Problem with 6950 PCS++ "Flashing"

[Halk]

Both of mine (one went back with a broken fan) came with the unlocked BIOS. They worked fine - as Powercolor said they've been picked so that they do work.

That's what the second + in PCS++ is, as far as I understand.

In any case I did upload the BIOS from mine to here a few days ago but it hasn't made it onto the site. If you want it Omergurlek, then PM me your email address and I'll send it to you.

 

[omergurlek]

Both of mine (one went back with a broken fan) came with the unlocked BIOS. They worked fine - as Powercolor said they've been picked so that they do work.

That's what the second + in PCS++ is, as far as I understand.

In any case I did upload the BIOS from mine to here a few days ago but it hasn't made it onto the site. If you want it Omergurlek, then PM me your email address and I'll send it to you.

The thing is, Ive tried one a few days ago, and it didn't work. However, trying again doesn't hurt If you could upload to any file hoster that would be great.

 

[Raistlin]

Both of mine (one went back with a broken fan) came with the unlocked BIOS. They worked fine - as Powercolor said they've been picked so that they do work.

That's what the second + in PCS++ is, as far as I understand.

In any case I did upload the BIOS from mine to here a few days ago but it hasn't made it onto the site. If you want it Omergurlek, then PM me your email address and I'll send it to you.

When you say worked fine, I assume you mean you verified the shader/core count via the current version of GPU-Z?

If so, can you recollect the exact steps involved in installing and configuring the card? It would be a shame for a whole bunch of good cards to get RMA'd if it's simply some setup steps that are falling through the cracks.

 

[Halk]

Sadly it was as simple as making sure the BIOS switch was in the right position, and plugging them in... then on GPU-Z they show the correct counts. They do detect elsewhere as 6950 sill, not a 6970. The memory on mine doesn't do 6970 speeds - or at least if they do then more tinkering is needed than simply ramping up the memory clockspeed. The only difficulty is in finding the BIOS switch, which is very small indeed. It lives near the Crossfire connectors.

I've put the BIOS up on my own server - http://halk.lyrebird.feralhosting.com/powercolor_pcs++_6950_standard.rar

 

[PowerColor]

Hi guys, I ask for your patience, we are still looking all our production logs and we should have a final conclusion this Monday.
But dont worry, if you'r PCS++ is faulty you will get a new part.

I will give more details on monday.

 

[Kai Hohiro]

Sadly it was as simple as making sure the BIOS switch was in the right position, and plugging them in... then on GPU-Z they show the correct counts. They do detect elsewhere as 6950 sill, not a 6970. The memory on mine doesn't do 6970 speeds - or at least if they do then more tinkering is needed than simply ramping up the memory clockspeed. The only difficulty is in finding the BIOS switch, which is very small indeed. It lives near the Crossfire connectors.

I've put the BIOS up on my own server - http://halk.lyrebird.feralhosting.com/powercolor_pcs++_6950_standard.rar

Thanks for sharing, but this is the exact same bios I had on my card. I tried flashing anyways, but no dice. Could you maybe post your GPU-Z readout? I'd like to know if there are any other differences.

Hi guys, I ask for your patience, we are still looking all our production logs and we should have a final conclusion this Monday.
But dont worry, if you'r PCS++ is faulty you will get a new part.

I will give more details on monday.

Thank you, the support is much appreciated. I've been a long time user of powercolor cards, but I was almost convinced this was done on purpose. Glad I was completely wrong.

To specify all the steps I've tried.
1. I compared the two bios and aside from the increased clock speeds there was no difference in GPU-Z, 1408 Shaders in both cases. RBE does say the 2nd Bios is a 6970 card.
2. Tried flashing with a Powercolor 6970 Bios, which ended up with the same results as the stock 2nd Bios.
3. Tried flashing with a Sapphire 6970 Bios, again the same.
4. Tried the Bios Halk posted, but it's completely identical to my original Bios, so still no change.

So I guess a RMA it is. On a sidenote, I've been trying to get in touch with Powercolor's Support, however none of my queries that I submitted via the contact form on the webportal have been answered. I would like to RMA with powercolor directly, since the fault is pretty definitive, and I'm almost certain the retailer won't understand what the problem is and think the card is fine.

