Sempron 140 unlocked to X2

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I've only got DDR3 spare

I can give you some DDR2 if you want to swap!!

[Ulti]

Well I won't be overclocking as its going to have a pretty anaemic use as it is, but the extra core should help with the majority of stuff!

From what I remember, when compared to other DDR3 785G boards, the MSI one came with the lowest power consumption so that might help you with your choice

[scaryjim]

Mind if I ask you a few questions, scaryjim?

... there's yet the Unleash Mode option. This last option seems to be specific for unlocking dual cores to triple and quad, so one should not use this option with a Sempron, I guess ...

So, now I have two main questions - what settings did you tweak on the BIOS to successfully unlock your Sempron and if you can remember, which version was your BIOS at the time of the unlock?

Not at all.

Unleash mode is for unleashing cores full stop. So that's the one you want I can't remember the exact BIOS settings available or which version my BIOS is (and my step-son's playing flash games on the HTPC at the minute so I can't check!) but basically make sure one of the ACC modes is selected (Auto is fine), then set Unleashing Mode to enabled. Reboot, and presto, Athlon X2 for the price of a Sempron!

EDIT: I should also mention - I have Cool & Quiet enabled and didn't encounter any issues running the CPU unlocked @ stock voltage with Cool & Quiet.

@ Terbinator / Ulti: the MSI board has better phase switching than the ASUS EVO I've got iirc, so if you're bothered about power consumption that's a good one to go for. Someone on here's got one and was getting ~ 30% lower power draw than me with basically the same components...

[scaryjim]

... with 1.45v core voltage, the CPU is stable at 3.6ghz unlocked as a dual core to Athlon II 440/4400e. I haven't tried undervolting it but the CPU had a VID of about 1.325V IIRC and it was stable as a dual core on stock voltage and stock speeds too ...

Sorry for double posting but to add my experience...

the Sempron unlocked stably @ stock volts (i.e. Auto in Bios, read @ ~ 1.32V in CPUZ) to Athlon X2 4400e. I then undervolted to 1.05V in BIOS. The Sempron is completely stable as a single core - it ran unlocked @ 1.05V for a while then developed instability, including random crashes during flash video playback and occasional failure to boot. I've now gone back to running it undervolted as a single core as I'm more concerned about reducing power draw than performance for that machine.

One thing I will say is that I've heard some MSI boards don't allow undervolting - if you really want to lower power draw you might want to consider that. Then again, if you really want to reduce power draw you don't want to unlock the second core, as it does draw significantly more power at load with it unlocked (interestingly, it draws no more power at idle if you have Cool & Quiet turned on).