AMD Radeon HD 6950 to HD 6970 Mod @ TechpowerUp

It usually takes a few weeks but eventually hardware enthusiasts will find ways to get around the limitations mfgs add to their hardware.  In this case a simple BIOS flash will turn your HD 6950 into a fully capable HD 6970.

Just like on all other similar products, AMD's two Cayman variants, called Cayman Pro and Cayman XT, are based on the exact same GPU silicon. The model variant a GPU chip becomes is decided after the die is produced, at some point before it is put on the card. Creating new SKUs from the same silicon by locking features has been common practice in the industry since at least the Radeon 9500 in 2002.

This article is to unlock the Radeon HD 6950. The HD 6970 has nothing that can be unlocked.

While the card will accept the BIOS there is no guarantee that the card will accept higher clocks, and in some cases may actually cause more issues than it solves.

I'll give this mod a try when I have a spare moment, given how well the HD 6950 clocked in the review I'd expect things to go extremely well. 

Related Web URL: http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/v...