Athalon II X3 440 4th core unlocked -- won't boot windows

[Nealuss]

Title pretty much says it all. I, with the help of my brother, just built my first system and I'm having a little trouble with unlocking the 4th core. I have an Athlon II X3 440 with ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO board. I was able to unlock the 4th core rather easily, and it is recognized as a Phenom II X4 B40 at post. The system will post just fine but won't boot windows. I get to the "starting windows" screen and the system restarts. Is there any hope here? I know unlocking is just a bonus, and I consider it such, but I want to exhaust all of my options before I give up. I have read that this happens from time to time and that sometimes raised voltages can stabilize the cpu, but I don't know much about that area and don't want to jump into it and screw something up.

BTW: I am somewhat of a beginner at this, but I am learning quickly so be gentle

Any advice is appreciated.

~Nealuss~

 

[richierich1212]

You may need to either increase voltage a little bit and or play with the ACC options

 

[konakona]

In before someone rushes in to correct you there
ITS' NOT AN ATHALON, IT'S AN ATHLON! GET IT RIGHT!
Sorry, just had to say that

 

[Nealuss]

In before someone rushes in to correct you there
ITS' NOT AN ATHALON, IT'S AN ATHLON! GET IT RIGHT!
Sorry, just had to say that

LOL I know, I knew it was coming. I meant to correct it, but I forgot.

As far as increasing voltages...what is a safe range, and what do I need to adjust exactly? How much is too much on stock cooling?

 

[richierich1212]

Try not to go over 1.45v for now. Maybe try 1.35v?

 

[Nealuss]

I found a guide on another forum for unlocking Phenom II's that said try setting Vcore from 1.325-1.4 and Vcpu-nb from 1.2-1.35 incrementally but I didn't have any luck. What ACC options are you referring to? Sorry I am still learning.

 

[konakona]

seems to be the same C2 as my 965BE. when I googled for my answers, most seem to say do not go over 1.5v for 24/7 setups. I keep mine at 1.45v, both for cores and cpu-nb @ 3800/2800. The chip gets very unstable and crashes in OCCT at around 55C or so; didn't seem like there is a point to raise the voltage if it was the heat that was limiting the cpu from going higher. For best results, try not to go past 50C to be safe.

As for the ACC options, people have mixed reports in reality. Theoretically, it shouldn't matter though since ACC is built-in since the introduction of Ph II. I did not note any difference with it being on or off.

 

[Nealuss]

Still no luck even at 1.45-1.5v. Anyone else have any info before I give up?

Thanks for the quick responses

 

[Nealuss]

I have BIOS version 506, will updating the BIOS help?

 

[Dark4ng3l]

Looks like you may be out of luck with that cpu. 3 cores is still a pretty good processor. Overclock it and get your extra performance that way. No use in cooking the cpu with too much voltage and potentially killing it when those processors are usually operating at a voltage quite a bit higher than what they need at stock speeds. You can probably get a nice overclock at stock voltage for less heat generated than running the thing at 1.5v.

 

[Nealuss]

I think that's what I'm going to do. Only problem is I don't know anything about overclocking. I downloaded AOD from AMD's website, should I use that tool or is it better to do it through the BIOS. What is required with either situation?

 

[konakona]

do it thru bios.
look up some guides on how to do it, I personally liked this one: http://www.overclock.net/amd-general/525113-phenom-ii-overclocking-guide.html

 

[Nealuss]

Thanks for the help guys! I really appreciate all the quick responses!

 

[chiragsthakur]

unlocked x3 440 to phenom ii x4 b40..... and that too without any tweaking with voltage or fsb..... $72 msi 770t c45 and now $85 phenom x4 b40...nice....isnt it?

 

[Tsavo]

In before someone rushes in to correct you there
ITS' NOT AN ATHALON, IT'S AN ATHLON! GET IT RIGHT!
Sorry, just had to say that

It's not quite as bad as LABTOP.

Befuddles me how people can fuck that one up.

 

[bigpimpatl]

I hope you are not using a cheapo PSU...

and are you using stock cooling?

 

[Axon]

Sounds like the extra core is a dud, sorry bro. Some chips will unlock the extra core and POST into bios, but will not stabilize enough to load windows.

You can play with the CPU and CPU-NB voltage, but it likely won't help. CPU to 1.4 NB to 1.35.

 

[heyheybooboo]

There may be a thread over at Xtreme Systems (in the AMD section) about which BIOS is best on the Asus Evo for unlocking an Athlon Rana ...




--

 

[chiragsthakur]

Friends.. MY athlon X3 440 ( Now phenom X4 B40 ) is rock stable on every benchmark i ran.

Prime for 24hrs.. cpu chart shows 100% usage.
Everest for 24hrs...Still rock solid.......

My specs :

Athlon x3 440 (phenom x4 b40)
MSI 770T C45 MOBO
2GB Transcend DDR2 800 Mhz RAM
Zotac 9600Gt 512mB GC
Gigabyte Superb 460 Watts.
Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Cpu cooler with TUNIQ TX2 thermal paste.
160Gb Hitachi SATA HDD and 500 GB Seagate SATA HDD.
LG CD/DVD Writer/rom

Gigabyte Superb is simply superb .

My coolermaster Hyper tx3 keeps temp of four cores at 25 idle and 32 load each (room temperature at 30C)....

Gamers go for athlon x3 440 or 435 and unlock to get a beast... These chips are great at stock too.

Nice config in less dollars.....isnt it?