How to enable additional shaders on Radeon HD 6950

[Ginnoskie]

safest is 1.175v..yes in msiafterburner you can..

[englandr753]

I'm trying to decide if it's worth trying to follow through with unlocking my 3x XFX 6950's or going to a single 7970 (if I can find one). I have the ASUS Crosshair V, 1090T CPU, 8G Gskill trident ram, H60 cooler, Corsair 1000 watt psu.

I'm just concerned now with the headaches of setting this up with unlocked 6950's when I can get similar performance from a single faster card that overclocks very well with less power draw.

Has anyone here had success with 3x stable 6950's unlocked? Also, did u unlock the shaders or flash to 6970?

I'm about to do this in the next few days so a little feedback is appreciated. =D

[Ginnoskie]

if you're going benching 3 6950 would be good..but for gaming i would grab 7970..

[manofthem]

Originally Posted by englandr753

I'm trying to decide if it's worth trying to follow through with unlocking my 3x XFX 6950's or going to a single 7970 (if I can find one). I have the ASUS Crosshair V, 1090T CPU, 8G Gskill trident ram, H60 cooler, Corsair 1000 watt psu.

I'm just concerned now with the headaches of setting this up with unlocked 6950's when I can get similar performance from a single faster card that overclocks very well with less power draw.

Has anyone here had success with 3x stable 6950's unlocked? Also, did u unlock the shaders or flash to 6970?

I'm about to do this in the next few days so a little feedback is appreciated. =D

1090t holds back 2 6950's, let alone 3. When I went from my 1090t to 2600k with my 6950's, my bench scores and fps in games went up substantially. You better overclock that chip like woah

[SplifPolitics]

Hello guys, I got the follow PowerColor HD 6950 (here you go).
And I've tried to flash it from the 6950 bios to the 6970 bios with zero success.
While modding my current BIOS with the batch file posted on the guide and flash it on the current one, after i choose the to reboot the PC won't start up -> Black screen & no beeps from the MB.
Then I switch to BIOS N. 2 and Just flash the original back to the first BIOS.
I tried with multiple BIOSes and tried to mod some other with zero success.

What should I do? Can I even flash my current GPU?

[Ginnoskie]

Originally Posted by SplifPolitics

Hello guys, I got the follow PowerColor HD 6950 (here you go).
And I've tried to flash it from the 6950 bios to the 6970 bios with zero success.
While modding my current BIOS with the batch file posted on the guide and flash it on the current one, after i choose the to reboot the PC won't start up -> Black screen & no beeps from the MB.
Then I switch to BIOS N. 2 and Just flash the original back to the first BIOS.
I tried with multiple BIOSes and tried to mod some other with zero success.

What should I do? Can I even flash my current GPU?

is your card a reference one or the revision?

[englandr753]

Thanks guys. I plan to oc to at least 4.0ghz or higher if possible. I have the crosshair V mobo with the idea if a future CPU AMD releases that will give better performance then Ill retire the 1090T.

Now to sell 2x 6950's and move the 3rd to my media center. =P

[onehans]

Originally Posted by Ginnoskie

safest is 1.175v..yes in msiafterburner you can..

well i tried setting in afterburner but it does seem to want to turn on iv set core clock to 900 and it crash
would be possible that vcore is locked? or afterburner fault?

[manofthem]

Originally Posted by onehans

well i tried setting in afterburner but it does seem to want to turn on iv set core clock to 900 and it crash
would be possible that vcore is locked? or afterburner fault?

Did you unlock voltage control and voltage monitoring in settings? Select that and then you can adjust the voltage to whatever. Monitor temps as you go. I had my voltage set to 1.2v I believe with clocks at 920ish/1400ish, with temps being in the 70's: everything ran fine.

[SplifPolitics]

Originally Posted by Ginnoskie

is your card a reference one or the revision?

Well I don't know (how can I know if my card is a reference one?)- But I do have the Dual Bios switch.

In some reviews in New egg people said that they did flashed it. (here)

[manofthem]

Originally Posted by SplifPolitics

Well I don't know (how can I know if my card is a reference one?)- But I do have the Dual Bios switch.

