890GPA-UD3H rev1.0. F8. How do I set the Core Unlock in my BIOS to work???

[f1rem0uth]

hi, I have a Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H rev1.0, BIOS F8 and a couple of AMD CPU's, a 550 BE and 565 BE, I would love to try and unlock one of them, I am currently using the 565 BE CPU, my BIOS has the Core Unlock feature. (I also have a  Frio CPU Cooler installed.) I want to know how I go about trying to unlock the CPU, as when I have changed the setting in the BIOS to Enable Core Unlock nothing happens, I save the setting to BIOS and my PC quickly shuts down and restarts, but there are no differences. Now I think that there is probably more to it than just setting the Core Unlock to Manual or Enable. I would like to find out from one of you guys the steps and settings I need to take to try and unlock the cores. I could have possibly done all I needed to do and it just maybe that my CPU will not unlock, as I do understand that not all will unlock or will unlock and be stable, but I have a feeling that I'm not doing it correctly, as in not changing the settings to what they need to be. Or if anyone knows of a Link to a step by step guide or similar that could help me on my way, I have had a good look on Google searching for some answers for a while now but just can't seem to find the information I need. Thank you for any advise, help or information, any replies welcomed. Mark. edit: I just set the Core unlock settings in the BIOS to unlock and enable, and checked that Windows allows all 4 Cores to be used but there is only 2 showing. What is this Hybrid setting I need to set in the BIOS??.

[absic]

Hi there,

I don't have your motherboard and the User's Manual doesn't show the Core Unlock option so I presume it was added in a later update.

Basically you need to do just what you have done. Under the BIOS heading Advanced BIOS Features (it should be there) is the CPU Unlock feature and this should be set to Enabled, which you have done.

After making this setting press F10 to save to BIOS reboot the PC and go back into BIOS/Advanced BIOS Features.
Under the CPU Core Control you should now see the available cores on the processor. Change the CPU Core Control setting to Manual and then check that the four cores 0 - 3 are enabled. Press F10 again to save to BIOS and that should be all you need to do.

If you have disabled the "Show Full Screen Logo" Option in BIOS when you shutdown the PC and then restart it it should show your processor on the POST Screen and you can check to seeif it is showing as an X2 or X4 processor.

If this doesn't help could you post back some screenshots of your BIOS, in case I have missed something that is present on your systems BIOS that I do not have on my own?

[f1rem0uth]

hi, thank you for the reply, ok, I Enabled CPU unlock, saved, rebooted, entered BIOS again, set Core Control to manual, saved, rebooted, entered BIOS again and nothing had changed, only the Core 0 and Core 1 unlock show but I can't change anything to get 2+3 Core to show up. I checked that msconfig setting in my O/S but nothing doing there, my Splash Screen was already set to off and  yeh I have noticed that it says what processor I'm using and how many Cores it has, which still says X2. The same for CPU-Z, nothing changed, stiil a Dual Core. As for my Motherboard in the Manual it says on Page 48 about the Core Unlock and CPU Core Control but it doesn't say a lot other than that there is an Auto and a Manual setting and that the Core 0 setting is fixed and always enabled, nothing we don't already know. Is that all there is to it then, I didn't think it was that easy to do, I thought that there was other settings to change, I guess this CPU just doesn't unlock then, or am I supposed to get a 3rd and 4th core show up in my BIOS regardless of weather they unlock or not if I  set the settings to Unlock???. I have my other CPU to try, my 550 BE, but I remember I tried with that also and nothing happened with that, I just thought I was doing something wrong with the settings but I remember doing the same with that CPU as what I did with this one, so I'm not going to take my Cooler off again at the moment to try it again until I'm certain of what I have to do. I know that certain batch numbers are supposed to unlock better, I never noted my 565 BE number down before mounting it, and my 550 BE batch number I can't find much about it other than that it has had some reports of being unlocked but was not a good percentage for this batch number. I have also read that Gigabyte Motherboards are not the best at unlocking Cores, some CPU's unlocking on other Brands don't unlock on a Gigabyte!. I need to find out if I have missed any settings, but I've had a good look many times now in my BIOS and I can't see anything that looks related, but then I guess I wouldn't know for sure.  

[f1rem0uth]

hi, I've still had no luck with the Core Unlocking, although I did overclock my CPU  for the first time ever yesterday!, it was something I always wanted to try but didn't know how and I found the help I needed in this Forum, of course having the Motherboard and CPU that I have makes it a lot easier to do. I overclocked my 565 BE from 3.4 to 3.7 in 100MHz steps, this was not a problem for the CPU at all and my temps have not really changed at all, I was using 1600MHz Ram but had to set it to 1333MHz to get my PC to overclock, this was not problem as I found on on here that I should really be running the ram at 1333 anyway to better protect my CPU from damage. I will try higher overclock later, I was told by the previous owner of this CPU that he overclocked it to 3.8 with the stock cooler, I have my Frio on this setup, which keeps the CPU really cool. Now back to the Unlocking of the Cores issue, I need to find out about this EC Firmware and Hybrid mode settings for my BIOS, I'm trying to find out if my Motherboard has these settings or not as I can't find them in my BIOS, I have the Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H Motherboard rev1.0 BIOS F8, does this Mobo have those settings for EC Firmware and Hybrid mode, if so how do I find them in the BIOS, if not can I somehow make my Motherboard have these or is my Motherboard not meant to have those settings in the BIOS, I have the Core Unlock and Core Enable setting in the BIOS but they are not doing anything, I read about this EC Firmware and Hybrid mode settings which I'm not sure if I have to set them in my BIOS as either I can't find them or I don't have them but is my Motherboard supposed to have them anyway???. Please can I get some help/advice here regarding EC Firmware and Hybrid mode for my Motherboard, thanks for any replies.  

[absic]

Hi again,

as I said previously, if you could take some images of your BIOS and post them here then it would be easy to see if you are missing something. The problem is that, unless someone with a similar set-up happens to see your post, most of us are trying to help based on our own systems. The User's Manual only shows images for the original BIOS and is no help at all and as new features can be added with BIOS updates we might be missing something.

If you want to get some direct help from Gigabyte then you would really need to raise a support ticket here:  http://ggts.gigabyte.com/tech.asp?ClassID=2&Country=U.K.&SourceWeb=B2C but be prepared for a bit of a wait as it can take 5-7 days for them to respond.

[f1rem0uth]

http://media.bestofmicro.com/AMD890GX,A-7-240127-3.png
http://media.bestofmicro.com/AMD890GX,A-8-240128-3.png
http://media.bestofmicro.com/AMD890GX,A-9-240129-3.png
http://media.bestofmicro.com/AMD890GX,A-A-240130-3.png
http://media.bestofmicro.com/AMD890GX,A-B-240131-3.png
http://media.bestofmicro.com/AMD890GX,A-C-240132-3.png
hi, these are screen shots of the Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H Motherboard and the settings are as my own, except as I have the F8 BIOS I now have the CORE Unlock and Core Enable feature. Not sure if these will be able to tell you anything. I was thinking that someone who has this same Motherboard and knows about unlocking the CPU will be able to help me, read posts above. Thank you. (I'll try and get the screen shot of the Core Unlock and Core Unable feature as it is not shown here). I will also try to get screen shots of my own actual BIOS. 

[absic]

hi there would really appreciate an image of other BIOS screens if possible especially the Advanced BIOS Features page. 

[f1rem0uth]

hi there would really appreciate an image of other BIOS screens if possible especially the Advanced BIOS Features page. 

yeh, I just realised this, thanks though for quick response, (I have to go do some running about for a couple of hours, so I will Post back my screenshots later this afternoon) Thankyou  for your time.