Help me unlock my 555 cpu please

[Johnny D]

Hi All,
I am trying to unlock my 555 BE with little success at the momemt. Hopefully you guys can help please. My system is;
Asus M4A785D-M PRO mobo
4 x 1g corsair cm2x pc2 6400 ram
750 g hdd
freezer pro 7 cooler
artic cooling 500w psu
bios is the latest version - 1001

It is my first attempt to unlock/overclock and have read through alot of posts searching for advice and tips
I've tried a few different settings in the bios and managed once to get it to boot as far as saying " 2 new cores activated" on the screen, but it kept shutting down and got as far as post and nothing more.
Things i have tried are;
ACC enabled - Unleashing enabled - active cpu auto. This will not boot and i reset the cmos every time and load defaults and start tweaking again.
I've also upped the cpu volts and nb volts and memory volts to various settings but without any success really. I've not tried adjusting cpu multiplier or cpu/ht clock speed, nor have i adjusted hyper transport settings or ram timings as i'm not sure what to do with these safely.
I've also enabled and disabled - cool and quiet, C1E, and have tried per core, all cores, turning some cores off etc.
Pretty much everything!
It does show 6 cores in the bios, and as i said earlier i did manage once to get as far as post with the message "2 new cores activated", but it wouldn't boot and i cant remember what the seetings were.
I'm hoping i have a cpu that can unlock as i've seen that message. Fingers crossed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Johnny D

[Daveburt714]

Hey Johnny...

It sounds like you got a chip that actually has a bad core(s).
Normally activating ACC and Unleashing mode is all you would need to do.
Adding voltage to the CPU and IMC may help, but still you probably won't be able to get it stable as an X4...

It's all luck of the draw really, sometimes you find a pearl and other times it's just an oyster...

On the brighter side, I did get a 555 that wouldn't unlock, BUT, it's beast of an X2!!!
After giving up on the unlocking and just running in dual mode the thing would do 4Ghz at stock v's
and 4.4 with 1.475!

I still consider it a very nice chip for $95....

[sjohnson]

It can be luck. I bought two identical sets of parts to build a rig for me and one for my son. Both used same stepping BE 555. Mine unlocks to three cores, my son's to 4. Both OC about the same.

[Johnny D]

Guys,
Thanks for the info.
I know its pot luck and maybe i've been unlucky this time. I've tried several things, but did have the message "2 new cores activated" once, which made me think i could have a cpu that unlocks, but it wouldn't boot. I've increased the cpu volts as high as 1.6+ and i just got a blank screen. I'm quite a novice at the overclocking and unlocking malarky but i'll have a go.
I read somewhere about adjusting the cpu multiplier to 17.5 but i'm not sure if it's safe. I also wondered if my psu was powerful enough (500w) to boot with the extra loads.
Any advice is always appreciated,
Johnny D

[Johnny D]

Guys,
These are my current bios settings that successfully boot
CPU overclocking - Auto
cool & quiet - disabled
C1e - enabled
ACC per core
unleashing - disabled
active cpu cores - auto
cpu - 1.4v
vddnb - 1.2v
ram - 1.8v

the active cores are 0,1,2 and 3 and are all at -2%

cpuz shows the following
AMD phenom ii x 2 555 Calisto brand id 39
core voltage - 1.376-1.392
core speed - 3214.2 mhz
multiplier - x16
bus speed - 200.9 mhz
ht link - 2009 mhz
Cores 2 Threads 2

you'll see unleashing is disabled. If i enable unleashing it'll probably fail to boot!
Hope this helps you guys. Thanks.
Johnny D

[sjohnson]

I can unlock all 4 cores on mine, but windows won't boot with core 3 (4th core) enabled. So, just because BIOS reports a successful unlock it doesn't mean you have a STABLE core.

[jcniest5]

These are 4-Core CPU, but keep in mind some of these, one or two cores are bad/defected, that's why AMD relabeled them as X2 555. Some are not as bad, so with the proper motherboard feature, we can Unlock these hidden/bad/defected Cores, but it's not always the case for every 555. It just so happens that you may have gotten a CPU with two really bad/defected Cores, so Unlocking them will make your system unstable. I myself got one that my mobo is able to Unlock the two hidden cores without any issue. It's a draw of luck.

