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ZiNgA BuRgA · 20/03/2009 06:28 AM

Manufacturers have been using these sorts of "disable" techniques to deliver a product to different segments of the market for a while (example, locked CPU multipliers) and it's fairly known that AMD's Phenom triple cores are really a quad core with the 4th core disabled.

A bit old, but I happened to read that the 4th core of the Phenom II X3s can actually be quite easily unlocked. Now one thing to consider is that the 4th core may be disabled for a reason, ie defective core, but if you're lucky, you could get a quad core Phenom II (which are already good value IMO) for the price of a tri core.

Apparently the mobo needs to support Advanced Clock Calibration and be some 790X-ish chipset. The ACC needs to be set to Auto or something. Anyway, if you're interested do a search on Google for various articles - this is just a heads up if anyone's interested.

diego · 20/03/2009 06:34 AM

Hmm sounds neat,.
If only I had the things needed. like the phenom and mobo

feinicks · 20/03/2009 07:57 AM

Phenom II may be good value, but they pale in comparison to i7. I'm not a fanbiy of either, and like to worship value over performance, but the cheapest i7 is still more powerful than a mid range Phenom II at a comparable price...

Assassinator · 20/03/2009 08:12 AM

feinicks Wrote:Phenom II may be good value, but they pale in comparison to i7. I'm not a fanbiy of either, and like to worship value over performance, but the cheapest i7 is still more powerful than a mid range Phenom II at a comparable price...

Errr.... the cheapest i7 costs more than the most expensive Phenom II... like quite a bit more.... Over here is Australia, Core i7 920 = AUS$469. Phenom II 940 = AUS$389.

Another thing to consider when buying an i7 is the other parts. You'll be foreced to buy a retardedly expensive motherboard and DDR3 memory.

feinicks · 20/03/2009 08:19 AM

Assassinator Wrote:
feinicks Wrote:Phenom II may be good value, but they pale in comparison to i7. I'm not a fanbiy of either, and like to worship value over performance, but the cheapest i7 is still more powerful than a mid range Phenom II at a comparable price...

Errr.... the cheapest i7 costs more than the most expensive Phenom II ...

Yes... but the i7 still performs at least on par, if not better... I said comparable... not cheaper..

Still.. I haven't checked out the latest prices of the processors, so I am not too enlightened on that count.

Assassinator Wrote:Another thing to consider when buying an i7 is the other parts. You'll be foreced to buy a retardedly expensive motherboard and DDR3 memory.

which is the exact reason why I won't be buying an i7.... simply put, I can't afford it yet. I am trying my best to channel all available funds into a PS3. But, at the last moment, I may decide to use that money to get a 4580 and a X4... The Phenom II is at least somewhat affordable for me... :(

Assassinator · 20/03/2009 08:24 AM

feinicks Wrote:
Assassinator Wrote:Errr.... the cheapest i7 costs more than the most expensive Phenom II ...

Yes... but the i7 still performs at least on par, if not better... I said comparable... not cheaper..

i7 does perform better. But Zinga's talking about cost effectiveness, not raw power.

feinicks Wrote:Still.. I haven't checked out the latest prices of the processors, so I am not too enlightened on that count.

Over here in Australia, Core i7 920 (weakest i7) = AUS$469. Phenom II 940 (strongest PII) = AUS$389.

feinicks · 20/03/2009 08:28 AM

Assassinator Wrote:
feinicks Wrote:
Assassinator Wrote:Errr.... the cheapest i7 costs more than the most expensive Phenom II ...

Yes... but the i7 still performs at least on par, if not better... I said comparable... not cheaper..

i7 does perform better. But Zinga's talking about cost effectiveness, not raw power.

Agreed... but like I said... if you look at it only from performance point of view, then....

though this X3 hack (?) does make me even more happier!! I wasn't are of this...

Vegetano1 · 20/03/2009 08:31 AM

feinicks Wrote:
Assassinator Wrote:Another thing to consider when buying an i7 is the other parts. You'll be foreced to buy a retardedly expensive motherboard and DDR3 memory.

which is the exact reason why I won't be buying an i7.... simply put, I can't afford it yet. I am trying my best to channel all available funds into a PS3. But, at the last moment, I may decide to use that money to get a 4580 and a X4... The Phenom II is at least somewhat affordable for me... :(

that's not really fair to compare,.
- My asus i7 mobo,. p6t,. got alot more interesting feature's wich you won't find on other mobo's!
-All memory is exspensie when its new,. DDR3 now is prob 2x more $ish!
-DDR3 2x 3channel memory instead of 2 channel

anyway its prob $$ but i was lucky my dad wanted to chip in. :)

i def recommend to save your chips for a i7 combo! its fast! (pref the asus p6t!! )

[Image: 388713.jpg]

going from 3 core's to 4 core's for free Madwin

feinicks · 20/03/2009 08:34 AM

~~well.. the only source of money for me is my own pocket... holes and all...~~

EDIT.. wow that makes me sound so desperate!! LOL!!!!

Vegetano1 · 20/03/2009 08:38 AM

feinicks Wrote:~~well.. the only source of money for me is my own pocket... holes and all...~~

EDIT.. wow that makes me sound so desperate!! LOL!!!!

are you,.>!?

you'r a really fast editor

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode Phenom II X3s can have the 4th core unlocked
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