Unlocking cores?

[rahamk]

Does unlocking the extra cores void the warrenty on a cpu. I dont plan on doing this but i would still like to know. what is the benefit of unlocking extra cores, and how many can you unlock? thanks

 

[ahumphers91]

well if you have a dual or triple core i believe you can unlock them to be quad (4) core cpu's. I doubt it will void the warranty, I don't think there's anyway for them to find out they were unlocked any how. Some cpu's wont unlock because the extra core is NOT stable. I had a Phenom IIX3 710 and it unlocked perfect, I then upgraded and bought a Phenom IIX3 740 and the extra core was not stable so therefore it would not unlock it. The benefit is obvious you making a quad core (4 cores) rather than 2 or 3 cores.

 

[hell_storm2004]

I dont think it will void the warranty. As soon as you take it out of the mobo the CPU should comes back to its default state. The settings to unlock the cores are in the BIOS and not stored in the CPU. Although i have not owned an AMD CPU to truly validate what i said. But i think its the same as overclocking.

 

[JDFan]

No it will not void the Warranty --- since there is no way they could tell if it had been done ! (the unlocking is done using the MOBO BIOS and does not make any physical changes to the CPU )

The benefit is getting the CPU to run as a higher end CPU (ie. a phenom 2 x3 720 ( a $95 CPU) like I have that is unlocked and OC'd to 3.2 GHz. is the same performance wise as a Phenom 2 x4 755 ( a $155 CPU) - so you are getting the same performance for less $

That said unlocking is not always successful since some of the CPUs actually have defects in a portion of them that makes unlocking not work so you can not quarantee it will be successful and should not purchase a CPU based on thinking you can just unlock the additional cores.

When CPUs are made there are times when a portion of the Chip will be defective but the rest of the CPU is fine so the manufacturer then has a choice to either discard the entire chip or use it to make a lower end product out of it that does not use that portion of the chip - by doing this they can use those defective chips and sell them to recoup some of the $ spend on production even though they will not be able to be sold for the same price as a fully functional chip -- But as the process to make the chips runs for awhile the process improves and there are less defects so at that point they will sometimes still sell the lower end product (since it is selling well and still making a profit) by disabling portions of a fully functional chip that could be sold as a higher end chip to fill the demand for the lower end product ( In which case you get a fully functional chip that can then be unlocked )

So as an end user you run the risk of getting a chip that is either fully functional when unlocked or possibly a chip that has a defect that makes unlocking impossible on that CPU and can not know which is the case until you test it.

 

[ahumphers91]

^- like I said it's a crap shoot... You may get lucky, or not be able to unlock.

 

[rahamk]

IM still new to the behind the powerbutton kinda of stuff with computers i only use them for internet, word, games so anything i the bios and such is new to me but i find it very interesting. What does haveing more cores actually do? Does it increase the speed of the CPU (like a dual core runs at say 2.8ghz and a quad core runs at 3.2ghz) or does that give you the option of running your x2 with two unlocked cores are 3.2ghz but you have to change the ghz yourself? IM sorry if my questions are a bit hard to understand i am not good at wording stuff im not too eduacted on. Thank again- kyle

 

[ahumphers91]

No, it doesn't speed up your cpu as far as jumping it from 2.8 to 3.2 thats done by overclocking. Adding extra cores basically helps with processing info I guess you would say. It does help obviously going from a dual core to a quad core. More cores less load on other cores.

 

[rahamk]

ok thank you very much!

 

[beanoslim]

Just for a bit more info / example - I brought a Phenom II 555 for like £72 / $116

It does 3.2ghz default but managed 3.9ghz dual core with a 0.075v increase.

I unlocked it in the bios but it needed an extra 0.025v to boot and ran stable at default speed, 3.2ghz.

Eventually I managed to overclock it to 3.6ghz quad core at this voltage, so it worked out ok for me.

If your going to try one I'd suggest the Phenom II 550 or 555.

Lots of success with these and should it fail you still have a very nice dual core cpu, and its cheap at the mo.

As mentioned before you will need a mobo that has the ability to unlock cores.

When buying just be prepared for dual core, its a gamble but well worth it if it pays off. [:bohleyk:1]

 

[rahamk]

how can i tell if my mobo has the ability? ANd does unlocking cores work for intel cpus aswell?

 

[beanoslim]

Boards that have ACC - Advanced Clock Calibration and the SB750 chip.

Whats your mobo?

Nope its an AMD thang.

 

[rahamk]

well if i were to do it i would have done it on my old desktop its an intel build, but my current pc is an phenom II x4 955 BE with a gigabye 880G mobo

 

[beanoslim]

No go on the Intel but the 880G has ACC.

Theres nothing to unlock on the 955 as its already a quad.

You could possibly lock cores on the 955 just to try it out, make it a triple or dual core.

Enter bios and have a look around for ACC.

Take a look at this
http/www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2010/05/04/how-amd-core-unlocking-works/2

 

[rahamk]

i think my oldest desktop is an amd, but i dont know if it is an ACC mobo is there a way i can tell if it is or isnt?

 

[beanoslim]

How old?

Take a look at this for more info.
http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_700_chipset_series#Advanced_Clock_Calibration

 

[rahamk]

proabably 3-4 years its a dell inspiron desktop

 

[beanoslim]

Doubt it then, have a play with the Gigabyte.

 

[rahamk]

thanks.