Overclocking HD 6950

[Syndicat3]

Hi all,

Here are my specs:

Phenom II X4 955 deneb clocked @ 3.6 Ghz
Gigabyte Radeon 6950 1GBDDR5 (870Mhz)
M4A78T-E
4 GB DDR3

So this card already comes factory overclocked at 870 but I was hoping to overclock it more.

Here is what I have it set at:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/257/76482696.png/

I can't seem to go past 900 Mhz. Why?

Also, can I just keep increasing the memory clock settings and testing for artifacts in Furmark while monitoring my temps? Or should I leave it at what I set it to?

EDIT: I downloaded Sapphire TriXX because it'll let me go higher than 900 Mhz. Should I just slowly increase from the clocks in my image?

 

[Star72]

TriXX was the right choice to try & go higher. You will have to also increase your gpu voltage via TriXX in order to keep going up. TriXX is a nice utility though, makes overclocking your 6950 fairly easy. Just don't get greedy & remember to adjust your fan control from Auto to 50% or 60% while gaming (from my experience anyway). I don't have the exact same card as I have the Sapphire Toxic 6950 but my settings I stopped with are 950 core, 1450 memory, & 1237 voltage.

 

[wats6831]

The stock clock for this GPU is 800 mhz so I don't know why you think you should be able to get to 900. You can try flipping the BIOS switch and flashing the 6970 BIOS that may enable you to achieve higher clocks and it will unlock additional shaders. http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/159

 

[Syndicat3]

The stock clock for this GPU is 800 mhz so I don't know why you think you should be able to get to 900. You can try flipping the BIOS switch and flashing the 6970 BIOS that may enable you to achieve higher clocks and it will unlock additional shaders. http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/159

?

I have heard people achieving higher than 870 with this card.

Also, what are you talking about? There is no 'BIOS' switch on this card.

 

[wats6831]

Did you read the article? Some custom design cards such as yours can be flashed with the 6790 BIOS. Some have a switch for dual BIOS. Did you check yours? It may be near the crossfire bridge.

 

[slhpss]

Did you read the article? Some custom design cards such as yours can be flashed with the 6790 BIOS. Some have a switch for dual BIOS. Did you check yours? It may be near the crossfire bridge.

I have this card... ignore the bios switch... on the techpowerup page linked earlier find the link for "RBE" the Radion BIOS Editor. You will need to use GPU-Z to pull the firmware from your card then open it up with RBE and on the last tab you can click unlock shaders. It will unlock the shaders on your card turning it into a 1GB 6970 essentially.

 

[Syndicat3]

I have this card... ignore the bios switch... on the techpowerup page linked earlier find the link for "RBE" the Radion BIOS Editor. You will need to use GPU-Z to pull the firmware from your card then open it up with RBE and on the last tab you can click unlock shaders. It will unlock the shaders on your card turning it into a 1GB 6970 essentially.

Do you have the exact same card as in the link below? The same model?

http://canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_557_559&item_id=042354

 

[Syndicat3]

I have this card... ignore the bios switch... on the techpowerup page linked earlier find the link for "RBE" the Radion BIOS Editor. You will need to use GPU-Z to pull the firmware from your card then open it up with RBE and on the last tab you can click unlock shaders. It will unlock the shaders on your card turning it into a 1GB 6970 essentially.

Sorry to bug.

I saved the BIOS using GPU-Z, then imported it in RBE like you said and went to the last page and clicked the box to unlock 6970 shaders and then saved that to a file.

Now do I have to Flash the BIOS? Is this really risky? What do I need to do to prepare in case it doesn't flash properly?

Your help is appreciated.

 

[Syndicat3]

Best answer selected by Syndicat3.

 

[Syndicat3]

IT WORKED! I LOVE YOU!

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/710/flashkk.png/

Have you noticed any differences flashing this to a 6970? I still have to find time later to properly overclock this card.

 

[slhpss]

IT WORKED! I LOVE YOU!

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/710/flashkk.png/

Have you noticed any differences flashing this to a 6970? I still have to find time later to properly overclock this card.

If you do use the RBE to edit the bios to allow for more substantial overclocking: first be careful second let us know about the results.

 

[vollman1]

I thought that you could only unlock the shaders on a reference card. This doesn't look like one. Can you confirm that it isn't a reference card?

Would this work for a

PowerColor AX6950 2GBD5-2DH Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131393&Tpk=powercolor%206950

Very interested.

 

[slhpss]

I thought that you could only unlock the shaders on a reference card. This doesn't look like one. Can you confirm that it isn't a reference card?

Would this work for a

PowerColor AX6950 2GBD5-2DH Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131393&Tpk=powercolor%206950

Very interested.

it might... I can't verify anything I own the card the OP asked about and had tried it and got it to work... the 2gb cards are reference I believe so it will probably work with that card. but the card from the OP is definitely not reference and did work.

 

[vollman1]

I am going to try it. Once I have RBE with the old bios loaded and unlock shaders selected, do I save the file? As what?