Phenom X3 720BE: Unlocking 4th core recommendations.

Hello again,

First I would like to thank the community for all the help that has been given! It's much appreciated.

I have recently just finished finding a stable overclock for my CPU. This was my first time overclocking a CPU; the process was not as bad as I expected. After researching I went into the BIOS and changed the multiplier to 17x from 14x. I also added .075v to 1.4 to the CPU. I have yet to do any extensive testing (10hrs+, I suppose), but I was able to pass the OCCT 1hr scan and run Prime95 for over 45 minutes. This seems to be working great, but I would like to learn how to change the memory values in the BIOS. The CPU temp idles at 40C and hits +60-70C.

After I found this setup, I tried to unlock my 4th core. Assuming this is relevant information, my motherboard is a GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X and i'm using G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500). As mentioned, I went into the Advanced Clock Calibration and changed the setting to Hybrid/Per Core, restarted, and booted it back up. Windows 7(64-bit) started smoothly--maybe even noticeably faster--and indeed, the fourth core was displayed in my task manager processor tab.

I tried testing the system with both Prime95 and OCCT; both concluding with the same results. After 10-15 minutes my computer would shut down, which was very disappointed to see walking into the room...

While I was monitoring the test I tried to use CPUID to read the temps of my CPU. This program had just worked before I unlocked the cores, but the cores were all displaying 0C, and I am unsure what the TMPIN0-2 correspond to (somewhere in the CPU?). With this problem I was unable to monitor my CPU temp, but I went along with the testing anyway. One thing I did look at was whether all cores were running at 100%. All four were stable for 10 minutes, but then the system crashed.

This is where my main question is, but the ones I have posed above are still problems I am having. I want to know if this error means I need to add more voltage in order to support that core? If I do, how can I read the temperature of my CPU so I know i'm not overheating. Considering I have found a good overlcock for the 3-core setup, should I just keep the 4th core disabled and be happy? What are the benefits of unlocking this, assuming the 4th core in 100% stable--which brings me to my next point.

I read somewhere that I could test a single core with the OCCT software to make sure the 4th core is not a defective one. I tried looking for the option, but I could only find a place to regulate the temperature settings. I must add that the OCCT software also didn't read the CPU temp, that solution didn't work. Can someone recommend a program that can do this?

I have more questions regarding overclocking--which I accomplished on a very basic level--regarding memory and Northgate speeds, but I will save it for another post on a different discussion.

If anyone needs any more information in order to help me with this problem, please let me know!

Thank you.