Unlocking AMD cores?

[instantcoffee]

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

 

[instantcoffee]

sry to double post but i need to know these things b4 i got ahead

 

[seabreeze]

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.

 

[lashton]

providing they arent faulty cores

 

[seabreeze]

providing they arent faulty cores

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.

 

[OvrClkr]

Remember to give the CPU some volts....

Last time I had issues unlocking it was due to low voltage.. When the CPU is unlocked it needs a tad more volts since it is running as a quad.... =)

 

[instantcoffee]

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 !

 

[OvrClkr]

Yes, you can unlock and run the CPU at 3.1Ghz with the stock cooler, you have nothing to worry about....The stock cooler is good for 3.5Ghz or lower depending on your ambient temp.....

You can also raise the voltage a bit and it will not harm the CPU....1.3/1.32v should be enough for the CPU (B50) to run at stock speeds....

 

[instantcoffee]

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

 

[OvrClkr]

First of all you have to make sure your PC is stable from the GET-GO, meaning when you were done building and installing the OS, you had to memtest your RAM to make sure it is fully stable before you do any overclocking....

1. Build
2. Go into bios and change the Ram timings/voltage to whatever is specified by the manufacturer...
3. Install OS
4. Run memtest86 - till the test is done..
5. Run Prime95 - at least 8 hours to ensure full overall stability....

you can now overclock and change certain values in the bios.....

 

[instantcoffee]

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

 

[daship]

ATTENTION AMD FANBOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The cores were disabled for a reason.

No matter how many noobs tell you otherwise, it dont make it true. If they were good quad cores they would have been sold as such.

 

[instantcoffee]

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.

 

[daship]

That vide dont prove *** except you can unlock cores sometimes, and just because it unlocks dont mean its stable.

They dont Make tri on purpose because of demand, theres not a high demand for tri core, and the failure of the quads provides more then enough tri cores for demand.

All it proves is AMD sucks, and has high failure rates vs Intel.

I have seen dozens of post lately about people having stability issues after unlocking cores.

No thanks, I Pass.

 

[huntsman]

Remember to give the CPU some volts....

Last time I had issues unlocking it was due to low voltage.. When the CPU is unlocked it needs a tad more volts since it is running as a quad.... =)

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.

 

[jitpublisher]

I gotta say that I think daship has hit the nail on the head. Now, I like AMD. Have been a happy AMD user for years. But, AMD has found a way to market less than perfect parts, and if you believe anything else, well like George Strait says, "I got some Ocean front property in Arizona"....If you want a quad core, then buy a quad core!
It's not like they are expensive....you'll pay an arm and a leg for a GPU, light that case up with LED's and install a Blueray player, then buy a dirt cheap flawed processor and try to unlock and overclock. What are you guys thinking?

 

[instantcoffee]

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

 

[jitpublisher]

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

To those more experienced, this is just one possible symptom of instability, CPU or otherwise, but something is wrong for sure....that is exactly what this is.

 

[instantcoffee]

I gotta say that I think daship has hit the nail on the head. Now, I like AMD. Have been a happy AMD user for years. But, AMD has found a way to market less than perfect parts, and if you believe anything else, well like George Strait says, "I got some Ocean front property in Arizona"....If you want a quad core, then buy a quad core!
It's not like they are expensive....you'll pay an arm and a leg for a GPU, light that case up with LED's and install a Blueray player, then buy a dirt cheap flawed processor and try to unlock and overclock. What are you guys thinking?

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.

 

[gkorjax]

There are plenty of examples of people unlocking the other cores with the 550 and running prime for 8 hours. What kind of stability tests are you needing?

 

[jedimasterben]

That vide dont prove *** except you can unlock cores sometimes, and just because it unlocks dont mean its stable.

They dont Make tri on purpose because of demand, theres not a high demand for tri core, and the failure of the quads provides more then enough tri cores for demand.

All it proves is AMD sucks, and has high failure rates vs Intel.

I have seen dozens of post lately about people having stability issues after unlocking cores.

No thanks, I Pass.

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"?

 

[instantcoffee]

That vide dont prove *** except you can unlock cores sometimes, and just because it unlocks dont mean its stable.

They dont Make tri on purpose because of demand, theres not a high demand for tri core, and the failure of the quads provides more then enough tri cores for demand.

All it proves is AMD sucks, and has high failure rates vs Intel.

I have seen dozens of post lately about people having stability issues after unlocking cores.

No thanks, I Pass.

Yes there are alot of posts saying that there 4 cores are unstable bad luck for them, they run the bios and go back to having a duel core simple. but there are also alot of posts saying there are people who have had success. look at the phenom II 550 club they have loads of people running as quad cores with no instability. Its luck. theres no reason for you to be here flaming about amd.

 

[jitpublisher]

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.

 

[OvrClkr]

Don't know what the fuss is all about, you are paying 99.99 dollars for a fast CPU that can be unlocked very easily if you have the correct hardware. I personally know about 5 peeps here on Tom's that run their B50 at 3.8Ghz+ fully stable, no glitches, NADA...So they paid 99.99$ for a fully working quad...

And then you have the not so lucky that could not find stability as a quad and they locked it back up to a 550.... there is nothing more.... what did you expect for a bill?

You can read many reviews on many different websites and as far as the ratio goes, its around 70/30.....

 

[instantcoffee]

Don't know what the fuss is all about, you are paying 99.99 dollars for a fast CPU that can be unlocked very easily if you have the correct hardware. I personally know about 5 peeps here on Tom's that run their B50 at 3.8Ghz+ fully stable, no glitches, NADA...So they paid 99.99$ for a fully working quad...

And then you have the not so lucky that could not find stability as a quad and they locked it back up to a 550.... there is nothing more.... what did you expect for a bill?

You can read many reviews on many different websites and as far as the ratio goes, its around 70/30.....

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?