AMD Radeon HD 6950 to HD 6970 Mod

Godmachine said:
Gotta say I'm loving this mod but I don't think I'll attempt another 6950 since the risk seems to be pretty real. However its also fun to mod hardware like this even with the chance of real damage.
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I'd say go for it if you want. I don't think GDDR5 memory is as fragile as some people seem to believe. If it were, the RMA rate would be so high that video cards would be an unsustainable business. Mine is unlocked, and it's staying that way. And I differ in opinion about just how "catastrophic" it is to memory (or any other parts of the card for that matter.)
 
If I hadn't started the whole debacle about damage to the RAM there wouldn't have been 9 pages of replies in this thread. Jesus...
 
wolfman3k5 said:
Someone here sarcastically called me Dr. RAM. Well, just like people that masturbate look up literature about what they just did after the fact, here is everything that you ever wanted to know about how RAM works:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3851/everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-sdram-memory-but-were-afraid-to-ask
Happy Reading!
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That's about SDRAM, GDDR5 memory in Graphics cards is much different. I can't see how the memory will fail in these cards when unlocked unless they are faulty to begin with. GDDR5 doesn't crash and burn like older memory. If it detects an error in the incoming data it ask for it to be resent and if the errors mount it will throttle down the memory speeds.

You really would have to do stupidly high voltage increases to damage the ram on these cards. The worst that can happen with overclocking without changing the voltage is that the card just hangs,

The real problem with overclocking these cards is that it's tough to tell when the card is gone over it's limits because of the way the memory throttles down. So if you are overclocking and see worse performance just lower the clocks a bit.

wolfman3k5 said:
As for your 6950 - it will die a painful death, as your RAM will start to disintegrate very soon. RAM doesn't do slow electromigration like other semiconductors. It just gives up one day and dies, just like that. This happens 100% of the time when RAM is used out of spec. For example look how many people had bad experiences with OCZ RAM because they've sold tons of out of spec memory. OCZ Obsidian DDR3 series comes to mind. Anyway, again, best of luck!
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Again, DDR3 is not the same as GDDR5. Second, the ram in both the 6970 and the 6950 are spec'd at 1.6v and 1.5v. That's a lot of tolerance on the voltage side of things.

And you mentioned earlier in this thread about the fans been different. Nope, both the 6950 and 6970 use the exact same cooling method. They are the exact same, the PCB on both cards is the exact same.
 
When flashing to the 6970 bios, protecting your ram by downclocking is one thing, but the extra 0.1V is still being applied. More encouragement to unlock 6950 bios then further tweak bios with RBE later (increase vcore and clocks, leave ram voltage stock). If after 6 months there hasn't been mass reports of peoples cards getting borked, then maybe play around with ram voltage.
 
ya, to play it safe im just unlocking the shaders on the 6950 bios and over clocking from there. Once we get the proper tools to increase voltages slowly I'll worry about that then, but untill that happens any boost I can get above a stock 6950 is an awesome bonus seeing as I ordered the 6950 before hearing about all this Ill be happy with it one way or another.
 
reaper12 said:
That's about SDRAM, GDDR5 memory in Graphics cards is much different. I can't see how the memory will fail in these cards when unlocked unless they are faulty to begin with. GDDR5 doesn't crash and burn like older memory. If it detects an error in the incoming data it ask for it to be resent and if the errors mount it will throttle down the memory speeds.

You really would have to do stupidly high voltage increases to damage the ram on these cards. The worst that can happen with overclocking without changing the voltage is that the card just hangs,

The real problem with overclocking these cards is that it's tough to tell when the card is gone over it's limits because of the way the memory throttles down. So if you are overclocking and see worse performance just lower the clocks a bit.



Again, DDR3 is not the same as GDDR5. Second, the ram in both the 6970 and the 6950 are spec'd at 1.6v and 1.5v. That's a lot of tolerance on the voltage side of things.