It's not a reference card. Reference cards had single fan at the back and a black pcb. Your has a red pcb and dual fans. According to the reviews on Newegg, it can be unlocked, though it's not always 100%

[Ginnoskie]

Originally Posted by onehans

well i tried setting in afterburner but it does seem to want to turn on iv set core clock to 900 and it crash
would be possible that vcore is locked? or afterburner fault?

well if you're card is a reference model you can unlock the vcore at MSIAfterburner.but if you're card is a revision model the voltage is lock in MSIAB. except if you use MSI Model card you can voltage tweak at MSIAB.

[onehans]

Originally Posted by manofthem

Did you unlock voltage control and voltage monitoring in settings? Select that and then you can adjust the voltage to whatever. Monitor temps as you go. I had my voltage set to 1.2v I believe with clocks at 920ish/1400ish, with temps being in the 70's: everything ran fine.

i did that and its still not working

[onehans]

Originally Posted by Ginnoskie

well if you're card is a reference model you can unlock the vcore at MSIAfterburner.but if you're card is a revision model the voltage is lock in MSIAB. except if you use MSI Model card you can voltage tweak at MSIAB.

thats my baby http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R6950-2PM2D2GD5.html so whats wrong on stock bios same thing cant move that silly slider

[manofthem]

Originally Posted by onehans

i did that and its still not working

Try reinstalling Afterburner. I know that if I ever reinstalled my drivers, I would have to reinstall Afterburner or else no settings would take effect.

[onehans]

just got latest version from official site, lets see...

[Ginnoskie]

Originally Posted by onehans

thats my baby http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R6950-2PM2D2GD5.html so whats wrong on stock bios same thing cant move that silly slider

That's a reference model.you can over volt through MSIAB..

[SplifPolitics]

Originally Posted by manofthem

It's not a reference card. Reference cards had single fan at the back and a black pcb. Your has a red pcb and dual fans. According to the reviews on Newegg, it can be unlocked, though it's not always 100%

Originally Posted by Ginnoskie

well if you're card is a reference model you can unlock the vcore at MSIAfterburner.but if you're card is a revision model the voltage is lock in MSIAB. except if you use MSI Model card you can voltage tweak at MSIAB.

Well thanks, I'm just wondering if i'm doing something wrong while trying to flash my bios or is it the card it self.
After I'm flashing my BIOS the computer wont start up (no beep no picture -> stuck on pre MB bios while all fans running) Is it because the GPU locked?

[onehans]

Originally Posted by Ginnoskie

That's a reference model.you can over volt through MSIAB..

updating afterburner did the job MAny THANKS

[manofthem]

Originally Posted by SplifPolitics

Well I don't know (how can I know if my card is a reference one?)- But I do have the Dual Bios switch.

In some reviews in New egg people said that they did flashed it. (here)

Have you tried unlocking shaders with RBE?

Load your BIOS into RBE and select 6970 shader count (under additional features, all the way to the right)

i've never used this method, but I've heard it works

[Ginnoskie]

Originally Posted by onehans

updating afterburner did the job MAny THANKS

lucky you!!

[Ginnoskie]

+1 to manofthem

[manofthem]

Originally Posted by Ginnoskie

+1 to manofthem

Many thanks, your Grace

[Ginnoskie]

Originally Posted by SplifPolitics

Well thanks, I'm just wondering if i'm doing something wrong while trying to flash my bios or is it the card it self.
After I'm flashing my BIOS the computer wont start up (no beep no picture -> stuck on pre MB bios while all fans running) Is it because the GPU locked?

that's what you called bad flashing..try it with RBE if the ATIWindlash fail..

[SplifPolitics]

Originally Posted by manofthem

Have you tried unlocking shaders with RBE?
<a href="http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1962/mirrors.php">RBE Here</a>
Load your BIOS into RBE and select 6970 shader count (under additional features, all the way to the right)

i've never used this method, but I've heard it works

Originally Posted by Ginnoskie

that's what you called bad flashing..try it with RBE if the ATIWindlash fail..

Well, I just modded my current bios with RBE (6970 shaders pciked in RBE), Flashed it with RBE - PC starts up fine But in GPU-Z the shaders are still 1408.