Unlocking a Phenom II x2 555BE with an ASRock 870 EXTREME3

[phatshady912]

Topic

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision HDZ555WFGMBOX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198

Chances of unlocking it to a stable 4 cores, or 3 cores.

Likely, possible, unlikely, no chance?

I have been reading alot about this and while some sites/forums/people seem to make it sound like a forgone conclusion, others make it sound like a shot in the dark

Also if this board is bad for it, can someone suggest a better one, preferably with crossfire and ddr3 1600 support.

 

[Lmeow]

It's a random chance although it's meant to be greater than 50 % or so.

 

[skervy]

its a gamble but from what i read the motherboard can make a difference. theres alot of reviews where cpus would not unlock or be unstable on some boards but would work fine on others. i myself picked up that asrock board and im damn impressed for the price and features. to think i was gonna spend 60$ more on a asus with the same stuff. anyways its a really nice board just need time to find out if it will last long term or randomly croak after its 1 year warranty. mine unlocked my x3 445 no issues and fully stable. overclocked to 3.5 so far but it makes a 10 degree difference 40@3.1 50+@3.5 so i leave it at stock speed.

 

[phatshady912]

Did you upgrade the CPU Heatsink/fan? I'm thinking of going with this to unlock the cores and overclock it a little.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142

 

[skervy]

no i stuck with the stock. if your gonna spend another 40-50$ on a heatsink for a gamble that might not work might as well just buy the real x4 for the same price as the lower cpu with a nice heatsink. havent seen my temps over 47 now with it overclocked i think the arctic silver is settling in now but im in a fairly hot room around 80f. i set up my oc in the bios so its 3.5ghz when i start up now and play my games and whatnot. when im just browsing or watchin movies at night i go into the asrock oc tuner bump down my multiplier to 3ghz. you could prolly get by with a setup like that and the stock heatsink if its not running a high oc constantly. personally id pick a different cpu like the 445 it has a very high unlock rate from what ive read and mine worked out so must be semi true.