AMD PhenomII X3 710(720BE) 3core --> 4core PhenomII X4 920

[jcknouse]

3.5 would be considered a pretty poor overclock with the 720 BE I reckon. 3.6 at the lowest assuming your mobo can handle over 1.425v, anything over 3.8 is good, anything over 3.9-4.0 is exceptional.

I really hope you're right, Jimbo75. I saw where one site had it at 4.0. I'd be happy with 3.5-3.6 though. a 20% overclock on AMDs is pretty good. I have my 9850 2.5GHz OCed at 3.0 right now...20%.

If this 720 will OC to 4.0 on air with my ZEROTherm Nirvana 120, I'll be really pleased. getting 30% for me would be unheard of.

I'm gonna go try and find some MX-2 locally at Staples or something, since AS-5 was not keeping my 9850 as cool as everyone else had said theirs was.

I don't know what I could be doing wrong. I have tried everything from making sure the entire surface was coated well, to putting just enough on for it to almost be a "glaze" (very thin layering). Nothing seems to bring my OCed 9850 down below 40C idle/63C 4-core load.

Oh well...the 720 runs on 4 cores OCed, I won't have to worry anymore

 

[FrozenGpu]

So you got it to work already jcknouse? If so what batch # and mobo w/ what bios rev' are you using?

 

[werxen]

Lesson learned, hopefully: be patient, don't act belligerent, wait for facts prior to passing judgment.

LOL. yeah lesson was learned that a handful of these processors work. not the claimed 100% figure presented. maybe you could take a lesson and learn how to interpret information instead of being so belligerent yourself.

 

[jcknouse]

So you got it to work already jcknouse? If so what batch # and mobo w/ what bios rev' are you using?

Nooooooooo...not yet. *hopes*

I have the CPU at the house. If I remember right, it is batch 0904EPMW.

The board that is coming is a BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail.

I am going to work on it tomorrow evening. I have to go to my parents tonight. I also will only be able to run 1 video card, because the 790 chipset does not support SLi (I have 2 9800GTX+s).

Hopefully, this will all work out. Might end up buying a new video card soon to use in this thing...like a 4850x2 or 4870x2.

 

[jcknouse]

LOL. yeah lesson was learned that a handful of these processors work. not the claimed 100% figure presented. maybe you could take a lesson and learn how to interpret information instead of being so belligerent yourself.

I have to ask:

Where did you ever see someone tell you 100% of the triple-cores were functional quad-cores?

 

[amdfangirl]

Mmm... the reason AMD quads sometimes works is because some of their tri-core Phenoms are actually lower priced quad-cores with no defects, its just that the majority of the market likes mainstream stuff... More people buy the cheaper stuff. AMD made it cheaper, more people buy it.

 

[effgee]

LOL. yeah lesson was learned that a handful of these processors work. not the claimed 100% figure presented. maybe you could take a lesson and learn how to interpret information instead of being so belligerent yourself.

Who ever said 100%?

You could accuse me of being a tad condescending - and you'd be correct. Belligerent? No, not at all. I made no attack against you. OTOH, you are reprising your belligerence with your ad hominem attack on me.

Your early responses in this thread accused folks of Photoshopping images, then you called someone "stupid", "fool", "troll"... all you needed to do was to say, "I don't think this is true, I'll wait and see". When the news of the X3-->X4 broke, my 1st response was to say that I thought it was a BIOS hiccup. Obviously, I was wrong, but never felt a need to be nasty about it.

 

[werxen]

Who ever said 100%?

You could accuse me of being a tad condescending - and you'd be correct. Belligerent? No, not at all. I made no attack against you. OTOH, you are reprising your belligerence with your ad hominem attack on me.

Your early responses in this thread accused folks of Photoshopping images, then you called someone "stupid", "fool", "troll"... all you needed to do was to say, "I don't think this is true, I'll wait and see". When the news of the X3-->X4 broke, my 1st response was to say that I thought it was a BIOS hiccup. Obviously, I was wrong, but never felt a need to be nasty about it.

haha ad hominem attacks... we are debating now i see.

heres something you can do: buy a triple core processor and the mobo and see how it works for you. if you support it so much: do it. if not, shut up. yes ad hominem. you = troll.

 

[effgee]

haha ad hominem attacks... we are debating now i see.

heres something you can do: buy a triple core processor and the mobo and see how it works for you. if you support it so much: do it. if not, shut up. yes ad hominem. you = troll.

We're not debating, are we?

Why am I a troll?

As I stated in my 1st post here, I'm the guy from Anandtech with the X3 710 who enabled the 4th core. I also posted a link to pics and CPU-Z verification.

 

[werxen]

Yeah yeah...

1) cpu-z verification does not mean anything as far as stability goes
2) pictures were already posted

the only thing going for it was the prime95 test, beyond that it was meaningless. the point is this buy is too risky for anyone so it is pointless unless you plan on buying a 3 core anyway. a buyer should not alter his purchase in any way thinking that the 3 core can be transformed into a quad core. in your case - you got lucky. even then, i am interested to see what will happen 3 months from now.

