Unlocked Athlon II X3 440 runs well, but only boots with power reset.

[Jerico913]

Hi guys. I recently put together a new computer, and its running fine right now. I got a Athlon II X3 440 as its perfect for my needs already, but I still decided to try unlocking it. Running ACC worked and I got into Windows 7 and see that CPUID call it a Phenom II X4 B40. I tested it with Prime 95 and it ran fine for multiple hours. So I figured I got a legit 4 core CPU.

That was until I turned off the system and then tried to turn it on. There the Computer would turn on but not post or get into BIOS. After playing around, I find that the only way to turn it back on is to cut the power, plug it back in, then turn it back on. Then the computer can run fine. Various testing shows that this is only necessary when I'm enabling ACC. I guess what I am wondering is whether there is anything I can do to make the computer run with the Athlon II X3 unlocked, or is my luck not as good as I hoped?

The rest of my system if anyone cares...

Mobo + Optical Drive: Biostar A785G3 + Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.418256

CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 440 3.0Ghz AM3 OEM CPU
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] CatId=4919

CPU Fan & Heatsink: Cooler Master Hyper 101A

GPU: XFX ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 GB DDR5
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Radeon-D [...] 048&sr=1-2

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231253

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAJS 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6822136178

PSU: Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371033

Case: Rosewill R102-P-BK 120mm Fan MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811147111

Front Case Fan: Bgears B-Ice Silver 120mm Blue LED Case Fan
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] Case%20Fan

Thanks for any help in advance

 

[simon12]

Strange, I would try a bios update 1st if it doesn't work maybe someone else will have a better answer by then.

 

[green300]

Try setting your HT to 1600. If you haven't been there before, check out rebel haven: http://www.rebelshavenforum.com/ as there is a lot biostar love there (mine is 0). You'll find in the forum over and over it's said to set ht to 1600 for unlocking and that no post with acc enabled means it's a bad core. I don't buy it, not if you can get in and run prime for "multiple hours". I've tried to read just a bit on the bio-785's while trying to help someone and his 435 on a different forum. I've read where one person updated their bios to the most resent and lost acc operation with a phenom x2. They finally found an older version 88gap.112 and got acc to work again. Not sure way biostar support doesn't list any older bios versions, just the latest, 88gap420. (not sure amd is happy with the whole unlocking thing) If you do update, be sure to back up your current as you can get in with it! I was only able to find a modded version of the 112 in post #14675 : http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/5863-Award-amp-AMI-Bios-mod-requests./page1468

The person I mentioned before had a lower end 400ish psu he (we) questioned,replaced with a 750 and made no difference. Your 380 w/32amps combined and a 5770 is on the edge according to the little guide over in the video section. Maybe try and strip down and unplug any extra drives,fans,usb's etc., see if that makes a diff. I would think it would be enough.

If you can get in and run prime, I'm guessing your fourth core is stable.

Hope you can get somewhere with it as I'm trying to grow my biostar love.....

 

[Jerico913]

Thanks you for that info Green. I followed a topic there where they explained more about unlocking processors on Biostar Mobos and made those changes and now my computer turns on as a Quad Core without having to flip the power switch on the PSU. Googling about this issue earlier made me think there were some option that could be changed on the BIOS, but I wasnt sure about what that was.

Yeah, the PSU looks to be just enough for this system. I think it should be fine though. Hell, when I was running Prime 95 earlier with my system as a quad core, I ran ATI Auto-tune as well the computer handled that pretty well. Doubt I will even hit that much usage on my computer on normal operation. Will probably replace it in a year though when I'm not too strapped for cash to be safe though. Probably not going to OC, esp now since it seems that I got a full X4 on my hands.

Will probably run Prime 95 for a 4 or so hours today to be safe.

 

[Jerico913]

Best answer selected by Jerico913.