Post your Phenom II and Sempron unlock or failed unlock results here.

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It was just an initial test I'm priming right now at 1.35v 4 cores. I'll post screenies later. I'll work my way down since I didn't know what voltage 4 cores would need. Even the ones that do unlock are 955 rejects for the most part.

@ 1.35v 3 Hours P95 Blend

x4b50test2.jpg
 
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shadow_419 said:
It was just an initial test I'm priming right now at 1.35v 4 cores. I'll post screenies later. I'll work my way down since I didn't know what voltage 4 cores would need. Even the ones that do unlock are 955 rejects for the most part.
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Ahh OK, that just seemed insane for 3.1 Ghz :p
 
No it's air, and the temp sensors on this board are a little off. Cpu temp is actually reporting socket temp which is higher than core temp. The sensor must be beside the socket because if I put a thermal probe by the socket I get the same temp. I'm using a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus with push-pull fans.
 
Hey ya'll,

Whilst it's an overclocking beast, I'm sad to say that EVERTHING possible on my new Asus CrossFire III Formula could not get Phenom II x2 550(Castillo) to Unlock(even with Bios O503) the other cores. I'm 99% Sure that my other cores are truly Faulty.

So........Complete Fail to Unlock.


BTW........I'm incredibly happy with my purchase. I didn't want a High TDP Quad Core and this dual core is a stable beast @ just a modest 3.6ghz on stock Voltage.
 
Success!
X3 720 be (0904)
MSI 790FX-GD70 Bios 1.5b1


at stock voltage! cant wait to get this up to full speed.
Thanks to everyone I have been lurking and trying stuff, now it works so thanks ;)
 
My little brother just bought the 550 from newegg last week. One of the new batches, I forget what week it is, I'll find out tomorrow. But anyway he bought the Biostar TA790GXE 128M, not GX on accident. However I did some googling and found this:

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2431645

Apparently the OP of the thread used modded Biostar bios off a Chinese forum and it worked. I tried it out using the same steps listed here and there, and the 4 cores are all working! I told him he was pretty darn lucky! Prime95 testing for stability now. We'll see if its stable in the morning...
Just wondering..:
What's the default vcore for the 550? 1.3V? I'm hoping to see if I can get all 4 cores stable at stock voltage b/c its still on the OEM cooling.

update: prime95 wasn't stable at all. tried to see if it could be stable at 2.6ghz @ 1.425v and still crashed...giving up on the 2 extra cores and working on OC @ stock voltages.
 
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Hello about a completely newbee to overclocking, I have done some reading and gone through all the pages of this particular thread and I still cant seem to get my 550 to unleash. I have an asus m4a78-e and I just cant seem to get it to work. Every time I try I just get the error saying unleashing failed. I tried with bios 1204 and bios 1210 which is newest out and still I get the same errors. I have upped my cpu voltage to 1.5v and the cpu-nb voltage to 1.4. I have disabled coolnquiet and set acc to auto, I have also set it to –2x and –12x per core and all cores and still no luck. I know its not guaranteed but most people do have success and I am just wandering if there is anything else I can do. Thanks for your help, sjonesy2.
 
I have now spent a total of probably 5 to 7 hours trying to get this to work or researching, I do still understand that it may not work at all and if thats the case I will probaby try to resale this one on ebay, cut my losses, and try again with another one. but i still havent given up on this one if i can just get some help. I have tried lowering my acc to -12x on one and all cores, i have increased cpu voltage (and i know this is to high and i wouldnt have let it boot into windows if it could) to 1.55 and the 1.55 for cpu-nb. I have tried decresaing the cpu multipler to 8x. I would just like to know if this processor even can work at all as a quad even if it is not stable. I would like to just get past the message of unleashing failed. i have also tried decreasing ht speed. I know this thing will easily overclock to 3.8 with using amd overdirve. this processor using windows 7 in win xp mode seems to be running at 100% (even with just next to nothing running) all the time and id like to have something faster then that and i believe that a quad will do what i needed. ill look forward to your help, sjonesy2.
 
