Which 6950 should I get?

[onearmedbandit]

Hey guys, just wondering which Radeon 6950 card I should get? There are a lot of brands out there and I'm not sure whether to get 1gb or 2gb. I'm looking to spend about £200

At the moment I am favouring this: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/267907

It's about the right price, and it's a brand which I believe are fairly reputable. Also, it's shorter than most 6950s at 10.2" and the standard 10.75" card may be a bit of a squeeze in my case.

Good choice? Bad choice?

Thanks!

[Singh400]

Scan.co.uk: XFX HD 6950 ATI AMD Radeon Graphics Card - 2GB - HD-695A-CNFC

That one

Then unlock it to a HD6970.

[onearmedbandit]

That one appears to be out of stock

But it's pretty much the same as the one I linked to on ebuyer, right? Just slightly cheaper (and hence probably why out of stock )

[Dareos]

Probably not, the one linked is an Original 6950 which can be unlocked and flashed, which can turn it into a 6970, the later versions are locked and can't be changed from stock speeds/shaders and other malarkey.

which imo just goes to show what a con it all is, its the same hardware just speeded up or slowed down depending on price.

I could be wrong tho

[onearmedbandit]

Probably not, the one linked is an Original 6950 which can be unlocked and flashed, which can turn it into a 6970, the later versions are locked and can't be changed from stock speeds/shaders and other malarkey.

which imo just goes to show what a con it all is, its the same hardware just speeded up or slowed down depending on price.

I could be wrong tho

Sorry, which one were you suggesting is unlocked?

[planet436]

The ones with the AMD on the bottom which goes in the pci slot. Example

Reference: http://skinflint.co.uk/a599127.html

Non-reference: http://skinflint.co.uk/a618757.html

Some places where you can buy reference cards

Aria: sapphire
Osoo: Asus
Overclockers: XFX or Aria
Lambdatec: Gigabyte

I would be pretty quick about it, the Asus one for certain is discontinued and won't be around for long, the other manufactures I'm not so sure about.

[onearmedbandit]

The ones with the AMD on the bottom which goes in the pci slot. Example

Reference: http://skinflint.co.uk/a599127.html

Non-reference: http://skinflint.co.uk/a618757.html

Some places where you can buy reference cards

Aria: sapphire
Osoo: Asus
Overclockers: XFX or Aria
Lambdatec: Gigabyte

I would be pretty quick about it, the Asus one for certain is discontinued and won't be around for long, the other manufactures I'm not so sure about.

So let me get this straight.... some of the 6950 cards are overclockable but others aren't?

Is there any way to tell the difference without looking out for AMD at the bottom? It's difficult to see in a lot of the pictures

[planet436]

They are all overclockable, but only with the reference cards can you safely unlock the 6970 shaders. This is because the reference cards have a dual bios with a little switch which afaik the non-reference cards don't. I think for most models you can unlock them but without the dual bios if the flash goes wrong you can brick the card and have an expensive paperweight. There is no danger with the reference cards because you can simply switch to the other bios if things go wrong.

If you can't see the AMD logo, then the reference cards can be spotted because they all have the same stock cooler .

[onearmedbandit]

They are all overclockable, but only with the reference cards can you safely unlock the 6970 shaders. This is because the reference cards have a dual bios with a little switch which afaik the non-reference cards don't. I think for most models you can unlock them but without the dual bios if the flash goes wrong you can brick the card and have an expensive paperweight. There is no danger with the reference cards because you can simply switch to the other bios if things go wrong.

If you can't see the AMD logo, then the reference cards can be spotted because they all have the same stock cooler .

OK, I'll look out for those things when I order, thanks!

[onearmedbandit]

Question: If I get an unlocked card, flash it to make it like a 6970, and then some months later it dies (not because of the flash), is the warranty still valid?

[planet436]

Technically, I do not know. If when putting in an RMA you said specifically that you messed with flashed bios they might have an issue with it.

If you are unlocking shaders with a custom bios, then save your original bios. If it starts to artifact as a result of shader unlocking then you can switch it back. As a backup you can always use the switch to use the 2nd bios, this is unmoddable and so you will have no problem with it.

If you do this, do not flash a 6970 bios as this may cause you issues long run. For my asus card i followed this which unlocks the shaders only, any subsequent overclocking is done through CCC. If you go with another card vendor (I am not sure whether you would need an xfx modded bios with an xfx card for ex, seems likely) then searching around for similar guides will help you.

[onearmedbandit]

I think I am going to go for this XFX card http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-192-XF - this is one of the 'reference' cards right?

Do you have any experience with XFX?

Thanks for all your help again

[planet436]

Yup it's one of the reference ones assuming their picture is correct