 

[blackpanther26]

Yeah yeah...

1) cpu-z verification does not mean anything as far as stability goes
2) pictures were already posted

the only thing going for it was the prime95 test, beyond that it was meaningless. the point is this buy is too risky for anyone so it is pointless unless you plan on buying a 3 core anyway. a buyer should not alter his purchase in any way thinking that the 3 core can be transformed into a quad core. in your case - you got lucky. even then, i am interested to see what will happen 3 months from now.

you don't have to show your Intel loyalty off. And it means somthing that people have done this with sucsess.

 

[effgee]

Yeah yeah...

1) cpu-z verification does not mean anything as far as stability goes
2) pictures were already posted

the only thing going for it was the prime95 test, beyond that it was meaningless. the point is this buy is too risky for anyone so it is pointless unless you plan on buying a 3 core anyway. a buyer should not alter his purchase in any way thinking that the 3 core can be transformed into a quad core. in your case - you got lucky. even then, i am interested to see what will happen 3 months from now.

Well, yeah - it's foolish to purchase an X3 based on the assumption one can enable the 4th core. And it is certainly possible that in 3 days, 3 months, 3 years there will be major problems. It could be similar to the over-overclocked P4's that started mysteriously dying.

Yes, I was "lucky" - I had ordered my X3 710 prior to the X3-->X4 revelation, and was already using a compatible motherboard.

If I were to ever sell the chip, I would feel ethically bound to tell the potential buyer that I ran that 4th core.

 

[jcknouse]

Well, they're here.

Pic of the mobo and CPU

I will get home tomorrow afternoon from my parents, and get the mobo and CPU installed with MX-2 (if I can find some locally...otherwise it'll be AS-5...either one is good stuff) under the ZEROTherm Nirvana 120 cooler in my RaidMax O2 case.

If all goes well, I'll have some more pics up by 8pm tomorrow.

If not, I might cry :lol:

This is gonna be fun. see you all tomorrow.

 

[FrozenGpu]

I'm just guessing werxen is that little puny kid, who always try's to pick fights w/ ppl 15 times his size or something...why?

 

[effgee]

Well, they're here.

Pic of the mobo and CPU

I will get home tomorrow afternoon from my parents, and get the mobo and CPU installed with MX-2 (if I can find some locally...otherwise it'll be AS-5...either one is good stuff) under the ZEROTherm Nirvana 120 cooler in my RaidMax O2 case.

If all goes well, I'll have some more pics up by 8pm tomorrow.

If not, I might cry :lol:

This is gonna be fun. see you all tomorrow.

Good luck! Looking forward to the results...

 

[werxen]

I'm just guessing werxen is that little puny kid, who always try's to pick fights w/ ppl 15 times his size or something...why?

totally. im a cage fighter in my spare time so what can i say.

 

[JaredAudiophileGamer]

well im about to order asus m4a79t and a amd phenom II 720 BE ,will definately be giving this a try if possible

 

[effgee]

Over at Anandtech someone got a 720BE 0851 to unlock with an ASrock AOD 790gx motherboard.

 

[blackpanther26]

good news.

 

[misry]

Been a while but I just had to post to this one.

Ph2-720-0904 arrived Tuesday along with an Asrock AOD790GX/128M. Of course everything reports AM2+, it's socket AM2+ with DDR2 RAM.
ACC= AUTO
Mult= X16
Vcc= 1.45v
Had already run Prime for 3 hours when I came here but got reminded of OCCT by the thread and d/l'd it and ran *it* for an hour, (the version I got ran 4 threads fine). While I was at it I got the latest CPU-Z which reports a 720 with Deneb code and 4 cores. Core Temp reports 0c but see's 4 cores so I run Speedfan which agrees with the BIOS and also see's 4 CPU's @ 27c/38c. It also reports 0c for the core. All in a Cooler Master 690 with 6 120mm fans in my (very) cool corner of the basement using a generic 92mm OCZ HDT HSF. Device Mangler saw 4 cores maxed out during both tests. I had it at 3.7 while still on 3 cores but I want to stay below 1.5v and 40c for when summer rolls around and better than the current high end from the manufacturer is fine with me.

When I ordered from the Egg last Friday this news hadn't broke, I was buying a 3 core chip. While I was waiting for the BBT I ate everything about what I had spent my share of the tax refund on I could get my hands on so I was aware of the errata when I got the package. I'm personally satisfied that I've got a "magic" chip and am posting to add my rumor to the mill. Rumor because I don't have the time to post screenies and, frankly, don't feel I have any reason to prove myself. This is just my karma for sticking with the Green Guys since 486DX2-100 days. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna covert LOTR.avi to DVD in less than 15 minutes minus the burn time.