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sjonesy2 said:
Hello about a completely newbee to overclocking, I have done some reading and gone through all the pages of this particular thread and I still cant seem to get my 550 to unleash. I have an asus m4a78-e and I just cant seem to get it to work. Every time I try I just get the error saying unleashing failed. I tried with bios 1204 and bios 1210 which is newest out and still I get the same errors. I have upped my cpu voltage to 1.5v and the cpu-nb voltage to 1.4. I have disabled coolnquiet and set acc to auto, I have also set it to –2x and –12x per core and all cores and still no luck. I know its not guaranteed but most people do have success and I am just wandering if there is anything else I can do. Thanks for your help, sjonesy2.
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http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/535501-amd-phenom-ii-core-unlocking-guide.html

part way down that page you should see Special Note about Asus Motherboards in red. the info reads.

[email protected] said:
The Asus M4A series also “claims” to support 4th core unlocking. In their recent BIOS updates, they have added an “unleashing” mode. My personal experience with it has been far from perfect. Unlike the Biostar motherboard which “just works”, the Asus motherboard requires a lot of hair pulling and tinkering. Here's how you do it.

When "unleashing" mode is enabled, the computer cannot cold boot. To unlock the "defective" cores, you must first boot as a X2/X3 chip and make your voltage modifications as suggested later on in the guide. Afterwards, restart and enable "unleashing mode", save and exit, and then turn off the computer. Turn on the computer again. Unleashing mode does not work 100% of the time. If the computer doesn't POST, continue to hit the reset button at 5 second intervals until it will POST again. You will then see an error message "Unleashing mode failed." Enter BIOS, and activate "unleashing mode" again, save and exit, and turn off the computer. Turn on the computer again. Repeat the process until you see no error messages, or only the "Overclocking failed" message shows up. If you enter BIOS now and go to the "CPU configuration" menu, you will see that your processor has a X4 designation. Save settings, reboot, and you should boot into windows. Afterwards, do not turn off your computer, or you will have to repeat those steps again.
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Now I have no idea how accurate that info is. From what I have been seeing it seems like Gigabyte has the best official support for unlocking cores. But maybe Asus has made improvements or that guys is wrong. And Biostar seems to have dropped the ability from there latest BIOS entirely.
 
thanks for your help but that is actually one of the articles i started from. my computer will post every time, when i change voltages it then saves exits then i tell it to go to bios again, enable unleashing, then save exit, computer then shuts off for about 5 seconds with no power or lights or anythign then lights come back on and about 5-10 seconds later it begins to go through bios then posts and gives me error of unleashing failed. I can get it to say both overclock and unleashing failed, but always unleashing failed. I have repeated this process numerous times. do you have any other ideas, thanks again for input. sjonesy2
 
Well then assuming your heat sink is mounted correctly and not causing you overheating issues. Then it sounds like your CPU just doesn't have 4 fully functional cores.

Especially since you lowered your multi to see if you could get them working at a lower speed.

You did try a more reasonable CPU voltage then 1.55v though right?
 
Phenom II X2 550 BE unlocked all 4 cores, all Prime/Orthos stable. Motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 rev 2.0 (SB 710)
 
no it is staying very cool even when i overclock it to 3.8 like 35C under load (not prime but with processor running 100% for a minute or two). And yes I did try a more resonable voltage then 1.55. I actually started at stock and worked my way up in .05 increments then i just decided to get crazy and just see if it would boot. which i never could seem to get it to do. anybody interested in a phenom 550 that may not unleash? maybe you can have better luck then me. i may even if someone was interested sell my mobo (asus m4a78-e) so they could give it a try. i have just had computer built for about 2 weeks and only been used for probably 12 hours total. anybody else have any ideas on how to unleash this cpu with this mobo? thanks for your help.
 
Phenom II X2 550 BE on a Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P BIOS F2.

Core unlocking failed. OCCT reports an error on core #3 as soon as testing starts. Tested on up to 1.4v but I have not tried lowering the CPU buss multiplier to see if I can get the cores working at a lower speed then stock.

The CPU does however run at 3.6GHz with an 18x multi and all voltages at stock.

