Core unlocking with AM3+

K

Keolv

n00b
Joined
Jan 2, 2015
Messages
23
So I have an Athlon II X3 unlocked to Phenom II X4 and overclocked to 3.3Ghz on stock voltage.
It is still useful to me so I will not be upgrading it. However, my motherboard is causing damage to the other components (this thread) so I will be replacing it.
The problem is, I've heard that most if not all AM3+ motherboards don't have core unlocking at all, and the ones that have it (GA-970A-UD3P) have really bad support and it doesn't even work.
Is that true and if someone has some experience with core unlocking on AM3+ motherboards, please share information about it.
 
Sadly this is true. I ran into this issue when I went to upgrade my AM3 motherboard to an Am3+ model. The options for core unlocking were visible on 3 different Gigabyte boards I tried, but none of them actually worked as the boards no longer contained the proper microcode in their firmware to enable the hidden cores. Gigabyte's support staff seem unaware the core unlocking doesn't function anymore as well.
 
So what you are saying is that I can't upgrade the motherboard with this CPU ?
 
If you wish to remain able to use your unlocked cores, you'll need to find an AM3 board that supports unlocking as Am3+ boards no longer have the correct firmware to support core unlocking even if the option is available when you set up the bios.
 
Last edited:
Maybe it's a problem only with Gigabyte, what about the other manufacturers ?
For example, ASUS M5A97 EVO seems to have this function in the UEFI, but is it working ? I know this option is removed form the REV 2.0 version but what about the 1.0 ?
 
Last edited:
I tried mine 960t ,and after unlock it to 5core I replace it with full x6 ..
 
Keolv said:
Maybe it's a problem only with Gigabyte, what about the other manufacturers ?
For example, ASUS M5A97 EVO seems to have this function in the UEFI, but is it working ? I know this option is removed form the REV 2.0 version but what about the 1.0 ?
Click to expand...

I doubt it will work as it has a 950 southbridge. None of the 950 southbridge boards I have tried worked for core unlocking. Asus also no longer lists core unlocking as a feature for that board. The impression I got from my support inquires with Gigabyte was that they still had the feature in their UEFI for the boards using a 950 southbridge, but the chipset was no longer responding to that input by unlocking cores. The core unlocking was never officially supported by AMD, but was allowed on the 7xx and 8xx chipsets. When they released the 9xx series, they seem to have disabled the feature in the southbridge itself.
 
I have a gigabyte 990fxa-ud3 (can't remember which revison) and an x210e that unlocks to a quad core just fine. I've had it in my htpc from day one and I've never had a problem with it unlocking cores.
 
The Tom Bomb said:
I have a gigabyte 990fxa-ud3 (can't remember which revison) and an x210e that unlocks to a quad core just fine. I've had it in my htpc from day one and I've never had a problem with it unlocking cores.
Click to expand...

Does the bios version you're running on that board support Bulldozer cpus? I had seen mention on another forum that the Bulldozer enabling bios versions were what disabled the unlocking trick but didn't have access to a board with both pre/post Bulldozer bios versions to test with.
 
Gman1979 said:
Does the bios version you're running on that board support Bulldozer cpus? I had seen mention on another forum that the Bulldozer enabling bios versions were what disabled the unlocking trick but didn't have access to a board with both pre/post Bulldozer bios versions to test with.
Click to expand...

AFAIK the board supported bulldozer since release, since all am3+ boards did, no? I checked gigabyte website, think I have rev 3 of the board, and the release bios supported the early octo-cores.
 
So I'm guessing all 900 series chipsests have poor core unlocking support.
Problem is, all I can find is either 970/990FX/990X or 760G. I know form experience that 760G supports unlocking, but all 760G boards I can find are crappy mATX HTPC boards with 2 RAM slots and 1 or 2 PCI-E slots.
The 990FX chipset boards are a bit expensive though, and I would not want to gamble that much money and end up with useless board.
 
Last edited:
Mine is asus m4a87td... And I don't know anyone who unlocked 6core on it ?
 
Keolv said:
So I'm guessing all 900 series chipsests have poor core unlocking support.
Problem is, all I can find is either 970/990FX/990X or 760G. I know form experience that 760G supports unlocking, but all 760G boards I can find are crappy mATX HTPC boards with 2 RAM slots and 1 or 2 PCI-E slots.
The 990FX chipset boards are a bit expensive though, and I would not want to gamble that much money and end up with useless board.
Click to expand...

See if you can find an ASUS M5A97 or M5A97 EVO . Both supposedly have working core unlocking in rev 1 of the boards. Apparently ASUS implemented a dedicated chip to keep core unlocking working with some of the 950 chipset boards.
 
Gman1979 said:
See if you can find an ASUS M5A97 or M5A97 EVO . Both supposedly have working core unlocking in rev 1 of the boards. Apparently ASUS implemented a dedicated chip to keep core unlocking working with some of the 950 chipset boards.
Click to expand...
Are you sure about this ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top