Looking for a 6950 with dual bios

[david42one]

Hi folks,

I recently finished building a pretty sweet rig, and all that's left is buying a new video card. After doing some research I decided on a Radeon 6950 2GB, with the idea I could add a 2nd for xfire when I felt I needed it. I've read a lot about dual-bios models being flashed to 6970, and that seemed the best route to go, however I'm running into a problem: every dual-bios model seems to be out of stock. I'm not the most experienced system builder so maybe this is common?

My questions are as follows:
1. where can I buy a 6950 that I can safely flash to a 6970? I've tried all the sites I can think of- newegg, amazon, tigerdirect, etc., and they are sold out everywhere.
2. assuming they are truly out of stock everywhere, should I wait for a re-stock? I've read speculation that those types of cards may not be made anymore, as AMD would rather you just buy a 6970 (makes sense right?). I'm getting a little antsy, but don't want to make a mistake due to impatience.
3. assuming the 6950 can no longer be flashed to a 6970, or OC'd, or unlocked, etc., is it still worth the price?

Thanks very much for your help!

-David

 

[Drock2017]

I am also looking for this card. Have you found one yet? I havent either. I think they stopped producing them. Like you, everywhere i look that does have them listed reads out of stock/deactivated.

 

[david42one]

I haven't found one, I'll post a link if I do. Good luck.

 

[rmcron5296]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127555

The feedback section of this card has people saying it unlocks to 6970 specs. I think this is what you guys are looking for

 

[david42one]

You're right, this was one of the cards that I had on my wishlist, but it was out of stock until today. I'm going to order one now, thanks Drock.

 

[coozie7]

It's a fine card but have a look here and check around for alternatives:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-graphics-card-game-performance-radeon-hd-6670,review-32183.html

There have been concerns raised about the flashing, the 6950 and 6970 use different memory and some have reported card failures, go to the bottom of this article to read up on the VERY long thread!

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

Me, I've just unlocked the shaders on mine (money's tight and I cannot afford to replace a fried card but even with a full unlock, the performance gains are not huge, you might be better served with the 1Gb version with a good cooler and a hefty overclock, particularly if you're playing below 1080 resolution.

 

[rmcron5296]

I have also read a good bit about people having problems with flashed cards a couple months down the line.

I was considering getting this XFX 6950 because it has a lifetime warranty if you register it withing 30 days. It can't be flashed, but like coozie7 said you can unlock the shaders and the performance gains aren't huge.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150550

 

[phishy714]

I have also read a good bit about people having problems with flashed cards a couple months down the line.

I was considering getting this XFX 6950 because it has a lifetime warranty if you register it withing 30 days. It can't be flashed, but like coozie7 said you can unlock the shaders and the performance gains aren't huge.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150550

What makes you think you can't flash it to a 6970 exactly? Being reference or not has nothing to do with it.

 

[rmcron5296]

That was just my understand from what I had read. I could have misunderstood it, but reference card was mentioned in almost all the things I read about flashing. I'm sorry if I was providing incorrect information

 

[phishy714]

Oh its ok. I didn't mean to sound rude about it. I was mostly asking because I plan on getting another 6950, one of those xfx models actually, and was disheartened to read what you wrote about them not being flashable. Therefore I was mostly asking what you have heard about this card not being flashable. Sorry for the confusion >.<

 

[rmcron5296]

I had read non-reference models do no have the dual bios switch causing a flash to not be possible. I could be wrong, but I read that on topics on tomshardware as well as other sites.

If that is not the case, what is required to flash the cards? I just wanna know because I still haven't purchased my card yet and being informed is always a good thing

 

[rmcron5296]

No worries I'm still trying to figure out what the case it. I've read contradicting things after posting that, but who knows.

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

That site shows how to unlock and it shows the dual bios switch, but down at the bottom it says

"Update 2: Above method is only for 2 GB HD 6950 reference design cards. If you have a custom design or 1 GB card, then use RBE to modify your existing BIOS. Save the BIOS from your card, load it into RBE, enable the shader unlock option on the last tab, then flash that modified BIOS to the card instead of the one downloaded from this page."

so hopefully that means non reference can be flashed as well.

 

[phishy714]

Yeah, I am pretty sure ALL of them are technically flashable. The reason for the dual switch was that it provided a failsafe in case it screwed up the card. You can just flip the switch and be fine. Non reference cards dont have this luxury so its more risky to flash those.

Here's hoping that these dont have a problem flashing or unlocking!

 

[Drock2017]

"You're right, this was one of the cards that I had on my wishlist, but it was out of stock until today. I'm going to order one now, thanks Drock."

I must give credit where it is due, i did not post the find. Rmcron5296 posted the newegg link. Thankyou rmcron5296.

 

[Drock2017]

Btw I believe the one i had seen was by XFX and had dual fans. Unless i am mistaken.

 

[david42one]

Best answer selected by david42one.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey