Does unlocking the 4th core on an Athlon II X3 440 raise its TDP?

[RevOne]

I have the Athlon II X3 440, an ASUS M5A78L-M LX mainboard, a CM Hyper TX3, and an Antec Earthwatts EA-650 650W supplying the voltages. The most important thing to note in all this is that the M5A78L-M LX - though an AM3+ "black socket" motherboard - only supports CPU's up to a 95W TDP rating.

I was able to use the ASUS "Core Unlocker" feature the very first time without a hitch. The Athlon II X3 440 was recognized as a Phenom II X4 after the first reboot by the bios, Windows Vista 64-bit, and CPU-Z. Haven't Prime95 tested it yet for true stability.

The Athlon II X3 440 I have has the AADAC code engraved on its heat spreader. As I understand it, this means it's a Propus, because the third letter is a D. The regular Propus' natively have a 95W TDP; so if I unlocked my 4th core anyway, and my processor is a Propus, then technically, should I still be operating at a 95W TDP?

Does this logic seem right to anyone else? Given that my mobo only supports up to a 95W TDP, does unlocking - in any case & under any circumstances - automatically raise the TDP? My individual core temps using both the bios readings and HW Monitor in Windows showed about 32 degrees Celcius with just three cores @ idle; and 36 degrees Celcius with all four enabled, also @ idle. No overclocking has been done... yet 😉 I'm just worried that if I leave it unlocked, I will cause damage to my motherboard or severely shorten the life expectancy of my processor.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[simon12]

Change the RAM multiplier in the bios to get it to the correct speed. BTW I just check my WEI score and my CPU (Unlocked 550BE @ 3.7GHz gets 7.4 but my RAM running at 1333MHz only gets 7.4 As well. Stragely my crossfire 4870s only got 6.8 in the 2 graphics ones but a single one (1 died recently) gets 7.5 just shows its fairly meaningless.

 

[RevOne]

:lol: LMAO...

Oops... someone here in another thread actually suggested that one to me :lol: That one you linked to looks pretty nice... for half the price of the other one, too. I'd really like it if I could find a nice 1 - 1.5 TB drive. Those Photoshop .PSD's and Flash .FLA files I work on for school can take up plenty of space on an HDD. I had two 320GB IDE drives in my last system; one for the OS, and the other pretty much full with school projects. Once I start installing games, space is going to become an issue (I only have 5 games installed right now, and along with Windows 7, I've pretty much already used up half the space on this 160GB HDD).

Alright - so I tried making some adjustments in the bios per your suggestion Simon12. I didn't see anything regarding a RAM multiplier in there, but there was a section labeled "Memory Clock Speed", so I gave that a shot. It was set at 400MHz when I first went in. I tried 533MHz at first, and it killed the L3 Cache unlock for some reason and would reset the bios back to default values upon reboot. Same with 667MHz. I didn't try 800MHz.

I was able to clock the CPU up to 3.5GHz (which is what it's at right now), but I'm not happy with the temps. Please bear in mind, I'm brand spanking new to all this, so I haven't the vaguest clue as to what I'm doing :lol: Okay, at 3.29GHz here's how I had it set up and it never went over 54°C on full load:

CPU/HT Reference Clock (MHz): 235
CPU Ratio: x14.0 2800MHz
HT Link Speed: 2350MHz

I tried up to 245 for the ref. clock, but it wouldn't boot. At 240, it would boot stable and got me just over 3.3GHz. So I kicked it back to 235 just to play it safe. Cool 'N Quiet was enabled for all of these.

At 3.5GHz, I disabled Cool and Quiet before making the changes. Haven't tried it with it enabled, yet:

CPU/HT Reference Clock (MHz): 250
CPU Ratio: x14.0 2800MHz
HT Link Speed: 2500MHz

My VCore shuffles between 1.39v and 1.4v. The problem I'm having is temps. 52°C idle. I haven't even attempted a stress test yet for fear of it going overboard.






