amd 140 processor

alanty

I have a AMD Sempron 140 processor fitted to an ASUS M4NM68T-M motherboard how can i unlock the processor to make it dual core?

beanys

you carnt change a single core to a duel core , unless you buy another processor
to fit your motherboard

RussJK

beanys wrote: »

you carnt change a single core to a duel core , unless you buy another processor
to fit your motherboard

Maybe you should question why he thought it even possible; you might be surprised.

GunJack

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Sempron_140/2.html

this review explains the architecture and the potential to unlock the "other half" of the core

GeoffX

There's a more generic guide here:
http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/535501-official-amd-k10-5-core-cache.html

You may well need to update your BIOS, but be careful. I've found that using some of the later releases for my Asus motherboard, a socket 1156 one, make my computer unstable. I had to revert to an earlier one, but thankfully didn't lose any extra features.

beanys

you still carnt unlock the OP chip for a second core , it only has one . the links that have been posted are for unlocking 2 core amd chips

Spank

beanys wrote: »

you still carnt unlock the OP chip for a second core , it only has one . the links that have been posted are for unlocking 2 core amd chips

Google comes up with 336 thousand results if you put in "how to unlock amd sempron 140 processor" so I think you wrong.

Not that I would take the advice of somebody who manages to misspell "can't" twice in 2 posts:rotfl:

asbokid

That's not what i'm reading Beanys.

I godda feeling these 'hidden' cores are like the easter eggs in a video game.. left there deliberately to enhance the user experience..

When the Sargas cores were released, AMD, as ever, was playing catch-up with Intel.

"Buy a Sempron 140 and you could get a second core for free, but there's no right of return if you find you don't get one."..

It's quite a clever sales ploy by AMD. The hidden core boosted sales of the Sempron to PC enthusiasts but without undermining the established market for SMP cores from bigger spenders.

"As mentioned before, Sargas cores exist only on paper and in reality it's a Regor dual core processor, with one logic core disabled by AMD. If you pair Sempron 140 with AMD's SB710/SB750 Southbridge, you can try to unlock the second core and chances are very high you'll be getting an Athlon II X2 processor at a $39 price point."
.....
"We've spent the last couple of weeks travelling the length of Taipei, seeking answers from the three main motherboard companies: ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI, learning how exactly they've each achieved the core unlocking capacity for AMD AM3 CPUs, especially as it's been officially removed by AMD from its latest 8-series chipsets.

We’ll start with a bit of background first. At the time of AM2+'s demise, AMD was losing ground (and money) hand over fist to Intel and needed any advantage it could grab. While AMD must have been concerned about the fact that core unlocking could erode the market for the company's latest Phenom II X4 CPUs and pushed the ASP (average selling price) downwards, the vast majority of consumer CPUs it sells are sub-£100 models and core unlocking helped revitalise interest in these.

With its previous SB710/SB750 Southbridge, AMD introduced a new feature called Advanced Clock Calibration. This included an "EC Firmware" function in the BIOS that could be issued a set of codes (subsequently provided by AMD to partners) and this would enable the extra cores of compatible CPUs that had previously been disabled. The EC Firmware is specific to each CPU that has a hidden core(s), so there's a list of codes need for all the CPU individually, rather than just one global setting.

In the latest SB850 southbridge AMD hid the EC Firmware function and declined to issue a new set of compatible codes, much to the dismay of motherboard manufacturers. They could either accept that it was game over for core unlocking, or call in the engineers and come up with their own ways to get it working again. They feared that without it - and facing a rejuvenated £100 Intel line-up with the excellent Core i3-530, interest in AM3 would decline."

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Sempron_140/12.html

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2010/05/04/how-amd-core-unlocking-works/1

Bogtrotter

asbokid wrote: »

It's quite a clever sales ploy by AMD. The hidden core boosted sales of the Sempron to PC enthusiasts but without undercutting the established market for SMP cores from bigger spenders.

A sales ploy that worked extremely well in the past. Maybe AMD just realised a large part of the success they enjoyed a few years ago against Intel was a result of enthusiasts extracting extra performance from their budget processors.

Oh the thrill of unlocking the multiplier of a budget Athlon processor with a pencil and overclocking it to the max to get a high performance system comparable to the more expensive processors (of course the the extra expense of high stability motherboards and extreme cooling solutions where never factored into the equation).