Unlocking the 4th core in my athlon II x3 440

[neonmonkey]

Hi all,

I have been trying to unlock the 4th core but every time i do it will restart the computer and just sit there, it will be on but wont do anything, so i have to restart the computer and it will tell me that only 3 cores are running. (it says it in a mocking way too)

does anyone have any advice? i set it to unleashing mode too but that didnt help at all.

MOBO is Asus m4a785-m

 

[Starges]

What psu are you using? Maybe the psu aint supplying enough to the overclocked cpu!

 

[neonmonkey]

its a 410 watt one, I cant tell what brand though, it came with the case which is a HP workstation xw4200.

I wouldnt think it was that because i have OC it from 3 ghz to 3.30 without any hiccups.

 

[mi1ez]

maybe the core's genuinely defective?

 

[Starges]

List your system specs please:
maybe the 410w isn't enough

 

[neonmonkey]

AMD athlon II x3 440

2 Gigs of DDR2

1 hard drive

1 disc drive

Nvidia Geforce 9800 GT

 

[LePhuronn]

You do realise there's a reason the 4th core is locked?

IT'S BROKEN

It's only ever been the luck of the draw that you can get cores unlocked and working - some people can, some can't.

Try throwing more voltage into the CPU to see if that helps, but the chances are you have a core that's actually and properly defective, so it's not going to work.

 

[neonmonkey]

Yes, i do realize that it might not work. I am not stupid.

I was just wondering if anyone knew if i was doing anything wrong.

 

[Starges]

I'm still convinced the psu is to blame. What is the power distribution on your psu??

 

[neonmonkey]

i dont know, will it say on the side of the psu?

 

[Starges]

Yap!

 

[neonmonkey]

I cant find it,

I am planning on upgrading to a nice Rosewill power supply soon anyway so it will wait until then

 

[neonmonkey]

Best answer selected by neonmonkey.

 

[Starges]

I'ld prefer you look for a corsair or OCZ psu. Rosewill are known to make really crappy psus, unless it is the 80+ certified one (which i still doubt).

Look for credited brands like coole master, ocz, carsair and antec.

 

[LePhuronn]

^ I wouldn't go for a Cooler Master either to be honest

Corsair, some OCZ, Antec, Seasonic

And honestly I'm not convinced it's the PSU - locked cores are usually locked for a reason. I think you have a genuinely defective core.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Starges]

Y.eah

 

[neonmonkey]

Ok, Do you guys know if XFX psu's are any good?

and in the BIOS when it says "value all cores -2% -4% +2% +3% ect" does that have anything to do with it? it is set on -2%

 

[LePhuronn]

Corsair, some OCZ, Antec, Seasonic

I've seen some XFX PSUs explode when pushed too hard.

 

[LePhuronn]

XFX 850W PSU goes bang when stressed at maximum:
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/power_supply/xfx_black_edition_850w_atx_psu/4

And I never said he needed a new PSU, it just seems to be the opinion that the existing PSU is at fault.

No idea why - the core is obviously defective in this instance

 

[LePhuronn]

lol no worries dude

 

[flyinfinni]

I doubt the core is good and the PSU is causing the problem. If the core is unlockable it should unlock and show, at least in BIOS, as a quad. I have an Athlon II x3 unlocked, and it shows as a phenom II x4 in BIOS. If it won't boot right and then shows as an x3 again, it means it couldn't boot with those settings and reset to the default settings- wouldn't have done that with a bad PSU I don't think. Well- let us know if it unlocks with a new PSU.

 

[neonmonkey]

OK I will.

 

[chiragsthakur]

unlocked x3 440 into phenom ii x4 b40..... $85 quad at 3ghz... ran prime,everest for 24hr each.... fully stable....jackpot..... unlocked with $71 MSI 770 T C45 mobo......

 

[rocky_1]

if there is no ecc firmware option you have to update the BIOS then
make sure ecc firmware is set to hybrid
acc set to all cores or auto
and try turning cool and quiet off I have this helps some

 

[NDSGaming]

It also happens to me!!!

2 gig Ram DDR3
Amd athlon II x3 440
Nvdia GT240 1GB GDDR5
Asus motherboard
230V PSU