Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.overclocking.amd (
More info?)
Gareth Tuckwell wrote:
> CrystalCPUID is the program I was trying to run, but I don't get the
> option of changing the speed on my desktop system!
This is quite a different issue than your CPU being locked. In your case,
you want PowerNow capability, which is AMD's
change-the-multiplier-and-voltage-on-the-fly thing. It's somewhat
complicated to get going on a desktop chip, and most desktop motherboard do
not support voltage changes in this manner. I've got some details at:
http
/www.emboss.co.nz/amdunlock/
(the URL has nothing to do with my first sentence
)
though there's many other guides out there as well. In your particular case,
you're wanting the OS to automagically step down the CPU when it's under
load. This presents some additional issues, as if you follow many of the
guides out there you'll end up with the maximum multiplier being 24x. This
means that when the load on the CPU increases, the OS will try and change
the multiplier to 24x (ie: it will lock up). The solution to this is to
either set the maximum multiplier manually using the L6 bridges, or take the
easier software route and used a patched AMDK7.SYS driver. An additional
problem is that the BIOS may try and set it to the maximum software
multiplier on boot. This can be fixed by patching the BIOS (or again,
setting the L6's to what you want).
> If I stick a little bit of wire in the holes shown on that diagram
> (http
/home.hawaii.rr.com/leeb18509/socket.jpg) what will happen??
It won't do anything. (see below)
> I don't want to damage the CPU or the motherboard?!!?
>
> Can one little bit of wire like that unlock my athlon??
No. There's three states an Athlon can be in
1) Unlocked. You can change the multiplier using pin painting, etc to
whatever you want.
2) Locked by AMD severing the L1 bridges. Multiplier adjustments through pin
painting, BIOS settings, etc will have no effect. You have to rejoin the L1
bridges, which changes the CPU into state 1 (ie: full multiplier control).
3) Locked by AMD storing the multiplier inside the die. Multiplier
adjustments through pin painting, BIOS settings, etc will have no effect.
There is nothing you can do to this CPU to enable pin-painting/BIOS
multiplier changes.
The 1-pin "unlocking" trick is an unfortunate myth that started out with
several review sites when the XP2100 came out. This was the first CPU to use
the 5th multiplier bit (it had a multiplier of 13.0x, and the 4-bit range
stopped at 12.5x), and no boards at the time could change this 5th bit.
Since changing the multiplier to something in the BIOS resulted in the use
of a much higher multiplier, and the 2100 core was already being pushed to
the limit, the CPU wouldn't boot if the multiplier was changed. They assumed
that the CPU was locked in some way.
The myth started when sites who didn't know what they were doing (despite
detailed information being around at the time) started messing around with
the bridges trying to make them the same as the XP2000 CPU. This resulted in
them finding, pretty much through blind luck, a combination that made it
boot at a multiplier in the 6.0x to 12.5x range, at which point they could
use the multiplier controls in the BIOS again to choose a multiplier in the
6.0x to 12.5x range. Eventually the method was "refined", and the minimum
change found (the change of the 5th multiplier bit only). Someone who
actually knew what was going on pointed out that this was the case, and that
an identical result could be gained by just painting the corresponding
BP_FID fin. This then became known as the "unlocking pin" of the Athlon XP,
despite it having nothing to do with unlocking the CPU.
The myth unfortunately has never died. There's a multitude of reasons why,
not least that several companies (SpeedStrip for example) make products the
"unlock" Athlons. These products DO NOT unlock Athlons in any way. If the
CPU is locked (ie: states 1 or 3) then the product does nothing. If the CPU
is in the 2nd state, then the product just changes the 5th multiplier bit to
the "low" range.
But anyhow, I think I should stop ranting. Basically, the one-pin/bridge
unclocking trick is a myth perputrated by people who have never heard of
Fab51 and who don't know what they're talking about. If anyone claims that
it unlocks the CPU, treat any other advice from them as similar quality.
> Would that work also for the athlon 1800+ in my other PC?
The 1800+ will be locked (as presumably the L1 bridges were cut if you tried
to join them
). To get BIOS/pin-painting multiplier controls on this you
will need to fill in then rejoin the L1's with conductive paint. A similar
trick will work with the L5's to enable PowerNow, but I beleive there's
slightly more of an issue when setting the maximum (and default) software
multiplier and voltage. I'd have to look into it a bit more to be sure.
[...]
--
Michael Brown
www.emboss.co.nz : OOS/RSI software and more
Add michael@ to emboss.co.nz - My inbox is always open
/home.hawaii.rr.com/leeb18509/socket.jpg
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