And you mentioned earlier in this thread about the fans been different. Nope, both the 6950 and 6970 use the exact same cooling method. They are the exact same, the PCB on both cards is the exact same.
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I'm getting tired of this so I won't play anymore. I've said it before: it's just like masturbation, people will do it and then research it later. You forget about RAM timings. The timings on the 6970 are actually tighter as well. Anyway, that's enough.

As for the fans:
Please look at the two pictures. The top card is a 6950, the bottom picture shows a 6970. You will notice if you look closely that the radius of the center piece of the 6950 fan is actually bigger than the center piece of the 6970 fan. This means that the 6970 fan can suck in more air at the same RPM, and therefore it can move more air and offer better cooling. Most people have seen the difference, and if you don't see it get some new glasses.

card1.jpg


card1.jpg


Happy New Year and Cheers...
 
Ragenrok said:
ya, to play it safe im just unlocking the shaders on the 6950 bios and over clocking from there. Once we get the proper tools to increase voltages slowly I'll worry about that then, but untill that happens any boost I can get above a stock 6950 is an awesome bonus seeing as I ordered the 6950 before hearing about all this Ill be happy with it one way or another.
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I think I'll do that too, if I decide to keep my card. I read a review where they had the 6950 overclocked to 6970 speed using the afterburner software. Thats all I want to be able to do is reach the 6970 speed, I don't care to go higher.

Although I'm not sure I agree with some who say the volts will damage it. Unless video card memory is more sensitive, I don't know, but it doesn't seem to hurt desktop memory when you add volts.
 
All I have to say is that thanks God that People can't do mods to their cars this easy. Imagine people "overclocking" their engines, or flashing the ECM like this. Please don't bother to reply to my previous posts anymore. I really don't care who flashes the BIOS and who doesn't. At the end of the day everyone does with their property what they please, it doesn't affect me in any way. I was just trying to help. Take care everyone, and I wish everyone a Happy New Year!
 
Shotglass01 said:
I'd say go for it if you want. I don't think GDDR5 memory is as fragile as some people seem to believe. If it were, the RMA rate would be so high that video cards would be an unsustainable business. Mine is unlocked, and it's staying that way. And I differ in opinion about just how "catastrophic" it is to memory (or any other parts of the card for that matter.)
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I'm considering it , right now I'm broke since it was just the holiday. But I'm really impressed with the performance from the 6950 unlocked , I realize its night a MASSIVE leap but its something I could notice.

I think what I'll do is buy my next XFX 6950 from Fry's and get there 2 year extended warranty , that way I can do whatever the fuck I want to it and Fry's will honor the warranty and just simply replace it. I've seem them replace shit thats been beaten to hell but because it was bought with a in store warranty they will honor it.

Best way I can see around the possibility of damaging the card.

Also just to add my 2 cents , any time you strain a piece of hardware beyond its factory approved spec you take the fate of said item in your own hands. Anyone who's spent a reasonable amount of time building , dealing with computers should know this without having to be told. If it breaks then thats just how it is , but if it doesn't you end up saving a bit of money and having fun at the same time.

I've always loved overclocking and modding my hardware , pushing the limitations of it. I've paid for it without question , I've had PSU's fry every component in my computer before when they died , I've had video cards fry and smoke up a bit and I've even had some bad experiences with water cooling in the past with a Koolance external kit (knock on wood..). But man was it all fun..
 
Just unlocked my Gigabyte and Sapphire 6950's. Running 6970 speeds atm and with 3dMark11 and a few games tested, no issues yet with either card.
 
