Radeon 6950 - a good or bad card for CloD?

[Warhound]

Can only echo the previous statements. Outside of the 3 lines on the horizon the card runs any game, including CLOD, like a dream and the 2GB certainly helps with high texture qualities and resolutions.
Also you can unlock it to a 6970 without worries as it has a dual bios, any of the few cards that end up with artifacts can usually be set back to 6950 stock clocks (or inbetween 6950 and 6970) while still having the benefit of the extra shaders...and if not you just revert to the original bios with the flick of a switch.
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/...ng/vidcard/159 successful/unsuccessful unlock chart at the bottom
(Not unlocked mine as it's a non-reference design without a BIOS switch)


As for buying a cheaper card and going SLI/crossfire later on..I'm not a fan of it, you need a better PSU, sometimes a more expensive motherboard and by the time you are tempted to plug in that extra card you're usually better off just buying a new single one which performs better than 2 older ones in tandem.
And there is always the odd game you love which hates SLI/xfire.

[Scotch_Bonnet]

Don't flash a 6970 bios to your card...

Flash a modded 6950 bios that unlocks your shaders, and then overclock to 6970 levels. The 6970 bios is known to send the wrong voltage to the memory causing stability problems.

[Majo]

No stability problems here with a "biosed" 6950 and as said before is able to run reasonably well the game, perhaps some issues with the blue stripes in the horizon and FPS droping down over the cities, nothing new.

Still...

If you plan to keep playing il2 sturmovick 1946, you will have to have a total complete different setup in your ccc, Radeon Pro, Ati Tray Tools, whatever...
in order to be able to optimize your graphics for OpenGL in Il2 (1946) vs. DirectX D3D Il2 (CoD).

Still...

If you compare your performance with a GTX560 ti or GTX570 you will always be behind by 10 FPS in both games, Il2(1946) & Il2(Cod)... with better image quality... ummm yes!!! ... but still 10 FPS behind.

Regards , Majo.

[l3uLLDoZeR]

Originally Posted by Scotch_Bonnet

Don't flash a 6970 bios to your card...

Flash a modded 6950 bios that unlocks your shaders, and then overclock to 6970 levels. The 6970 bios is known to send the wrong voltage to the memory causing stability problems.

I 2nd that! You can only flash the stock 6950 2gb card..the ones with 2 fans or pre-overclocked cards can't do this. I like my 6950 for the price...reviews say it works great with two cards so I may add another down the road.

[Flying_Nutcase]

Originally Posted by l3uLLDoZeR

You can only flash the stock 6950 2gb card..the ones with 2 fans or pre-overclocked cards can't do this.

I need confirmation: Can the Sapphire 6950 FleX, which has its own cooling system, be raised to 6970 levels?

Thanks for any help on this one.

[TedStryker]

Hi Flying_Nutcase

I see you've gone with Sapphire as the best choice as regards manufacturer - thats handy info.

Thanks for your great website btw

Ted

[White Owl]

I don't know about your specific question, but I'll add confirmation that the 6950 handles this game well enough. I have most settings on high, textures on original, but shadows off, and that looks real good with playable framerates. Some stuttering for a quarter second or so whenever a new texture gets loaded for the first time, and of course the ATI glitched blue lines at the horizon... but these will get better in time, I'm sure.

The shadows are a problem. They kill framerates and look very bad. Could be just my system, though.

[Flanker35M]

S!

WhiteOwl, your system is not far from mine. And yes, the shadows kill fps as does the dust when you land/take-off. Can not stretch much more that ppl should file a AMD driver feedback form, report them in detail the problems. They will tackle it, but also devs need to work on it.

I am planning on another 6970HD when CoD really runs well fullscreen and has the proper SLI/CrossFire implemented 100%. So supporting the game even on it's current state.

[Flying_Nutcase]

Originally Posted by Flying_Nutcase

I need confirmation: Can the Sapphire 6950 FleX, which has its own cooling system, be raised to 6970 levels?

Thanks for any help on this one.

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?

[HornedGod]

Originally Posted by Flying_Nutcase

I need confirmation: Can the Sapphire 6950 FleX, which has its own cooling system, be raised to 6970 levels?

Thanks for any help on this one.

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.