Which 6950 to flash to 6970?

reverze · Dec 28, 2010

I want to pick up a 6950 and flash it to a 6970 to save some cash.

Is there any special card I need to go after?

I was going to pick up this one, I just don't want to have any troubles.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102914

And it comes with a free HDMI cable...

Thanks! :toast:

erocker · Dec 28, 2010

Any of them. http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

Mike0409 · Dec 29, 2010

reverze said:
I want to pick up a 6950 and flash it to a 6970 to save some cash.

Is there any special card I need to go after?

I was going to pick up this one, I just don't want to have any troubles.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102914

And it comes with a free HDMI cable...

Thanks!

I just grabbed that one off of Newegg on Monday, its coming in today and im friggin stoked about it. It seems to be one of the more popular ones, and not as much artifacting from what others have reported on other brands.

LAN_deRf_HA · Dec 29, 2010

My friend grabbed a HIS off amazon cause of the price, $292 free ship. The price was raised though. I'd say best price is the way to go.

reverze · Dec 29, 2010

Mike, you picked up a Sapphire too?

inerax · Dec 29, 2010

my $0.02 is to go with XFX. Register the card and get the lifetime coverage.

that way if in 2 years your card(s) die you can replace it.

Mike0409 · Dec 29, 2010

reverze said:
Mike, you picked up a Sapphire too?

Yessir. Comes in today, and is getting flashed within 20min. :toast:

MxPhenom 216 · Dec 29, 2010

Asus!

Mp0wer · Dec 31, 2010

Why does everyone go with Sapphire and not XFX, wouldn't you rather have the lifetime warranty?

Neo4 · Dec 31, 2010

reverze said:
I want to pick up a 6950 and flash it to a 6970 to save some cash.

Is there any special card I need to go after?

I was going to pick up this one, I just don't want to have any troubles.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102914

And it comes with a free HDMI cable...

Thanks!

All 6950's at the moment are reference cards and any of them will work just fine. All newly released cards are reference designs for a period of time before manufacturers start differentiating their products.

Loosenut · Dec 31, 2010

Doesn't flashing a 6950 to a 6970 void the warranty anyways?

Neo4 · Jan 1, 2011

Loosenut said:
Doesn't flashing a 6950 to a 6970 void the warranty anyways?

No because the original BIOS can always be reflashed back onto it and these new cards come with dual BIOS's anyway so the original is always there regardless. The GPU dies for both cards are identical. AMD just partially cripples the 6970 to justify the lower cost of the 6950 to sell more cards. I sure as heck can't afford to spend that kind of money on a 6970. $300 is a big enough pill to swallow as it is but I'm going to do it knowing that it will last me a couple of years.

kg4icg · Jan 1, 2011

Neo4 said:
No because the original BIOS can always be reflashed back onto it and these new cards come with dual BIOS's anyway so the original is always there regardless. The GPU dies for both cards are identical. AMD just partially cripples the 6970 to justify the lower cost of the 6950 to sell more cards. I sure as heck can't afford to spend that kind of money on a 6970. $300 is a big enough pill to swallow as it is but I'm going to do it knowing that it will last me a couple of years.

If you smoke your card, then there isn't anyway to flash it back, and your stuck with a expensive lesson.

Mike0409 · Jan 3, 2011

kg4icg said:
If you smoke your card, then there isn't anyway to flash it back, and your stuck with a expensive lesson.

Not on the 6950. There is a recovery switch that can be flipped to boot the card. Least it won't be bricked.

sliderider · Jan 3, 2011

Mike0409 said:
Not on the 6950. There is a recovery switch that can be flipped to boot the card. Least it won't be bricked.

But if you try to send your card in for warranty replacement don't you think they'll test both of the BIOS chips, notice that one doesn't work because it was flashed, and reject your claim? Just because they include a backup BIOS isn't the same as saying it's ok to flash one without violating the warranty like everyone seems to think. We also haven't had any long term testing with this flash mod so who knows how long the cards will last after being flashed? They might run forever or they might die in a few weeks. It's a big chance to be taking with $300. Most people replace their video cards inside of 2-3 years when they become outdated anyway, so who needs a warranty longer than that? Heck, I know guys who replace their video cards every time something newer and faster comes out. They sometimes don't even hold on to them for more than a few months. Paying extra for a lifetime warranty makes no sense for them. Another thing, remember BFG? Lifetime warranty equals no warranty when the company goes out of business and XFX isn't exactly AMD's strongest partner.

crislink · Jan 3, 2011

so i'm going to pick one 6950 to mod
tell me wich one from these ( maybe the most succesful for this mod)

Gigabyte - Sapphire - XFX

DonInKansas · Jan 3, 2011

All of them. It's the same reference model. Brand name doesn't matter.

crislink · Jan 3, 2011

but some seem to have issues after flashing them... like sapphires

afterall i think i'll go for a XFX

Processor	AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE Deneb @ 3.7GHz
Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P
Cooling	ZALMAN CNPS9700 CPU Heatsink
Memory	OCZ 4GB DDR3 1600 @ 7-7-7-24 1.85v
Video Card(s)	ATI Sapphire OC 7850 1200c/5800m @ 64c Full Load
Storage	Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB + Western Digital 1TB External Drive
Display(s)	SAMSUNG ToC T240 24'' LCD
Case	Silverstone FT01-BW
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	ZALMAN ZM-750
Software	Win 7 x64 SP1

