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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Overclocking > AMD > [Solved] Athlon II X4 620 L3 cache unlocking help?

[Solved] Athlon II X4 620 L3 cache unlocking help?

Forum Overclocking : AMD [Solved] Athlon II X4 620 L3 cache unlocking help?

AMD

Hi Guys.Currently I have Athlon II X4 620 processor on ASUS M2N68-AM PLUS motherboard. How can I unlock Athlon's L3 cache?

Reply to Mudit Sathe

athlons dont have any l3, they physically cut it out, they didnt just deactivate it, its not there at all.

------------------------------ Athlon X2 5800+|ECS A740GM-M|Kingston 2GB DDR2
Reply to xaira

Well, some of them I've been suspecting they deactivated it because of the TLB bug back in '07. Even if you unlock it, you'll experience some problems you probably don't want to experience.

the tlb bug is only there on 65nm

------------------------------ Athlon X2 5800+|ECS A740GM-M|Kingston 2GB DDR2
Reply to xaira

Nope.

You can but it will be a longshot. There are only a few people that have been able to do it and they have said that even thou it does come up with the L3 unlocked (CPU-Z) they think it is a glitch.

http://alienbabeltech.com/main/wp- [...] x46201.png

My understanding is that there should not be any L3 whatsoever on the die. Not sure what the case is here...

Message edited by OvrClkr on 10-21-2009 at 06:14:46 PM

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http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/OvrClkr/mod.png

Reply to OvrClkr

http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=10923

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Reply to OvrClkr

OverClkr, that is my understanding as well. Athlon is a completely seperate manufacturing process. The chips are much easier (and cheaper) to make, hence their pricing point.

It's not inconceivable that AMD is also marketing it's Phenom chips with defects in the L3 cache as Athlons with locked cache, however. It's helps to keep the yields up.

Reply to reincus

Personally if AMD states there is no L3 whatsoever on the 620 and 630 then I don't understand why some are able to unlock the L3. I will have to do more researching to find out whats true and whats not....

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Reply to OvrClkr

i read somewhere that to make up for propus shortages they are using deneb dies, but this should only be a few

------------------------------ Athlon X2 5800+|ECS A740GM-M|Kingston 2GB DDR2
Reply to xaira

Overclkr and Xaira are right about the no L3 cache on the AMD X4 620 The chips don't have any L3 cache from the factory. What people are getting confused about is the first batch of chips released for sale included deneb chips with L3 6mb cache left on or disabled. I think now it would be pretty rare to find any of these deneb chips left. Some people believe games would suffer due to no L3 cache. Well check out the review at Http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] 620/8.htm. They show the X4 620 at 266 mhz and overclocked at 3.1. thats the first bar and last bar in the review. Now compare the last off green bar and the orange bar which is the I570. As you step though the tests. You'll find that the X4 260OC held its own in game benchmarks. The only tests were the numbers are lower were synthetic benchmarks and 3DMark06. Personally I think that alot of tests favor Intel and thats why AMD scores so low. If you already have DDR3 ram you can score a killer CPU and motherboard for around $200 Thats pretty much what I paid for my Q6600
CPU. I am seriously thinking about going back to AMD. I'm tired of Intel putting out all these new chips which require new motherboards to use them. Also some members using a motherboard with ACC in the bios report being able to turn on the L3 cache. If this is true its only because they got lucky and received one of the deneb chips with the L3 cache. You cannot turn an L3 cache if there is none. Comments are welcome.

Message edited by Dominator2 on 10-22-2009 at 08:43:35 PM

Reply to Dominator2

Best answer

Thanks for the feedback =)

@ mudit, you can only try if you have the right motherboard, your board has an nvidia chipset so dont even try it. You will need a board with an SB710 or SB750 in order to unlock.

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Reply to OvrClkr

yes, but how do you use your bios in these mobo to unlock said l3 cache?

Reply to knifearefun

The same way you unlock cores on the 550'snd 720's.

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Reply to OvrClkr

Hi Guys.Currently I have Athlon II X4 620 processor on MSi 785g- e53 motherboard. How can I unlock Athlon's L3 cache?

Reply to Anonymous

hey all and all the L3 cache can be unlocked using bios only an somme mobos only but the thing is does it afect the processor if you unlock it????

Reply to TheAlin25

see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOJ0x40q8B8

Reply to TheAlin25

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOJ0x40q8B8

Reply to TheAlin25

OvrClkr wrote :

My understanding is that Nvida chipsets have this functionality as well.

Reply to FALC0N

my 750a sli unlocks just fine

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------------------------------ Athlon X2 5800+|ECS A740GM-M|Kingston 2GB DDR2
Reply to xaira

xaira wrote :

my 750a sli unlocks just fine

What is it called Xaira? Nvidia has a different name for it.

Reply to FALC0N

Hi im new to this site, i have the same motherboard as you, and same athlon ii x4 620 cpu, can overclock this cpu to 2.8ghz on the m2n68 am plus board, but no l3 cache?? slows this cpu down!!!!!!!

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Reply to andrei22

andrei22 wrote :

Hi im new to this site, i have the same motherboard as you, and same athlon ii x4 620 cpu, can overclock this cpu to 2.8ghz on the m2n68 am plus board, but no l3 cache?? slows this cpu down!!!!!!!

Welcome newcomer

As stated earlier in this thread, I don't believe your particular board can unlock.

I think Nvidia calls it NVCC or as ASRock calls it UCC is needed to unlock.

I see this is an older tread but I'll throw this out there any ways because 620's are still being sold..

If you have thee opportunity to look at the top of your processor, you can tell by the stepping codes what core your cpu was made from and if there is even any hope of unlocking an L3. The 620's used stepping codes of: CACYC AC and CADAC AD (Source). The CACYC AC are deneb cores with an L3 be it functional or not. The CADAC AD is a Propus core with NO L3. You can see what cpu's where made from the CACYC AC's (Here) and what was made with the CADAC AD's (Here).

So if you know you have a Deneb core or not you will still need to roll the dice and enable ACC,NVCC,UCC or flip the switch to find any extras. Just know how to clear your cmos if something isn't functional!

Reply to green300

sounds about right, i was looking at the 620 cpu the other day, i brought mine from pbtech, im in new zealand, iwould that this cpu wont have l3, i just go buy 1 insted, would you recomend intel or amd with l3 cache?

Reply to andrei22