Godmachine said:
Also just to add my 2 cents , any time you strain a piece of hardware beyond its factory approved spec you take the fate of said item in your own hands. Anyone who's spent a reasonable amount of time building , dealing with computers should know this without having to be told. If it breaks then thats just how it is , but if it doesn't you end up saving a bit of money and having fun at the same time.
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Don't forget too, that both NV and AMD have tools, built in to their drivers, that allow for OCing. Not quite the same as the flash, but they wouldn't do it if they thought it would fry every card on the line. I've not had any issues in all my time since back to 286 days. Only hardware that has ever failed is hard drives.
 
wolfman3k5 said:
The right way to do it is to buy a high end system when you find a good deal on a mature platform every 3 to 4 years. No more monthly upgrades and what not. It is how I do it. If you spend for example between $2000 to $2500 every 3 years, you get away with $600 to $700 per year on average, which is less than most people spend on cell phone plans. If you constantly upgrade you waste way more money.

As far as the engagement ring goes, I just got married after being engaged for a year. The engagement ring I gave her has a nice diamond and is platinum. But I didn't get it from an overpriced jewelery place where you get fleeced like Kay Jewelers. I got it at a reasonable price at a Pawn Shop and took it to a jewelery to have it professionally cleaned. As far as the wedding is concerned, I didn't do a church wedding. I'm not very religious, so I got married in front of a judge - Justice of Peace :) I got 10 of my closest friends + family and got dinner reservations at a nice Japanese place where they make the food in front of you and spend like $400 to $500 on the whole dinner. I don't like to do half-ass-ed things, so because I couldn't afford to be extravagant this year, I decided to do it small and tasteful. I'm sorry for everyone that didn't get to come to my wedding, but I'm sure that they're glad because they didn't have to spend money one me :D
If she loves you she will say yes even if you give her a toy ring from a wending machine. Oh, and our wedding rings are Tungsten. And she married me anyway:) I hope that you are as lucky as I am when it comes to love. My best wishes to you and best of luck!

As for your 6950 - it will die a painful death, as your RAM will start to disintegrate very soon. RAM doesn't do slow electromigration like other semiconductors. It just gives up one day and dies, just like that. This happens 100% of the time when RAM is used out of spec. For example look how many people had bad experiences with OCZ RAM because they've sold tons of out of spec memory. OCZ Obsidian DDR3 series comes to mind. Anyway, again, best of luck!
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I've been really good with my system. I spent $700 on this system back when the core duo came out. Had a q6600 in it and a x1900xt . I went to a 3870x2 but didn't like it and was able to sell it and use the 1900 till i picked up a 4850 which i kept till the 5850 (gave my gf the 4850). I then bought a q9550 for $180 and moved to eyefinity which is whats really fueling my 6950 purchase. I could keep the cpu/ram/mobo for another year or two however I've been doing alot of video editing and would rather speed it up so hopefully bulldozer or sandy bridge is nice.

As for my video card it hardly matters. With 3 monitors I know i'm going to upgrade when 28nm gpus come out.
I got my 5850 for $260 and my 6950 for $280. I sold my 5850 for $180 . So the cost isn't all that great. I will most likely give my gf the 6950 when i get a 28nm gpu sometime late next year or 2012 when they finaly hit
 
I'm one of the chickens. I'm gonna leave mine at 6950 speeds because if something bad happens, im not in the position to spend even more money on gpus!
 
wolfman3k5 said:
I'm getting tired of this so I won't play anymore. I've said it before: it's just like masturbation, people will do it and then research it later. You forget about RAM timings. The timings on the 6970 are actually tighter as well. Anyway, that's enough.

As for the fans:
Please look at the two pictures. The top card is a 6950, the bottom picture shows a 6970. You will notice if you look closely that the radius of the center piece of the 6950 fan is actually bigger than the center piece of the 6970 fan. This means that the 6970 fan can suck in more air at the same RPM, and therefore it can move more air and offer better cooling. Most people have seen the difference, and if you don't see it get some new glasses.

card1.jpg


card1.jpg


Happy New Year and Cheers...
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lol, seriously, the cooling on both cards is the exact same, exact same specs everything. Most people where have seen the difference? In the two photos you posted?

Everything you said is about old ram, and does not apply to gdd5 ram, everything you say is FUD. Even the thing you said about car ECM's is wrong, because people can modify their car ecm, I know it because I have done it. And if they haven't the skill to modify it they can flash it all you need is an obdii conection from a pc to your car. Some companies supply devices for doing this.

