Actually from this review:
http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/...eo-card-review

...they mention that the FleX uses the original stock 6950:
"The underlying 6950 is still the original stock model."

If I3ullDoZer's comment ("You can only flash the stock 6950 2gb card.") is correct, the Sapphire FleX would seem like a good choice given:

- The extra cooling (hitechlegion.com: "Sapphire has put special coolers on the FleX versions that far surpass the stock model coolers.") and
- EyeFinitity support (hitechlegion.com: "Using an onboard chip, users could easily connect 3 monitors without any extra hassles.").

GPU masters: Does the Sapphire 6950 FleX add up to you guys as being a solid purchase? Any downsides other than the higher price?

I have the Sapphire 6950 Flex. Actually I have two in CrossFire. I was unable to unlock the shaders on either. It does have the bios switch, which is good.

I suspect that ATI has gotten around to hardware locking the shaders to prevent the bios hack. I could just have cards that failed to meet the 6970 quality standards. It'll become clear over the next week or two as more people try to unlock the flex.

I have not tried the 6970 bios to see if that works as I'm not willing to tempt fate on changing the memory timings.

With the custom heatsink and fan I'm happy enough to just overclock the card.

I got MSI NnVidia GeForce 560 ti oc 1gb in my rig and Im very pleased to it. Runs great Clod and Arma 2 on 1980x1080. Planning to buy another one in someday and make SLI.

Intel Core i5 750 2.67Ghz oc to 3Ghz
p7p55D PRO
12 GB DDR3
Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 ti OC
1TB SpinPoint F3 3.5", SATAII, 32MB, 7200RPM
Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1

Thanks for the info!

The 6950 is a great card as i'm sure a 560ti is.

Sorry I didn't see this sooner Nutcase..it looks like you got your answer. To be honest unlocking the shaders is not that big of a deal. If your heart is set on that card you might as well go for it...or just buy a 6970 for a few $ more than the flex card.

They are the best value cards on the market right now.. either the 6950 or the 6970, both are fantastic in crossfire too...shame though that alot of us are having the blue line syndrome with these cards