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Athlon X2 5200+ 45nm AM3 may unlock to Phenom FX5200

Uriel

Uriel

Uriel

Soldato
Joined
15 Jan 2006
Posts
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Derbyshire
Looks like there's another deneb in disguise on the loose. This time, we have an Athlon X2 5200+ 45nm, AM3 CPU. There are 2 versions about - some are regor (which are native dual core and any unlock would only give an extra 512kb per core L2 cache).

I've now seen 3 separate reports of them unlocking to Phenom FX5200s, one from UK OEM stock. The FX5200 is essentially a full deneb Phenom II X4 with an 11.5 multiplier, so 2.3 GHz and 6MB l3 cache.

I've not heard reports about stability or overclocking yet but, buoyed by my earlier success unlocking an Athlon X2 5000+ 45nm AM2+, I fancy my chances so ordered one for under £32. Will let you know how I get on.
 
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Strange release from AMD really, the Athlon II X2 chips were decent low end CPUs anyhow, then for some reason they release a 2.3GHz chip which might unlock? :confused:
 
It's the second one. The AM2+ 45nm Athlon X2 5000+ was 2.2GHz. Didn't stop me getting it up to 3.3GHz though.

I still do wonder if these are made deliberately easy to identify with the Athlon X2 (not Athlon II) naming. Most unlocked Phenoms have fairly boring names. Getting recognised by motherboards and CPUz as Phenom FX5000+ and FX5200+ (rather than Bxx) smacks of easter egg to me.
 
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I checked a few benchmarks and both 45nm cpus perform similarly to their 65 nm counterparts despite the lower frequencies.

It is an odd naming scheme that could lead to consumer confusion. Saw a 45 nm 5000+ on the bay the other day as it wouldn't work in the seller's motherboard. There will be a lot of old AM2 boards that won't take these because of BIOS limitations.

Anyway - handy for me to have a spare AM3 CPU. My motherboard supports either DDR3 or DDR2 and has a separate BIOS for each one. I needed a cheap AM3 CPU to flash the DDR3 BIOS before it will take X6 CPUs and with memory prices the way they are it's getting tempting to switch my old DDR2 for DDR3. I will do if this unlocks and clocks well.

Easter eggs aside, there are two good reasons for AMD to do this. One is clearing stock thad didn't meet QA testing requirements. The other is just using existing stock to meet demand at different market segments. From what I've seen and read I think it's a mix of the two.

My X2 5000+ 45nm is a definite QA reject. Unlocked it needs some hefty voltages on the CPU-NB to get it stable and still generates 'corrected' hardware errors in Windows event viewer which are probably related to the unlocked L3 cache. Perfectly usable though - once I'd got it stable its never crashed in a stress test, benchmark or game. I do run it as dual core most of the time to save power though.
 
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Well there's the additional hurdle with this one that you might just get a Regor - disappointing if you wanted a core and l3 cache unlock.

Someone on HardForum did a straw poll. Of the 5000+ 12 unlocked and 3 failed. No results there on 5200+ yet. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1499697

From what I've read, early ones had a better success rate. Mine was a late one and although it unlocked, it clearly wouldn't have made it as a 940 or 920. I think many enthusiasts would have given up trying to get it stable too and it just wouldn't have been possible on a lot of motherboards.
 
Someone on AMDZone has one of these unlocked currently stress testing at 3.6 GHz on stock volts. Mine arrives later today.
 
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Was just about to post about these!

You might remember my original post on the 5000+ :D

Like yourself I received one of these today as well!!!

ath5200.jpg


As you can see above the stepping is:

CACEC AC 1024FPMW

So it looks good being a CACEC so fingers crossed!

Unfortunately I don't think I will get a chance to install it tonight so will probably not be until tomorrow night until I get it installed :( or like you the weekend :(

Can't wait to get it installed and have a play!

What's the exact stepping of yours? It sounds like we both got them from the same place, especially looking at the stepping so will be interesting to see the results!