You are done playing with this? you come in here post your misinformation and scare people off trying something that actually works. ATI have a history for making cards unlockable. It's only the since the Radeon 2900 that this stopped. And now after a few generations of cards they are back at it again. I could easily imagine you back when the Radeon 9500 could be unlocked to a 256mb bus saying the same things. There wasn't a big collapse of cards 6 months down the road back than. And remember back then there was no powerplay or ram that did error detection. With the 6950 and 6970 it's easy.

Again, you are done playing this game, you come in and post that all these cards will die, and their ram will fail in 6 months? That kind of statement needs proof, and not a link to an old Sdram article either. You say the memory timings are different? Can you please post the memory timings of both? If you go to Hynix and look up the ram specs the only difference between both sets of ram are the frequencies and the voltages. But even the voltage that the 6970 runs on is well below what the 6950 ram is capable of.

A risk? yes, everything is a risk, you open your case to take out the card you risk damaging it by static. You get into your car to drive to work you risk get into an accident. Hell everything in life is a risk. But, saying that every card is going to die a painful death, yeah right whatever.

Personally I think this is a masterstroke by AMD. how many extra 6950's are going to be sold because of this? How many people who might have gone nvidia are buying the 6950 now to try this out? A nearly 100% unlock rate and a bios backup switch? This was definately planned by AMD. why suddenly after the 3xxx, 4xxx and 5xxx series leave cards with the ability to unlock? Accident? yeah right, not a hope. And people find this out just before xmas only a few days after release of the cards?

Oh lastly, you are entirely wrong about people. Personally I did a lot of research before unlocking. And judging by the forums and people asking questions a lot of people out there are doing the same. Most people err on the side of caution.
 
I wonder how he's going to use his masturbation metaphor to refute that post.

Nicely done, reaper12.
 
My Audi A4's ECU was flashed and is 'overclocked' from 200hp stock to ~235hp currently.

This level of brilliance is fun.
 
ManCannon said:
I wonder how he's going to use his masturbation metaphor to refute that post.

Nicely done, reaper12.
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I'd imagine something to do with the 'masterstroke' by AMD as per poster above. But I am still of the opinion that if you think this is a 'masterstroke' by AMD I think you're deluding yourself. I don't doubt the idea of the dual-bios was to provide a 'safe-haven' to tweak settings and no doubt to provide some defence against the clueless n00bs who brick their cards by flashing and then promptly RMA them. But I HIGHLY doubt it was AMDs intention (whether you want to believe it or not) to say 'hey let's let the [H] guys flash the cards to 6970s and do ourselves out of 6970 sales'. Come on, if you ran the company do you REALLY think they would be advocating that?

In case Lorien jumps into this thread as well, I'm not trolling, I'm putting forward MY opinion on things. Yes it's a nice hack. I doubt AMD are patting themselves on the back though. If future cards are not laser cut then maybe I am wrong, but let's see.

Incidentally, I've ordered a 6950 to replace my 4870. Might as well :).
 
Leadsalad said:
My Audi A4's ECU was flashed and is 'overclocked' from 200hp stock to ~235hp currently.

This level of brilliance is fun.
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Yeah my GT PD150 golf is gone from 150 to 199, it's a nice little boost in performance :cool:


Violator said:
But I HIGHLY doubt it was AMDs intention (whether you want to believe it or not) to say 'hey let's let the [H] guys flash the cards to 6970s and do ourselves out of 6970 sales'. Come on, if you ran the company do you REALLY think they would be advocating that?
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ManCannon said:
Yeah, I don't quite agree with the idea that this is all according to AMD's plan either.
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I don't know, AMD lately have been pretty big on pushing overclocking at us. Look at the fusion utility that they released. Also AMD overdrive, another overclocking program, their black edition CPU's etc. Now look at the way they are leaving a backup safety bios on their graphics cards? THis goes beyond just simple overclocking allowing users to flash a different bios to the card. And just accidentally leave the shaders unlockable by a bios update? And the success rate? just unbelievable!! I mean come on??

