ok, so ive got an MSI GD70 motherboard and an AMD Phenom2 x3 720 processor and i was trying to unlock the 4th core. im currently using BIOS version 1.5 and i think this should support core unlocking. first i went to the BIOS and set the ACC to "All Cores" (ive also tried it on "Auto" and "Per Core") and set the EC Firmware to "Special". saved and exited. the pc wouldnt boot, i kinda took this to mean that the core had unlocked but just wasnt stable. i went back into the BIOS and bumped the VCORE up a bit. again saved and exited, and this time it was stable (stable enough to boot anyway). i got to the windows desktop and loaded up CPU-Z.. but; it only showed 3 cores still from what i understand, access to the ACC and EC Firmware settings should be all that is required to enable the core unlocking (assuming the core is working and stable). i did a little google search and came up with this page: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...msi-790fx-gd70-am3-motherboard-review-12.html this at least showed me the BIOS settings i had were correct, but the v1.5 BIOS im using is not on the list but they do have previous versions (albeit in beta) as well as 1.51 beta. would they have added the core unlocking support in beta versions but removed it for the official releases?, and still left the ECC Firmware and ACC settings the same? i have found links to the 1.51 BIOS that is reported to work for unlocking the cores (on xtremesystems.org), but i didnt find it on MSI's website so im not sure if i should try it, i guess im worried about it bricking the board as its not officially from MSI (or not downloadable from their site anyway). there is also an official 1.6 versions from MSI's website but ive been unable to find any info on whether the unlocking will work on that version or not. i guess my questions to you are: - should the core unlocking work on the BIOS version 1.5 im currently using? and has anyone else tried it? if it should can you give my some pointers as to where im going wrong and why the 4th core isnt showing up in cpu-z? -has anyone used the 1.6 BIOS version and been able to unlock a core? -should i try the 1.51 Beta version and hope for the best? -any other tips you can give me would be very helpful thanks all (sorry if there has already been a thread about this, i searched but couldnt find one) (also i wasnt sure if this should be in tech support or hardware, if its in the wrong place please move it) edit: it seems the 1.51beta was 1.5beta1 (there are also some other betas of it too), so is an earlier version than 1.5
got my 4th core working on my 770-c45 no problems at all. just enabled both features and up the multiplier right away, migth just have been an faulty core you have. Couldnt unlock my dads X3 with the same setup as mine. So plain luck i guess.
i heard that some cpu's that are quad cores but the 4th core is faulty, get sold as a 3 cor cpu, others that are 4 cores but 3 cores are needed for the supplyer, so the 4th core is disabled..... so u might have one where the 4th core is faulty does this help m8 http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=228417
as above, thats why there sold as x3, mobo builders found they could get some disabled cores to run again, i dont believe its endorsed by amd but there not actively preventing it, they have pretty strict binning procedures so 4 core may well work but not within there parameters, so its luck of the draw you may be lucky and get a forth stable core & you might not, what we consider stable amd may not.
thanks for the replies.. i know on some processors the core is faulty, but i thought it wouldnt post at all if that was the case.. i guess im gonna stick with three cores for now then
Just searched and found this thread after unlocking my fourth core on X3 720 using the 790FX-GD70 same as you, just flashed the BIOS to 1.6, did the bios options, auto/special, and away I went, four cores in windows. I'm now running Prime95 at 3.4GHz at 1.5v, not gone above 60oC