I have one question though, I updated my BIOS to F2 from the Gigabyte website before testing. The website seems to list F1 and F2. My system says the BIOS is F2b but I see F2c listed here as the BIOS. Where does this F2c BIOS come from?
 
TGA said:
Phenom II X2 550 BE on a Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P BIOS F2.

Core unlocking failed. OCCT reports an error on core #3 as soon as testing starts. Tested on up to 1.4v but I have not tried lowering the CPU buss multiplier to see if I can get the cores working at a lower speed then stock.

The CPU does however run at 3.6GHz with an 18x multi and all voltages at stock.

I have one question though, I updated my BIOS to F2 from the Gigabyte website before testing. The website seems to list F1 and F2. My system says the BIOS is F2b but I see F2c listed here as the BIOS. Where does this F2c BIOS come from?
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I am the one who reported the same motherboard with the F2c bios. I think maybe Gigabyte remove it from their website :eek:. I don't have the computer with me anymore :(. I built it for my cousin. I'll try to dig around and see if I still have the bios save somewhere. If not I'll try to get in contact with my cousin and ask him to back up his bios and I can try to send it to you that way.



*Edit*
I found some more info from this forum:
http://www.overclock.net/amd-bios/532005-gigabyte-ga-ma770t-ud3p-f2c-bios.html

You can find the F2c bios in the 2nd post or click below:
http://america.giga-byte.com/FileList/BIOS/mb_bios_ga-ma770t-ud3p_f2c.exe
 
Well you never know what or who to believe when reading post on internet forums but a google search turned up info that F2c was pulled to comply with AMD as other manufactures seem to have.

I believe I have located the F2c BIOS with a bit of digging. I am going to give it a try I just hope like hell it's legit and in English.

I did a lot of modded BIOS testing back in the day on the ECS K7S5A and really don't have any interest in dealing with a none English BIOS again.
 
Well as far as BIOS options and everything I see no difference from going from F2b to F2c. Both have hybrid mode that unlocks the cores. With either BIOS the system posts as an X4 and windows task manger show 4 cores.

The only difference I noticed is that while OCCT would error out instantly on F2b reporting an error on core #3. While F2c errors out instantly and reports an error on a random core rather then it always being core #3.

Either way I think it is rather safe to say I have a CPU with disabled faulty cores.

I will at some point pull my HDT-1283 just to make sure it's making good contact across the entire heat spreader since it was the first time I installed one and I can monitor individual core temps once unlocked. However the overall CPU temp thats reported when unlocked seems fine. So I really don't expect to find anything.

Guss it's time for me to buy one of them cheap Gigabyte 770 rev1 that don't have ACC and another 550 BE so I can try again.
 
TGA said:
Well as far as BIOS options and everything I see no difference from going from F2b to F2c. Both have hybrid mode that unlocks the cores. With either BIOS the system posts as an X4 and windows task manger show 4 cores.

The only difference I noticed is that while OCCT would error out instantly on F2b reporting an error on core #3. While F2c errors out instantly and reports an error on a random core rather then it always being core #3.

Either way I think it is rather safe to say I have a CPU with disabled faulty cores.

I will at some point pull my HDT-1283 just to make sure it's making good contact across the entire heat spreader since it was the first time I installed one and I can monitor individual core temps once unlocked. However the overall CPU temp thats reported when unlocked seems fine. So I really don't expect to find anything.

Guss it's time for me to buy one of them cheap Gigabyte 770 rev1 that don't have ACC and another 550 BE so I can try again.
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You want to switch mobos? I have the 770 Rev 1 and want the 770T, haha. PM me if you want to work something out. I just bought my system about 3 weeks ago so mobo is new out of box and in mint shape :D
 
joecuddles said:
You want to switch mobos? I have the 770 Rev 1 and want the 770T, haha. PM me if you want to work something out. I just bought my system about 3 weeks ago so mobo is new out of box and in mint shape :D
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Sorry no I have no interest in a trade.

What I am going to do is buy the 770 Rev1 for the CPU I have now that doesn't have 4 usable cores. And buy another 550 and hope I have better luck then I did with my first.

The whole reason I bought the 770T was for ACC but the feature is useless on my 550.