What I am wondering is what secrets the 6970 holds? :p Would be amazing if it had extra shaders waiting to be unlocked as well.

Hell, maybe I am reading too much into this and this just happens to be a complete concidence. :) It probably is, but, I just can't shake the feeling that it's intentional.
 
reaper12 said:
And just accidentally leave the shaders unlockable by a bios update? And the success rate? just unbelievable!! I mean come on??
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I'd say it's quite likely an oversight by rushing to get the cards to market on time. Let's not forget the little issue they had with the power-connectors too. As I said, if future cards are laser-cut, then it was absolutely NOT intentional (as in, the 'flash to 6970 ability'). If not, then maybe it was, but if it was, I'd still say it's an odd decision to make. From a business perspective anyway.
 
Incidentally, I've ordered a 6950 to replace my 4870. Might as well :).
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You might as well join in on the fun ;). I've been off for the holiday last couple days and I have been putting mine through lots of abuse. Still running like a champ beyond stock 6970 speeds.
 
I can admit when I'm wrong, and I was wrong about the RAM. I did some extended testing with my CrossFire setup of ASUS HD6950. Basically I've overclocked the cards to 880MHz Core and 1375MHz RAM (6970 speeds). I ran all day 3D Mark Vantage loops, and then plaid Crysis Warhead maxed out at 1920x1200 8X AA Enthusiast Settings (Avg. 43FPS). Not one single issue. So yes, I was wrong about overclocking the RAM.

My 3DMark scores (Core i7 950 3.6GHz):

Performance Settings: GPU 32546 (HD6970 clocks - with unlocked shaders it is about ~33500)
Xtreme Settings: GPU 18494 (HD6970 clocks).

What I wasn't wrong about is the cooling fan. I've posted some pictures before, and anyone can see that the way the fan is built for the 6970, it can suck in a slightly bigger amount of air at the same RPM. Just look closely, the difference is visible.

The other thing is that allot of people have noticed an increase in temperature after flashing. This is NOT due to an increase in clock speed. This is due to a slightly higher voltage applied to the GPU by the 6970 Bios, and due to the additional unlocked shaders. Again, the HD6970 FAN is built so that it can suck the additional air needed to compensate for the temperature increase.

There are several ways around the temperature increase. One is to manualy compensate by increasing the fan speed. The other one is to edit a custom fan profile in the BIOS. RBE has no support yet for 6900 series cards. The 3rd way is to bring the GPU voltage down to 6950 voltage. The card will still run with the unlocked shaders at 6970 speeds, but there is no more overclocking unless you overvolt with software.

Of course AMD wants to conquer the enthusiast market. They have to compete against Intel and NVIDIA at the same time, and their finances aren't doing so well. So I was wrong about the GDDR5 overclocking....

As for my masturbation analogy, I threw it in here for fun, to make people laugh. Like everything that's funny, it has to be true as well. Masturbation is the most common thing that people do first, and ask questions later. Same with most things that seem interesting and fun, like Video Card modding.

Happy New Year Everyone, have fun unlocking your cards! I know I will!
 
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Leadsalad said:
My Audi A4's ECU was flashed and is 'overclocked' from 200hp stock to ~235hp currently.

This level of brilliance is fun.
Click to expand...

I think what he meant was overclocking the processor of your car's ECM....you've simply had your computer reprogrammed to be more aggressive with the engine's operating parameters. Your ECM's processor is still running within its factory directed frequencies with no additional danger to the processor itself.

reaper12 said:
A risk? yes, everything is a risk, you open your case to take out the card you risk damaging it by static. You get into your car to drive to work you risk get into an accident. Hell everything in life is a risk.
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I a more suitable analogy would be something like...wearing socks and rubbing them against the carpet, then pulling the card from the computer....or driving the same course to work you have driven for the past 3 years with a blindfold over one eye.



