How to enable additional shaders on Radeon HD 6950

[Vargtass]

your unlock.bin has that stupid VLC player Icon, Id sugest you un-install VLC media player and try again...

It's making that .bin unreadable *wrong format*

Nothing to do with it.

 

[venomousdesigns]

packaged the hd 6950 bios modding script.

www.techpowerup.com/wizzard/Mod_BIOS_HD_6950.zip

give it a try and let me know how well it works

Just want to confirm, I have an ASUS 6950 (came Factory Overclocked at 810Mhz) - I've read so much over the last week I've gone and confused myself.

What I want to achieve is, to avoid damage to my 6950, is simply Unlock Shaders only - don't want to flash to a 6970 BIOS or OC. So am I correct in thinking I simply use the above scipt to Unlock Shaders?

What I need to do is:

1. Run the 'WinFlash' program and backup original BIOS
2. Run script on that 'backup' BIOS (lets call it Unlocked Bios now)
3. Use 'WinFlash' to flash to the above Unlocked Bios

Profit?

 

[manofthem]

Just want to confirm, I have an ASUS 6950 (came Factory Overclocked at 810Mhz) - I've read so much over the last week I've gone and confused myself.

What I want to achieve is, to avoid damage to my 6950, is simply Unlock Shaders only - don't want to flash to a 6970 BIOS or OC. So am I correct in thinking I simply use the above scipt to Unlock Shaders?

What I need to do is:

1. Run the 'WinFlash' program and backup original BIOS
2. Run script on that 'backup' BIOS (lets call it Unlocked Bios now)
3. Use 'WinFlash' to flash to the above Unlocked Bios

Profit?

Profit? Not sure
Correct? Yes. (just joking with you)

The script mods your own bios. Back up your original and mod that. It wouldn't hurt to make a copy of the original backup before modding it just so you have a backup. Double check it worked by gpuz (1536 shaders)

 

[Blaircroft]

Thanks Wizard for everything. Works like a charm, i have noticed a positive difference in Black Ops.

Since i am unable to email you my results i post it in this reply.

I unlocked my Sapphire 6950 2GB into the 6970 at the specified shader and clock numbers with no problems at all.

 

[Elmo147]

Nothing to do with it.

actually, it was to do with VLC..

uninstalled it and restarted, and worked perfectly.

Wizard can add another sapphir 6950 to the long list of ones that will work.

1536 shaders, 880mhz clock, and 1350mhz clocks

gave me a FPS increase from 74 to 81 on BC2 with everything maxed out

 

[manofthem]

actually, it was to do with VLC..

uninstalled it and restarted, and worked perfectly.

Wizard can add another sapphir 6950 to the long list of ones that will work.

1536 shaders, 880mhz clock, and 1350mhz clocks

gave me a FPS increase from 74 to 81 on BC2 with everything maxed out

Congrats! Never would have thought that was it since it didn't affect mine.

 

[SimBech]

Possible for 6850 -> 6870

I was looking at buying the 6850 and wondering if this would be possible ??

thanks

 

[manofthem]

I was looking at buying the 6850 and wondering if this would be possible ??

thanks

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=335359

 

[ZeroHour]

6950 to 6970 Gigabyte

Hi ,

i bought 2 gigabyte 6950 , and flashed without problems the 2 , thanks for the tip , saved me money

 

[skum-cat]

i can't unlock my gigabyte 6950 2GB :S

When i use the CMD trick, and flash the new BIOS, it's just finish in the process bar and that's it. I don't get a finish messages or other things the result in "done" i have tried many manufacturer BIOS with no luck.

Please help me!

 

[manofthem]

Did you run CMD as admin? Did you first do unlorckrom? Did you check with gpuz to make sure it's not working? Are you doing a 6970 bios or modded 6950?

 

[skum-cat]

Did you run CMD as admin? Did you first do unlorckrom? Did you check with gpuz to make sure it's not working? Are you doing a 6970 bios or modded 6950?

Yes, yes and yes! i have tried Asus 6970, gigabyte 6970 and the ATI 6970 bios

 

[manofthem]

Yes, yes and yes! i have tried Asus 6970, gigabyte 6970 and the ATI 6970 bios

Is the bios switch on the card in number 1 position? Position 2 is read only, won't flash. If not that, try the a modded 6950 bios (or mod your own) instead of 6970. Don't see why it would make a difference but give it a shot.

 

[Elmo147]

Is the bios switch on the card in number 1 position? Position 2 is read only, won't flash.

^this

it will work afetr you check this

 

[jayc]

Undervolting

Hi all,
I have been a long time reader, following this thread closely, and having gotten so much out of this forum with a successful unlocking of my VTX3D 6950, I thought I'd give something back to the community.

While everyone has been talking about overclocking and how to get the fastest speeds possible, no one, has been exploring undervolting.

Now that I have gotten my 6950 into a 6970 and overclocked to speeds I am comfortable with in the games I play, the next logical step is to look in the other direction -> undervolting the 2d or idle speeds.