Remember these new ones are AM3 whereas the original 5000+ were AM2+ they are also C3 stepping so should be fun :D
 
Ok so my plans tonight feel through so I found myself with some time on my hands :)

CPU Installed and its currently clocking in some prime time as a successfully unlocked FX5200 Quad :D

FX5200.jpg


I will let you know how I get on :D
 
That's one reason it appealed to me. My board takes DDR2 or DDR3 with a separate BIOS for each type. Needed a cheap AM3 CPU to flash the DDR3 BIOS so this won't be wasted even if it doesn't unlock. Only have DDR2 at the moment though.

Anyway here's mine:
5330952615_409e5a7e7a_b.jpg


Exactly the same batch as gamesaregood - and yes it's from the same retailer (I spotted your recent posts on another forum on Google).

Hopefully this one will be less of a pig to get stable than my 5000+. I had much more trouble than gamesaregood's first 5000+ and only got stable with some hefty voltage on the CPU-NB as I definitely have dodgy l3 cache on mine. Going to nip into my BIOS to write down all current settings before I drop in another CPU - one reason I won't be dropping this in until the weekend.

If this 5200+ matches my 5000+ without the hefty voltage, I'll be happy.

All the other unlocked 5200+s I've seen so far reported as socket AM2+ in CPUz. Just a bug.
 
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Wow exactly the same batch! Will be very interesting to see how they compare :)

Yes you did have some fun with the 5000+ with its memory controller so will be interesting to see how this one compares. I did have two of the 5000+ CPUs so I guess I had that was an advantage :) I'm using a different motherboard now (I will update my sig lol its only a year or so out lol) which is native AM3 board with DDR3 memory as above :)

I think if it does unlock 100% stable I would like to hope it will clock higher than your previous one and they do seem to be clocking well on low volts, this is running on auto volts and only using 1.12v!!!! I was running a Phenom II X2 550 @ X4 3.5GHz in this board before installing this chip so that's my aim! Probably a little hopeful but we will see...
 
Well, I currently have to overvolt my RAM to get above 282MHz FSB. That means my target will be 3.2 - 3.3 GHz.

With overvolting RAM I can get to 300MHz FSB, meaning I think I'll be platform limited at about 3.4 - 3.5 GHz. Over that it's touch or go whether I can POST consistently on my current CPU.

Maybe a different CPU will get me higher but I think the 11.5 multiplier and platform are going to limit overclocking of these CPUs.

I did think about getting a Phenom X2 to try at one point but Phenom FX sounds much cooler than Phenom II B**. :)
 
Can you not sure you memory in a tighter divider? or does that high memory bandwidth performance too much?

I really didn't want to give up using my CPU and was really sad to swap it for the Phenom II X2 550 but I wanted to go AM3 & DDR3 as I had the option to do so and DDR3 prices are cheaper so was planning for a 8GB future upgrade lol

I've finished testing for tonight...

FX5200_prime.jpg


2 Hours Prime Stable at stock so that's a good start :)
 
Good start there and very encouraging.

Memory prices prices played a part in my decision to try this. Although my motherboard takes either DDR2 or DDR3, it's limited to 4GB DDR2. If I wanted to go higher I would have to upgrade CPU at some point so I can use DDR3.
 
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It lives!

5334306696_cdbc664c3d_o.jpg


Unlocked at stock voltages and no warnings in Event viewer. Good start.

I need to update CPUz though.

Edit: That's better:
5334330796_ebc5217de8_o.jpg


Further Edit: Just blending at 3.24GHz (2.56GHz CPU-NB). Anyone know a good way to check CPU-NB voltage? My BIOS settings are of the + or - mv increment variety and I'm not completely sure what the default should be.

Edit for the blend before bed - not bad :):
5334615964_4b06713f73_b.jpg
 
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Looking good! Was going to order one myself, but they seem to be out of stock now :(

Tempted to pre-order one, but no doubt it'll be a different batch then... hmmm
 
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