I would say its time to stop the bickering lol, he's made the point that this isn't something that should be done and think that nothing bad will come of it. We are dealing with pieces of metal that channel electricity through them....they can be broken right out of the box, they can break through normal wear and tear but by flashing them to run at higher levels then designed the risk of failure increases. I really think that is the point he is trying to make.
 
USMCGrunt said:
I think what he meant was overclocking the processor of your car's ECM....you've simply had your computer reprogrammed to be more aggressive with the engine's operating parameters. Your ECM's processor is still running within its factory directed frequencies with no additional danger to the processor itself.



I a more suitable analogy would be something like...wearing socks and rubbing them against the carpet, then pulling the card from the computer....or driving the same course to work you have driven for the past 3 years with a blindfold over one eye.



I would say its time to stop the bickering lol, he's made the point that this isn't something that should be done and think that nothing bad will come of it. We are dealing with pieces of metal that channel electricity through them....they can be broken right out of the box, they can break through normal wear and tear but by flashing them to run at higher levels then designed the risk of failure increases. I really think that is the point he is trying to make.
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I will unlock my cards as well. I know that I won't get the same ability to overclock them like true 6970's, and if they break I will RMA them. I hate ASUS RMA with a passion, but that's life.
 
wolfman3k5 said:
I can admit when I'm wrong, and I was wrong about the RAM. I did some extended testing with my CrossFire setup of ASUS HD6950. Basically I've overclocked the cards to 880MHz Core and 1375MHz RAM (6970 speeds). I ran all day 3D Mark Vantage loops, and then plaid Crysis Warhead maxed out at 1920x1200 8X AA Enthusiast Settings (Avg. 43FPS). Not one single issue. So yes, I was wrong about overclocking the RAM.

What I wasn't wrong about is the cooling fan. I've posted some pictures before, and anyone can see that the way the fan is built for the 6970, it can suck in a slightly bigger amount of air at the same RPM. Just look closely, the difference is visible.
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That's some nice clocks! Your pushing a lot harder than what I'm willing to do. I did the flash, kept the flash settings and bumped up the Power Control +12%. I did notice the slightly larger center on the fan of the 6950, but it might be negligible. I guess I'll know for certain come summertime when temps around here reach 100F+ daily.
 
Please take a look at the following picture. You can tell the difference between the fans with the naked eye.

6950-6970.jpg
 
just flashed 2 gigabyte 6950s and put them under water.. working great no artifact issues
 
Shotglass01 said:
That's some nice clocks! Your pushing a lot harder than what I'm willing to do. I did the flash, kept the flash settings and bumped up the Power Control +12%. I did notice the slightly larger center on the fan of the 6950, but it might be negligible. I guess I'll know for certain come summertime when temps around here reach 100F+ daily.
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I sell gaming systems for a living, and most of them are overclock. I have to do allot of reliability testing in my spare time because I give folks warranties with their systems. I still would advice folks to be careful, but I'm also thinking that some people that bought a system from me with a 6950 will attempt to unlock their cards, so I have to know what I'm up against. I will post some more benchmarks and temperature data as soon as I have a minute:) Happy New 2011 everyone!
 
Kenjiwing said:
just flashed 2 gigabyte 6950s and put them under water.. working great no artifact issues
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Lucky You! What are your temps when the cards are stressed? Mid 40s Celsius? Under water is a different story, that's more than adequate cooling and no annoying wining of the fans! COOL!!!!
 
wolfman3k5 said:
Lucky You! What are your temps when the cards are stressed? Mid 40s Celsius? Under water is a different story, that's more than adequate cooling and no annoying wining of the fans! COOL!!!!
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Honestly it's really not. These cards aren't as hot as my previous 4870... In-fact, the other chips on the card (Vregs, for example) show cooler temps on the 69*70 than the 4870 I was running under water. The differences between the 6970 and 6950 fans are largely cosmetic, and the default fan profiles are more than adequate to cool an unlocked card.

