Deneb core unlocking

[Deleted]

Im finally going to order my new pc parts next friday and i want to make preparations. im going with a phenom ii x2 555 with the MSI 760GM-E51 mATX board. It supports core unlocking.
So i plan to try and unlock the 2 other cores but have a few questions before i do that.
- IF it successfully boots as a Phenom II x4 B55 then what should i do to test if its stable? Prime 95? For how long? Detailed guide please
- IF the stability test somehow isnt stable, then what actually happens? Will my CPU burn? Will my system reboot or get a BSOD? How do i know if its stable or not
If not stable for some reason would lowering the clock speed to like 3000mhz work?
- IF it doesnt go past post as x4, then what should i do? Raise the voltage? or what.
- IF it doesnt go past post or isnt stable with all 4 cores should i try it with 3?

Thanks..

[vesseblah]

Try unlocking cores one by one, normal stability test you'd use for OC should do the trick.

When I tried to unlock my x3 720 to quad, it just did BSOD during Windows boot.

[roblina]

I can't answer your question, I've overclocked cpu's but have never unlocked inactive cores but tbh, when a 555 is £70 and a 955 £100, why bother?

You could overclock the 955 pretty well, and when it's absolutely vital that you unlock the cores on the 555, why take the risk?

[Deleted]

Because i have a budget. 50 euros difference between the two.
And no its not absolutely vital. Why would it be. Where the heck can you get a 955 for 116 euros anyway. (Dont answer that)

[ComputerNerd]

Wow is not properly utilising multiple cores, so really it will have little benefit in that.
Overclocking will get you more performance out of it.
There is a reason the extra cores are disabled, so really I do not think it justifies the risk.
A risk is what you take when you can afford it, not when you can't.

[roblina]

It's vital in my eyes because as a dual core, it's about the same as mine and my computer struggles in wow and Starcraft 2. Or wow is fine, but the fact I have a 5870 which runs at about 20% in wow, producing 20-30fps all because of my cpu bottleneck is a bit frustrating, Sc is the same ~ it uses more than 2 threads on it's own.

If your budget is that strict then fine, I just offered my 2cents as recently AMD massively nerfed the 955's price and it's the best bang per buck out there. And you don't need to be so hostile about it.

And btw, Tomshardware rates the Athlon II X3 450 above it, I don't know if it's better or not but you might want to check and compare.

[Cilraaz]

Wow is not properly utilising multiple cores, so really it will have little benefit in that.

Absolutely incorrect. WoW is optimized for three cores, while being capable of using as many cores as placed in front of it.

[Deleted]

So what CPU do you have then Roblina? And yeah ive been thinking of the AII X3 450 instead for a long time. But i play alot of others games also and i believe the Dual core phenom II is better for them also? Athlon II 450 would fit my budget more anyway

There is a reason the extra cores are disabled, so really I do not think it justifies the risk.

Some times they disable 2 cores on perfectly fine Denebs just to get dual cores on the market. Theyre not always broken or unstable.

[roblina]

I have a Athlon 64 X2 6400+, it's pretty old and a dual core but the high clockrate(ish) helps make up for it, the Phenom II 555 is better but I don't believe it's a big margin unless you can get a 3rd or 4th core unlocked.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming...w-32031-6.html is a pretty nice, upto date page for comparisons, and the guide as a whole is nice too.

[Deleted]

actually according to Benchmarks the 555 gets over 10 fps more in every game listed compared to the 6400+
the architecture on the phenom 2's are much better than on Athlon 64's. And has MUCH more cache.

[Moobious]

- IF it successfully boots as a Phenom II x4 B55 then what should i do to test if its stable? Prime 95? For how long? Detailed guide please

I run the 1 hour test on OCCT. If it passes after an hour it should be good for a typical gaming computer

- IF the stability test somehow isnt stable, then what actually happens? Will my CPU burn? Will my system reboot or get a BSOD? How do i know if its stable or not

It depends on how close to stable the system is. If you are far off it will hang or BSOD. If you are close it will return an error on the test and stop running

- If not stable for some reason would lowering the clock speed to like 3000mhz work?

That is one of the things you can do. Usually just giving it a hair more voltage does the trick

- IF it doesnt go past post as x4, then what should i do? Raise the voltage? or what.

That would be the first step. Phenom 2s are rated for up to 1.40v but most need much much less than that.

- IF it doesnt go past post or isnt stable with all 4 cores should i try it with 3?

That would be what I would do. It's highly unlikely that both of the locked cores are faulty. If it doesn't post with one core lock that core and unlock the other

[Deleted]

Ah great. So i assumed the right stuff.

[Dethh]

Spend the extra money so you don't have to be frustrated trying to unlock cores. Its worth it imo.

[Moobious]

Spend the extra money so you don't have to be frustrated trying to unlock cores. Its worth it imo.

That would be the best case scenario. Reg has stated in many posts that he is on an ultra tight budget so getting the dual core and attempting to unlock it is a reasonable option if you can't come up with the extra $50 for a quad core.