hicookie

lots people play X2 550 with AMD/ATI chipset.
tru south bridge ACC function could switch on hidden cores.
and Gigabyte's GA-M720 US3, its a entry level motherboard
build with Nvidia Nforce 720D chipset, as i know GA-M720 US3
has NVCC to work like ACC. and now i do some test with this
board and look whats going on. and figure out something limit.

picture of gigabyte GA-M720-US3


Turn on NVCC and leave it auto, after shutdown and restart
you will get 4 cores from phenom II X2 550. not sure every 550 chip can
do this. got 4cores cpuz validation. http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=594622



get it more vcore, and i test its easliy to get 4core at 4.1GHz CPUz validation
i can easily pass super pi 1m. but there is something limit 4th core, i can't even
underclcoking to 1GHz at 4th to stable. i done a double check with this processor
swithed to GA-MA770T UD3 make 4core all stable, then i figure out something
is limited at NVCC, not sure Nvidia will fix this, but on AMD/ATI chipset with ACC
is more trustable.





if you have quadcore, such as Phenom II X4 920 on this board its no problem to
make all core stable, the problem could be nvidia didn't do many efforts on NVCC.
4th core can't get stable, or maybe just my case ,not sure.
with this board, i still can make it 2 cores to be 3 cores and runing like 24/7
with this nvidia chipset and entry level motherboard, make a X2 to be X3 also
is not bad idea. if you are looking for a cheap amd platform and want more price
performance. below i run 3 core of Phenom II X2 550 and runing over 12 hours
to make sure triple - core is stable. GA-M720 US3 detect my phenom II X2 550
vid as 1.37v, i do some power comparison, with full-loading processor, you need to
pay 20watts with 3-core than 2-core. my platform descrip like below.

Phenom II X2 550 at 3 cores stress for 12 hours.



CPU: Phenom II X2 550
MB: GA-M720-US3
VGA:Quad FX330
HD: WD250G SATA.

i turn off all saving power function, idle is 99watts no matter with 3 core or 2 core.
but under full loading, i get 170 watts with 3 core and 148 watts with 2 core.
the other thing is not just me compalin about nvidia not do all engery to NVCC.
i tried to install my ATI HD 4870, but after install driver, i only got black screen.
seems like this board has nvidia chipset and ATI graphics compatiblity problem. or
maybe just my case, i only try this graphics not do else.

so. i could get 3 core of X2 550 and running like 24hrs/7days.
i keep do it overclocking with aircooling. and add a bit more than vid vcore i can
make 3.8GHz 3 core stable, atleast passed 3X super pi 32m and 3dmark 06
cpu test.

1.39v 3 core at 3.8GHz finished 3X super pi 32m


and 1.44v i get 4GHz 3dmark 06 cpu test and score over 4K


GA-M720 US3 like a entry level motherboard, and its cheap, no have many overlcoking voltage controller, with nvidia nforce 720d you could turn on NVCC
to get hidden core if you are lucky with Phenom II X2 series. i havent try X3 series.
and you also can overclocking 3 cores on this board. with a nice air cooling system
you can make it like 4GHz, or just select 3GHz 3core default voltage to be daily using.
and once you opened 3 core, you will pay 20 watts than 2core. the last thing is beware
maybe this board doesn't like your AMD ATI graphics. and this board doesn't support AOC (AMD over drive) due to chipset.for an entry level motherboard
this board has much price performance plus you can do some suprise with NVCC
and overclcoking.

hicookie

gerikoh

that's very nice. thanks for sharing and +rep for you

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thlnk3r

Hicookie, thanks for sharing the mini-review +1. I'm very impressed by your 3.8Ghz overclock with 1.39v (three cores). Did you run any stability testing with that OC? Did you attempt an overclock with just two cores? If so how high were you able to go?

Good luck

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hicookie

i have run some 3dmark 06 test, i think it can be counted kind of stable,
if running stress i need another 12hrs...lol, 2 cores i haven't try, but i think
around 4GHz dualcore for 24/7 is possible to make it with this entry mb.

spidermohmd1

u are a legend!!

humpf29

Hello!

I have the same Board and the same processor. I upgraded the bios to version F5 and i am able to unlock the 4 cores.

But prime 95 just hang ups the pc when i start it with 4 Cores.

So how did you enabled just 3 of them? I didnt find any bios config, where i just can enable 3 cores!

thlnk3r

Humpf29, welcome to overclock.net

Have you tried raising the Vcore slightly and re-testing with Prime 95? Try bumping it up in a small 0.025 increment. You could also have a Quad that actually has two faulty cores. Again there really is no guarantee when the processor is unlocked.

Good luck

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humpf29

Hello!

Ok, you can change the numbers of processors with /NUMPROC=XX in your boot.ini or via msconfig for Win7/Vista/XP.

With 3 cores, i was able to run prime95 at least for 15mins. Then i turned of my PC

Unfortunately i forgot to enable AHCI for SATA (instead of IDE) and so i have to reinstall Windows again.

But then i will try 4 cores and increase the vcore to see if the 4 cores will get stable or if i have to use only 3 cores.
But at least 3 cores are more than 2

Chrono Detector

I have the same motherboard and CPU and I tried unlocking my cores but it will never go past the boot screen. But whatever, I'm happy with it at 4Ghz stable on air with just two cores.

And for the price of this motherboard I'm impressed with its features as well.

humpf29

Do you have the standard fan or an alternative fan? And if you have an alternative, which one do you have?
I will choose one of these 2: http://skinflint.co.uk/a414456.html or http://skinflint.co.uk/a416267.html but i dont know if the kabuto fits into my Antec 300 case ( http://skinflint.co.uk/a327602.html).

@Chrono Detector: I had the same situation 1 time. Then i set NVCC to calibrate every core alone and set it to 0%. Then i was able to pass the BIOS and now i have set it to AUTO (2%).
Also try a BIOS update. My board hat version 1.03 - the actual version is 1.05.

And what temperature do your CPU have? Mine has 50-54°C at startup. I will look which temperature it will have after some stresstests!