So is there something I could do better? Like knock back the multiplier and raise the Ref. Clock?

My goal was 3.4GHz; 3.5GHz if I can get it both cool and stable. I'm going to try re-enabling cool and quiet to see if that makes any difference.

 

[RevOne]

Awesome Thanks for the link!

Well, at 3.5GHz the system won't boot with Cool 'N Quiet enabled; so I guess I'll just keep it @ 3.3GHz since I know that's stable and the temps look good. I only ran Prime95 for a little over an hour @ 3.3GHz; but I also played some Bad Company 2 and Crysis, then tried Call of Duty 4 online while simultaneously compressing some files with WinRAR x64 and the temps never exceeded 54°C, so I'm happy with that for now. I may play around with it a bit more to see if I can hit at least the magic 3.4GHz mark and keep things stable and cool...

 

[RevOne]

That sounds like a good suggestion. I actually did buy the Hyper 212+ initially, but the damned thing was just big enough by a few mm's that it wouldn't fit in my case with the side panel on. I returned it, got the refund, and just got the Hyper TX3, instead. I was also considering the Scythe Big Shuriken: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185129&Tpk=scythe%20big%20shuriken

Before looking at that one, I also thought about the Cooler Master GeminII S as an alternative low profile solution, but in measuring the dimensions, I think it sat even lower than the Big Shuriken and wouldn't work with the height of my RAM ( http://www.mobilewhack.com/dominator.jpg ). The Big Shuriken would clear the top of the heatsinks on the RAM, however.

If I bought something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/310335309210?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649 , would I need any other additional equipment besides what's shown there?

EDIT: Or maybe I could try adding a second fan to the Hyper TX3? It came bundled with the extra mounting brackets; I just don't know where to find one that would work. I've looked at the Cooler Master offerings they have on Newegg (92mm), and they look like they would physically work; but I also only have a single 4 pin CPU fan header on my mobo (and one 3 pin being used by the rear exhaust fan). I'd have to get a splitter if I wanted to use two fans. Unless I can find one that hooks up to a 4 pin molex power connector...

 

[RevOne]

Just the sound of water cooling always did seem risky to me, but the results sure seem real nice when it works. Well, I'm not looking to go crazy with pushing my hardware, anyhow. I don't even think I have the equipment considered worth trying.

I bumped up the Reference Clock to 236. That was enough to put me just over the 3.3GHz mark and it runs just as stable and cool as it did at 235 (have yet to go anything over 54°C under full load). Anything above that would boot into Windows the first time, but if I tried a restart, it wouldn't go through and just hung with a "No Signal" message on the screen. At 236 and lower, it operates perfectly fine.

Aside from the noteworthy installation kit/process of the Scythe you had, did it yield pretty good performance for you? To your knowledge, would it be considered a significant enough step up from the Hyper TX3 to warrant a purchase down the road?

I tried comparing the specs on paper to see how they'd stack up against one another, but I can't make heads or tails of it since I don't have a lot of experience with aftermarket coolers (this one being my first ever).

Hyper TX3 Air Flow: 15.7 - 54.8 CFM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103064&Tpk=hyper%20tx3

Scythe Shuriken Rev. B Airflow: 11.81 CFM ~ 31.91 CFM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185097

Scythe Big Shuriken: 15.77 - 38.05 CFM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185129&Tpk=scythe%20big%20shuriken

 

[amdfangirl]

That sounds like a good suggestion. I actually did buy the Hyper 212+ initially, but the damned thing was just big enough by a few mm's that it wouldn't fit in my case with the side panel on. I returned it, got the refund, and just got the Hyper TX3, instead. I was also considering the Scythe Big Shuriken: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185129&Tpk=scythe%20big%20shuriken

Before looking at that one, I also thought about the Cooler Master GeminII S as an alternative low profile solution, but in measuring the dimensions, I think it sat even lower than the Big Shuriken and wouldn't work with the height of my RAM ( http://www.mobilewhack.com/dominator.jpg ). The Big Shuriken would clear the top of the heatsinks on the RAM, however.

