Unlocking AMD cores?

ok I think im going to have a try at this.

i had a look at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huKVYW4duiU
and he kind of says that i have to update the bios which can allow it to go hybrid.

Ok but I hear updating the bios is kind of dangerous. ok so If i was to update the bios what would i need to do?

and 1 final question i think lol...

Will this cpu run at x4 b50 at stock clock speeds cool enough for everyday use - games ex.


thanx! Tristen

I'm using Asrock motherboards for unlocking cores. I can appreciate there is a huge following for Gigabyte, but with all the Asrock models that can be used there is no need to flash the bios for unlcoking cores.

Any Asrock board with 780 or 790 chipset plus SB710 or 750. All these boards have ACC. It has Auto, All Cores and Per Core settings. Chaning ACC to Per Core, works every time.

Turn the computer on, F2 into bios, change ACC to Per Core -2%, F10 and out. Extra cores in 30 seconds.

If they function, even if faulty (ie having defects; imperfect), they can be unlocked.

Unlocking non-functional cores cannot be done.

Unlocking faulty cores can be done. An X4 B50 with faulty cores will run worse than the same processor set as an X2 550 (having found this out first hand).

Do some benchmarks as an X2 550, then unlock the extra cores. If non-functional cores are present, be prepared for BSOD and the like. If faulty (functional but with defects) run the benchmarks again. Similar or worse results mean the faulty cores should not be unlocked for any reason. Reset the BIOS settings, stay as an X2 550.

thanks for the response but do you think that if i just stick the stock core settigns 3.1ghz and unlock the 2 cores and if they are stable, raise the voltage a tiny bit even tho i was able to boot with the same volts, if i could get a clear yes or no answer it would help me alot.

if i changed to x4 b50 would the stock heatsink and fan provided with the phenom II x2 550, would that be enough to keep at cool enough to do everyday things mostly gaming. ( remember that im not overclocking just unlocking )

thanks !

thats for the quick answer and good answers they are you are a legend but i have another if your up to it

I tried to run prime95 last night to see if the cores where actually fully stable but the computer just froze, i dont know if i set the prime95 up right but i dont think it would have crashed because it but anyway do you think it could because of not enough voltage? yeh about the temps again tho i checked my bios last night when i was running at b50 and it said the temp was idle at 48 however is there a chance that my bios could be wrong because when you unlock it into a quad core it doesnt allow you to see your temperature from windows atleast i don't know about the bios. thanx !

By the way sorry for my spelling

yeh i didnt personaly build this computer we had a guy at the computer store do it.
so yeh ive had to for like a month now playing games like gta 4 and what not. seems stable to me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGKBXgbmCOk this video explains why there are some perfectly good cores. and so your telling me otherwise it don't make it true.

huh maybe that was the case in my problems but idk, ill try unlocking them again some time. cuz the pc would turn off then it turn back on but nothing would display and then it would shut off again. Could be do to the volts.

thats probibly it but also you must fully turn your computer off not just restart. lol I started to panic when my computer wouldnt boot i rebooted with the button and still nothing the cpu flickered then i shut down and then booted again and it worked. i think fully shutting it down saves the settings properly

Actually they are expensive where I live, daship did not hit the nail on the head. It is possible to unlock cores and there is a chance that they are not stable, but there is a chance that the cores are stable. daship is an intel fanboy or what ever you want to call it im not a fanboy of anything I think intel and AMD both make great proccessors.

You did realize that AMD has had much better yields on their wafers than Intel has, right? Better yields = better binning = better processors. So what does that say about your "high failure rates vs Intel"?

Like I said, if you guys all actually believe all that.....well to each their own. If you can unlock'em and get them to run, more power to you.

Thats what im hoping to accomplish now, i have unlocked the 4 cores but when i looked at the temp in the bios it said 48-49
that seemed a bit high for idle so i went back to a 550 thinking that i needed a new cooler. but i just looked in the bios again as a x2 550 and i have a temp of 45-46? are these temps right at idle? or does the cpu go under load inside the bios?

ill check them now but 42c idle? that seems high i thaught most are suppose to get like 48 under load.

ok i couldnt find any load temps. but i have here

system temperature 35c
cpu temp 46c

remember that atm i amd still using a duel core. 46 seems very high

well i have speedfan but i was monitering those temps from the bios. speedfan atm says

Temp1 34c
temp2 37c
temp3 37c
HD0 28c
Core 30c

I cant use any programs to moniter my temps in windows while running as a quad x4 b50

this might be a stupid question but how do you take a screenshot of your desktop? =P

Hit alt+printscreen and then open "PAINT" and paste then save....

then u upload it to photobucket and paste here when you edit a message.....

ok if i use hwmonitor i get 26-34c idle temp, but when i unlock the 2 cores i cant see the temp.

is it as dual or quad ?? and on stock cooler ? If dual and on stock my temps would also be around there while playing games now with the titan cooler i get 34 on load.

why dont you run prime 95 and hwmonitor. Run prime and check the temps with hwmonitor and then ull see how hot the cpu gets. I recommend that so you kno where the temps are at, While if you turn on the game you wont see the temps and will have to windows out of the game to check them. i would see it with prime 95 for now to see where your temps stand just run it for like 5 min and then when you see what the temps are, later you can run gta 4 for 2min to see how hott it gets with the game, ull kno what to expect then, when running the game after you seen how hot it got with prime 95. but if it gets to hot with prime quit the test.

and either way you gotta get a aftermarket cooler if you wanna run it as a quad.

my dual core 550 runs 34 load with the titan cooler and the fan on the cooler is at 50%

Ok i switched to x4 b50 last night.

But with everest, when i was running a duel core. there was the 2 temps that each core was going at which are the proper temps. but the cpu temp it says is +10c more than the proper temps. So when I changed to x4 b50 it doesnt show the 2 temps of the 2 or 4 cores now that its a quad. but it still says the cpu temp. if i still say -10c on the cpu temp i get the proper temps. unless thats faulty. any who. I recorded while doing a test of prime95 ftt i think? for about 2 minutes that temp was hitting 68C and still climbing. so that sort of means it hitting 58c and about to climb over possibly 60c which is the critical temp for phenom II isnt? or amd not sure.

So yes do you think I will be ok ? are those temperatures correct?

Btw I ran gta 4 last night for a bout 3-5 minutes just to see if I had a performance gain. Holy crap I did!
100% smooth all the time no lag what so ever my fps barely dropped below 45

do you think we could discuss this on msn? would be alot easier I sent you my email through pm

thanks im online atm