Because I *can*!

 

[jcknouse]

sorry i didn't get to do the assembly today, folks. i had a family issue. i will be doing the mod tomorrow (Sunday) and posting then.

sorry for the delay.

 

[Cuddles]

I hope for the best for you guys who took the chance. Without risk there is no rewards, and in this environment, it seems people expect rewards without any risk. So I do hope your 720's become a four core and remember that those who are envious over your purchase don't even deserve your time let alone your attention.
Congrats and good luck.

 

[jcknouse]

Sorry I didn't get to do things again Sunday. More issues with my family (mom is sick). I am going to try and get it done tonight. I won't be able to do it next weekend, as I have to go back to my parents and spend time with mom and dad.

I did find my tubes of AS5 tho, and a spare wireless card to use (my current mobo has wireless built in)! Weeee!!

Hope to have the assembly done by 6:30pm tonight. Will start on it as soon as I get home. When I get that done, I'm gonna screenshot CPU-Z and show 3 cores, then reboot, ACC=Auto, and boot in with 4 cores and run Prime95 at stock clock for 2 iterations, then overclock up 200MHz at a time til all 4 cores become unstable, then back it down and Prime it for an hour and run 3DMark06 it and see how it does.

I will try to run a longer Prime95 when I find what's stable, and get that done ASAP. Plus, I am gonna benchmark things with just 1 9800GTX+ and see if this CPU/mobo runs things better than my ASRock with dual 9800GTX+s. If so, I might just buy an ATI card and keep this board in place.

If not, I'll be converting back to my other mobo. Might even update the BIOS and drop the X3 in if it seems to perform better.

Anyways. I will do my best to have pics and data up tonight on my CPU.

Sorry again for the delays.

 

[jcknouse]

Well ladies and gentlemen,

I currently have the box up and running.

Here is proof (pics are big...linked instead of displayed)

So, I got the mobo, processor, tube of AS5, cleaner, and prep juice ready, as well as the wireless card (which ended up being the biggest pain in the arse...)

Install/prep goodies

So, I open up the belly of the beast...AH!!! Not enough room... (sorry for the mess)

The guts of my PC

So then, I get the new mobo into the sucker, and put the processor in and put some AS5 on it, and clean off the cooler and mount it:

Mounted the mobo
Greased up the CPU
Nice Shiny bottom on my ZEROTherm Nirvana 120

So in short, I boot...and it boots up! Good sign. So then, I go in and find the ACC and set it to Auto, and reboot to the BIOS...and when I get to the Biostar CPU Config screen, this is what I have:

Four cores of 720BE happiness

Here are screenshots from within Windows XP Professional x64:

CPU-Z 1.50
CPU-Z 1.50, HWMonitor and T-Utility Overclock III

I haven't got to testing the OC, because:

a) the Encore ENLWI-SG has no 64-bit drivers (you have to go to Atheros' Czech website to get working drivers)
b) the T-Utility Overclock III tool that comes with the mobo...just is not good...you can adjust voltages...FSB speeds...but not the multiplier that i could find

Anyways. I am going to find AMD's overdrive utility tonight, if I can. I want to see if I can OC this rascal to 3.8. I had it (just on 240 bus speed at 3.2GHz and it stayed up at 1.34v.

will post more tomorrow when I get more tools to test with

 

[jcknouse]

One last update:

It seems that CPU I got has some kind of flaw with mathematical calculations.

I was able to clock the CPU as high as 3.5GHz+ and successfully complete things such as 3DMark06 Basic Edition with Benchmarks of 14,000+, as well as AODU Stability test of all 4 CPUs.

However in running the Prime95 tool and using the "Blended" and "Full FFT" test, it would almost immediately crash the machine.

The following are images of what my final settings and benchmarks of testing were stable.

OCed AODU, CPU-Z 1.50, and HWMonitor Tools
3dMark06 Basic Edition Score
Prime95 Test Example

I got the thing to stably run on all 4 cores at the following settings:

15.5x HT Mult
210 FSB
CPU Volts: 1.3875v
NB Volts: 1.3875v
Memory Volts: 1.807v
idle temp: 22C
load temp: 40c

Using the following setup:

AMD Phenom II 720BE X3 (X4 mode)
Biostar TA790GX mobo
8GB Patriot Viper PC2-6400 memory
ABS/Tagan 1100W PS
XFX 9800GTX+ 512MB video card
WD 150GB Velociraptor
ZEROTherm Nirvana NV120 HSF
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
2 120mm cooling fans, 2 80mm cooling fans added to case
Acer G24 Ferrari monitor
Encore ENLWI-SG 108Mb/s 802.11g wireless network card

So although I did get a quad-core, the "bad" core does not seem to quite want to OC to what the other cores might.

I might proceed with going back to X3 and benchmarking the CPU in that mode and see if there's any benefit/detriment.

Hope this was informative/helpful.