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling	EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory	32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 4090
Storage	WD m.2
Display(s)	LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case	Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s)	Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard	Tester84
Software	Windows 11

System Name	Corsair 900D
Processor	FX8350
Motherboard	Asus Crosshair V
Cooling	Corsair H110I
Memory	16GB Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX1080
Storage	2x 500GB 1x 1TB WD Green
Display(s)	Acer 24" 1080p / HP 27" 1080p LED
Case	Corsair 900D
Audio Device(s)	Sound Blaster X-Fi (Built in/Mobo) - Xonar Sound Card
Power Supply	Enermax 1020Watt
Mouse	Logitech Something Whatever
Keyboard	Logtich G910
Software	Windows 10

System Name	Obelisc
Processor	i7 3770k @ 4.8 GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z77-V
Cooling	H110
Memory	16GB(4x4) @ 2400 MHz 9-11-11-31
Video Card(s)	GTX 780 Ti
Storage	850 EVO 1TB, 2x 5TB Toshiba
Case	T81
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Titanium HD
Power Supply	EVGA 850 T2 80+ TITANIUM
Software	Win10 64bit

Processor	AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE Deneb @ 3.7GHz
Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P
Cooling	ZALMAN CNPS9700 CPU Heatsink
Memory	OCZ 4GB DDR3 1600 @ 7-7-7-24 1.85v
Video Card(s)	ATI Sapphire OC 7850 1200c/5800m @ 64c Full Load
Storage	Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB + Western Digital 1TB External Drive
Display(s)	SAMSUNG ToC T240 24'' LCD
Case	Silverstone FT01-BW
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	ZALMAN ZM-750
Software	Win 7 x64 SP1

Which 6950 to flash to 6970?

reverze

erocker

*

Mike0409

LAN_deRf_HA

reverze

inerax

New Member

Mike0409

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

Mp0wer

New Member

Neo4

New Member

Loosenut

Neo4

New Member

kg4icg

Mike0409

sliderider

crislink

New Member

DonInKansas

crislink

New Member

System Name	Ryzen Reflection
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling	2x EK PE360 \| TechN AM4 AMD Block Black \| EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory	Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s)	Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G \| 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage	WD SN850 500GB (OS) \| Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) \| Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s)	Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS \| Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS \| Asus 24" IPS (portrait mode)
Case	Lian Li PC-011D XL \| Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s)	FiiO K7 \| Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse	Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Software	Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit

Processor	i7 920 @ 4ghz
Motherboard	Rampage Extreme ll
Cooling	Water Cooling
Memory	Corsair Dominator 6GB
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950 (Modded to 6970)
Storage	Intel 120GB SSD
Display(s)	3 Viewsonic VA2431wm (Eyefinity)
Case	Silverstone TJ07 (Black)
Audio Device(s)	XFI Xtreme Music
Power Supply	Enermax Revolution 85+ 1050W
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

System Name	Game Box
Processor	AMD FX 8120
Motherboard	ASrock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional
Cooling	Zalman CMPS 9900 MAX (red LED)
Memory	Mushkin DDR3 1600 (1.35v)
Video Card(s)	Powercolor Radeon HD6970
Storage	Crucial RealSSD C300 (64X2 gig RAID 0) & Seagate 1 TB
Display(s)	ASUS 22" 1920x1080
Case	CoolerMaster Storm Enforcer
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster X-Fi Gamer PCI
Power Supply	Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850W
Software	Windows 7 Professional X64

System Name	Loose nuts & bolts
Processor	FX-8350 - EK Supreme HF full nickel
Motherboard	ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Cooling	Water EK goodness all around 2xBlack Ice X-280
Memory	2 x8G HyperX Fury 1600 @ 9-9-9-24-1T
Video Card(s)	2 x XFX RX 480 w/EK-FC RX 480 nickel+Acetal
Storage	Samsung 850 Evo + 2xWD Black 500GB in RAID0
Display(s)	Crossover 27" 2560x1440 110Hz OC
Case	Cooler Master HAF XB EVO
Audio Device(s)	on board
Power Supply	Corsair HX850
Software	Win 10 Enterprise x64

System Name	home build
Processor	Core I5-10600K
Motherboard	MSI Z590 Pro A
Cooling	Cooler Master HF212
Memory	2x8GB DDR4-3200
Video Card(s)	Zotac RTX2070 Super Mini
Storage	1tb ssd, 2tbhdd
Display(s)	LG 32inch 2560x1440
Case	Lian-Li
Audio Device(s)	on board
Power Supply	750watt
Software	Win 11 Pro 64bit

Processor	AMD Phenom II X4 945
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H
Memory	6gb DDR3-1333
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon HD6870
Storage	Seagate 1tb
Display(s)	Acer AL2216W
Case	Generic
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Ultra LS-550

Processor	AMD Phenom II 940BE
Motherboard	GA-MA790GP-UD4H
Cooling	Air
Memory	4GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2
Video Card(s)	2x Toxic HD6850 Crossfire
Storage	1TB Seagate
Display(s)	Acer 22"
Power Supply	Corsair TX 750W

Processor	Core i5 3570K
Motherboard	AsRock z77 Pro4
Cooling	Zalman CNPS10X Extreme
Memory	2x4GB GSkill Sniper
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX970 Gaming
Storage	240GB OCZ ARC 100, Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Display(s)	LG 23" 1920x1080
Case	Antec P100
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Antec Edge 750W
Software	Windows 8.1 Pro 64