Sempron 140 Gets Second Core Unlocked
By - Source: Tom's Hardware US
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31 comments
Now more (hard)core.
We love getting more chip for our money. That's why we're into overclocking. But an even more interesting way to get more performance for free than overclocking is to unlocking extra cores.
We've seen core unlocking from the AMD Phenom II X2 and X3, but now it seems someone has figured out that the Sempron 140 can also be unlocked to restore it an Athlon II X2 state. Both chips are based on the same silicon, but the Sempron has one of its cores disabled.
If this feat is easily replicated, this could be the cheapest and most full-featured dua core processor for $40. Even better if you can overclock it too (which that same modder did, going from 2.7 GHz to 3.7 GHz).
Read more at Tech Report.
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However, according to the site, they used a 790GX with ACC. I would think you could get a cheaper motherboard, and buy a Athlon X2 you know will work properly with both cores enabled. Seriously, who's going to spend money on a 790GX but buy a $40 Sempron and hope they can get both cores working?
However, according to the site, they used a 790GX with ACC. I would think you could get a cheaper motherboard, and buy a Athlon X2 you know will work properly with both cores enabled. Seriously, who's going to spend money on a 790GX but buy a $40 Sempron and hope they can get both cores working?
Agreed. It does seem a bit pointless to spend all that money on a board and then just drop a $40 CPU to it. However, if it's just for the experience (and bragging rights) then this makes sense.
Yup, there's a reason that this got dumpped to being a "Sempron" rather than a Athlon II - these are usually the silicon that had unstability or "other issues". Sure you can do it, but exactly how reliable would that hyped up Sempron be?
I would imagine it's a combination of the two, depending on the yields at any given time.
I'm thinking of getting an AM3 785G or 790GX motherboard. If I get something like a Phenom 955 processor, that's pretty much it forever. I'm not going to pull and throw away a $200 processor. So when the 32mn processors come out next year, I'll look at them and read the specs, but I won't get one.
But if I get the $40 Sempron, that's a different story. Then I can get a 32nm AM3 Phenom (Phenom III?) for a couple hundred bucks and throw the Sempron away.
I get your point, but I bought one of those boards (msi) in april or may along with a cheap athlon 5050e - I don't remember what that processor was offered for, but I know it wasn't by any means the most expensive one.
But buying a Sempron and unlocking a core would be a $40 gamble for your case. If you have extra $40 that you could spare, then you're welcome to try, though you need to make sure that the other disabled core was disabled due to demand rather than being faulty.
I've yet to hear about anyone breaking the cpu by trying to unlock a core. Worst case scenario, it doesn't work and you have to reset the bios and just live with hte performance you bought in the first place.
It was highlighted on the core unlocking article by Tom's. How do you validate that the core does fully work?
It's not about breaking the cpu (which is near impossible for unlocking a core), but it's a gamble for the person. It might be a $40 well-spent or a $40 waste for the other guy (since he already has a better cpu).