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XFX 6950 Question

end0

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Hey guys new on these fourms and have a few questions. Ill start with my computers specs first:
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155
Corsair Force Series GT 120GB
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000)
Intel Core i5-2500K
SeaSonic X Series X-850
XFX HD-695X ( XFX HD-695X-CDDC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 ... )

So my first question is, I've read all about the unlocking of shaders by flipping a switch on the card and flashing to the 6970 bios. Now my card doesn't have that switch am I still able to flash the bios to the 6970 one and unlock shaders? If not is there any other way to increase performance of my card besides over clocking it? Right now I have my GPU at 950/1405 and CPU is stock. I'm just trying to get the most out of this computer right now because I'm tight on money at the moment and can't by new parts.
 

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Have you flashed cards before, do you know how to blind flash or do you have access to another card if something goes wrong?

I also have to assume you are using the stock cooling on the CPU?

My suggestion would be to bring that CPU up into the 3.8-4.0GHz range or as far as stock volts will allow and be happy, specifically if you are answering no to the first section of this reply;)
 

end0

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Have you flashed cards before, do you know how to blind flash or do you have access to another card if something goes wrong?

I also have to assume you are using the stock cooling on the CPU?

Yes I have and yes I do, granted it's a less powerful card. Stock cooling on the CPU I have a bigger/better aftermarket cooler but I never felt it was necessary to OC the CPU because right now the only thing that really loads this PC is BF3 and I've always read that BF3 will not benefit from OC'ing my i5, and that the i5 was powerful enough in stock forum to run it.
 

eidairaman1

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Yes I have and yes I do, granted it's a less powerful card. Stock cooling on the CPU I have a bigger/better aftermarket cooler but I never felt it was necessary to OC the CPU because right now the only thing that really loads this PC is BF3 and I've always read that BF3 will not benefit from OC'ing my i5, and that the i5 was powerful enough in stock forum to run it.

gotta realize the CPU is what drives the video card by feeding data, if the CPU dont do it fast enough the Vid card starves and goes into an idle state. But Honestly If you dont have a backup video card id suggest not trying to update it, ref 6950s can flash to 6970 spec but the non ref parts are more like 30%/70% (Flash/Not Flash-Fail to 6970). Id suggest saving money for another 6950 or newer board for that matter.

You can always overclock the video card without having to flash the bios to a 6970.

At this site alone i see a lot of flash failures. Basically Id not flash the card less u know 100% what your doing and 100% accept the risk of failure and have researched recovery and prevention measures. We Do not guarantee any flash/overclocking of any computer part.
 

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My back up card is a 550Ti not the worst but not the best. So if I fail at the flash it's not reversible? And yes I understand the CPU powering the GPU but from what I understand even at stock speeds the CPU shouldn't be a bottleneck?

EDIT - Also what are people topping the 6950 out at? I haven't been able to find alot of good results on how high I can go with clock speeds. As stated I have it at 950/1405 just wondering how much higher I can go.
 

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My back up card is a 550Ti not the worst but not the best. So if I fail at the flash it's not reversible? And yes I understand the CPU powering the GPU but from what I understand even at stock speeds the CPU shouldn't be a bottleneck?

EDIT - Also what are people topping the 6950 out at? I haven't been able to find alot of good results on how high I can go with clock speeds. As stated I have it at 950/1405 just wondering how much higher I can go.

most flashes of video cards ive seen here end up in failure- from having to revert back to factory spec in best case to a card being damaged or completely inop and having to be RMAd.

It is really not worth it less u are 100% sure u know what you're doing and accept the risks.
 

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My back up card is a 550Ti not the worst but not the best. So if I fail at the flash it's not reversible? And yes I understand the CPU powering the GPU but from what I understand even at stock speeds the CPU shouldn't be a bottleneck?

EDIT - Also what are people topping the 6950 out at? I haven't been able to find alot of good results on how high I can go with clock speeds. As stated I have it at 950/1405 just wondering how much higher I can go.

Your overclock is a solid one if completely stable. What voltage is required for those clocks? 1000/1500 were right around max I recall seeing; only one of my cards could hit that but the other couldn't despite voltage. Yours looks a very nice OC

I had 2 reference 6950's that unlocked fine, but since yours isn't reference with bios switch, I'd only do it if I was very confident. The backup card doesn't have to be great; yours is fine. If something goes wrong, you'll have to install your 550ti as main card with your 6950 in a secondary slot. then reflash but to the other pcie slot.

If you're weary, be happy you have a good overclock and not worry any more.

Add: I read through the reviews in Newegg ad not one mentions the ability to unlock, just some a few who said it couldn't unlock. Seems like a good enough reason not to bother.
 
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eidairaman1

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Problem is accidental flash of wrong card when 2 cards are installed...

Your overclock is a solid one if completely stable. What voltage is required for those clocks? 1000/1500 were right around max I recall seeing; only one of my cards could hit that but the other couldn't despite voltage. Yours looks a very nice OC

I had 2 reference 6950's that unlocked fine, but since yours isn't reference with bios switch, I'd only do it if I was very confident. The backup card doesn't have to be great; yours is fine. If something goes wrong, you'll have to install your 550ti as main card with your 6950 in a secondary slot. then reflash but to the other pcie slot.

If you're weary, be happy you have a good overclock and not worry any more.

Add: I read through the reviews in Newegg ad not one mentions the ability to unlock, just some a few who said it couldn't unlock. Seems like a good enough reason not to bother.
 

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Your overclock is a solid one if completely stable. What voltage is required for those clocks? 1000/1500 were right around max I recall seeing; only one of my cards could hit that but the other couldn't despite voltage. Yours looks a very nice OC

I had 2 reference 6950's that unlocked fine, but since yours isn't reference with bios switch, I'd only do it if I was very confident. The backup card doesn't have to be great; yours is fine. If something goes wrong, you'll have to install your 550ti as main card with your 6950 in a secondary slot. then reflash but to the other pcie slot.

If you're weary, be happy you have a good overclock and not worry any more.

Add: I read through the reviews in Newegg ad not one mentions the ability to unlock, just some a few who said it couldn't unlock. Seems like a good enough reason not to bother.
I have got it to 960/1405 @ 1181 and completely stable. Are you saying you've gone to 1000/1500? What voltage did that take? Well I suppose I wont try unlocking it since I've also read reviews stating you can't.
 

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I have got it to 960/1405 @ 1181 and completely stable. Are you saying you've gone to 1000/1500? What voltage did that take? Well I suppose I wont try unlocking it since I've also read reviews stating you can't.

This is going back a bit...
My Gigabyte 2GB 6950 did 1000/1500@~1.25-1.27v IIRC.
My XFX 2GB 6950 wouldn't do 1000/1500 even up to 1.3v. I think it did around 950/1450~1.25v. Those were max overclocks they hit, but I usually kept them lower for everyday gaming.

Yours look great seeing as they hit nice clocks at only 1.18v.
 
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