How are you testing your VRAM? What are you looking for? The damage to GDDR5 chips will most likely occur over time, and is actually a pretty big issue, as you initially suggested. Solution? Don't clock your RAM like crazy or run it outside it's specced voltage (well, more outside than the extra 0.1v the new BIOS gives the chips).

The vast majority of users will upgrade before their cards burn out over these unlocks... Barring some crazy driver fuck up ala Nvidia.
 
Both fans are the same diameter.
I checked the bioses of both cards and they have identical fan profiles. Those values run on percentages, so in order to match the RPM's we would need an owner from each card to match the percentages and compare fan speed values.

Anyhow, assuming they're the same, I'm not really sure the extra opening in the 6970 fan would really allow it to push more air... Makes me wonder why ATI even bothered producing two separate fans.

If you ask me, those photos are angled in a way that make the fan on the 6970 look like it has a wider opening, at least at the top. The bottom part of the 6970 fan has the same width as the 6950.

It's all FUD in my opinion.
 
wolfman3k5 said:
I sell gaming systems for a living, and most of them are overclock. I have to do allot of reliability testing in my spare time because I give folks warranties with their systems. I still would advice folks to be careful, but I'm also thinking that some people that bought a system from me with a 6950 will attempt to unlock their cards, so I have to know what I'm up against. I will post some more benchmarks and temperature data as soon as I have a minute:) Happy New 2011 everyone!
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What time does the China-man go to the dentist?
 
UtopiA said:
Both fans are the same diameter.
I checked the bioses of both cards and they have identical fan profiles. Those values run on percentages, so in order to match the RPM's we would need an owner from each card to match the percentages and compare fan speed values.

Anyhow, assuming they're the same, I'm not really sure the extra opening in the 6970 fan would really allow it to push more air... Makes me wonder why ATI even bothered producing two separate fans.

If you ask me, those photos are angled in a way that make the fan on the 6970 look like it has a wider opening, at least at the top. The bottom part of the 6970 fan has the same width as the 6950.

It's all FUD in my opinion.
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My observation is on based on what I see in regards to the fans. I've checked the bioses as well using RBE, the fan profiles are the same like you've said. The only logical explanation why AMD would have spent extra money on the mfg. process to make different fans is to limit the overclocking ability of the 6950 by limiting its cooling ability. AMD still needs to give people a reason to buy the HD6970, otherwise no one would buy the HD6970 anymore. That's the only logical explanation. I wonder do how much more extra air a HD6970 can suck in trough the extra opening in the center of the fan?

Here are some idle and load temps from anandctech:

34665.png



34667.png


As you can see the temps between the 6950 and 6970 are very close during Idle and load, despite the fact that the 6970 runs at higher clocks, has more shaders and uses higher GPU voltage. Given the fact that both cards have identical fan profiles, the only explanation would be the extra room for air intake on the HD6970 fan. I guess this proves my point.
 
Compare them apples to apples, a 6970 and a 6950 posing as a 6970:

power.jpg


I'd say 1 degree falls under the margin of error but even if you don't agree I wouldn't call the 6970's cooling fan vastly superior.
 
ManCannon said:
Compare them apples to apples, a 6970 and a 6950 posing as a 6970:

power.jpg


I'd say 1 degree falls under the margin of error but even if you don't agree I wouldn't call the 6970's cooling fan vastly superior.
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Yes, but the 6970 in the Anandtech graphs is running cooler... Why?
 
wolfman3k5 said:
The only difference that I see is the plastic piece that the fan is made of. I bet they even use the same motor. If not to limit the cooling ability of the 6950, then why would AMD bother to use a different piece of plastic for the fan on the HD6950's? Anyone?
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My guess, those holes are designed to push air down under the heatsink and across the vram.
If you're having issues after a 6970 flash, this probably means you were having temp issues before the flash (a problem with the card itself). It doesn't seem enough to make any difference.

The point is moot, honestly.
 
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