Is it impossible to OC your CPU with a locked motherboard?

[grandpab]

My BIOS is locked apparently because of the motherboard (prebuilt), also the multiplier is locked on my CPU. I've been trying to do some research, but I just can't exactly find what I'm looking for. I'm a noob at this stuff too, anything I know is just from what I've googled.

From what I've read though it sounds like it's impossible to unlock the BIOS, and I won't be able to use something like AMD Overdrive to OC the CPU because it still requires you to access the BIOS.

Am I wrong about anything or are there any other options? Other than buying a new mobo...

**Sorry ya I should have posted the specs...I know better than that too lol...

AMD Athlon II x4 630 2.80
Pegatron Corporation violet6 6.01
It's an HP, Model: p6310y
BIOS: HPQOEM - 20091112
BIOS Date: 11/12/09 14:45:05 Ver: 5.13

[FlawlessSoul]

I just posted this on another thread, but it is also required here:

THE COMPUTER FORUM DEMANDS YOUR INFORMATIONS BE SACRIFICED TO IT.

Nid moar infoz. Motherboard model, CPU model (be specific - get CPU-Z and let us know the exact model if you don't know it), and if you can find it out, the BIOS version (and, since you say it was a prebuilt, what company built it?).

[grandpab]

Nid moar infoz. Motherboard model, CPU model (be specific - get CPU-Z and let us know the exact model if you don't know it), and if you can find it out, the BIOS version (and, since you say it was a prebuilt, what company built it?).

OP updated with required info.

[Nellah]

Well, you did answer your own question there. It might be worth trying Overdrive just to see if it'll work, but HP's BIOSes are so locked that on most (all?) of them you can't even change RAM frequency. You're probably stuck unless you get a new motherboard.

[grandpab]

AMD Overdrive doesn't open. CPUFSB doesn't open. ClockGen doesn't have any options for me to change. SetFSB doesn't seem to have my chipset.

This is lame.

[vesseblah]

Dell, HP etc. all big brand builders lock the BIOS against OC type tamperings so that customers can't fuck up anything and blame it on the computer. That's one of the prices you pay by going with supermarket computer: only limited modification possible.

[FlawlessSoul]

Dell, HP etc. all big brand builders lock the BIOS against OC type tamperings so that customers can't fuck up anything and blame it on the computer. That's one of the prices you pay by going with supermarket computer: only limited modification possible.

This is it in a nutshell.

I doubt it's even possible for you to get a modified BIOS, since the board has a BIOS designed specifically for it, and it's as limited as the board. They're not designed to be customisable, they're just designed to work.

[crawdaddy029]

you could always pay around 100$ for a different MB. How it fits your case and if the other parts in the PC will match up (software wise) is up in the air as I dont know what big names do to the PC before shipping other then "making it lol personal again"...

[grandpab]

I guess I'll be going back to Bestbuy to return the CPU cooler I don't need then. I didn't realize this was something that was going to be a problem.

[Zylos]

you could always pay around 100$ for a different MB. How it fits your case and if the other parts in the PC will match up (software wise) is up in the air as I dont know what big names do to the PC before shipping other then "making it lol personal again"...

MOBO sizes follow a standard, usually for a mid tower its just ATX format, ie not hard to replace, the retailers would not stray from this format.

[vesseblah]

MOBO sizes follow a standard, usually for a mid tower its just ATX format, ie not hard to replace, the retailers would not stray from this format.

Except that the supermarker computers don't always follow any standards. Mirrored configuration is one common modification for no good reason, and they also tend to shuffle around the position of the CPU and expansion cards to pack the computer into smallest possible cases. I'd say you get industry standard mATX board in half of the supermarket computers, and something completely different in the other half. OP's computer seems to have totally normal mATX board.

[crawdaddy029]

MOBO sizes follow a standard, usually for a mid tower its just ATX format, ie not hard to replace, the retailers would not stray from this format.

Name PC companies are not going to carry a huge selection of MBs and as they generally make their own case that case will only fit that small verity of MBs. On the other hand if you are building your own PC the case you purchase will fit a much broader selection of MBs and will come with a list of where each MB will fit at on the peg layout. every MB is not the same size, Some are taller because they have more PCI slots or some are wider because they have more RAM slots. or some are both taller and wider because they have extra options like bluetooth added to it.

[Axion]

Unless things have changed, replacing the motherboard is unlikely to be an option. Most pre-built pc's (hp, dell etc) use proprietary connections, meaning you'll have no way of connecting the power/reset and such to a new motherboard. There is always the option of buying a new case too though.

[Fuzzykins]

Actually, if you reset the bios in your motherboard by pulling the CMOS, there's a good chance it'll just take you to the OEM's BIOS page, which might just happen to have overclocking options. Also, you may be able to flash your BIOS to that of an overclocked version (Assuming your motherboard is capable of handling overclocking at all.)

[grandpab]

Actually, if you reset the bios in your motherboard by pulling the CMOS, there's a good chance it'll just take you to the OEM's BIOS page, which might just happen to have overclocking options.

This might be worth a shot then.

Also, you may be able to flash your BIOS to that of an overclocked version (Assuming your motherboard is capable of handling overclocking at all.)

I read about this a couple times from my searches, but it was just other people suggesting the same thing to other people that were having the same problem with different set ups. How would I go about finding a flash that would be right for my computer? From what I read it sounded like the flash had to be set up specifically for my computers hardware combination.