ATI HD 6950 2GB 'Dirt 3' unlock

black u have stock 6970? or unlocked 6950?

 

It's an unlocked 6950.

 

Hmm OK....
Maybe it only affects non reference cards, I can't even adjust voltage with AB.

 

neither can i - only with trixx to a maximum of 1.18
maybe try another bios? or edit bios to allow more voltage

 

I don't unsderstand why there are such problems with almost the same cards. Are you still speaking of Dirt 3 Edtion? Some are able to work at 6970's voltage (upped by Trixx) but some as they say not. How that could happen at all? Please if you have Sapphire HD 6950 Dirt 3 Edition switched to 2 Bios position and still you cannot up voltage in Sapphire Trixx, report your SKU. For example, 220SA should be "uppable" (is that in English?) and 520SA should be too. If it is completely unclear what I'm trying to say just ignore me))

 

I've been running mine at 1.15 regularly and I think that's the max that Trixx will let me run.

 

2x Sapphire HD 6950 Dirt 3 Edition

I purchased my 2x Sapphire HD 6950 about 3 months ago, and after trying out some other guide going around the net, concluded they could not be unlocked... Now I come to this thread, and read this guide, and just as I am ready to do it...
I switched the Bios switch on both cards and BOTH happened to be unlocked upon reboot. I guess I am quite lucky that I got two cards that were so easily unlockable?
I am running 880/1375 with Trixx and voltage at 1.115v
Stress test under OCCT: (1920x1200 Full Screen Shader complexity at 8) runs for one hours with 0 errors.
Planning to let it run for at least 4 hours when I get the time.

 

Hey !
I registered just to say thank you ! I just unlocked my 6950 into a shinny new 6970


So, for me :

What didn't work : (step by step)
- Install the card with the switch on the crossfire's side (position 1)
- Install ATI drivers
- turn off computer, set switch on position 2
- turn on computer : ARTEFACTS, and then BSOD
- turn off computer, set switch back on position 1
- turn on, still getting artefacts, WTF !
- had to remove card, put screen on the motherboard DVI, uninstall drivers, REMOVE FOLDER C:\ATI (important !)
- put back card with position 1 etc.

What did work :
- uninstall all ATI drivers, remove c:\ATI folder
- turn off computer, set switch on position 2
- turn on, install drivers, overclock 880/1360/1.175V, enjoy.

Hope it helped!

 

So frustrated. First time poster, thanks for all the info.

I have one of the new Sapphire 6950s, the Dirt3 design (dual fan, 2gb) that does not come bundled with Dirt 3. Flipping the switch did nothing out of the box, so I proceeded to flash. I did the RBE method in position 2 on the bios switch. It says successful, asks me to reboot, same as others, shows 1408 shaders after reboot. I tried as another user suggested and shutdown, flipped it back, booted, shutdown, then flipped it back to the flashed position. That did nothing. So, I am in the same boat as others. When I check RBE in that position, and save the bios from gpu-z, then load it into RBE, I click additional features and it does show 6970 unlock. So, what does this mean? I have a cayman. Any ideas? It seems like it's all working, I have the right card, etc, but the shaders just never show 1536.

 

I have tried reinstalling drivers, reseating card, reflashing original BIOS, then flashing back to modified bios. I have tried RBE, Wizzard's script, etc etc. No matter what I do, I get 1408 shaders. I thought if unlock 4970 shaders wasn't greyed out, it was unlockable. If the shaders are hardware locked, what is the symptom? What I am seeing, or something else? I specifically got this board because so many had said this new non DIRT 3 bundle from Sapphire came with the shaders on the backup BIOS from the factory. I figured at the very least I'd be able to flash it. I could have gotten the DIRT 3 bundle for cheaper. I really didn't want a true reference design because I wanted it to be quiet, and none of the single fan options seem to offer that.

It OC's fine to 880/1375 at 1.175v, so I guess it's not the end of the world, just very frustrating that it seems like it's working but not showing the shaders. Any input is welcome.

