Phenom 555 BE Is this normal ?

[mactronix]

Hi,
Ok when i first got my 555 BE i played with it and found i could unlock 3 of the 4 cores. I over clocked it a bit, then decided i didn't really need it so put it back to stock.
I have just decided to unlock it again and have a play, so i booted into the Bios and set ACC to Hybrid and Auto, then i saved and restarted. The PC died, just went black screen on me.
So i pulled it out turned it off and back on again and it restarted. I was greeted with a message from Windows telling me it had installed 3 drivers for the CPU and i needed to restart, so i did. I now have a X4 Phenom but it only displays 3 cores ? It called itself something different last time.
I have only just done this so have yet to test for stability.
So is this normal because last time it was a right pain and i was expecting to have to go through finding which cores worked and which didn't.
Don't get me wrong im not complaining, this is way easier it seems that W7 has just gone ok that one works/ that one works that one wont etc ..... OK job done.

Mactronix

 

[soest009]

The 555BE originates from a 4 core processor.
Since not all cores passed AMD their tests, two cores would have been disabled in the factory and is being sold as a 2 core processor.
Unlocking the processor indeed could cause windows to tell you there is a 4 core processor installed but in reality the 4th core can be defective (they did not disabled it for fun) and only display 3 cores.
For now i would run prime95 for several hours to ensure the unlocked 3rd core is operating without hickups and your system remains stable with that unlocked processor.

 

[simon12]

+1 unlocking cores sometimes throws up weird results try running prime 95 to see if its stable and if it is all is well.

 

[mactronix]

Problem is as its an unlocked core nothing recognizes it and so i cant get a reading for the temps. I don't really feel comfortable running a torture test without being able to monitor the temps.

Mactronix

 

[simon12]

You should still be able to monitor the temps from the motherboard sensor.