Unlock Intel CPU's

[Compman55]

Back in the day we used to unlock athlon XP 1600+ cpu's by use of shorting / cutting bridges using a rear windows defroster repair kit.

I assume intel locks / unlocks their CPU's with all those things soldered on the back of the processor package. Has anyone found a way to mod a locked chip to make it unlocked? As in buying a low end i5 and unlocking it to make it faster?

 

[Yuriman]

I believe Intel actually destroys those parts of the die with a laser now. If memory serves me, I think I remember reading about some manufacturers finding ways to enable overclocking on non-Z series chipsets for socket 1155, but that's been "fixed" with 1150.

 

[PliotronX]

It was possible even with a locked multi with FSB adjustments but now the FSBesque clock is FAIAP locked as well and Intel is in a secure enough position to evade competition in performance so they don't have to care about leaving chips unneutered.

 

[BSim500]

It's not really possible. "Locked" chips are typically programmed to have a max multiplier inside the chips themselves (it's not like shorting out 2 connectors on old Athlons with a graphite pencil :biggrin: ). Since Sandy Bridge, Intel's can't be overclocked "the old fashioned way" (by increasing FSB / BCLK) as it moves the PCI-E bus and other things with it causing instability beyond 3-7% or so. Haswell's did introduce 1.25x, etc, BCLK "gearing" that allows moving the BCLK up whilst keeping PCI bus in spec, but since it's only available on unlocked K chips, it's pretty pointless as people just move the multiplier. What I think you're referring to is Multi-Core-Enhancement, which allows typical +200MHz 4T / +300Mhz 3T / +400Mhz 1-2T load based Turbo Boost to be simply run at +400MHz 1-4T. It doesn't unlock the CPU any higher than it's max possible TB multiplier though.

Sandy & Ivy Bridge did have an official "limited OC" feature that allowed +4-bins (+400Mhz) over and above the maximum Turbo multiplier on i5-2xxx / i5-3xxx. Eg, an i5-3470 (3.2GHz stock -> 3.4-3.6GHz Turbo) could be OC'd to 3.8-4.0GHz Turbo. i5-3570 can hit 4.0-4.2GHz. i5-3350P can hit 3.5-3.7GHz, etc. Sadly, that was removed for Haswell (one reason no-one is upgrading from a semi-locked 3.8-4.2GHz i5-3xxx -> fully locked 3.4-3.8GHz i5-4xxx Haswell).

i3's & Pentium's since Sandy Bridge are fully locked - no Turbo Boost or multiplier adjustment at all. The most you can get is a +100Mhz mild 3% BCLK (as the risk of instability / "silent errors" (generally a bad idea to OC anything that affects the SATA bus)). Shame because the last unlocked i3's (Clarkdale's) were superb. I had an old i3-530 that could hit 4GHz (from 2.93Ghz) at stock voltage.

Truth is, i5/i7's, etc, are already pretty fast anyway. I have a "locked" i5-3570 that can reach 4.2GHz, and even if it were an unlocked 3570K I don't think I'd bother pushing it higher as it eats up and spits out every game I've ever thrown at it with very little power draw... If you really want to OC a non-K i5, you'd have to get an Ivy Bridge (i5-3470/3570) and a Z77 motherboard that supports MCE, and you'd basically peak at 4.0-4.2GHz. Same goes with i7's.

 

[Homeles]

Back in the day we used to unlock athlon XP 1600+ cpu's by use of shorting / cutting bridges using a rear windows defroster repair kit.

I assume intel locks / unlocks their CPU's with all those things soldered on the back of the processor package. Has anyone found a way to mod a locked chip to make it unlocked? As in buying a low end i5 and unlocking it to make it faster?

Those things on the back of the package are capacitors. They're critical for the function of your processor. AMD has them too. They're used to suppress ripple, and have nothing to do with the processor being locked.

 

[zir_blazer]

For some reason I'm bent that what features are on or off, max possible Multiplier and the like on modern Processors, are stored in write-once read-only Registers programmed before leaving the factory. And my suspicions were pretty much confirmed when Intel released some "upgradeable" Nehalems. Processors are full of internal, undocumented Registers with very special uses. I think that it may be easier to program them than to physically modify them with the infamous laser-cut, and this is the reason why the above may work. However, if someone manages to crack that would be pure luck and tons of research time, as it would mean reverse engineering to figure out Intel secrets.
Now-defunct x86.org used to do research on undocumented features, but we're talking about 15 years ago.

 

[ShintaiDK]

No unlock possible. A few OEM models got an upgrade option however.

Its fused/lasercut to prevent any fraud of reselling chips as something they are not.

 

[cbn]

If memory serves me, I think I remember reading about some manufacturers finding ways to enable overclocking on non-Z series chipsets for socket 1155, but that's been "fixed" with 1150.

Back in January 2104 "Non-Z overclock" was alive and well on the Haswell Mainboard found in this link:

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/h...still-alive-kicking-today-yippee-4557905.html

.....not sure what other Haswell Mainboards also support "Non-Z overclock? Or if it has been finally blocked since the last time it was tested?

EDIT: Looking at the Newegg reviews, "Non-Z overclock" was also working back in March 2014 (last month) ---> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...140403000135:s

 

[MongGrel]

Yeah, I think the days of pencil tricks are gone.

 

[Keysplayr]

Last CPU I successfully unlocked was a Phenom II x3. Unlocked the 4th core, but the system was wonky and unstable. It did unlock though. Nothing on the Intel side for many many moons.

 

[chrisjames61]

Last CPU I successfully unlocked was a Phenom II x3. Unlocked the 4th core, but the system was wonky and unstable. It did unlock though. Nothing on the Intel side for many many moons.

They aren't talking about unlocking cores.

 

[hhhd1]

I wonder if someone would be able to unlock intel's chipset HM70, and allow it to run i3/i5/i7 for more than 30 minutes.

 

[Zeldak]

The days of "physically" hacking CPU's were pretty fun, but also long gone.