need help with my phenom x2 555

[Midnight]

I have two different phenom x2 555s. I believe both of them unlock to 4 cores. I have two different setups one is an AM3 setup and one is an AM2+ setup.

The am3 is corsair ddr3 and the am2 is ocz ddr.

I took a known quad core from my am2 system and dropped it into my am3 system. I was running the quad stable at 3.7 ghz. I cant even run prime for 30 seconds on my am3 system at default speeds. Basically its like it cant unlock at all!

Then I took the x2 555 from my AM3 system that I had at 3.6/3.7 tri core and I can put it in my am2 system and it works to 4 cores. So it seems my am2 system is more stable or something? i guess it could be ram or it could be motherboard?

im really surprised that i can go from quad unlock and overclock to no unlock even at default speeds.

its my understanding that voltage doesnt really help for the unlock. either you unlock stable at stock or you dont?

for my am3 machine i have 4gb corsair ddr1333 and a biostar ta870+ on my am2+ machine i have ocz ddr? and am msi e63 board.

i think im having issues with the biostar board as it freezes sometimes when im playing around in the bios. but the boards brand new!

oh i can also get higher x2 overclocks on my am3 setup. i think its just the corsair running 220 fsb

any thoughts?

 

[Midnight]

so i have a 3rd x2 555 and this one is the worst. it seems like there arent even dead cores. is this possible?

when i unlock it in the bios nothing happens. it actually begins to behave strangely. for instance on the msi e63 i have the option of enabling or disabling cores individually.

for this chip i only see 2 cores. like it seems as though there are really only 2 cores. not 4 cores with 2 shut off.

 

[lopri]

Maybe your 555's got weak memory controller that can't handle high frequency memory? Early Denebs couldn't handle high speed DDR3 sticks. Can you try really low DDR3 divider and see if that helps? Such as DDR3-800 or DDR3-1066.

 

[Midnight]

im not sure if thats the issue but ill try it out. im just surprised that there was such a difference in the two boards. like maybe id understand a slightly lower overclock or something but no cores unlocked at all is really surprising!

the chips arent old well i just bought them from frys which id think has decent turnover. cpuz shows them as stepping 3.

 

[busydude]

All 555's are C3 stepping. I have a 555, did unlock it but not stable to run 24/7. Few have had stable unlocks with little increase in voltages, try upping both NB-CPU and Vcore voltages if you haven't tried it yet.

 

[Markfw]

I couldn't get my 550 BE unlocked at all, and it wouldn't OC locked over 3.6

YMMV

 

[Midnight]

yeah ive tried upping the voltages. but i always thought that if the chips will unlock they would do it at stock voltage?

whats really getting me is that i can get it unlocked and overclocked on my am2+ setup and i cant even get it unlocked on my am3 setup!

its really funky.

so i have 3 of these chips 2 overclock unlock on am2. one i can get x3 on am3. the other freezes at x4.

then the one that doesnt unlock seems to actually be MISSING the ohter 2 cores. not just dead but like theyre not there. which i didnt expect. on my am2 setup you have the choice of turning on or off the individual cores and on the 2 chips that unlock i see 4 cores. on the one that doesnt they arent there at all just shows 2.

i had another x2 that had 4 cores just 2 of them dead and i could turn them off or on.

 

[richierich1212]

yeah ive tried upping the voltages. but i always thought that if the chips will unlock they would do it at stock voltage?

whats really getting me is that i can get it unlocked and overclocked on my am2+ setup and i cant even get it unlocked on my am3 setup!

its really funky.

so i have 3 of these chips 2 overclock unlock on am2. one i can get x3 on am3. the other freezes at x4.

then the one that doesnt unlock seems to actually be MISSING the ohter 2 cores. not just dead but like theyre not there. which i didnt expect. on my am2 setup you have the choice of turning on or off the individual cores and on the 2 chips that unlock i see 4 cores. on the one that doesnt they arent there at all just shows 2.

i had another x2 that had 4 cores just 2 of them dead and i could turn them off or on.

What AM3 board are you using?

 

[Midnight]

im using a biostar TA870+

 

[ShawnD1]

I couldn't get my 550 BE unlocked at all, and it wouldn't OC locked over 3.6

YMMV

Same here. 550 black, I can't OC it very much. Stock speed is 3.1ghz but it only goes up to 3.5 before the voltage requirements go way up. The system doesn't boot if I unlock any of the cores.

 

[fluffmonster]

I was able to unlock a 550 black, but it bluescreens about once a day so obv not stable. I should try to bump voltages some.

 

[spdfreak]

I unlocked my 555BE on a MSI 785GM-E65 and all 4 seem fine for normal desktop stuff but as soon as I run any stress test like P95, the computer completely shuts off. Very strange... Brand new Cooler Master elite 460W PS so that shouldn't be a problem, but maybe?

 

[repoman0]

I unlocked my 555BE on a MSI 785GM-E65 and all 4 seem fine for normal desktop stuff but as soon as I run any stress test like P95, the computer completely shuts off. Very strange... Brand new Cooler Master elite 460W PS so that shouldn't be a problem, but maybe?

Could definitely be the power supply, not so sure about Cooler Master branded units. I know they make good cases but not sure about their power supplies.

Anyway my 555 just barely unlocks to a full X4 at default speed and voltage on AM3. Raise the clock just a little and it will fail or lower the voltage just a little to the same effect. But it does work. Also it froze when I tried with the stock cooler, only works now that I have a Xigmatek cooler. The fourth core isn't great but the first three are and work nicely at high clocks with less than stock voltage.

 

[spdfreak]

Could definitely be the power supply, not so sure about Cooler Master branded units. I know they make good cases but not sure about their power supplies.

Anyway my 555 just barely unlocks to a full X4 at default speed and voltage on AM3. Raise the clock just a little and it will fail or lower the voltage just a little to the same effect. But it does work. Also it froze when I tried with the stock cooler, only works now that I have a Xigmatek cooler. The fourth core isn't great but the first three are and work nicely at high clocks with less than stock voltage.

Yeah, so I did a little research and the coolermaster 460 is just a re-badged 400 that can barely do 400W. But, really, that should be enough for a quad running integrated video and a single hard drive. So, I lowered the multi and ran it at 2GHz and the same thing happened- as soon as I started P95 it shut the computer off. I guess I will just be happy with a dual core that OC's really well since 1 or more cores are obviously damaged.