I have the Athlon II X3 440, an ASUS M5A78L-M LX mainboard, a CM Hyper TX3, and an Antec Earthwatts EA-650 650W supplying the voltages. The most important thing to note in all this is that the M5A78L-M LX - though an AM3+ "black socket" motherboard - only supports CPU's up to a 95W TDP rating.
I was able to use the ASUS "Core Unlocker" feature the very first time without a hitch. The Athlon II X3 440 was recognized as a Phenom II X4 after the first reboot by the bios, Windows Vista 64-bit, and CPU-Z. Haven't Prime95 tested it yet for true stability.
The Athlon II X3 440 I have has the AADAC code engraved on its heat spreader. As I understand it, this means it's a Propus, because the third letter is a D. The regular Propus' natively have a 95W TDP; so if I unlocked my 4th core anyway, and my processor is a Propus, then technically, should I still be operating at a 95W TDP?
Does this logic seem right to anyone else? Given that my mobo only supports up to a 95W TDP, does unlocking - in any case & under any circumstances - automatically raise the TDP? My individual core temps using both the bios readings and HW Monitor in Windows showed about 32 degrees Celcius with just three cores @ idle; and 36 degrees Celcius with all four enabled, also @ idle. No overclocking has been done... yet I'm just worried that if I leave it unlocked, I will cause damage to my motherboard or severely shorten the life expectancy of my processor.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I was able to use the ASUS "Core Unlocker" feature the very first time without a hitch. The Athlon II X3 440 was recognized as a Phenom II X4 after the first reboot by the bios, Windows Vista 64-bit, and CPU-Z. Haven't Prime95 tested it yet for true stability.
The Athlon II X3 440 I have has the AADAC code engraved on its heat spreader. As I understand it, this means it's a Propus, because the third letter is a D. The regular Propus' natively have a 95W TDP; so if I unlocked my 4th core anyway, and my processor is a Propus, then technically, should I still be operating at a 95W TDP?
Does this logic seem right to anyone else? Given that my mobo only supports up to a 95W TDP, does unlocking - in any case & under any circumstances - automatically raise the TDP? My individual core temps using both the bios readings and HW Monitor in Windows showed about 32 degrees Celcius with just three cores @ idle; and 36 degrees Celcius with all four enabled, also @ idle. No overclocking has been done... yet I'm just worried that if I leave it unlocked, I will cause damage to my motherboard or severely shorten the life expectancy of my processor.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!