Article The Complete MSI R6950 Review

The Complete MSI R6950 Review

Introduction

ATI’s previous line of 58XX/59XX Cypress cards were a huge success among gamers and enthusiasts alike. Improving on that, the company has launched its new products, the 6970 and 6950. And no, they are not dual GPU cards like the 5970, but instead single core cards, targeted at replacing the 5870 and 5850 respectively. The reason for the change in nomenclature is that, AMD wants the consumers to know that these cards are faster than their predecessors, it’s time we found out if they really are. This card is not meant for those that want the best card in the market but for those who want to be able to get a great gaming experience, no matter what game they are playing.

The 6950 is codenamed Cayman-Pro, and at the time of the launch, was released at a price point, where there was no competition, as it sat right between the GTX 470 and the GTX 570. However now it has competition with the GTX 560 Ti. This review however is not a comparison of the two cards, and will focus exclusively on the 6950. There has also been a lot of hype how, the 6950 has locked shaders, which by using a modded BIOS or the 6970 BIOS itself can be unlocked, and as a result you get 6970 shaders and if overclocked, essentially a 6970. The issue has been found that though the 6970 BIOS can be flashed easily to the 6950 (Those that can be), are stable for a while, but then it is found that the VRAM is getting damaged due to the difference in power management between the two cards, and it is thus best to just unlock the shaders and then overclock the card. This review will also look into the increase in performance after the locked shaders have been unlocked and the overclocking potential in that case.