 

I just bought this card 2 days ago and then I read this thread. I changed the switch and now i have all shaders unlocked! 1 min job. thanks a lot guys! here is snapshot


EDIT:
The sticker on the box writes:
HD6950 2G GDDR5 PCI-E DL-DVI-I+SL-DVI-D/HDMI/DP W/DUAL FAN & BIOS
PN 299-1E186-520SA
SKU# 11188-05-50G

Bold is mine.

 

Mine came without any box nor DiRT3, so I guess it's just a matter of luck. You must have a hard lock card, sorry!

 

Hey. I just registered.

I have a question, because I couldn't make this clear.
I'm receiving my Sapphire HD6950 2GB Dual Fan tomorrow and I'm gathering information about flashing it to a HD6970.
Now I understand every part, except the voltage part.
If I'm going to overclock it with Sapphire TriXX to 880/1375, should I need 1.175mV? Or 1.115mV?

 

you can't flash it to a HD6970 as it uses a custom PCB. Though you might be one of the lucky people who recieve one with an unlocked shader count on the second bios, you'd simply have to flick the bios switch to confirm this. The other alternative is to use a bios shader unlock method such as that in RBE to unlock the extra shaders.

As for voltage, that'll depend on what clocks your card can do and what voltage it requires at those clocks, each card will be different in that regard.

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

Yes by flashing I mean switching that Dual-BIOS thing. What I need to mention is that for as far I've read, all Dirt 3 Edition Sapphire cards succesfully changed shaders with the Dual-BIOS switch, and the Dirt 3 Edition is the same as the Dual Fan I bought, but without Dirt 3.

But if my card actually needs 1.115mV, and I have the settings on 1.175mV, will it brick my card? I have a Cooler Master Silent Pro 600W PSU.

EDIT; Oh I've seen one unsuccesfull flash so far by the way.

 

Not all will unlock, many will so it's a matter of getting one that does. As long as you keep the cards temps in control having a voltage of 1.175v will not brick your card.

 

Oh so it depends on the temperatures of the card instead of the voltage? I didn't know that.

If the Dual-BIOS switch doesn't work I will edit the BIOS by RBE.

What's the max. temp for a 880/1375 1.175mV? Around 65 Celsius?

 

Voltage is also important but as long as you stay below the voltage threshold, 1.3v in the case of the Hd69xx, temps are more important. If you can keep the card below 90c (around 100c in the max temp) you'll be fine but if you want to increase voltage then try to keep the card below 80c.

 

Ok thanks. So basically 90c is the safest limit if I run Furmark or 3DMark 11 to be sure I won't damage anything. Though I've seen people saying that 60 - 65c is pretty high for a GPU.

1.175mV is not that high. I've seen internet sites where people had 1.27mV. I don't think I need that, I'll try on 1.175mV first. If temps are too high(around 95c) I will lower it to 1.15mV. That will do I think.

So to be clear what I'm going to do:
I will switch it to a HD6970 with that Dual-BIOS switch, and else with RBE.
Then I will set the voltage to 1.175 and run FurMark and 3DMark 11.

But how long do I need to run FurMark and/or 3DMark 11 to know that my GPU is stable?

EDIT: Max. safe temp for a HD6950 is 95c I just read.
EDIT2: So basically the only 2 things I need to know:

But how long do I need to run FurMark and/or 3DMark 11 to know that my GPU is stable?

and

Any tips for doing the flash-process as safe as possible?

 

max safe temp is probably higher than 95c, a stock hd6950 will run over 90c in furmark with auto fan settings. About half an hour of furmark 'used' to be the recommended time but most people don't recommend furmark anymore due to it taking the graphics card too far out of it's max tdp and is known to have bricked some cards. I would suggest looping heaven for an hour or so or testing it in games like metro 2033/bf 3 etc.


All the information you need about flashing the card can be found in the first post in this topic or the hd 6950 unlock thread stickied in this section.