If I bought something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/310335309210?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649 , would I need any other additional equipment besides what's shown there?

EDIT: Or maybe I could try adding a second fan to the Hyper TX3? It came bundled with the extra mounting brackets; I just don't know where to find one that would work. I've looked at the Cooler Master offerings they have on Newegg (92mm), and they look like they would physically work; but I also only have a single 4 pin CPU fan header on my mobo (and one 3 pin being used by the rear exhaust fan). I'd have to get a splitter if I wanted to use two fans. Unless I can find one that hooks up to a 4 pin molex power connector...

Hyper TX3 isn't bad in comparison. For the size, it's a pretty swell performer. I have two in my micro-atx cases.

To be honest I wouldn't really spend much more money. The point of overclocking is to attain a free or cheap performance boost. Spending too much defeats that.

Simply put. After a certain level, any improvement really is moot. At best you might squeeze 200mhz? more from better air cooling than a TX3.

 

[RevOne]

any thoughts on what's next.?

Sorry for the delayed response. We were without power (and internet service) for a little bit because of the hurricane that brushed through here over the weekend. Well, I think I'm going to keep things as they are right now. I'm very happy with the computer's performance thus far; even with the lackluster hard drive I have in here at the moment. The next step is to just get another (better) HDD; and perhaps in due time, upgrade the graphics card to something even better. I'm finding that the HD 4890 is still a very capable card. I'm currently playing through both Bulletstorm (1680 x 1050; all High settings; 4x AA) and Crysis 2 (Hardcore settings @ 1680 x 1050), and there doesn't seem to be as much as a hiccup in frame rates. For me, especially considering I'm coming from an ancient Pentium 4-based system, it's a very welcome change.

The only game so far that I've had to turn down the eye candy on in order for it to be playable has been Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Even with that one, I can put SSAO on Normal, 1680 x 1050, and put FXAA on High, and it still runs very nicely (I just can't play it in DX11 mode, or max it out completely and play at full 1080p). Still, most of the setting are cranked up and it looks and plays very nicely. I was surprised that this card also maxes out F.E.A.R. 3. So, all in all, I think I'm very pleased with it altogether and I'll just be looking to get a more recent Direct X 11 card as soon as I can. Oh - and definitely a better case. As for the processor, I think I'll stick with it until the Bulldozer lineup is released, then start looking towards an upgrade. I honestly can say that games like Bad Company 2, Crysis 2, Homefront, Bulletstorm, and Batman: Arkham Asylum look better than they ever could on my XBOX 360; and that's exactly what I was hoping to get out of this build.

Hyper TX3 isn't bad in comparison. For the size, it's a pretty swell performer. I have two in my micro-atx cases.

To be honest I wouldn't really spend much more money. The point of overclocking is to attain a free or cheap performance boost. Spending too much defeats that.

Simply put. After a certain level, any improvement really is moot. At best you might squeeze 200mhz? more from better air cooling than a TX3.

I feel you're absolutely right here, amdfangirl. The HyperTX3 is holding up very well and I'm surprised at how good it is for the price point (it was only $19.99 after MIR at Newegg when I bought it. They've dropped the price even further since then). Like you suggested, at most I'll maybe be able to get it up to 3.5GHz; which would definitely be nice, but isn't really worth the amount of money I'll spend to take a chance and see if I can gain a whole 200MHz more over what it's already running stable at right now. I've read that some people have had luck getting this processor up to as much as 3.6 - 3.8 GHz; but it isn't a guarantee that my specific chip will perform as well (especially given it's a C2).

Like I mentioned above, I'll probably just wait until Bulldozer drops, then look into whether or not I should get a better cooler. Altogether, I'll probably upgrade my PSU, CPU, cooler, and GPU all in one shot; then use the spare parts in a secondary build.