You can still unlock cores and L3 cache on Athlon X3 440

[simon12]

I bought a cheap upgrade/Repair for my brothers computer and found the Athlon x3s can still unlock L3 Cache (I read in another thread it was only older ones that could) as well as the 4th core, I could only overclock to 3.35GHz though as more core voltage made it less stable.
Asrock N68C-S UCC £33.99
Athlon X 3 3GHz 440 £62.21 Becomes Phenom II B40 4 core with L3 Cache 3.35GHz

 

[pjmelect]

You will probably find that if you unlock the extra core then your maximum overclock will go down. It is a judgement call between an extra core or a higher overclock.

 

[simon12]

I know, I thought L3 Cache and a 4th core would be better than 3 core even if with only 3 I could get 4GHz+. Any idea why any core voltaga increase makes it less stable?

 

[Guest]

plz explain me how to unlock L3 cache, i use althon II X3 440 vs ASROCK 880G/USB3.0, i unlock to phenom II X4 B40 but the L3 cache still disable

 

[simon12]

It just unlocked with the 4th core, I think if it doesn't its just not there.

 

[green300]

I know, I thought L3 Cache and a 4th core would be better than 3 core even if with only 3 I could get 4GHz+. Any idea why any core voltaga increase makes it less stable?

Raise your HT up to between 1800 and 2200,NB equal to or greater than HT.

 

[simon12]

Raise your HT up to between 1800 and 2200,NB equal to or greater than HT.

Thank you for the advise I just wondered if you could explain what this would do please.

 

[green300]

Thank you for the advise I just wondered if you could explain what this would do please.

It will increase stability and performance.

Note: This was pointed out by a member of another forum who took the time to read the material and acquire this knowledge...not I!

http/game.amd.com/us-en/content/pdf/AMD_Dragon_AM3_AM2_Performance_Tuning_Guide.pdf

"HyperTransport™ (HT) Link frequency

HyperTransport Link frequency will determine the available bandwidth between the CPU and the NorthBridge
Chipset (such as AMD 790FX). In most single CPU socket configurations the default 1.8GHz or 2GHz HT Link
value offers sufficient amount of bandwidth even for multi-GPU configurations. Increasing HT Link frequency
may provide a small performance boost for certain 3D applications, games and benchmarks."

"CPU NorthBridge Performance Tuning

The CPU NorthBridge (CPU NB) clock speed determines the efficiency and bandwidth capacity of the Memory
controller. L3 cache runs at this frequency as well. CPU NB performance tuning gives a measurable boost for
overall system performance. In particular it can reduce the Memory latency and improve L3 cache bandwidth
and latency. In some scenarios the CPU NB should be tuned in order to take the full advantage of overclocked
Memory frequency and bandwidth. In general the CPU NB clock should be at least three times the Memory
clock (example in case of DDR3-1600: 3 x 800MHz = 2400MHz NB clock)."

Hope it helps

 

[spike_spiegel]

plz explain me how to unlock L3 cache, i use althon II X3 440 vs ASROCK 880G/USB3.0, i unlock to phenom II X4 B40 but the L3 cache still disable

i have asrock m3a785gmh and i have an athlon ii x3 440. it says 'cacac ac' on my cpu, something to do with batch number. google this and it will tell you if its c2 or c3. c3 are the older ones with l3 cache present but disabled. c2 chips are the newer ones with no physical l3 chache on board. anyway, i flashed to the newest firmware (P1.50) anjd the bios gave me optionsto unlock multiple sequences of cpu. i couldnt get all four working so i had to settle for 3 as is. but i wasnt gonna let the l3 cache slide. so i found that for my cpu, numbers 0,2,3 were stable. now it shows as phenom ii x4 b40 but with 3 physical cores and l3 cache!

 

[chrisiomuk]

You can easily tell if your X3 440 has a locked L3 cache or not, not only do they sell Athlon X3's that started as Athlon X4's with a faulty core disabled (or in some cases a working core if numbers of x3's are needed fast) but they also (in small numbers) used Phenom II's with a core and the L3 cache disabled. If you look on the second line down on the code on the chip you will see the following.

AAD** - originally an Athlon II X4 (just a locked core)

AAC** - originally a Phenom II X4 (locked core and L3 cache)

Just a reminder though, its 50/50 that the core/cache was disabled due to a faul or to fill numbers and using the unlock feature on your motherboard 'could' prevent your PC from starting up.

 

[chrisiomuk]

I recieved my Athlon II X4 today and it did have a faulty core but the L3 cache unlocked fine and has been running all day without issue. Still wondering if the L3 cache is worth it tho, not 100% sure on the increases it will give balanced against the fact that the CPU was not originally intended to be used with just 3 cores and 6MB L3 cache. It does show as a Phenom II X4 on CPU-Z just with 3 cores.

It was an AAC** AC coded chip just to solidify my previous post.

 

[simon12]

I assume you mean its and Athlon x 3 not a x4. There cshuld be no problem using the unlocked cache and it should give a 10-15% boost when gaming, I am not sure in other applications

 

[chrisiomuk]

Yes, X3 440, my mistake, didn't even notice the typo. Ran prime95 for an hour with speedfan and it runs completely stable at 56 degrees at full load and thats with a 100MHz overclock to 3.1GHz too. Just need a game to tax the system now as all the games I have run at high settings with no issues. Next purchase is a 5850 I think though so I can see some tessalation

 

[madpayne]

@TS
I've just bought also an Athlon II X 3 3GHz 440 procie & Asrock N68C-S UCC mobo. I tried a few times just only enabled the Asrock UCC settings in the bios then save it but when it comes to boot, the monitor doesn't turn on automatically while the CPU is running. Is there anything that I missed in the setting up to unlock in bios guys?