Amd II x2 555 BE Core Unlocking Questions/Problems

prognosis

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May 14, 2011
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Alright, I am trying to unlock an AMD II x2 Phenom 555 Black Edition on a Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 Motherboard. I am using the stock CPU heatsink/fan. I used the switch on the motherboard to unlock the cores but it didn't get passed the Windows 7 start up screen (black screen, windows flag). I was just gonna give up but I remembered hearing you could try and unlock just one of the two cores. So I went into the Bios and tried to unlock just one core but it stopped at the start up screen again. I tried this on both cores (3rd and 4th). But this is where I feel it gets confusing. I then shut off the Second Core and turned just the Third core on and it start up just fine. CPU-Z was showing that it has 2 cores on and it was running at the normal 3.2 GHz and also showing that it's a AMD II X4 B55 Deneb.

Now my question is, does this mean that the unlocked cores are potentially working but maybe I don't have something set up right to run more than two cores at a time?

 

purple stank

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When you unlock cores your basicly adding another core that wasn't designed for the specific chip and settings.You will need to increase the voltage for it to remain stable,another core will require more power to maintain.
But I warn you to not do anything to serious and keep an eye on your temps because with the stock cooler you will heat up very fast when overclocking.
 

prognosis

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Yeah I already tried that :(



What voltages am I supposed to increase? CPU voltage and/or CPU/NB voltage? Should I leave it on Offset or switch it to Manual? Are there any other settings I should change? How high can I raise the voltage?
 

purple stank

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What are your voltages at right now?
You should only use the CPU Voltage NOT the CPU/NB Voltage.Improper CPU/NB voltage will cause it not to boot.

In order to unlock cores you need to increase the voltage.An Aditonal core needs more power.

Thats a very good cooler.Did you install it yet? What are your temps?Idle/Load.
 

prognosis

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My voltage right now is 1.450 or sometimes lower for some reason (according to CPU-Z). Currently I have just the dual core overclocked to 3.9GHz. I think without overclocking it's about 1.375 or a little lower.

The cooler I bought is installed and its at 20 C Idle. 32-33 C 100% load. I'm surprised since it's rather small compared to a lot of other coolers :p.

How high could I go with the CPU Voltage? I dunno what kinda threshold I'm working with here.
 

purple stank

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So you've increased the voltage to 1.45 and you still can't unlock a core?

Technically you can raise the voltage as much as you want as long as the temps are ok.With a temp like 33c at load with 1.45v at load I'm thinking you can go quite far.

Don't forget that the more you increase the voltage the more possible damage you could casue.
 

prognosis

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Alright I finally got around to trying again. I tried increasing the voltage to 1.506 and it just kept freezing at the windows screen. So I decided to try out just 3 cores so I turned off the 4th and it was a no go. But the weird thing is that I then turned the 4th back on and *** the 2nd off and it ran fine. I still had it set at 1.506V but CPU-z showed it 1.452 to 1.464 (back and forth) with 3 cores on. I ran Prime95 for 2 hours and 7 mins and ran 3D Mark and my score went up. So I got even more gutsy and overclocked it with the motherboards OC utility in the motherboard and got it up from 3.2Ghz to 3.728Ghz. I ran 3D mark again and it went up quite a bit :p.

I've got two questions. What's the deal with my second core? And why do my voltages vary so much ,from what I set it at, on the motherboard and what CPU-Z and the CPU Vcore Voltage (in the power section on the mobo) say?
 

purple stank

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Your voltages aren't always truely constant and some programs will display them differently.

I forgot that you have a Phenom ii x2 555 and 1.5 volts might be a bit to high for that.Might want to lower it if oyu want it to last a while.But very nice job on that OC.3.7ghz is outstanding.
 

prognosis

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After the over clock it lowered it to 1.440V. Prime95 has been running for 8-9 hours now. So the 3rd and 4th cores seem stable. Any idea why the second core doesn't work when the 3rd and/or 4th are on?
 

purple stank

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I'm not sure.AMD Dual cores are essentially quad cores but they have 2 cores disabled so that the Dual core can be custom taloried.So basicly those other 2 cores are unstable.You must make them stable again but theirs no gurantee on how they will be stable or what they will do.

So you have unlocked it to a triple core now?
 

Neocloud

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Hi, I Have a 890GX ASUS mobo.In the BIOS settings there is probably multiple pages if you press the right arrow.In the second page mine has the settings for overclocking and voltages.One page after that there is the 1st option in the list which is cpu configuration or something.Then I go down to the bottom and it says core unlocker enabled or disabled.Then there is a setting after that for manual or auto core activation. If you have these settings and if you havent allready, try to set it to enabled and manually activate your cores underneath that.Also you may have a switch on your motherboard to manually activate core unlocker(and possibly turbo key which mine has) if it supported or on your mobo.Sorry if I am of no help but this may be the reason you are having problems.
 

prognosis

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I have tried both ways. In the CPU configuration they have a setting for core unlocking and beneath that is the manual unlocking and then I have tried the switch that is on my motherboard for unlocking all the cores. I think those are they only two core unlocking features, aside from the manual, on my motherboard. Neither of them worked for me by the way, just the manual.

Also, yes, it's set to Three cores with the "3rd" and "4th" on and the "2nd" shut off.
 

Neocloud

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And you said you tryed manually setting cores 1 2 and 3 to on and 4 to off and it still doesnt work on stock default OC settings? you may have to reboot after setting each core to unlock or on before the actuall settings take place btw.You will have to go through multiple reboots before this feature may work to set each core on before you mess with any voltage,fsb or multiplier settings.Im not sure why you may have core 2 off and the other cores on but I too have experienced this same phenomenon because of the onboard unlock switch.Try setting the onboard switch to off before you overclock because that is an auto core unlocker that might mess with your OC.Then set it back on after you boot with it off and all settings default,also try to set the cores in bios to manual on for cores1-3(then 4 cores if it posts to bios then windows) with the onboard switch on.I know you may have allready tryed this but try it after multiple restarts after setting your OC to default setting your cpu was at.Dont try to set vcore or any voltage/fsb/multiplier setting on anything on but auto untill you get all 3-4 cores on in the Bios in manual mode and on.I hope this helps as this is the way I have done many 555,955 and 965 cores on ASUS mobos.
 

Neocloud

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Meh maybe outstanding for you but i built one for a friend that has his exact same setup and he hit 4.0 but not stable(he could boot win7 and do anything except run prime 95 etc) and now has it set to 3.8 for stablility of course lol.Yea 3.7 is ok...but I guess my friend may have got a good one and maybe,prognosis, you might have got one built on a friday,lol.Or you may just have to tweak something minor but either way you can leave it where its at if its fine for you....or in the future try to track down the source problem with your difficult 2nd core locking problem.1.5 is a bit high I agree since thats what I run(1.512)stable at 4.1 on my 965.Also you can believe this table from TH AMD Overclocking Club or not(some I even don't)

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0Atid2icGx257dFc1MnRteTlMb3VOMy13WklIRWRITXc&hl=es&output=html

...but they are all stated to be correct and stable settings for thier systems.There are a couple 955's on there atm if you want to just check out what they set everything to,allthough I wouldnt advise some of the higher voltage/fsb/multiplier etc settings and such.
 

datmobsoulja

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Aug 13, 2011
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I personally own a 555 BE (C3) and have successfully unlocked all four cores, AND OC'd to 4.1 GHz....let's start by answering your question first, there's not much margin for you as long as your on stock cooling...i have to agreee with another post on here, when you unlock cores, your using more power thus you need to enter the BIOS and MANUALLY set your cpu voltages maybe even your CPU-NB as well to get a stable boot,....now me i have an ASUS M4N98TD-EVO and this is what i did...with STOCK COOLING i unlocked the 2 extra cores using the ACC feature..set to "ALL cores" OR "Auto"...bumped up the CPU voltage by .025 increments and prime95'd it to check for errors...(believe me it didnt take much just a SMALL increase) then i had it OC'd to 3.6 GHz...then i wanted faster so I ordered a thermaltake FRIO...oc'd to 4.1 GHz (i can send you a cpu-z snapshot or ill send you my yt username n check out my pc), then proceeded to up the CPU voltage to 1.53v (cpu-v reports 1.47 after VDROOP), pretty simple you just gotta play with the voltages and use prime95 to test stability
 

USAdystopia

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Aug 15, 2011
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OC'd my 555 to 4.2 via BIOS@1.44v. First attempt at unlocking showed 3 cores and persistent artifacts on desktop...2nd unlock got 4 cores but same artifacts (lack of stability?).
Cooling consists of Corsair H100 w/ push/pull fans and low temps. Any one else experience any of those kind of screen degradation? Does your system work without any issues when additional cores unlocked? Using 16Gb memory and at the time a 6950 vid card. Now in CrossFireX. Installing an AMD 980 quad next week but that 555 sure runs great!