Unlock 4 core to 6 core

[purple stank]

I thought it was only a rumor that the new Phenom ii x4 970 and 975 could unlock to 6 cores.I did some research and it appears that only the OEM models can?I guess thats a server processor?
On MSI's new mobo the 890FXA-GD65 it lists as one of the features...

Boost system performance (*Result may vary according to different CPU core quality and stability.)
Help user to unlock hidden CPU Core quickly Freely choose lock or unlock CPU Core(s) Easy to upgrade system performance
Specially support 4-core to 6-core CPU unlock

What do they mean then about unlocking 4 core to 6 core if the 970 and 975 cannot unlock?

Mobo specs.
http/us.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=171&prod_no=2086

 

[jaquith]

Article Phenom II X4 960T -> http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-ii-x4-960t-zosma-core-unlocking,2627.html problem the Phenom II X4 960T was never released.

I'm not an AMD guru, but I'm not aware of any Phenom II X4 9XX being produced that will accomplish this feat ACC 4-Core => 6-core. Hopefully, there is/are some that can do this...

 

[purple stank]

I'm starting to get confused...first it was the 970 and 975 processors then it turned to the OEM versions and now it's a totally different thing.

I looked at the CPU Support page for this mobo and i came arcross this...

I guess these CPU's were released years ago,2 i think.

Phenom II X4 Zosma.Which i have never heard of before.

http/www.msi.com/product/mb/890FXA-GD65.html#/?div=CPUSupport

 

[jaquith]

Your guess is better than mine. It would be cool if all the 4-cores had this!

Sadly, I don't think this is the case, but most of the 3-cores can be unlocked.

It would be nice to find a table that had this info...

 

[purple stank]

Thanks for the help.

Have you heard of a date for which the new processors will drop or is it still Q2?

 

[JJF9210]

Here is the scoop guys you take a AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition and the On MSI's new mobo the 890FXA-GD65. Its only a duo but AMD has stopped making duo CPUs all CPU are made quad and they only test two make sure two of them are functioning as they should,and sell it as a duo. If you buy one of the unlocking motherboards (there are more then the one mentioned) And buy and AMD duo core and put it in a mother board and unlock possible 2 more cores that were never tested. So you have the possibility of saving a little money in making a new computer that will run faster. All I have got to say is that its possible to get four working cores when you only paid for to and it should run faster.

 

[JJF9210]

Here is the scoop guys you take a AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition and the On MSI's new mobo the 890FXA-GD65. Its only a duo but AMD has stopped making duo CPUs all CPU are made quad and they only test two make sure two of them are functioning as they should,and sell it as a duo. If you buy one of the unlocking motherboards (there are more then the one mentioned) And buy and AMD duo core and put it in a mother board and unlock possible 2 more cores that were never tested. So you have the possibility of saving a little money in making a new computer that will run faster. All I have got to say is that its possible to get four working cores when you only paid for to and it should run faster.

 

[jaquith]

Best as I could find

http/www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/535501-official-amd-k10-5-core-cache.html
AMD Phenom II x2
AMD Athlon II x3
AMD Athlon II x4
AMD Phenom II x3
AMD Phenom II x4 xxxT

 

[purple stank]

Best answer selected by purple stank.

 

[ankit1103]

Some 970 BE's and 980 BE's can be unlocked to six cores.

Here is a small debate for it..

It is terminology and the key word is "some". The processors did not perform up to specs. That's why they disabled the cores. It wasn't 1 core that made the chip not pass. Disabling 1 core made it a tri-core that passed the 720 minimum specs. It does not mean they are defective but we are talking in words. If they work, they are not defective. Plain and simple.


Intel did something similar years ago. At this point, I am not saying they are or are not defective. Its an interpretation but if you unlock the 4th core and it works does that mean it was defective? Nope! when they tested them at AMD and they did not pass specs, they disable a core thus making it a tri-core. In most cases the 4th core works. Again is it defective???? Nope, maybe it wouldn't clock at the spec core frequency, but when they lock the 4th core it did. So saying this, unlocking the 4th works at least 90% of the time if not more.

It really is not worthless information. I fully read the explanation years ago when AMD first did this and someone "labelled" them as defective but as you attest, some are not defective!

I got an unlucky 940. Mine barely is stable at 3.7GHz(while others get higher). I cannot get higher but the chip passed the minimum spec for 940 so they released it as a 940. Chips that do not pass min requirements as advertised are thrown as a 720 tri core with 1 core locked. This does not mean the core is defective, it means the chip did not pass min req. advertised frequency. Again, the 4th core works and it is not defective.

Anytime you disable a core, you can clock the chip much higher. I locked 2 cores on my 940 and clocked it to 3.91GHz stable. I guess I have a 550 now? LOL but my 4 cores are not defective.

With all this in mind, someone at AMD made a great strategy. Instead of wasting those chips, they did what was explained above and saved the company a lot of money or maybe I should say made the company a lot more $ with these subpar chips. Some actually overclock very nicely and hang with the 940 with the 4th core enabled.

If they would have released these chips that were even close to 940 specs, they would have had a reputation nightmare. Making them 720's was very smart.

They also did this with the original Phenoms.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr