Flashing the bios???

[-Sylvan]

I am going to buy 2 ASUS Radeon HD6950's DirectCU II 1GB to crossfire, what does it mean to flash the bios?

People keep saying to flash the bios and the 6950's become 6970? or 90's... I'm not sure.

 

[mcnumpty23]

it basically means you force the card to run as a higher version--lots of people have done it with no problems and others have had problems--its a bit of luck whether you get cards that will work ok if you do it

i dont have an ati card but i think those may have a little switch that will revert to a back up bios should you have any problems--you may want to check that out

remember they will draw more power if you do this so make sure you have a good psu

 

[-Sylvan]

it basically means you force the card to run as a higher version--lots of people have done it with no problems and others have had problems--its a bit of luck whether you get cards that will work ok if you do it

i dont have an ati card but i think those may have a little switch that will revert to a back up bios should you have any problems--you may want to check that out

remember they will draw more power if you do this so make sure you have a good psu

hmm.. seems like it is worth it then.

Thanks.

 

[mcnumpty23]

if it works ok then you get a higher model for less money--if you want to do it you can try software overclocking them first to see if they are stable--use msi afterburner--it works even if its not an msi card--or if you can find asus gpu tweak use that--its still in beta but is much better than the asus smart doctor software

i always buy asus cards so good choice there--just remember not all games play well with crossfire--and there have been ati driver problems with crossfire--personally i have always stuck to one higher model card--using an asus gtx570 and it eats every game i throw at it

 

[-Sylvan]

if it works ok then you get a higher model for less money--if you want to do it you can try software overclocking them first to see if they are stable--use msi afterburner--it works even if its not an msi card--or if you can find asus gpu tweak use that--its still in beta but is much better than the asus smart doctor software

i always buy asus cards so good choice there--just remember not all games play well with crossfire--and there have been ati driver problems with crossfire--personally i have always stuck to one higher model card--using an asus gtx570 and it eats every game i throw at it

Hmmm, I have msi afterburner already. I will download asus gpu tweak.

Ah damn, I did not know that. I don't want to pay 800 bucks for a gtx 590 when I can get 2 6950's for half the price and have the same performance.
I had heard about possible problems, but I didn't think it was anything to worry about.
What kind of problems and in how many games?

 

[mcnumpty23]

i wouldnt go to a 580 or 590 because of the cost--i did a lot of reading before going for the asus gtx 570 and for the money it plays all the latest games no problems

just google games that have problems with crossfire or similar and you will see what i mean--i believe nvidia cards may work better in sli than ati cards in xfire--but thats down to if your motherboard supports sli and probably some issues with 2 nvidia cards as well

 

[-Sylvan]

i wouldnt go to a 580 or 590 because of the cost--i did a lot of reading before going for the asus gtx 570 and for the money it plays all the latest games no problems

just google games that have problems with crossfire or similar and you will see what i mean--i believe nvidia cards may work better in sli than ati cards in xfire--but thats down to if your motherboard supports sli and probably some issues with 2 nvidia cards as well

I have an MSI Z68A - GD55.

I'll look into the 570..

Basically I want to be able to run B3 ultra high with a good frame rate when it releases. Apart from that I have only planned on getting into Guild Wars 2.

 

[mcnumpty23]

well crysis even though its an older game now and metro 2033 are really graphically testing and i didnt have any problems playing them--bf3 although its a newer game may be better optimised--i havent had a look at the required specs for it but would be surprised if an overclocked asus gtx570 has any problems with it

playing dead island just now at all highest settings at 1920 x 1200 and its maxed out at 60fps because of vsync--with vsync off its well over 100fps

 

[-Sylvan]

well crysis even though its an older game now and metro 2033 are really graphically testing and i didnt have any problems playing them--bf3 although its a newer game may be better optimised--i havent had a look at the required specs for it but would be surprised if an overclocked asus gtx570 has any problems with it

playing dead island just now at all highest settings at 1920 x 1200 and its maxed out at 60fps because of vsync--with vsync off its well over 100fps

hmmmm

I'll go do some research.

Maybe the 590 will drop in price

Thanks for your help.

 

[-Sylvan]

Best answer selected by -Sylvan.

 

[mcnumpty23]

youre welcome and heres the requirements for bf3

Minimum requirements for Battlefield 3

OS: Windows Vista or Windows 7
Processor: Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz
RAM: 2GB
Graphic card: DirectX 10 or 11 compatible Nvidia or AMD ATI card.
Graphics card memory: 512 MB
Hard drive: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version

Recommended system requirements for Battlefield 3

OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
RAM: 4GB
Graphics card: DirectX 11 Nvidia or AMD ATI card, GeForce GTX 460, Radeon Radeon HD 6850
Graphics card memory: 1 GB
Hard drive: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version

 

[-Sylvan]

youre welcome and heres the requirements for bf3

Minimum requirements for Battlefield 3

OS: Windows Vista or Windows 7
Processor: Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz
RAM: 2GB
Graphic card: DirectX 10 or 11 compatible Nvidia or AMD ATI card.
Graphics card memory: 512 MB
Hard drive: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version

Recommended system requirements for Battlefield 3

OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
RAM: 4GB
Graphics card: DirectX 11 Nvidia or AMD ATI card, GeForce GTX 460, Radeon Radeon HD 6850
Graphics card memory: 1 GB
Hard drive: 15 GB for disc version or 10 GB for digital version

Thanks, I just read that crossfire will be supported with BF3.

 

[purple stain]

6950's are built on the same design as the 6970.To make a better price point and to save money AMD disabled the shaders on the 6950.That is why you hear people saying that you can flash the BIOS to a 6970.Of course this method only works on the 2GB 6950.
It's not even flashing the BIOS exactly(some cards vary)some cards have a switch that will enable the extra shaders.The makers call it a Overdrive or High Performance switch but it's just the same as Flashing the BIOS but you can switch it on and off.

The Crossfire and SLI scaling vary from game to game but both sides have their own issues with how the game works with a SLI/Crossfire setup.

With a good CPU you should be able to max out BF3 with a GTX560ti or a 6870 Crossfire.