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CF 6950 with 6970 bios (no shader unlock) + 6970

freedycreg

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Hi I am getting a 6970 card tomorrow to crossfire with my Asus 2gb 6950 (http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/EAH6950_DCII2DI4S2GD5/) I tried unlocking it today but the shaders wouldn't increase - it took 6970 bios / tried W1zards on my own bios / Tried RBE on my own bios / tried flashing other Bios I downloaded from here.

It seemed happy enough to run at 6970 clocks, but the shaders did not increase in GPU-Z. I assume this is because they have been laser cut?

What I would like to know is, when I crossfire is it better to use the 6970 bios on my 6950 and crossfire those two cards (will shader count decrease on the 6970?) or whether it is best to simply keep the 6950 at original bios and overclock it to the 6970s default clocks?

Thank you for helping me out =)
 
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Just leave them at stock. The faster card will run slower. So the 6970 will run @ 6950 clocks. Not that it's a big deal. 6950' s in CF will tear up most games like nothing.
 

freedycreg

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I have a 1gb powercolor 6950 in there with it at the moment. I find it fillls up quickly according to gpuz and slows my FPS down.
 
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What resolution are you playing at? 1GB is insufficient for higher resolutions or certain games, such as BF3. You're probably running out of video memory.
Note, adding a second card does not double your video memory even though there's two cards; the system still sees it as 1GB. Even if one of the cards is 2GB it'll still only use 1.
 
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Just leave them at stock. The faster card will run slower. So the 6970 will run @ 6950 clocks. Not that it's a big deal. 6950' s in CF will tear up most games like nothing.

As far as I know, for CrossFire, your cards will run at its own clock speed, no downclocking.
Only difference you will see is the faster card with have a slightly less load.

But in SLI, your card will automatically follow the lower clocked speed.
 

freedycreg

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What resolution are you playing at? . You're probably running out of video memory.
1920 x 1200
1GB is insufficient for higher resolutions or certain games, such as BF3
My brother's 7970 is running at higher settings in Crysis 3 than me and is getting a better FPS rate, his video memory according to gpu-z is 1.3-1.4gb
Note, adding a second card does not double your video memory even though there's two cards; the system still sees it as 1GB. Even if one of the cards is 2GB it'll still only use 1.
PLanning on having two cards with 2gb after I swap my 1gb Powercolor the the 2gb 6970 =)

Thanks for your responses
 
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As far as I know, for CrossFire, your cards will run at its own clock speed, no downclocking.
Only difference you will see is the faster card with have a slightly less load.

But in SLI, your card will automatically follow the lower clocked speed.

I haven't noticed this. But then again, I always use Afterburner and have it synchronize clock speeds between cards. No point in one having higher clocks if they're not used.
 

freedycreg

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Could you guys confirm that my Asus 6950's shaders are laser cut / it cna't be unlocked.

I just downloaded the stock bios from the card again, used W1zard to mod it. Shut computer down, switched bios over. turned it back on and used winflash to flash it. It worked and computer rebooted but shader count remains at 1408
 
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1920 x 1200

My brother's 7970 is running at higher settings in Crysis 3 than me and is getting a better FPS rate, his video memory according to gpu-z is 1.3-1.4gb

PLanning on having two cards with 2gb after I swap my 1gb Powercolor the the 2gb 6970 =)

Thanks for your responses

No problem.

If Crysis 3 does use that much memory, it may actually run smoother using a single card with more available video memory than a CF setup with insufficient memory.

What I would do, if I were you, is run the game in CF, then run just the 6970. See which arrangement runs smoother.
 

brandonwh64

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Yes the 1GB versions at that res will run out of memory quicker on newer games.
 

freedycreg

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No problem.


What I would do, if I were you, is run the game in CF, then run just the 6970. See which arrangement runs smoother.

Thanks but I have managed to sell on my 1gb card for $80 and purchased the 6970 for $120 so only a $40 loss =)

I would appreciate it if you could confirm what i asked above though :)
 
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