thread here. Artifact after flash and even after that changed the bios back. That would stink to have a ~$250 paperweight.

Makes you think twice about trying.

Read that thread very carefully, there is alot of purposeful disinformation in there. Take note of those claiming to have read of it elsewhere versus those who have actual experience.

It seems that flashing it with a 6970 BIOS is risky because it pushes the RAM and voltages beyond spec and that is what permanently MIGHT damage the card. Run a 6950 BIOS that just unlocks the shaders and then overclock as you normally would and you won't have the same problems. Or overclock the card to whatever limits it has, then try unlocking the shaders.

 

[brencat]

Just found out that some of them artifact after unlock, unrepairable. I guess I won't be doing this.

I have this card, and I'm one of the Newegg reviewers in the list. Don't do the 6970 Bios flash and you'll be okay. Instead do the 'shaders-only' unlock flash, then overclock using MSI Afterburner and you'll be good to go. HIS 2gb 6950s have a near 100% flashing success rate.

 

[3DVagabond]

I saw that in another thread here. Artifact after flash and even after that changed the bios back. That would stink to have a ~$250 paperweight.

Makes you think twice about trying.

While nothing is guaranteed, if you look at the poll here at AnandTech, only 1 person had a failed unlocking attempt.

http://forums.anandtech.com/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=1793

With that one, we don't know what caused it for certain. Could be an unlockable card? Could be a card that was defective and would have had errors anyway? Could have been user error? Could be something else in the system (PSU, or something)?

 

[Blitz KriegeR]

I was looking at that last night. For an extra $40 (after MIR) over an 850/1700 EVGA 460 you get 2GB RAM as well as a heathly performance boost. As long as you stay with a 6950-shader BIOS and overclock yourself I'd say you will be 99% safe. As Brencat mentioned, most of the damage to these afaik is from people who flashed it with a 6970 BIOS which runs at a higher voltage.

 

[RussianSensation]

I have this card, and I'm one of the Newegg reviewers in the list. Don't do the 6970 Bios flash and you'll be okay. Instead do the 'shaders-only' unlock flash, then overclock using MSI Afterburner and you'll be good to go. HIS 2gb 6950s have a near 100% flashing success rate.

Where can you get the "HD6950 bios" ?