Dual Channel/CPU Unlocking

[Furiosity]

1 - Say you have a board with 4 RAM slots. Can you have slot 1 and 2 running Dual Channel, slot 3 with one stick of RAM in Single channel mode, and slot 4 empty? Or, in order use Dual Channel, do I have to have ALL slots running Dual Channel mode else?

2 - What's the risk of unlocking the 4th core of a CPU. If there's something wrong does the CPU break, or does it just crash the PC. And if it just crashes the PC, can you re-disable the 4th core?

Thanks in advance

 

[Nuke]

Well with my asus board that has turbo unlocker and cpu level up. If the cpu doesn't have the extra core it isn't going to unlock it. It will either crash or do nothing. Also duel channel is usally slots 1 and 3 or slots 2 and 4 you can't mismatch the slots. It will default to single. Core unlocker is for the "chance" of when you have a duel core and it just might be a tri core or you have a quad core and it "might" be a 6 core. Because of the way the make the processors and have overstock.

 

[SingularPoint]

It varies from motherboards, as long as you use the same Ram for all the slots it probably would work.

It could lead to stability issues, some Triple and Dual cores have those cores disabled for a reason. It could leave to crashes and restarts, but I've never heard of a CPU breaking from it. However you can re-lock the cores if you find this a issue

 

[mattM_-]

I've only heard of the Phenom x3 having the 4th core unlocked, but its a 50/50 chance. Also, why would you want to get single channel? It's slower than dual channel...

 

[Furiosity]

I've only heard of the Phenom x3 having the 4th core unlocked, but its a 50/50 chance. Also, why would you want to get single channel? It's slower than dual channel...

I have an X3. I'd only have 3 sticks of RAM. I want 2 in dual channel and the other in single channel. Wanted to know if that's possible.

 

[shadows5631]

I unlocked my x3 about 3-4 months ago and it's been stable since.

Depending on your board, it's very easy to do/undo. However, when you do unlock the 4th core you won't be able to monitor your CPU temperatures. So, while running a benchmark you can do what I did and just stick a finger on your cooler and see if it's above normal. If you pass a Prime95 test after a couple of hours, you might have been successful. But, mine crashed after 5 hours the first time, so I raised the voltage just a little to make it stable.

 

[ShadowBlade72]

If you're using the Phenom II X3, if you have the Heka model, then it's a true tri core and not a quad core with a core disabled.

Also the Quad Cores with a core disabled are few and far between now. Once they realized people were unlocking the additional core they started using a laser to etch out the 4th core in their remaining stock, so that it was destroyed and not able to be unlocked.

 

[Ph?bus]

If you're using the Phenom II X3, if you have the Heka model, then it's a true tri core and not a quad core with a core disabled.

Also the Quad Cores with a core disabled are few and far between now. Once they realized people were unlocking the additional core they started using a laser to etch out the 4th core in their remaining stock, so that it was destroyed and not able to be unlocked.

(Insert reflex saying wrong here)
Only Intel does that.
It's still possible to unlock cores.
And Phenom II x3 Hekas AFAIK are still unlockable.

Although, I would NOT recommend unlocking cores, as it is not guaranteed that it will be stable.

@Furiosity And to answer your ram question, yes that is possible.

 

[mattM_-]

What motherboard do you have? Are all sticks of the RAM the same?

 

[shadows5631]

If you're using the Phenom II X3, if you have the Heka model, then it's a true tri core and not a quad core with a core disabled.

Also the Quad Cores with a core disabled are few and far between now. Once they realized people were unlocking the additional core they started using a laser to etch out the 4th core in their remaining stock, so that it was destroyed and not able to be unlocked.

Not completely true.

I have the Heka model and it's ran fine for months unlocked.