Besides since you have the 770 Rev1 I think what you really want is the 770 Rev2 so you don't have to buy new ram.
 
TGA said:
Sorry no I have no interest in a trade.

What I am going to do is buy the 770 Rev1 for the CPU I have now that doesn't have 4 usable cores. And buy another 550 and hope I have better luck then I did with my first.

The whole reason I bought the 770T was for ACC but the feature is useless on my 550.

Besides since you have the 770 Rev1 I think what you really want is the 770 Rev2 so you don't have to buy new ram.
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Ah, OK, misunderstood what you were doing there :)

770T isn't compatible with DDR2-1066? o_O
 
joecuddles said:
Ah, OK, misunderstood what you were doing there :)

770T isn't compatible with DDR2-1066? o_O
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Nope 770T is AM3 DDR3 board.

The 770 rev1 has the SB700 so no ACC, the rev2 has the SB710 with ACC. Both are AM2+ DDR2 boards.
 
jhartono0002 said:
bios F2 unlock my 550
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WTF?

Your 770 is showing as F2 with no letter...

The BIOS I got yesterday from the Gigabyte site read as F2b. I googled for F2c after I noticed it was the one mentioned in the thread. But now you got one that just says F2?

Either way the 2 I tried both unlock the extra cores but the cores fail OCCT testing instantly.

Have you stress tested your unlock yet?

I doubt I will be playing with the extra cores on my 550 anymore since I doubt they are failing stress testing because of the BIOS revision.

But all these F2 variations are really making my head spin when Gigabyte list only F1 and F2 on the site. It's been some time since I bought something so new that I actually did a bunch of BIOS swapping. But at least back then Gigabyte wasn't just pulling a BIOS from the list and pretending like it never existed. Everything was kept on the list so you at least had some idea what was being changed in each revision.
 
TGA said:
Yes it only has DDR3 slots and I see nothing odd about that.

AM3 boards use DDR3 and it's an AM3 board.
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Guess I'm just used to boards supporting a range of RAM rather than just one type (i.e mine is DDR2/3). Wonder how one goes about tracking down a Rev. 2... probably impossible =\
 
joecuddles said:
Guess I'm just used to boards supporting a range of RAM rather than just one type (i.e mine is DDR2/3). Wonder how one goes about tracking down a Rev. 2... probably impossible =\
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Are you talking about your Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3? If so it only takes DDR2?

I do not see what is weird about an AM3 socket taking only DDR3.

If anything... hybrid boards that can use both DDR2 and DDR3 are a very very small minority. Also DDR2 and DDR3 are physically not compatible with one another meaning if you have 4 DIMM slots then 2 slots would be DDR2 and the other 2 slots would be DDR3. This method is fine but you will always be limited to only two dimm slots.

-----------------

TGA said:
WTF?

Either way the 2 I tried both unlock the extra cores but the cores fail OCCT testing instantly.
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Have you try increasing your volts to 1.45V?
 
TGA said:
WTF?

Your 770 is showing as F2 with no letter...

The BIOS I got yesterday from the Gigabyte site read as F2b. I googled for F2c after I noticed it was the one mentioned in the thread. But now you got one that just says F2?

Either way the 2 I tried both unlock the extra cores but the cores fail OCCT testing instantly.

Have you stress tested your unlock yet?

I doubt I will be playing with the extra cores on my 550 anymore since I doubt they are failing stress testing because of the BIOS revision.

But all these F2 variations are really making my head spin when Gigabyte list only F1 and F2 on the site. It's been some time since I bought something so new that I actually did a bunch of BIOS swapping. But at least back then Gigabyte wasn't just pulling a BIOS from the list and pretending like it never existed. Everything was kept on the list so you at least had some idea what was being changed in each revision.
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plain F2, no c or b (downloaded from GB usa)
i was suprised how this thing work,

the chip actually stable with F2 overclocked to 3.7Ghz with LinX or IBT :D
 
Got my new motherboard (GA MA-790GP UD4H) and CPU(Phenom x2 550) over the weekend. This was my first time working with an AMD system and so far it's been pretty good.

