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asher_pa

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Hi,
I want to buy AMD Athlon II X3 cpu and unlock the 4th core.
I'm going to buy this spec:
GA-880GMA-UD2H
AMD Athlon II X3 ?????
Kingston ValueRAM 2GB DDR3 1333

I was thinking of buy the "AMD Athlon II X3 440 BOX AM3" cpu

Does someone know if this cpu have success stories for unlocking?

Thanks.
 

simon12

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No the 440 you asked about can but it has a smaller chance otherwise only the ones saint19 mentioned
 

green300

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All x3's can be unlocked as they are either a propus x4 or a deneb x4 with one core locked up.(1 core and L3 on deneb) Once unlocked it's a crap shoot whether or not it will even post or load your os. Some times an unlock core will load your os fine but have funky artifacts etc. A deneb core may have a bad L3 so they lock it and a core up and sell it as an x3. Some healthy chips are said to be locked up to meet x3 demands. Unlocking cores requires a board with a SB750 or SB710, the board you listed has a SB850, but lists a core unlocking feature. IMO unlocking cores is about a 40% to 50% crap shoot for getting a healthy fourth core. Don't buy an x3 with hopes of getting a four core, it's just a bonus if you get lucky. Buy a four core if need four.
 

JofaMang

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Very early athlon IIs were Phenom IIs with the cache disabled. The cache could be unlocked only as much as CPU-Z would read it, but from what I gleaned, they were usually not actually enabled. Long since Athlon IIs moved to their own die without any cache, so that possibility, as limited as it was initially, is completely gone.

Athlon II x3s are disabled quads in the same vein as the Phenom II series. BUT, unlike the PhII x2 550/555be which are disabled quads, the Athlon IIs have their own die. There are success stories of single core semprons unlocking to dual core athlon IIs. The Athlon II x3s can also be unlocked. Having no empirical data base for the success rates, just general perception from cruising the topic as it has developed, it feels as though the athlons are less unlock friendly than the phenom's, and often won't OC for crap once unlocked. This could be because the Phenom IIs are an older part, and have more healthy quads being disabled to fulfill demand.
 

isamuelson

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Just get a quad core. Heck, you can get a 6-core AMD for $200! That's over $800 less than the current Intel hexa-core CPU. Sure, the hexa-core runs circles around it, but for most people on a budget, the hexa-core Phenom will do just fine, even with games.
 

freezed1

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Dude your are taking a chance with this. You know not all the x3's will do it and if the other core is a dud then you are out a cpu, buy an x4 or x6 its around 200$. GL dude.
 

asher_pa

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Thanks all,

I bought the CPU today..

Before I open the cpu box....
My batch is "1015GPCW"

Is there a place that I can check if my CPU is can be safely unlocked?????

thanks.
 

isamuelson

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Batch numbers do not mean it will be successful as there could still be a dud in the batch.

Just try it is all I can say. If it works, you're in luck. If it doesn't, then you'll have to either tweak things like voltage and such to see if that can help stabilize it. If that doesn't help, then you're SOL.

Again, with the price of even AMD's hexa-core CPUs being around $200, you can get a good 4 or 6-core CPU for no more than $200 dollars.

I got my X3 just because of the price and figuring, 3-cores is better than 2. I just got lucky that it unlocked, but then again, that is not the reason I got it. I got it because it was a Black Edition and for the value, I could overclock it to a reasonable speed and get just as good a performance as some X4's out there.

Being able to unlock it was just an added bonus, but was not a factor in my choosing it over and X4.

 

green300

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As mentioned, there is no way to tell if it has a healthy fourth core or not. You can tell if you have a propus or deneb core by the stepping codes on the cpu. It will be CADAC or CACYC, the third letter indicates what core it was made from. A XXDXX is a Propus core and a XXCXX is Deneb core. No matter what core it is or if it can be unlocked or not they're great little chips and you'll love it.
 

Motopsychojdn

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435's run great as they are and if you successfully unlock the fourth core, its a bonus but it is a gamble as to whether you can unlock or not, mines unlocked, my Gf's isnt and I've never tried hers, but it runs fine for her uses as is.
good luck whatever you choose to go with man
Moto
 

asher_pa

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Hi,
I finally install all together, and use the "Unlock core" in bios
But this is what I see in CPU-Z

My core speed is only 803 MHZ...

Did I miss something in the BIOS configuration?
What does it mean, does my cpu is unlockable?

Thanks again.
 
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