If there is one particular BIOS option that AMD fans are all talking about, it would be Advanced Clock Configuration.  ACC can turn single core Semprons into a dual core Athlon X2.   Originally it was the Phenom II series, where 4 core parts were being having one or more core disabled and sold as lower priced chips having those cores unlocked via ACC.  Now we are hearing of a new contender from Silicon Madness; it seems some Athlon IIs can, with a little luck, be transformed into a Phenom II.  You won’t be unlocking cores, instead it is the 6MB of L3 cache you are going after.  A word of warning comes with that information, the thermal diodes inside the CPU so make sure you have accurate motherboard sensors.

No, you won’t be able to use ACC to take a single chip from a Sempron to a Phenom X4 unless AMDs binning process has gone completely pants.


“While pictures of the highly anticipated “Propus” core – the quad-core without L3 cache – have surfaced, it seems AMD is releasing early samples of the Athlon II X4 620 and 630 processors with a “Deneb” core, the same that has been shipping in Phenom II X4 900/800, Phenom II X3 700 and AMD Phenom II X2 processors.

As with all the previous processors based on the “Deneb” core, they can be unlocked to an X3 or X4 processor, if the silicon is in good shape.

In this situation, what is unlocked are the 6MB of L3 cache. The future Athlon II X3 might also allow for the unlocking of the extra core, besides the L3 cache, if we ever see “Deneb” based versions.”

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