[Johnny D]

Guys,
Thanks for the tips. I'm going to try a few more tweaks such as enabling and disabling certain cores. The bios has shown up to six cores, but whether 3,4,5 or 6 will unlock is another matter. I shall have another crack at it. Like i said in an earlier post i did manage to get a message on screen during boot " 2 new cores activated" which makes me think i could be lucky one day and unlock this tricky bugger. I shall keep persivering. Thanks so far. All help is appreciated,
Thanks,
Johnny D

[Johnny D]

At last I seem to have had a little bit of success after some trial and error tweaking.
Cpuz is now showing AMD phenom ii x 4 deneb. It is only showing 2 cores and 2 threads though so i don't think i've totally cracked it yet. Some of the other readings in cpuz seem abit inconsistent and differ from my bios settings though.
cpuz
core voltage - 1.104
core speed - 803.6 mhz
multiplier - x 4
bus speed - 200.9 mhz
ht link - 2009 mhz

My bios settings are
system info - AMD phenom (TM) ii x 4 B55 processor
cpu oc - auto
cpu overvoltage - 1.4625v
vddnb - 1.35.000v
ram overvolts - 1.8v
cool & quiet and C1E - can be either disabled or enabled and it boots
ACC - all cores
unleashing mode - enabled
active cpu cores - manual
2nd core - off
3rd core - on
4th core - off
5th core - off
6th core - off
value all cores - 2%

It seems strange that the 2nd core is off don't you think. I'm abit unsure where to go from here. Do i have to muck about enabling and disabling certain cores or adjust voltages or multipliers. Bit of a novice i'll admit and at 41 things in the techno world can test my brain abit, but i am not giving up. ( Could end in divorce!) Appreciate the tips so far everyone
Thanks
Johnny D

[Sn0wm@n]

I can unlock all 4 cores on mine, but windows won't boot with core 3 (4th core) enabled. So, just because BIOS reports a successful unlock it doesn't mean you have a STABLE core.

+1000 to that ...


its a luck of the draw thing johnyD

i only have 3 good cores on mine .. but for the price i paid i dont really mind until something better comes out ....

Guys,
Thanks for the tips. I'm going to try a few more tweaks such as enabling and disabling certain cores. The bios has shown up to six cores, but whether 3,4,5 or 6 will unlock is another matter. I shall have another crack at it. Like i said in an earlier post i did manage to get a message on screen during boot " 2 new cores activated" which makes me think i could be lucky one day and unlock this tricky bugger. I shall keep persivering. Thanks so far. All help is appreciated,
Thanks,
Johnny D

i did try to unlock all of my 4 cores on my 555 and it worked in bios .. but then again it will never boot into windows ... but when i disable the bad core everything boots just fine ...


try finding your bad core and disable that one .. and get at least a x3 out of that dual core ...


its a luck of the draw thing ... dont expect too much and you wont be disapointed ...

[Johnny D]

Hi Snowman,

I'm gonna have a go at finding the bad core. Seems abit strange that its booted without core 2 though don't you think. Surely that cant be a bad core. I've disabled cool & quiet again as that was what was making the indifferent readings in cpuz.
Thanks for the help,
Johnny D

[Johnny D]

Guys,
I think i have to admit defeat and accept i may only beable to use it as a dual core. No matter which core configuration i used ( and i've used alot) it wont unlock to x3 or x4.
I'll either have to sell this one, and try unlocking another chip, or perhaps overclock this one. Thanks to everyone who chipped in with tips and advice. I might read up on which is the best quad core for cash, or think about another dual core to try and unlock. Unless anyone wants to add abit of input on this thread.
Cheers,
Johnny D

[imamage]

Guys,
I think i have to admit defeat and accept i may only beable to use it as a dual core. No matter which core configuration i used ( and i've used alot) it wont unlock to x3 or x4.
I'll either have to sell this one, and try unlocking another chip, or perhaps overclock this one. Thanks to everyone who chipped in with tips and advice. I might read up on which is the best quad core for cash, or think about another dual core to try and unlock. Unless anyone wants to add abit of input on this thread.
Cheers,
Johnny D

I would suggest you get a True Quad core ( Athlon II X4 635/640/645) for similar price range) , even it may not unlock 6MB L3 , it's still a quad
I was having some luck , I bought two 555BE and both of them unlock into Quad and they both clock to 4GHz without any problem , but the third one I got can't unlock , just like yours

At the end I got a "old" stock Athlon II X4 635 and it's nice

[cab]

It could be the mobo. I have a 550 and 555 that unlocked just fine with 3 other mobos (like Gigabyte 890gx) but not my Asus M4A78T-E, in my experience the M4A-series are buggy.

[Johnny D]

Guys,

I was wondering if it might be the motherboard. Cpuz says that the southbridge is 700. The asus website says that the board i have is a 710. I know cpuz can be unreliable sometimes. With the bios having the ACC feature i assume i have a board with sb710. Cpuz just put an element of doubt in my mind. I might consider a budget upgrade to ddr3. Seen a reasonable deal for an asrock m3a ucc 480x mobo and 4g of ddr3 for about £80. Could be the way to go. Any thoughts appreciated
Johnny D