Dual core opteron's 165, 170, 175, 180 - unlocked multipler?

They are NOT unlocked, period. The only DESKTOP processors unlocked for upper mulitpliers are the FX series from AMD and the EE series from Intel. Otherwise, all OCs are done via FSB raising. What some people do is LOWER them mulitiplier. Why? You get the same overall MHZ (say 2750mhz) but with a higher overall FSB yeilding a higher memory thruput and therefor slightly faster overall processing capabilities. That make sense?

Example, 10x stock multiplier on a 3800+ x2 with 275 FSB = 2750 OR 9x Multi (they are unlocked DOWN however) and either a 305 or 306 FSB gives you 2750ish yet it will framerate and calculate stuff slightly faster. This true 99.99% of the time in either AMD or Intel apps. Any questions?

Keep in mind though that the memory and motherboard needs to sometimes be of a higher quality to do the upper FSB settings. Some mobos top out at 300mhz FSB max so you might hit a ceiling, especially if you use water or other advance cooling methods.

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