 

[iamtheone]

@Kai Hohiro
Welcome to the real life. This practice is always a good bait for customers. In the shop, that I am working, sometimes we get Engineering Sample of some products. They are always a bit better than final product. Reviewers got bait, wrote a good review and a final product appear to be failure. That's how the business goes!

lol at your cynicism.

If what you're saying is true, then the engineering sample isn't "just a little bit better", like a golden 5.2ghz sandybridge, but it actually has an extra feature missing in the final product version, aka the shader unlock. It's not a performance increase on a continous scale, it's an extra discrete feature of the product.

Which if left out, would be blatant false advertising.

 

[Raistlin]

Hi guys, I ask for your patience, we are still looking all our production logs and we should have a final conclusion this Monday.
But dont worry, if you'r PCS++ is faulty you will get a new part.

I will give more details on monday.

Thanks for the update! It definitely puts me at ease that your team is on top of this. Great customer service.

 

[Halk]

There you go...

 

[Raistlin]

noice!!!

 

[bill213]

pcs++ 6950 has been deactivated on newegg

 

[Raistlin]

Oh son of a bitch. If mine's fine, I want a second for crossfire.

Does anyone else carry them?

 

[thesmokingman]

I'm a bit perplexed though. Every card that is rev1 has unlocked more on stats in a moment. Whether it's stable at 6970 clocks or not is beside the point, cuz they all unlock. Unlock or not unlock wasn't a matter of quality of silicon. That is with the rev1 boards. If we go by the tpu article, there were hundreds of unlocks with only 1 unlock failure.

The above doesn't make sense with PC's explanation that it was a bad batch.

 

[Pflaumenwunder]

Where can you see that the Card is Rev 1? After unpacking the Card, i looked on the PCB and the Pictures of the Techpowerup test. Both card seems to be the self. ( in dont have looked the GPU) but, why are the cards unlocked on anybody with the same BIOS and why dont works not to all?

Powercolor says, the GPUs are hand picked and i say, the CPUs are cuttet.

I waiting for an answer of Powercolor but i hope that i dont have to send the card to RMA. I cant wait some weeks (5-6) to get my Card back.

 

[Kai Hohiro]

http://halk.lyrebird.feralhosting.com/pcs++_6950_default_bios.gif

There you go...

Thanks, here's mine for comparison (the one on the left), same card, same bios, same drivers.

 

[Raistlin]

Anyone know where to get the card in the US?

 

[Halk]

I got mine in the UK from M2M - they have a few left of the original batch both of mine came from (both were unlocked).

I've no idea if they can ship to the US, without charging you UK VAT. I don't expect it's a realistic option.

 

[bill213]

just wait a bit im sure they will be available. I think the faulty bios batch has been pulled from newegg

 

[PowerColor]

Hi guys,we acknowledge the Shaders issue and we will offer all users that have this problem a special direct RMA service.

Please find the details here:
http://www.facebook.com/notes/power...hd6950-shaders-locked-issue/10150161202786420

 

[Pflaumenwunder]

PowerColor:

Is this service only avaiable for the US/UK Country or other Countrys to? (Example: Germany)

 

[PowerColor]

Based on your location you'r RMA will be done either from NL office or US.
So in your case: NL (Holand)

 

[Pflaumenwunder]

Who paid all the shipping costs? (From Germany to NL and back)

and, how long does the replacement takes? (days, weeks)

Oh, no. In the Mail i have written a wrong subject. (Shit Happens)

16 Euro costs to shipping the Card to NL. (from Germany, via DHL)


Sorry, we were unable to deliver your message to the following address.

 

[Kai Hohiro]

Thanks for the response, this is great customer service, big kudos.
Shit happens, but as long as people own up to it, no harm done.

 

[Pflaumenwunder]

Youre right. Now i have contacted the Shop where i had bought the card.

its the shops choice to send the card to RMA or give me the money back.

Powercolor get a Thanks from me because they want to help the other customers.

 

[bill213]

Love the way powercolor is handling this. Gonna call them when i get home for RMA