AMD Blocks Unlock; Gigabyte Fights Back

[tuannguyen]

While meeting with Gigabyte at Computex, we were let in on a little bit of information regarding AMD's unlock-block for new Phenom II CPUs.


AMD Blocks Unlock; Gigabyte Fights Back : Read more

 

[Guest]

Shades of win and fail at the same time...

 

[NuclearShadow]

Gotta love Gigabyte.

 

[mindless728]

+1 Gigabyte

 

[Gin Fushicho]

Gigabyte is a bad boy.

 

[Guest]

I think you guys are missing the big picture on this one. There is a real reason the core is locked, it doesn't work correctly. It comes down to some people who will unlock the core, have bad experiences and blast AMD chips. They will have a freeze in the final deathmatch of the uber core unlocker tournament...

Second reason is that people will unlock the cores, and later sell or give the computers to others whom may not have knowledge that a defective core is in use. Hopefully a hospital doesn't buy the computer and use it to run your life support system?

 

[Gin Fushicho]

^+1 lol

 

[gabeherb345]

haha Gigabyte lol +1

 

[wonderingwhatis]

[citation][nom]ieatfishburritos[/nom]I think you guys are missing the big picture on this one. There is a real reason the core is locked, it doesn't work correctly. It comes down to some people who will unlock the core, have bad experiences and blast AMD chips. They will have a freeze in the final deathmatch of the uber core unlocker tournament...Second reason is that people will unlock the cores, and later sell or give the computers to others whom may not have knowledge that a defective core is in use. Hopefully a hospital doesn't buy the computer and use it to run your life support system?[/citation]

While that is true. Your example of a hospital is not going to happen how they purchase through legitimate suppliers.

Also it is not a certainty that you will in fact have problems related to the unlocked core/s.

 

[leafblower29]

I now know what brand to buy for my next build.

 

[icepick314]

i don't know why AMD would want to block such feature...

if people wants to take risk in getting extra performance out of their CPU, then AMD should let them...

it's not hurting AMD as people who unlocks disabled cores knows the risks to such hacks...

 

[tayb]

Gotta say... this is a bad idea for people to be doing this and especially bad for Gigabyte to be endorsing it and providing the means to do it. It is called respecting another company. The cores aren't locked because AMD wants you to buy a quad core instead of a dual core, they are locked because they don't function properly. What happens when someone unlocks the core and fry's their chip? Does that person return the chip to Best Buy and say it is defective? RTM? Bad business for AMD.

 

[hyssar]

To icepick314, the reason is that people may corrupt their own Windows installation and lose data, etc..

While I agree they should keep that feature, I guess that 90% of the people unlocking their 4th core don't realize what it means losing a very important file that is due for tomorrow...

 

[Guest]

I wonder if this will play havoc on software activations...

 

[kingnoobe]

You people make it sound like unlocking a core WILL result in complete failure.. And while that might happen, just because amd disabled it doesn't mean it's gonna be completely bad.. There could be numerous reasons it got disabled.. 100% full load it crashes.. I don't know about amd, but my core i7 920 only got up to 100% once, and that's only because I prime tested it. It could've simply not have passed their QA, but still be alright for normal day use.

Ya it's a risk, but I doubt anyways I doubt it's gonna take your whole computer with you if it does go. Max I'd say is it takes the motherboard out to.

 

[laptopfreak]

Not all CPUs with locked cores are faulty. Do you think that AMD would have enough faulty CPUs to keep up with the demands for X2 and X3 Phenom II's? If you get some stable cores then good for you, if not then too bad. No one said that it is 100% guaranteed success and unlockers know it. To avoid errors simply do hours of testing before you decide on using the CPU at the particular setting.

 

[laptopfreak]

Unlocking a Phenom II X2 550 $109.99 to a Phenom II X4 955 $245.00 sounds like a pretty good risk to take. I doubt that it will damage anything if the unlocking fails. You wouldn't try something risky on a computer with important files without assurance of stability first right?

 

[Tindytim]

[citation][nom]LaptopFreak[/nom]Not all CPUs with locked cores are faulty. Do you think that AMD would have enough faulty CPUs to keep up with the demands for X2 and X3 Phenom II's? If you get some stable cores then good for you, if not then too bad. No one said that it is 100% guaranteed success and unlockers know it. To avoid errors simply do hours of testing before you decide on using the CPU at the particular setting.[/citation]
Exactly, When AMD cannot meet the demand with faulty processors they will simply cripple ones that work. So by allowing people to do this, they are giving them a unit they didn't pay for, and they would have sold for more.

 

[deltatux]

I'm even more surprised that AMD is disabling the cores via software (or microcode) than doing a physical processor cutting to eliminate electrical flow to the "faulty" cores. I kinda think that AMD wants people to do this as a marketing stunt? I'm quite happy with my AMD Phenom II 810, but that's food for thought?

 

[Guest]

In a batch of cpus if one is defective they all get discarded or bumped down to a lower chip. . . . I think.