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How do I unlock just one extra core on Phenom II x2

Associate
Joined
10 Sep 2007
Posts
683
Hi Guys

Just picked up a Phenom II x2 555 BE 3.2GHz,

I have unlocked the extra cores in the bios by setting EC Firmware to Hybrid and ACC to Auto, but Windows won't load, so I am supposing that at least one of my cores is faulty (which is fair enough).

Is there a way to identify which core is the faulty one (assuming it is just one) and enable just the working one so I get tri core. Googling it seems to suggest its possible but the how aludes me.

I have this motherboard:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-199-GI
 
Associate
Joined
21 Apr 2008
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1,536
Location
Manchester
upping the cpu volts may not be enough, up the cpu-nb volts up a noch and lower the cpu multi or lower the HT and if it boots but not into windows you can now use the cpu core control to disable a core and try again.
 
Associate
Joined
13 Nov 2009
Posts
1,107
If you cant unlock 2 extra it is certainly worth going for 1 extra. Not all motherboards can do this though. Not sure about yours.

There will be a setting in BIOS in the same area as ACC and unleashing mode etc. It will be called 'per core' or something similar and will allow you to choose between the different 3 core configurations (1,2,3 or 1,2,4).

In my experience upping the voltage rarely helps getting extra cores unlocked but it would be worth trying upping the cpu-nb voltage as well. Try up to 1.35v.

Good luck.
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Dec 2009
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RG8 9
Hi chaps and sorry for butting in.

I have a similar setup which is in my sig.

I have been a bit busy of late and did buy the CPU and mobo combo to see if I could unlock it.

I have recently upgraded from XP to Win7 but I did try it one day when I was still running XP.

I unlocked the CPU through the BIOS and I was able to boot into XP, though the system seemed a litte shaky. Nothing too noticeable but typing in my XP password was a bit slow appearing after keying and the mouse was a little jittery. I changed it back to 2 cores at this point and that is hwere I left it. Am I right in assuming that I have a 4 core one and a little tweeking should get this stable?

If so, should a voltage tweek as above sort it? I will take off the OC I have on there first as well.

I will try it tonight when I get home from the office and shall post up the results. :)
 
Associate
Joined
13 Nov 2009
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1,107
if it boots with 4 cores that is promising. try increasing the vcore a few notches and see what happens. Try also increasing cpu-nb voltage if necessary. You will need to do stability testing (prime95 or similar) to make sure that the 2 cores really are stable.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
10 Sep 2007
Posts
683
If you cant unlock 2 extra it is certainly worth going for 1 extra. Not all motherboards can do this though. Not sure about yours.

There will be a setting in BIOS in the same area as ACC and unleashing mode etc. It will be called 'per core' or something similar and will allow you to choose between the different 3 core configurations (1,2,3 or 1,2,4).

In my experience upping the voltage rarely helps getting extra cores unlocked but it would be worth trying upping the cpu-nb voltage as well. Try up to 1.35v.

Good luck.

there is a per core selection in my bios but its doesn't have on or off. I can vary + or - 12% for each core but I have no idea what its varying. I haven't touched it yet.

I'll try the CPU-NB volts as a few people have suggested that.
 
Associate
OP
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10 Sep 2007
Posts
683
Latest bios lets me turn extra cores on and off individual, neither worked. However when I left the processor unlocked but with both extra core disabled it still wouldn't boot. Does this suggest there could be something else to blame other than the cores.

Could it be Windows is confused because it was installed on an Athlon x2 3800 and now has a Phenom x2 555 thats pretending to be an x4 or something else.
 
Associate
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13 Nov 2009
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1,107
Cheers Eddie.

Will have a crack at this shortly.

Is there any way I can blow stuff up fiddling with this?

Just dont exceed the temperature or the voltage limits on your chip and you will be fine. I would try to keep temps under 60 and vcore below 1.5v

Could it be Windows is confused because it was installed on an Athlon x2 3800 and now has a Phenom x2 555 thats pretending to be an x4 or something else.

Guess it could be but I swapped from 550 triple unlock to 555 quad unlock fine without having to reinstall windows. The unlock process should be very simple and I am afraid that if it does not work then fiddling generally does not help much. Might still be worth a try though.


For any of you wanting to overclock these chips the Dragon Performance Guide is very helpful. It is aimed at overclocking using amd overdrive software but even if you are using bios it give you an idea of what all the different settings do and what the limits are.
 
Last edited:
Associate
OP
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683
Tried the reinstall, no good (though I wasn't really expecting it to help) was worth the shot as I have a new hard disk any way.

It still clocks ok anyway, got it to 3.8Ghz with the just the multi and stock cooler, not heavy load tested it yet so don't know how stable it is.
 
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