Why? you ask.
Because the usage of my PC is for more than games, where the overclocked speeds are needed. The PC is used by me and my wife to read emails, surf the web, work related activities, Word/Excel/Powerpoint, shopping, banking, etc.
That means the vast majority of the time the PC is in 2D mode.
Everyone is whinging about high temps. Here is a couple of ways to help reduce the temperature. UNDERVOLTING the 2D idle speeds. This in turn reduces the heat produced as a by-product. The other way I reduced temps was to replace the thermal paste on the card, my card was thick with TIM. I cleaned and replaced it with some Arctic Silver 5 I had laying around. This reduced temps in the order of 4-5 degrees C. Not bad for a free mod.

We know that the 69x0 goes into an idle speed and voltage when in 2D mode, doing nothing.
The card downclocks itself to 250 core and 150 memory speed using 0.9volts.
Does the card really need 0.9v to run in Windows?

As no one had done this before, I bit the bullet and tested it myself. (Believe me I searched all over the net for a similar instance).

The lowest you can go without artifacts in 2D is about 0.76 volts. But I'd run it with 0.77 volts, just in case. This was adjusted using RBE v1.27, and VID3 was adjusted accordingly in GPU registers. Running any lower than 0.76V will lock the PC up upon boot up. You will get as far as the windows startup screen, and as soon as the display drivers are loaded you will crash to a black screen. Running at 0.76volts I experienced artifacts on the Windows desktop. So 0.77v it was.

I'm now running my 6950 with 0.77v for the 250core/150mem speeds.
Which is good for 5 to 6 degrees C lower in heat.

Also note that the voltage and temp change is observed in MSI Afterburner 2.1.0 beta 7. Unfortunately, GPUZ ver 0.5.1 does not pick up the change. I think, GPUZ is reading the value off the driver, rather than the bios. However, the lower temperature is picked up by GPUZ as well.

6970's might need a bit more volts in 2D mode, but some tests are needed there.

Good luck.
Clearly this is for people that know what they are doing ONLY.
You need to know how to change VID3 using RBEv1.27.
You need to know how to extract and reflash the updated bios onto your card. (I used the scripts for unlocking the 6950 to a 6970 downloaded from this very site).

 

[skum-cat]

Is the bios switch on the card in number 1 position? Position 2 is read only, won't flash. If not that, try the a modded 6950 bios (or mod your own) instead of 6970. Don't see why it would make a difference but give it a shot.

yes it's on the corret position. The closest to the fan

 

[dannoddd]

Can someone post, or re-post, an Asus 6950 BIOS with the unlocked shaders, not the 6970 BIOS?
I've read that some people are killing their cards with the 6970 RAM timings and voltages and I don't want to do that, but I'd like the extra fps that come with the extra shaders.

 

[Mark22]

There are two asus bioses, one is just the unlocked 6950 one and the other is unlocked but also modded to run the core at 1.175 like the 6970. The latter is the one I use and doesn't effect memory timings or voltage, it just allows a higher core to be run making the card easily exceed 6970 performance without the worries.

You can also use the script earlier in this thread to unlock your own bios and then use rbe to adjust the core voltage if you prefer.

 

[manofthem]

yes it's on the corret position. The closest to the fan

I would try redownloading/reinstalling the atiwinflash. Then try any bios to see if it'll work, the default bios and see if it'll reflash.

 

[dannoddd]

Thanks a ton Mark22. I really like the sound of the voltmod one. I'll give it a shot!

 

[VinnieM]

As no one had done this before, I bit the bullet and tested it myself. (Believe me I searched all over the net for a similar instance).

Then you haven't searched good enough

Some have tested this before (including myself) right after RBE 1.27 came out (and there are posts mentioning it in different threads or at Guru3D).
Funny thing is I have my card running at about the same 2D voltage as your card (0.775V). And besides the 2D voltage I have lowered the 500MHz voltage (VID1) as well with about 0.1V. So far no problems!

 

[Gaul]

Default clock 890 MHz? Using a different ASUS BIOS then.

here : http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/89310/ASUS.HD6970.2048.101203.html

Cpu-Z along with the Mark11 score along with GPU-z or it's BS

BS ? Blue Screen ?
tesselation : OFF

I don't think it's BS. Gaul had posted lots of these, and they are always amazing. And they are usually with CPU-Z.

Gaul, you still at 5Ghz CPU. What voltage did you need for that clock? You've come down from 1000/1500..

yup 5 gh, here :



vgpu 1.35 with RBE

 

[manofthem]

here : http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/89310/ASUS.HD6970.2048.101203.html



BS ? Blue Screen ?
tesselation : OFF

[url]http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/8739/2011oc.jpg[/URL]





yup 5 gh, here :

[url]http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/6250/vanft.jpg[/URL]

vgpu 1.35 with RBE

Sexy!

 

[jayc]

Then you haven't searched good enough

Some have tested this before (including myself) right after RBE 1.27 came out (and there are posts mentioning it in different threads or at Guru3D).
Funny thing is I have my card running at about the same 2D voltage as your card (0.775V). And besides the 2D voltage I have lowered the 500MHz voltage (VID1) as well with about 0.1V. So far no problems!

HAHA, more like I stopped reading google search after 2 pages because every search was about overclocking and was unrelated to undervolting.

 

[manofthem]

yes it's on the corret position. The closest to the fan

Check which PCI-E slot it's in.

Of course, as soon as I post this, after testing and trying everything, I find the solution. I had my 6950 in the secondary PCI slot because it fit better in my small form factor box. After moving it back over to the primary PCI slot (a really, really freakin tight fit - presses on wires from the power supply), the unlock now works.