They did that just to annoy me, last time I looked there was *nothing* dual core AM2
I notice they have one a few quid more than that which whilst only 100MHz faster is also into the free packing price range so would actually be cheaper.
OTOH, for that 51 quid I might be able to get a motherboard for my mistake purchase that has a 710SB and unlock friendly bios
I had a quick look over lunchtime, and you can get a Gigabyte 760G + 710SB uATX board for 46 quid on ebuyer which is tempting. Need to check MythTV compatibility though. ASUS do a cheaper board but no ACC BIOS support.
Full sized ATX would have been better, but you really pay a premium for that don't you!
This motherboard has ACC:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ASRoc...SATA-RAID-mATX
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=233254
The motherboard also has dedicated RAM for the IGP.
DanceswithUnix (20-01-2010)
They probably did this to annoy you, too
You could sell the motherboard for more than £20, I reckon...
Yeah I saw that too. Don't think I could be fussed with the hassle of reselling the motherboard though, and can't imagine a use these days for a motherboard with a non gigabit ethernet port.
I think instead I will be taking the wife to the local Chinese restaurant and spend the money on crispy duck, nom nom!
I'm sure a use for my currently useless CPU will turn up if I procrastinate long enough
First attempt didn't work but that was with the old BIOS that came with the board (Dated March 09). Will try a confirmed for unlock BIOS over the weekend.
Tried BIOS A09 (most recent). It recognised it as a phenom FX5000 but wouldn't boot into Windows.
I've switched to the earlier BIOS A07 which I'd seen had confirmed unlocks of dual core phenoms and I am am now typing this booted up as Phenom FX5000 x4 @ 2.2GHz.
Seems like a reasonable start. I need to go and install some stuff @ default settings and then I can try playing with my new Quad
Edit: Will post more once I've got everything up and running. Meanwhile:
Last edited by Uriel; 22-01-2010 at 11:24 PM.
Awesome stuff uriel. How are you getting on with your quad?
I tried using an older bios but it hasnt worked... yet, i guess it wouldnt hurt to try some others
Things are going alright but not entirely getting my own way. It's a bit of a lottery whether I can get the unlocked CPU into Windows consistently at any speed. It regularly bluescreens from cold boots. Also got it working with the latest bios with a bit of voltage tweaking.
Once it's in Windows all seems fine. I've not yet had a crash once I'm actually in Windows. I can benchmark and stability test to my heart's content. It's quite happy looping prime95 blend and 3dmark06 @ just over 3GHz for example.
I suspect I may need to tweak the CPU-NB voltage a bit.
Edit: I never had a problem with POST @ quad. It POSTs @ stock voltages. If there's actually a defective core I've heard chips don't POST when ACC is set to auto.
Think I'm going to settle for 3 GHz unless I can sort out better cooling. 3GHz gets a little toasty, at least with the side of the case on. Airflow may help as I'm running about 6-8°C cooler cpu temp with the side off.
Booting into Windows seems consitent now so there's a sign of improvement
Need to do some stability testing to confirm but I think I'll be sticking at 3GHz for now. Looking pretty good. It's making it into Windows and doesn't throw up any Prime errors in a shortish test.
Pushing 62° though (at least with the case closed), which is the rated maximum for AM2+ Phenom IIs. May be able to improve airflow a bit but I don't want it to get too noisy.
A bit of gaffer tape, a fan and spome cable ties has pushed CPU temps down. Now 35°C idle and 55-59°C under load.
Seems to be making it into Windows consistenly now. Prime for several hours never a problem. I'll leave settings as they are for the time being.
£36 for a 3GHz Phenom II ain't bad
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