I Unlocked the 4th core no problem. I was even able to undervolt it a little, stock was 1.35v and so far I have droped it down to 1.25v.

It's only running 3 ghz right now will probably try and OC on the weekend.

One problem that I have noticed with this new system is the long boot time for windows. On my old system it would boot after the green bar passed about 3-5times now it takes like 12, only a minor thing but just curious if anyone else noticed it as well.

x2550sc.jpg


CPU Stepping was 0921APBW
 
DTN107 said:
Have you try increasing your volts to 1.45V?
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Just tried at 1.45 and still no go.

I really do believe there is no hope in unlocking the other 2 cores on the 550 I got.

Increasing the vcore doesn't even buy me more time before OCCT fails. It will fails as soon as testing starts.

I have also tried 4 cores with a 12x multi significantly reducing core speed with a number of voltages and all were a no go with the same OCCT results.

Also in my limited time playing with increased multipliers and vcore I get the impression my chip really doesn't like anything over 1.375. I haven't run a test with OCCT at 1.4v and stock speeds but I am willing to bet it will fail.

I also have a lot of things working against me right now for any really high overclocks. The PC operates in a room with no AC. But even so with an 18x multi the cores seem to hover at 40c under full load and if I am not mistaken that is rather good.
 
Doodies said:
Got my new motherboard (GA MA-790GP UD4H) and CPU(Phenom x2 550) over the weekend. This was my first time working with an AMD system and so far it's been pretty good.

I Unlocked the 4th core no problem. I was even able to undervolt it a little, stock was 1.35v and so far I have droped it down to 1.25v.

It's only running 3 ghz right now will probably try and OC on the weekend.

One problem that I have noticed with this new system is the long boot time for windows. On my old system it would boot after the green bar passed about 3-5times now it takes like 12, only a minor thing but just curious if anyone else noticed it as well.


CPU Stepping was 0921APBW
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Well it looks like your on XP from the screen shot so my boot times would not be comparable.

I did notice that most every time I booted my system with all 4 cores enabled Vista would take a little longer to load. But mine is not stable with all 4 cores so I assume some prepossesses are erroring out holding me up.

But at stock my system will go from post to log in in less then 30sec.
 
Doodies said:
One problem that I have noticed with this new system is the long boot time for windows. On my old system it would boot after the green bar passed about 3-5times now it takes like 12, only a minor thing but just curious if anyone else noticed it as well.

CPU Stepping was 0921APBW
Click to expand...

bump the voltage to 1.3v and see what happen.
your cpu might need more vcore..
 
jhartono0002 said:
bump the voltage to 1.3v and see what happen.
your cpu might need more vcore..
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I tried it at 1.45 and also tried at lower frequency still no difference. I read on another forum that using ACC might cause this, so I'm hoping that's what it is.
 
Doodies said:
I tried it at 1.45 and also tried at lower frequency still no difference. I read on another forum that using ACC might cause this, so I'm hoping that's what it is.
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i guessed as long as its running stable, ill be happy with it.

anybody tried prime95 blend and stable with memory overclocked?
 
I`d like to report a succesfull unlock of an phenom II x2 550 "924BPMW", working perfectly stable at standard voltage in a gigabyte ma790gp-ds4h, and in a gigabyte ma770-ud3.
 
Well I was gonna wait till I got a better heatsink, but I decided to give teh Freezerpro a test.
This is my first time stressing 4 cores at all. Bumped the voltage to 1.45. Made it through prime95 small FFTs for 9 hours so far. Temps hit 58C, so this is probably my stopping point for right now :( . Now I have to find something else to do as playing games with 7800gt is poop. Also someone tell cogage to be nice and release an am2 true spirit :mad:

Phenom 720 X4 @ 3.4ghz
MSI 770-c45 1.4b1

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=627675
 
Just got my X3 710. Unlocked all four cores at stock speed on 1.328V on a Biostar TA790GX A2+. Prime stable for about an hour before I stopped the test.

prelimx4.JPG


By the way, I forgot to take down the microcode on the CPU before I installed it. Is there any way to read the batch # off the box?
 
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