AMD unlocked multiplier

[wizard479]

Just built a new puter (YAY) with an AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton. According to what ive read, all these processors are clock locked. Mine just happens to not be locked, as the multiplier settings are adjustable in the BIOS. Did i get lucky, or are they all unlocked?

[psi42]

Does changing the multiplier actually change the clock speed?

[MorphiusFaydal]

i think it does.. multiplier changing is the easiest way to OC your system, along w/ jackin up the FSB speed.

in week 39 of 2003, AMD locked all the Barton cores from multiplier changing... so if you can change it in your BIOS, its either pre-week39(doubtful), or the BIOS change isnt affecting the proc....

but i dont know which..

i have a 3200+ that i got the day after x-mas, and i dont think it pre-week39, but i can change my multioliers..... guess that some mobos can get around it or something... heh..

oh well..

[EnigmaOne]

Originally posted by MorphiusFaydal
in week 39 of 2003, AMD locked all the Barton cores from multiplier changing...

Bridging the L1 jumpers on the chip carrier is still the way to unlock the uP for OC-ing. Easy enough to do. ;)

[Alex Cavnar, aka alc6379]

Originally posted by EnigmaOne
Bridging the L1 jumpers on the chip carrier is still the way to unlock the uP for OC-ing. Easy enough to do. ;)

Does that really still work? I've got a Barton 2500, and I'm afraid to even fool with that.

From what I've seen, like others said, pre-week 39 chips are unlocked. Most any afterwards should be multiplier locked.

[cybertron]

I've heard that you can't bridge the L1 jumper anymore on the post-week 39 chips, although I didn't really bother messing with it and just bumped my FSB up until I was at 3200, since I intentially bought pc3200 RAM so the FSB could go up to 200 Mhz without running anything out of spec.

Also, I can change the chip multiplier in the BIOS, but when it boots it still reports the same speed, so it's not actually doing anything.

[MorphiusFaydal]

Originally posted by cybertron
I've heard that you can't bridge the L1 jumper anymore on the post-week 39 chips, although I didn't really bother messing with it and just bumped my FSB up until I was at 3200, since I intentially bought pc3200 RAM so the FSB could go up to 200 Mhz without running anything out of spec.

Also, I can change the chip multiplier in the BIOS, but when it boots it still reports the same speed, so it's not actually doing anything.

that is correct. AMD (in week 39) started putting an extra layer of covering on top of the chip, so, until that gets scraped off, you can't bridge the L1 jumper, and I don't believe anyone has figured out a way to remove this covering w/out damaging the chip itself.

[EnigmaOne]

I picked-up a 3200 early this year, and the L1's were open. I went ahead and bridged them anyway.

While not a habitual OC-er, I do sometimes run it at 10-17% over spec without a problem.

In retrospect, the dig is that, given the time I purchased this particular uP, it might actually be a pre-week 39 unit. (I'm not in the mood to pull the water block to check.)

Given AMD's consistency in the past, I'd wager that bridging the L1's on post-week 39 processors will still function to unlock the clocking multipliers.
Making such a change doesn't make sense, when you stop to think about it....OC'ing any given uP is going to result in out-of-warranty failures in a certain number of cases, and an ardent consumer following in the remaining cases.
Either way you cut it, that still results in more sales/greater revenues for AMD.

[MorphiusFaydal]

http://www.ocprices.com/index.php?rev_id=179
the story about the new chip packaging....

http://www.ocprices.com/?rev_id=184
How to redo the L5 bridge (XP to MP)

should work for the L3 bridges (which controls multiplier)

[MorphiusFaydal]

AMD Athlon TM
<character series> <second series>
<third series>

in the third series, the first 4 digits are the year and week of production. mine says '0319SPNW'

so mines a week 19, 2003 chip.

oh, and btw, this is on the chip itself.