Unlocked Core and high Temp.

[davisflow]

Hello,

I have a “AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz” with a stock cooler and I just unlocked the 4th core. It shows as a “Phenom II X4 B40 with no L3 Cache in ‘CPU-Z 1.55’ and it shows as “Athlon II X4 640 (Propus)” in ‘Core Temp 0.99.6’

Due to the missing L3 Cache, with the reading I have done, it appears that the CPU I actually have is the “Athlon II X4 640 (Propus).” Is this correct?

So after unlocking the 4th core, boot up went fine and I have had zero crashes. I ran Prime96 small FFTs, however, within minutes the temp was 71c!!!!!!!!!!!!! This reading was from Gigabytes Easy Tune.
So I aborted the test prior to any further increase in temps.

The test did not crash my PC, and windows registered no errors. Is a further test necessary? Does the rapid increase in temp signal a problem with the 4th core? (I have not run prime95 with the 3 cores only.)

Is there a different test I should run? Or should I not worry about it?

 

[davisflow]

So I restarted my pc, without any changes, and got BSOD. I went into bios, disabled 4th core. Restarted and no problems.
I ran Prime95 and was consistent at 55C with three cores. It seems to me that the fourth core must be overheating the entire cpu. Anyone agree?

 

[chrisiomuk]

4 Cores will produce more heat, the Phenom II X4's come with an uprated heatsink and fan using copper cooling pipes, If you upgrade to a good cooler that should bring the temp right down while the 4th core is unlocked.

 

[davisflow]

Thanks for the reply.

Wow. So the 20c increase is in the realm of possibility for one additional
core?
Before I buy an aftermarket CPU cooler, can you point me to confirmation of this?
Does anyone agree with chrisiomuk?

 

[davisflow]

bump

 

[davisflow]

Help please.

After unlocking the fourth core on my 'Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz” (with a stock cooler), Prime95 ran it up to 71c within minutes and i canceled the test.

With three cores it runs at a consistent 55c.

Is this within the realm of possibility for a stable fourth core?
Should I spend my money buying a nice cpu cooler and unlocking again?

 

[cmcghee358]

What are triple core CPUs? They are 4 core CPUs with 1 disabled core.

Why is the core disabled?
Maybe it's unstable?
Maybe they had higher demand for 3 cores, and simply locked a 4 core to meet the 3 core demand
Maybe the 4th core is faulty and cranks up your temperature by 20C?

I think the amount of money it would take to get your 71C 4 core into a good range(btw a good range is sub 50C, even though the thermal maximum is 61C, which you've clearly exceeded, shortening the lifespan of your chip by an unkown amount) would be better spent on a legit 4 core CPU.

Moral of the story, you get what you pay for. Buy a 3 core CPU, you get a stable warrantied 3 core CPU. Buy a 3 core CPU, expecting a 4 core, guess what.. you get a 3 core CPU.

 

[davisflow]

Great, thanks for the replies.
I will keep it at three cores until I upgrade later on next year.

Btw, according to AMDs site, the ''AMD Athlon™ II X3 Model 440'' has: Max Temps (C) 75.

 

[chrisiomuk]

Is it running at 55 degrees when under load or idle, should be running at around 30 - 34 degrees when idle, if its running at 55 at all times when not modified then you either have a faulty CPU or the heatsink isnt making good enough contact with the CPU.

 

[davisflow]

It is at 30 -34c when idle.
It hits the 55c during prime 95 with three cores.
: )