Athlon II X3 435 Overclock / Unlock 4th Core?

[jabrony76]

Hi All,

Just bought an Athlon II X3 435 along with a ASUS M4A77TD Motherboard and stumbled across stories about unlocking the 4th core and even sometimes even the L3 cache (rare).

Given my Motherboard:

1. Could I attempt to do this? Not sure if the BIOS would support this

2. Should I attempt to do this? If it doesn't work, can I revert to turn off the 4th core without damaging the other 3 cores that I actually paid for

3. If I could and should try, how do I do it?


Also - does anyone know of a good guide for Overclocking the Athlon II X3 or can give me some direction based on my Motherboard? I overclocked a P4 some years ago but that was pretty simple and reading articles, i'm not exactly sure how to overclock the new CPU. I plan on running the stock HSF for now so it will be a gentle OC (was hoping for 3.3, maybe).

I read that because it's not a BE, the multiplier is locked and I will have to up the voltage that would also affect the RAM.

If it helps, here are the details of my build that's on it's way:

Athlon II X3 435
ASUS M4A77TD
A-Data 2x2GB DDR3 1600
HD 4670 1GB Video Card
Windows 7 Home
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB
Cooler Master 460W PSU

Thanks!

 

[OvrClkr]

Try doing what I did, NOTE : Your Bios may look different than mines. just giving you an example

 

[megafreak]

Isn't unlocking cores limited to Phenoms only?

 

[OvrClkr]

no, Athlons can be unlocked as well =)

http://www.lostcircuits.com/mambo//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=71&Itemid=1

 

[jabrony76]

Here's hoping the 435 on my way is just a dumbed down Phenom II X4...

 

[OvrClkr]

cross your fingers buddy =) , you might get lucky..

even if you do not unlock you have a great CPU regardless...

 

[jabrony76]

Best answer selected by jabrony76.

 

[OvrClkr]

im glad it worked out for you..