L1 bridges - two questions

[Yknot]

Q1: Not a virgin?
'Bought two KT7's w/ oem TBird 700's -- yeah, I didn't notice they were 700's rather than 750's, doh! -- and when I examined their L1's, the opened circuits had a slightly polished look compared to the surrounding material. I'm wondering if this is true of retail (assuredly virginal?) units as well, or if this is a sure sign the CPU's had been speed-tested before I received them. 'Possibly this just reflects the processing AMD uses to remove the bridgelettes. Anyway, are -all- L1's burnished at the open connections?


Q2: Dumber than a rock?
I've now pulled one of the above TBird's THREE times and [re-]bridged its L1, yet it remains locked at 700 when the KT7 boots despite being changed in SETUP! TBirds aren't locked, so I'm wondering if some pencils just don't work -- just 'couldn't be my incompetence! 'Wish I valued my increasing expertise in removing TaiSol heat-sinks, but I live in terror of hearing a CRACK each time I cycle its stiff mounting spring. 8( While I don't relish using metalized paint, I'm familiar with it if all else fails. Anyone else experience this problem?

 

[DaddyG]

Second question first, some pencils (and pencil pushers) don't do the job the first, second or third time. The defogger grid repair kit is the absolute best IMHO.

First question. Either you have eyes like an Eagle or a good magnifier!!. I have not seen the 'burnish' that you refer too. I have seen bridges that appeared slightly 'burnt' at the break point. Not realy surprising here as the hole is made with a laser.

 

[Yknot]

You're just full of good news, DaddyG !

Q1: If you can look closely w/o seeing any burnishing on your AMD's -- diameter perhaps 5x the gap size? -- it suggests -my- TBirds were bridged, then cleaned up. Or, perhaps you'd benefit from new spec's? Pre-screening is always the "risk" one takes with OEM (open-tray) CPU's. 'Just hoped I was seeing a processing artifact: the cleanup, or "blast damage" from the bridge-opening.

Q2: Guess I can go one more round with the damn TaiSol clip. 'Just hope I've a steady hand for the paint-job!

Thanks for your input!

 

[Anon19]

i think atacom sells unlocked cpus

 

[bacillus]

<< i think atacom sells unlocked cpus >>


If they do,I'm sure it comes with a premium pricetag!

 

[DaddyG]

I have seen TBIRDS with what appeared to be residue from thermal paste but never seen any with burnishing. If you buy from a known OCing chip seller than your thoughts could be correct. Most large AMD Channel Resellers just don't have the time to pick through CPU's.

 

[Yknot]

DaddyG - You were right (as I expected)

Giving up on the pencils, I switched to rear-window de-fogger paint. Truly evil to apply to such small spots, but succeeded on about the sixth try. Whew!

FWIW: Athlon 700 only overclocked to 850. Anything further produced various boot failures or BSOD's. I'll survive!

 

[bacillus]

Yknot,try bumping up the voltage a notch or two to stabalise o/clock. I'm sure that you can go higher!

 

[Yknot]

Go Higher? Not without replaced chips on the KT7 m/b! Okay... I'm thinking about altering the m/b, but the VIA h/w mon' says I'm at 1.9v.

 

[huggis]

YKNOT
If you can´t go any higher than 850 with the 700 Tbird you´re almost in the same boat as me
My Duron 700 just refuse to get any higher than 850 and isn´t even completely stable at that speed. And this is on MSI K7tPro 2a mobo.
Just a shame:frown: