{"video_id":"oIE8gKr2X34","title":"ASUS Core Unlocker - Real Time Unlocking of an X3 720 on the M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 Linus Tech Tips","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2011-05-08T14:53:29Z","duration_s":503,"segments":[{"start_s":0.24,"end_s":7.759,"text":"So, I actually did a dedicated video on core unlocking quite some time ago on my","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":4.52,"end_s":10.48,"text":"NCIXCOM channel, but ASUS has actually","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":7.759,"end_s":15.44,"text":"recently updated their core unlocker utility to make it even simpler. So,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":13.44,"end_s":21.52,"text":"Core Unlocking is basically taking processors such as the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":17.24,"end_s":22.88,"text":"X3720, which AMD has um what they've","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":21.52,"end_s":30.24,"text":"done is they've actually Okay, I'm going to drop the camera here for a minute so that I can break the seal on the CPU box","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":27.199,"end_s":32.559,"text":"here. What AMD has actually done is they","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":30.24,"end_s":38.48,"text":"have physically disabled well not physically but through kind of a a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":34.559,"end_s":42.32,"text":"software trick they have disabled the uh","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":38.48,"end_s":44.32,"text":"one of the cores in the CPU. So they've","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":42.32,"end_s":50.079,"text":"actually got dual cores that are also unlock or locked quad cores as well as","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":47.28,"end_s":53.6,"text":"the triple cores. So the 720 today basically okay here I'm going to sort of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":51.84,"end_s":60.32,"text":"stop rambling. The point of this video is to show you in real time how quickly","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":56.8,"end_s":62.0,"text":"you can unlock the core of a CP of a CPU","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":60.32,"end_s":69.36,"text":"in order to get better performance out of it. So today I'm going to be using the M4A889 GTD Pro USB 3 from ASUS using","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":67.36,"end_s":74.0,"text":"their core unlocker. So ASUS has simplified the whole process down to one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":72.08,"end_s":78.32,"text":"button, a switch that you hit on the motherboard that will automatically","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":75.92,"end_s":83.84,"text":"unlock any available extra cores for you. So here's my uh my retail 720. Just","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":82.08,"end_s":88.64,"text":"going to install it in the socket here. So, lift up the lever. All right.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":86.4,"end_s":93.36,"text":"Where's my little triangle? I think it's going to be in that corner. Yep, there","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":90.0,"end_s":95.28,"text":"we go. Okay. So, install that. Now, I'm","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":93.36,"end_s":99.439,"text":"just doing a quick demo here, so I'm not going to bother Oh, my batter is dying.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":98.159,"end_s":103.68,"text":"That's going to make this a far less effective demonstration in real time.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":102.0,"end_s":108.32,"text":"Hopefully, it lasts long enough for me to get some thermal compound on here and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":106.079,"end_s":111.92,"text":"boot this thing up. So, I'm just going to apply a little bit of thermal","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":109.439,"end_s":116.0,"text":"compound on the CPU and then I'm just going to throw a heat sink on top of it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":113.84,"end_s":121.36,"text":"rather than actually hook it up properly because um I don't have a whole lot of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":118.719,"end_s":125.439,"text":"time here. So, here we go. Just going to plug in the fan. Okay, so the Coron","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":122.96,"end_s":130.479,"text":"locker has been simplified right down to a and we're back. Hate it when the uh","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":128.64,"end_s":135.68,"text":"battery dies on my camera, but what can you do? Okay, so I was just showing the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":132.879,"end_s":139.68,"text":"core unlocking button that ASUS has added to their motherboard. Well,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":137.76,"end_s":142.879,"text":"motherboards, some of them. So, you can see there's a little arrow here that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":141.2,"end_s":147.76,"text":"points to where the core unlocker button is. You press that button, the light","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":144.56,"end_s":151.76,"text":"goes red, and then in theory, there are","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":147.76,"end_s":153.68,"text":"four cores on this triple core CPU.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":151.76,"end_s":159.76,"text":"Now there's a lot of uh misconceptions about uh you know there being dangers","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":156.84,"end_s":163.519,"text":"involved in unlocking cores like your system's going to be unstable and that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":161.76,"end_s":169.36,"text":"may be true but you got to understand that AMD unlocks cores for any number of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":166.8,"end_s":173.76,"text":"different reasons. Some of them are unlocks them locks them seals them off","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":171.92,"end_s":179.76,"text":"for any number of different reasons. So press F1 to go into setup. Okay. F10","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":177.68,"end_s":184.0,"text":"enter. And so those reasons could be anything ranging from the core being","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":181.599,"end_s":189.36,"text":"actually physically defective to maybe it not meeting their target power","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":185.92,"end_s":191.68,"text":"envelope to maybe it being stable but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":189.36,"end_s":196.159,"text":"you know only uh only within not quite within their tolerances because almost","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":193.519,"end_s":201.68,"text":"all CPUs will actually run faster than what they're spec by at least a little","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":198.08,"end_s":203.599,"text":"bit. Okay. So as long as you run the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":201.68,"end_s":208.08,"text":"proper stability test. Oh, there you go. Four cores are activated. That was easy.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":205.76,"end_s":213.04,"text":"As long as you run the necessary stability tests on your CPU, which means","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":210.4,"end_s":219.519,"text":"just, you know, Prime 95 for 24 to 48 hours, if the CPU doesn't make a math","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":215.44,"end_s":222.76,"text":"error, then it's stable. And this one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":219.519,"end_s":226.239,"text":"appears to be not","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":222.76,"end_s":229.04,"text":"stable. That's too bad. I mean, there","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":226.239,"end_s":238.56,"text":"you go. I just pulled sort of any random any random retail CPU. And uh this one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":233.44,"end_s":240.4,"text":"happens to not be stable with the core","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":238.56,"end_s":244.319,"text":"unlocker. I'm going to give it sort of one more try. I'm going to load the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":242.0,"end_s":249.28,"text":"defaults in the setup here and I'm going to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":245.4,"end_s":251.12,"text":"cuz h that's kind of disappointing. I've","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":249.28,"end_s":256.639,"text":"actually had pretty good success myself unlocking CPUs and I had hoped that this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":254.56,"end_s":261.44,"text":"just sort of random one would work for me here. So far, no success. But that's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":259.919,"end_s":267.759,"text":"the whole point of doing this kind of thing on camera so that everyone can","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":264.0,"end_s":271.88,"text":"learn and have new experiences. Maybe","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":267.759,"end_s":271.88,"text":"I'll have some of my V8 juice.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":272.96,"end_s":281.04,"text":"Hopefully we don't get a blue screen this time. Blue screens are bad. Okay.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":277.36,"end_s":281.04,"text":"No, let's just start Windows","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":283.0,"end_s":292.36,"text":"normally. H I wonder if it's to do with AHCI mode.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":289.24,"end_s":295.44,"text":"Could be something like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":292.36,"end_s":297.919,"text":"that. Well, I guess you're along for the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":295.44,"end_s":301.44,"text":"ride now. I'm not about to stop the video now. If","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":301.88,"end_s":308.24,"text":"you're interested, you can keep watching. And if you're not, then you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":305.68,"end_s":312.96,"text":"can always not watch anymore. So, I'm going to go into the onboard devices","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":310.32,"end_s":317.479,"text":"configuration. I'm going to set the serial serial port. No, I'm going to set","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":316.479,"end_s":323.24,"text":"the onboard. No.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":320.6,"end_s":329.639,"text":"Hey, where are my uh where are my SATA","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":326.199,"end_s":331.479,"text":"ports? North bridge configuration.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":329.639,"end_s":335.96,"text":"No. No. This is stupid.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":339.84,"end_s":342.84,"text":"H.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":345.28,"end_s":354.56,"text":"Well, I might have to give up at some point here. Can't figure out how to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":351.0,"end_s":358.08,"text":"set RAID on this motherboard. Normally,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":354.56,"end_s":362.08,"text":"it's here, but I don't see it here. So,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":358.08,"end_s":365.479,"text":"I I actually don't have any uh any ideas","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":362.08,"end_s":365.479,"text":"beyond that.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":375.84,"end_s":384.199,"text":"Oh, wonder if that's a problem. I'm going to do","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":379.0,"end_s":384.199,"text":"this. Probably not, but you never know.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":394.319,"end_s":402.8,"text":"Maybe I'll just show you the test bench some more. So, there's that little light that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":399.28,"end_s":402.8,"text":"says in theory everything should be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":403.4,"end_s":410.919,"text":"working. I didn't turn on turbo key, so it's not the uh it's not the automated","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":408.56,"end_s":416.199,"text":"overclocking that's causing any problems here. Okay, we'll try that one more","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":413.199,"end_s":416.199,"text":"time.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":419.759,"end_s":427.28,"text":"Oh, wouldn't it be funny if that had been","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":423.72,"end_s":429.039,"text":"it? How about that? So, there you go. We","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":427.28,"end_s":434.08,"text":"figured out how to get the system booted up. Well, we I guess I Well, you were","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":431.599,"end_s":438.24,"text":"here, too. Okay. No, we we figured out how to get the system booted up. I have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":435.759,"end_s":442.16,"text":"Catalyst Control Center installed, which is completely unnecessary when you're","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":439.84,"end_s":448.0,"text":"running a NVIDIA video card. So, I'm just going to go ahead and exit that.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":443.28,"end_s":450.4,"text":"So, let's uh let's fire up CPUZ to see","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":448.0,"end_s":454.72,"text":"whether we have four cores running or not. So, I'm just going to go ahead and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":452.479,"end_s":459.199,"text":"do that. And it looks like we have four cores, four threads. They're running at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":457.039,"end_s":463.52,"text":"stock speed of 2.8 GHz. So, we'll go into the task manager here. So, yeah,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":461.36,"end_s":468.16,"text":"you can see that task manager has 1 2 3 four CPUs. And then we Okay, this is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":466.319,"end_s":474.879,"text":"what I was saying before. You will need to run Prime 95 and I recommend small","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":471.16,"end_s":476.879,"text":"FFTs for I'd say a minimum of 24 hours","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":474.879,"end_s":482.24,"text":"and then I'd run it anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to ensure that your triple core","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":478.96,"end_s":484.759,"text":"CPU is stable with four cores enabled.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":482.24,"end_s":489.759,"text":"And then you can actually even sometimes overclock triple cores unlocked to quad","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":487.52,"end_s":494.8,"text":"core and get even even more performance out of them. But there you go. That was","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":491.44,"end_s":497.44,"text":"my core unlocking uh tutorial and we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":494.8,"end_s":502.28,"text":"figured out what the problem was and thank you for checking it out.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"So, I actually did a dedicated video on core unlocking quite some time ago on my NCIXCOM channel, but ASUS has actually recently updated their core unlocker utility to make it even simpler. So, Core Unlocking is basically taking processors such as the X3720, which AMD has um what they've done is they've actually Okay, I'm going to drop the camera here for a minute so that I can break the seal on the CPU box here. What AMD has actually done is they have physically disabled well not physically but through kind of a a software trick they have disabled the uh one of the cores in the CPU. So they've actually got dual cores that are also unlock or locked quad cores as well as the triple cores. So the 720 today basically okay here I'm going to sort of stop rambling. The point of this video is to show you in real time how quickly you can unlock the core of a CP of a CPU in order to get better performance out of it. So today I'm going to be using the M4A889 GTD Pro USB 3 from ASUS using their core unlocker. So ASUS has simplified the whole process down to one button, a switch that you hit on the motherboard that will automatically unlock any available extra cores for you. So here's my uh my retail 720. Just going to install it in the socket here. So, lift up the lever. All right. Where's my little triangle? I think it's going to be in that corner. Yep, there we go. Okay. So, install that. Now, I'm just doing a quick demo here, so I'm not going to bother Oh, my batter is dying. That's going to make this a far less effective demonstration in real time. Hopefully, it lasts long enough for me to get some thermal compound on here and boot this thing up. So, I'm just going to apply a little bit of thermal compound on the CPU and then I'm just going to throw a heat sink on top of it rather than actually hook it up properly because um I don't have a whole lot of time here. So, here we go. Just going to plug in the fan. Okay, so the Coron locker has been simplified right down to a and we're back. Hate it when the uh battery dies on my camera, but what can you do? Okay, so I was just showing the core unlocking button that ASUS has added to their motherboard. Well, motherboards, some of them. So, you can see there's a little arrow here that points to where the core unlocker button is. You press that button, the light goes red, and then in theory, there are four cores on this triple core CPU. Now there's a lot of uh misconceptions about uh you know there being dangers involved in unlocking cores like your system's going to be unstable and that may be true but you got to understand that AMD unlocks cores for any number of different reasons. Some of them are unlocks them locks them seals them off for any number of different reasons. So press F1 to go into setup. Okay. F10 enter. And so those reasons could be anything ranging from the core being actually physically defective to maybe it not meeting their target power envelope to maybe it being stable but you know only uh only within not quite within their tolerances because almost all CPUs will actually run faster than what they're spec by at least a little bit. Okay. So as long as you run the proper stability test. Oh, there you go. Four cores are activated. That was easy. As long as you run the necessary stability tests on your CPU, which means just, you know, Prime 95 for 24 to 48 hours, if the CPU doesn't make a math error, then it's stable. And this one appears to be not stable. That's too bad. I mean, there you go. I just pulled sort of any random any random retail CPU. And uh this one happens to not be stable with the core unlocker. I'm going to give it sort of one more try. I'm going to load the defaults in the setup here and I'm going to cuz h that's kind of disappointing. I've actually had pretty good success myself unlocking CPUs and I had hoped that this just sort of random one would work for me here. So far, no success. But that's the whole point of doing this kind of thing on camera so that everyone can learn and have new experiences. Maybe I'll have some of my V8 juice. Hopefully we don't get a blue screen this time. Blue screens are bad. Okay. No, let's just start Windows normally. H I wonder if it's to do with AHCI mode. Could be something like that. Well, I guess you're along for the ride now. I'm not about to stop the video now. If you're interested, you can keep watching. And if you're not, then you can always not watch anymore. So, I'm going to go into the onboard devices configuration. I'm going to set the serial serial port. No, I'm going to set the onboard. No. Hey, where are my uh where are my SATA ports? North bridge configuration. No. No. This is stupid. H. Well, I might have to give up at some point here. Can't figure out how to set RAID on this motherboard. Normally, it's here, but I don't see it here. So, I I actually don't have any uh any ideas beyond that. Oh, wonder if that's a problem. I'm going to do this. Probably not, but you never know. Maybe I'll just show you the test bench some more. So, there's that little light that says in theory everything should be working. I didn't turn on turbo key, so it's not the uh it's not the automated overclocking that's causing any problems here. Okay, we'll try that one more time. Oh, wouldn't it be funny if that had been it? How about that? So, there you go. We figured out how to get the system booted up. Well, we I guess I Well, you were here, too. Okay. No, we we figured out how to get the system booted up. I have Catalyst Control Center installed, which is completely unnecessary when you're running a NVIDIA video card. So, I'm just going to go ahead and exit that. So, let's uh let's fire up CPUZ to see whether we have four cores running or not. So, I'm just going to go ahead and do that. And it looks like we have four cores, four threads. They're running at stock speed of 2.8 GHz. So, we'll go into the task manager here. So, yeah, you can see that task manager has 1 2 3 four CPUs. And then we Okay, this is what I was saying before. You will need to run Prime 95 and I recommend small FFTs for I'd say a minimum of 24 hours and then I'd run it anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to ensure that your triple core CPU is stable with four cores enabled. And then you can actually even sometimes overclock triple cores unlocked to quad core and get even even more performance out of them. But there you go. That was my core unlocking uh tutorial and we figured out what the problem was and thank you for checking it out."}