What is the point of CPU modification for you??

[Homeking]

Not generally. The 45nm, AM2+, X2 5000+ was a special case: it was made from binned Phenom II dies with 2 cores and the cache disabled, and clocked at 2.3GHz. However, with ACC active some of them unlocked to full Phenom IIs with 4 cores and 6MB L3 cache.

The same applies to Athlon IIs, incidentally: some are made from Athlon II dies which don't have any L3 cache to begin with, but some are made from Phenom II dies and can be unlocked. What you get in the box is a bit of a lottery, tbh.

That's great. Thanks alot for that.

Learning loads of new stuff here - always been useless with lotteries though but I might be tempted to have a go if I can get something cheap.

[Uriel]

I've now read of 3 confirmed cases of the 45nm Athlon X2 5200+ unlocking to Phenom FX5200 with 4 cores and 6mb L3 cache (although not sure about stress testing stability or overclocking). One confirmed unlock was stock from Scan, which prompted me to hit buy as I wanted a spare AM3 cpu for flashing my Dual Memory Dual Bios AM2+/DDR2 and DDR3 motherboard anyway. I should be able to identify whether it's a Deneb from the stepping. If so I'll pop it in the machine and try unlocking it.

Some 45nm 5200+s are Regor (dual core with only extra 512mb per core L2 cache unlock). Some are Deneb. I'll let you know how I get on.

I did email a couple of retailers about Athlon II 220s and Athlon X2 5200+ 45nm asking if they could confirm stepping codes prior to sending. Both stated that they weren't able to.

[Phage]

I just think it's a great loss in terms of education. Generally the younger you are the less money you have, so budget becomes a greater limiting factor. This leads people into tinkering with their boxes in order to maximise the value. This in turn led to a more educated consumer group.

So - Yes, I think it's bad news. My reason being that it will not allow da yoof to tinker with their machines, and accordingly we all lose out.

[Terbinator]

Does TB work differently on these compared to past chips? The standard 2600 has a ~42x multiplier even though its stock is x34, the Anandtech article seems pretty barren on any specific TB features.

[DanceswithUnix]

I've now read of 3 confirmed cases of the 45nm Athlon X2 5200+ unlocking to Phenom FX5200 with 4 cores and 6mb L3 cache (although not sure about stress testing stability or overclocking). One confirmed unlock was stock from Scan, which prompted me to hit buy as I wanted a spare AM3 cpu for flashing my Dual Memory Dual Bios AM2+/DDR2 and DDR3 motherboard anyway. I should be able to identify whether it's a Deneb from the stepping. If so I'll pop it in the machine and try unlocking it.

Some 45nm 5200+s are Regor (dual core with only extra 512mb per core L2 cache unlock). Some are Deneb. I'll let you know how I get on.

I did email a couple of retailers about Athlon II 220s and Athlon X2 5200+ 45nm asking if they could confirm stepping codes prior to sending. Both stated that they weren't able to.

I have a 45nm X2, but it only unlocks to 3 core which means you need a motherboard that can selectively core unlock or the machine dies on boot trying to use core 4. The motherboard it is in can't do that, so I make do with just a mild overclock. Shame, the 6MB L3 unlocks with the cores and that would be a nice boost.

[Uriel]

http://www.amdzone.com/phpbb3/viewto...?f=52&t=138244

Looks like someone has a 45nm 5200+ from scan unlocked and overclocked to 3.6 GHz on stock volts. They're stress texting it now but no problems so far. Mine should arrive later today. Hoping I get something similar.

[Pob255]

I wonder how long it will be until someone comes up with a way to add in a 2nd separate clock so you don't have to overclock the other controlers . . . oh wait intel now has an effective monopoly on chipsets for it's cpu's, so no one can, well not without paying massive license fees to intel and still make a profitable chipset.

[DanceswithUnix]

http://www.amdzone.com/phpbb3/viewto...?f=52&t=138244

Looks like someone has a 45nm 5200+ from scan unlocked and overclocked to 3.6 GHz on stock volts. They're stress texting it now but no problems so far. Mine should arrive later today. Hoping I get something similar.

Good luck, a C3 stepping is awesome!

No big overclocks on the stock fan mind, you will be doubling the 65W TDP of that thing

[Uriel]

Good luck, a C3 stepping is awesome!

No big overclocks on the stock fan mind, you will be doubling the 65W TDP of that thing

Mine's arrived. Just had a quick peek. Stepping starts CACEC AC. Those two ACs mean one thing: there's a Deneb under that heat-spreader . Probably won't have time to install it until the weekend though.

Heat will hopefully not be a problem. Already using a Scythe Kama Angle on my unlocked 5000+, with modified case airflow. The CPU is over-volted and running up to 3.3 GHz without getting too toasty.

[nibbler]

How do you see the stepping?

[Queelis]

How do you see the stepping?

"Revision" in CPU-Z's CPU tab, e.g. RB-C3 (that's mine). Or "Stepping", in which case it should show "3".

Edit: oh, never mind this. That maybe is printed on the CPU heatsink/shield?

[nibbler]

I have stepping 3 and revision Bl-C3 so I'm guessing means I have a C3? I should do as I unlocked a core and 6mb of cache?

[Uriel]

How do you see the stepping?

Printed on the heat spreader. 3rd line down.

AC in that code I mentioned means the chip is based on Deneb (4 cores, 6mb l3 cache).

AD means Propus - 4 cores, no l3 cache.

AE is Regor - native dual core with no l3 cache

CB is Thuban - 6 core with 6MB l3 cache.

[nibbler]

Not gonna bother checking but seeing as I bought an Athlon II x3 and now have a Phenom II B45 It's safe to assume it's an AC I think.

[Uriel]

Right - to prevent Cat's thread going off the rails, I'll be moving this to a different thread if it unlocks.

Anyway - there's a possible AM3 Phenom II x4 C3 for just over £30 on the loose. Here's my candidate:


Just like my current CPU (effectively a 3.3 GHz AM2+ Phenom II x4 C2 for £36), that's exactly why I modify CPUs. There have never been CPUs that give this price to performance ratio before. These things will be legendary in a few years. This is a far bigger difference than the Celeron 300A and Barton 2500M managed back in the day.

Meanwhile, Intel look like they're intent on stopping me have this kind of fun but they have the overall performance advantage.

[Homeking]

I'm looking forward to this.

Here's hoping it unlocks and a new thread gets started.

Uriel - will you be able to try this on different motherboards?