Unlocked AMD Athlon X3 435! Need help now!

[krazchikin]

Hey guys, I just finished installing my new cpu, mobo, and ram, using my old case and hdd. Here's my setup

AMD Athlon II X3 Rana 435 2.9ghz
Asus M4A785TD-M EVO
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB(2x2GB)DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 #996652B

I enabled ACC and unlocked all cores, booted up windows and then opened up cpu-z and it shows the cpu as AMD Phenom II X4 B35 Deneb, which is good since I know it's unlockable. So what next? What do I need to do to test to see if it's stable and will hold? I want to do some overclocking to 3.1 or 3.2ghz, but will it be safe to OC after unlocking the 4th core? I know I'm supposed to run prime95, but I'm not sure for how long (also, how long should it stay on without crashing until I consider it "stable"?) I'll have plenty of questions since I'm a new to OC'ing, but hoping to start here. Thanks in advance!

 

[saaiello]

OK well first I like to use a couple of programs to check stability First i would download OCCT run the CPU OCCT test for an hour if it passes then CPU Linpack overnight whatch the temps for a littlle bit because this will put your cpu to work. If all is good then run PRIME 95 for 4 to 8 hours If you pass all of them u are rock solid.

For overclocking to check stability in between raises use OCCT test for atleast 20 min if no errors then go higher once u got to your intended overclock run the test like i said before.

Now as for ur x3 being unlocked u could have gotten luck and just got a chip that just had its 4th core disabled just to fill the shelves if thats the case you should be able to overclock nicely if it actually is a defective chip you might have some bad stability issues and it could render that 4th core dead for good so good luck with it.

 

[krazchikin]

Thanks SAAIELLO! I'll go ahead and do that. How do I check cpu temp and what are the ranges for normal and heavy loads? And at what temp do the "red lights" come on?

 

[saaiello]

well the OCCT program has a hw monitor built in. I use Speedfan or coretemp both great programs. As for your temps i dont know the normal temps for AMD i only use intels just a personal preference but to find out google for some AMD overclocking guides or search in our overclocking section for help guides you will find plenty. Make sure your cooling and power supply is up to par for overclocking cheapo power supplies will just not cut it.

 

[krazchikin]

So far so good, it ran OCCT for an hour and Prime95 for 6 hours on 4 cores.....not sure on how it's doing on heat. Tried using coretemp, everest ultimate edition, and realtemp(didn't work bc it's only for intel chips), but the temperature won't show. I read somewhere that you lose the ability to read temperature in OS if you unlock the cores, so the only time I can see it is in HW monitor in BIOS, like you said( which is at like 37 degrees I think). So it seems as if it's relatively stable since it didn't lock or shut down at 100% load over longer periods of time. I also locked it back up to 3 cores and ran OCCT for about 20 minutes and it peaked at 44 degrees. How's it looking to you right now? Are there any other programs(or hardware) that will allow me to monitor temp despite unlocking? Thanks!

 

[krazchikin]

Yeah, I might hold off doing that seeing as I can't tell the core temperature anymore along with stock cooler and a pretty weak psu (300W). I'm happy with having a quad core right now, lol....i'm more concerned with stability at this point.

 

[krazchikin]

I searched on Newegg for Phenom II and Deneb, and all of the 11 results that popped up had L3 Cache, so I'm thinking of trying to unlocking that too. Does anyone know how I would go about doing that? THanks!

 

[green300]

If I understand the AthlonII x3 stepping codes correctly, CADAC and CACYC, the third letter indicates what core it was made from. A XXDXX is a Propus core and a XXCXX is Deneb core. The Deneb core (PhenomII) will have a core an a L3 disabled were a Propus (AthlonII x4) has no L3, just one core disabled. I believe when you enable acc and set hybrid to auto it will detect the L3 if it is present?? (people?) The Deneb reading in cpu-z maybe just a hiccup,it may say you have a 750 SB and not 710 as well. I just put a 435 (CADAC) on an Asus M4A77TD and flashed to a newer bios with acc enabling hot key option at boot. It enabled acc and set hybrid to auto unlocking forth core and found no L3. I'm more than happy with just the forth core! Run some benchmarks of your own and see how she rates..635ish @ least.

For monitoring,I install the pc probeII (v. 1.04.80) off my cd. If you click on the "CONFIG" tab of the probe interface, the "sensor/threshold" interface will open giving cpu and mb temps as well as voltages and fan speeds.

 

[krazchikin]

Yeah, I did some research and found that finding L3 Cache in these cores are like trying to find a needle in a haystack now....and sounds like if you were even lucky enough to get one with L3, chances are that it's defective....i have a feeling they just put out a few good ones so people on forums would spread the word and everyone would be all over it....seems like it worked! lol.....oh well, im quite happy with my 50 dollar quad core!

 

[tyrocks]

i wasnt trying to get lucky or anything, just seemed like good cpu for price. and i was lucky enought to unlock it to phenom x4 b35 with faulty fourth core
but L3 unlocked to 6mb. and i did small overclock to 3.45. with great temp on stock heatsink and fan.