Is my mobo preventing me from unlocking cores in my CPU?

[teklord]

All,

Thx for reading this. I have a Phenom II X2 550 that will unlock the two disabled cores if they are functional. The TDP of my CPU and my mobo is 95W. If I can unlock the cores on this CPU, the TDP should be more than 95W. Is my mobo preventing me from potentially unlocking the cores on this CPU? Obviously it appears so but I want a second opinion before I buy another mobo to try to unlock the cores on this CPU. My mobo has ACC, so theoretically it is possible were it not for the TDP limitations.

 

[EXCellR8]

if i understand this procedure correctly, not all phenoms are able to be unlocked but you should be able to use almost any AMD chipset and something called Advanced Clock Calibration (or ACC) in the BIOS.

 

[teklord]

Right, I have ACC but that will push the TDP over 95W if the cores do unlock. I can OC but not unlock the cores on this mobo.

 

[EXCellR8]

well in theory you should be able to... like i said i think you can pull it off with almost any AMD chipset-based motherboard with ACC. does your motherboard have either a Amd 750 and 710 southbridge chipset? i did a search but the closest thing i could find related to the issue was your thread on tech powerup lol.

 

[teklord]

The mobo is 710 SB chipset.

I've gotten 3 different types of responses on the 3 sites I posted this thread on, so it is a good idea to me to get a diverse cross section on the subject.

 

[Ritwik7]

You need an SB 750 to unlock the cores.

 

[teklord]

http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/535501-amd-phenom-ii-athlon-ii-core.html

States SB 710 will unlock as well. I'm getting an x58 mobo and i7 CPU ASAP, so I'm not investing in another AMD mobo soon anywho.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Go ahead and try unlocking IMO.

 

[teklord]

That was the first thing I did when I got this mobo+CPU setup and it didn't work hence this thread. Thing is, just because it didn't work on my mobo doesn't mean it won't work on one with a higher TDP draw but I don't have another to test my theory on.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

I feel its more likely that you're just unlucky.

 

[red1776]

The x2 550 is actually a Deneb core with two disabled cores. I t could be unlocking to a 95W TDP or a 125W TDP as there were both versions of the Deneb. Your x2 may have started life as a x4 955 125w or a x4 920 95W. From what i have read on the subject, most x2's are rated the same TDP after the cores were disabled. That may have changed however, I now see there is a 80w x2 555.

 

[teklord]

I actually hope I am unlucky so I can justify buying a new i7 & mobo combo. ^_^