After reading up on a couple of threads on different forums about core unlocking on the Phenom II x2/x3 i decided to try my luck on my Phenom II x2 550 BE. The process is fairly easy, just activate ACC in the bios and change some small settings and voila you got a x4. After running Prime 95 for a couple of hours to make sure the unlock is stable i can now consider myself the proud owner of a Phenom II x4 B50 and all the to a price of just below 100€ for the chip.
Would like to but my skills in overclocking are slim to non existing. Should read up on that a lil more. Had the x2 550 up to 3.5ghz with the amd overclocking tool. Dunno how the x4 is behaving. Read that many people will have to raise the vcore when overclocking unlocked cores and thats something i have never done. Any inside on that matter?
I got an Asus M4A785TD-V Evo. Its a really nice motherboard imho, but its the first upper midclass i ever owned so i cant compare. There was a review here on bit-tech and thats why i bought it
Seeing you're a Finn there are a couple of good threads (unlocking, overclocking) on Muropaketti. It's a Black Edition CPU so basically you just ramp up the multiplier and voltage until it no longer is stable or heats up too much and then come back down a couple of steps. My 550-sample wouldn't unlock, but inside they are X4 965's and the three that I've had around have all gone to around 4 GHz at Vcore of 1,43 V or so. Wouldn't bother pushing it though if you don't have a proper cooler...
Thanks for the tip Jipa. Dont worry much about the cooler. Got myslef a Noctua NH12 v2 and its imho the best cooler on the market for AM3. Gone play around a lil over the weekend and see how far i can push the chip, but i expect around 3,7ghz aftre what i read.
Be careful though, cause now you have lost the temp sensor, well cores anyway. I have a 555 that clocks to 4GHz stable as a dual and 3.8 as a quad. What you need to do is lock the cpu back up and then get a good solid reading for your CPU and the 2 cores. Mine with a cheap TX3 is CPU 24C, C0- 23, C1- 23 @ idle and 100% load it's 36, 35, 35C @ default 3.2GHz. So my cores are only 1C cooler than the CPU reading itself, which is very good. As a B55 @ 3.8GHZ 1.45v those temps will rise pretty quickly. Mine goes to 52C @ full load which is ok but i have to guess that the 4 cores are only 1C cooler. Although its nice to get a X4 for X2 money the lack of Core temps does my head in. Seeing 0C, 0C, 0C, 0C in all the software apps isn't a huge problem, but it niggles in the back of your mind all the time
