Replacing the 6 pin socket on a 6950 to an 8 pin?

[Andriko_08]

Hi, I am thinking about taking an ASUS Radeon HD 6950, (because of it's voltage modifying benefits) and flashing a 6970 bios, unlocking all the shader cores, and running it at 6970 clocks, and maybe even overclocking it, and also replacing the 6 pin power input sockets with 8 pin ones, as there are 2 vacant pins where the 8 pin sockets would connect, as suggested in the 2nd last paragraph of this article: http://www.rage3d.com/articles/hd6950_unlocked/index.php?p=3:

"The very bravest could try replacing the 6-pin power input with an 8-pin one, or bridging the two vacant pins to the installed 6-pin input's ground connections, but it's unknown if this would have any benefit - PowerTune may still operate as if the board were 225W equipped, and it's a very risky operation."

I have much experience with soldering and I am not afraid to do this, though I'd like your thoughts on whether this will work

 

[monsta]

My opinion is not to try it , the risk outways the benefit, and the risk of bricking the card is too high. The idea might sound good in theory but doesn't mean it will be successful.
Gotta say you got some balls trying , but if you arent an electrical engineer and understand the cards design I would avoid doing it.

 

[Andriko_08]

http://assets.overclock.net.s3.amazonaws.com/7/7e/7ec827e8_vbattach193083.jpeg

Looking at the pcb, the only difference is the cluster of resistors(circled red), and as you can see, there are 2 vacant pins where the 8 pin should be on the 6950, it's just asking for it xD

and ^ haha I'm asking the electrical engineers out there if this will work xD

I heard the chips used for the memory are of higher quality and overclock better on the 6970, though I guess this won't make much of a difference

 

[inzone]

We can sit here and advise against doing it but the card is yours to do with what you want and only you know your capabilities so to go ahead and do it is totaly up to you , just don't expect us to recomend that you do it. The risk factor involved means you could be buying a new card so before you try something like that you want to see what happens in the worst case senario and are you able to buy another card.

 

[Andriko_08]

I haven't bought it yet =S, so guys, any donations?

Also, sort of a 2nd question, are there any other differences I missed? Where can I (and is it legal to) get the schematic for both these cards?

Are the differences (that I pointed out) that significant? Would it be worthwhile to remove the extra resistors on the 6950?

 

[monsta]

nice try LOL

 

[Andriko_08]

And what is this laser cutting people speak of?

 

[jsc]

Oh, please. Another 6 to 8 pin PCIe thread. Sigh.

Don't bother replacing the socket. It will do absolutely nothing for you.

Something I posted in another thread:
"Standard conventions are that a 6 pin connector is good for 75 watts and an 8 pin connector is good for 150 watts. I do not believe that.

A 6 pin connector has 3 hot (12 volt yellow) wires and 3 ground (black) wires. An 8 pin connector has 2 extra ground wires (3 hot and 5 ground). Now, I have been doing this for a while: military computers and radars for 35 years, military communications for 45 years, and hobby electronics for nearly 55 years. So can someone who knows more than I do (lots of people do ) please explain to me how adding 2 extra ground wires can double the power capacity of a cable."

 

[Andriko_08]

It obviously does something, unless the 8 pin connectors are total gimmicks on the higher end cards

Oh, and also, can you please link me to one of those 6 to 8 pin threads? I'd like to read them, they seem hard to find