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Solve : Unlocked Cores - What processor do I really have?? |
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Answer» Hello All, Hello Salmon Trout, I suppose not, really. It's not like HACKING a password or software registration, after all. Indeed. I think it's more the same as overclocking a CPU. I mean, you can do it, it'll void warranties, and so forth- and there might be "protection" to prevent it from being overclocked, but you can do it. But the problem is the same. a four core CPU is more expensive then a dual core or triple core CPU, so if AMD could sell the chip as a quad or triple core, they would have- the fact that they didn't should be a warning in and of itself that's it's not the best idea. Clearly one of the four cores is entirely defective. My guess is either core 3 or 4. And another one is unstable or has issues. So they remapped the two known good cores to be the two cores for branding it an X2. Really the question of "what do I really have" is sort of redundant, since for all we know AMD could be using the same die for X2, X3, and X4, and just selling X4's with a broken/unstable core as X3's and two broken/unstable cores as X2's. In fact, that is the entire "unlocking cores" concept is based on this, ut what many fail to take into account is that if AMD could have sold it as having more cores, they would have. they don't take fully functional X4's and simply disable 2 cores and sell them as a cheaper X2. Quote from: BC_Programmer on January 09, 2011, 01:10:16 PM they don't take fully functional X4's and simply disable 2 cores and sell them as a cheaper X2. I have read that AMD have LOCKED cores out to fill a gap in the market. There is a problem for companies that rely on die harvesting for their product line. Initially, the Phenom II X2 was a great way of using defective Phenom II X4 die. Once yields improve however, you've now created a market for these Phenom II X2s and have to basically sell a full-blown Phenom II X4 at a cheaper price to meet that demand. You could create a new die that's a dual-core Phenom II, but that's expensive and pulls engineers AWAY from more exciting projects like Bulldozer. Often it's easier to just disable two cores and sell the chip for cheaper than you'd like. At the same time you can do your best to discourage your customers from ordering too many. Remove it from the official price list, charge a little more for it, and direct people to a cheaper native alternative like the Athlon II X2. touché, I didn't consider the larger economic factors that might invalidate my claim |
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