Unlocking the 4th core in a Phenom II X3 710 on a mobo without ACC?

[Hramzyn]

Hello, I have an AMD Phenom II X3 710 which I already overclocked to 3.12 GHz. But I wonder if I am able to squeeze more performance out of it since apparently, all Phenom II triple cores are actually quad cores with one core disabled and sold at a lower price. Also, in order for this to work, you have to set Advanced Clock Calibration in your BIOS to "AUTO". The problem is that there is no such option in my BIOS. My motherboard is an ASUS M3N78 SE.

So, is there any way to add the ACC option to my BIOS, or is my motherboard physically restricted from having that option. If there is a way to add ACC to my BIOS please tell me how.

Also, can you tell me what are the risks of unlocking the core? Will the computer just fail to boot and I can simply enter BIOS, set ACC to whatever the default setting is and all will be fine? And what about tampering with the BIOS (changing the BIOS not BIOS settings)? Is there some failsafe or if I screw up the BIOS I can just throw the motherboard away.

 

[o1die]

I've had no luck unlocking cores with my boards and cpus. It's not worth it to change boards for an acc setting when you can get a 965 phenom II for $85 at newegg. I would sell your board if you're unhappy with it, but you may not get much for it. If you don't get a decent price for it, I would continue using your old board until you can change the board/ram/cpu at the same time.

 

[Hramzyn]

I've had no luck unlocking cores with my boards and cpus. It's not worth it to change boards for an acc setting when you can get a 965 phenom II for $85 at newegg. I would sell your board if you're unhappy with it, but you may not get much for it. If you don't get a decent price for it, I would continue using your old board until you can change the board/ram/cpu at the same time.

Thanks, but I am not planning to change any component in this PC. I am planning to get a completely new, high end, gaming PC in the late 2013, or in 2014. What I want right now is to get as much performance with what I currently have.

To put it shortly: Is there a way to add ACC to the BIOS of an ASUS M3N78 SE motherboard.

 

[littleleo]

The reason it's a triple core is because the 4th core was not acceptable to AMD to rate it as a quad core. I know you see motherboard out there that say they can unlock that core but the success rate on those is under 30%. As to adding the ACC option to the BIOS if the later versions of the BIOS on the motherboard mfr website don't offer it then I doubt it. I did see this you can try it and see if it works for you.

http://www.ehow.com/how_8197769_unhide-bios-acc-function.html