Problems unlocking AMD Sempron 140

[mentalcrisis00]

Hey all

I built my dad a new pc that he wants to use for photoshop and video encoding. The allure of the Sempron 140 for $32 was to much seeming it's possible to unlock the 2nd core on it. I went for it and I can successfully unlock the 2nd core and it's rock solid stable however there is some graphical glitches showing up on the desktop when I do. I imagine it has something to do with the onboard ATI 3000 graphics. I attached a pic below and the specs so let me know what you think and how i might fix this. I think i may need to up the voltage on the chipset but wasn't sure, need second opinion.

AMD Sempron 140 (unlocked by setting ACC to all cores, no other bios settings changed, shows up in cpu-z as X2 440)
Gigabyte MA78LM-S2H with F10 bios
2GB Kingston DDR2 800 ram
Onboard ATI 3000 graphics (updated driver)
500GB WD blue drive
windows 7 32bit fully updated.

 

[Mir96TA]

asuming tyou are using correct drivers
Does it have a dedicated video memory ? (Side port)
If it does disable and use a Main ram (UGA)
If does not have a Video memory, try disabling the IGP and using some PCI or PCIe for testing purpose.
It could be bad Video Card chip.
Now one thing I don't know how does it do with ACC is disable or Lock core is disable ?

 

[formulav8]

If it only does it when you unlock the extra core then it looks like a defective memory controller on the unlocked core.

But first, try taking out one stick of ram and vice-versa to see if its possible that a stick of ram is defective.

Also the memory controller could only be defective when running in dual channel mode. I have a 4200+ x2 that is that way, but in single channel mode it works perfectly fine. So definitely check with a single stick of ram to see how it does in single channel. If it works good in single channel then arrange the sticks of ram in a non-dual channel configuration. You will only lose 5%-7% performance. The extra core will give you MUCH more of a performance increase than that dual channel mode will give you.

I also have a Sempron 140 test system and it unlocked perfectly fine and I run it at 3.8ghz and 2820mhz memory controller and it performs Very well. I paid $28 for it.

Anyways, hopefully you can keep it in dual core mode.


Jason

 

[Phil1977]

Load the cpu with some benchmark. Like Prime 95, 3Dmark, PCMark or something else.

Memtest could also help.

 

[mentalcrisis00]

I had a feeling it might be the ram. Its a 2x 1GB kit of Kingston I bought used off ebay for $35 shipped. I didn't want to pay $60 for 2GB of ram, that's mostly what the prices were on newegg unless i wanted to go super ultra value ram.

To answer the first Q yes it only does this when I turn ACC on and the core is unlocked. When I disable ACC everything goes back to normal. I'll run memtest tonight to see if it turns up errors, if so I'll try and return the ram and buy something from newegg. I'll also try switching the ram around and running prime95 and update if I find out anything.

Thanks

 

[IBuyUFO]

It's your CPU. I've seen this trying to unlock my amd chip and mine is way worse than yours.

 

[mentalcrisis00]

i guess it's the cpu, memtest came back 16 passes and no errors and still having the same problem. Would I see better performance if I replaced it with a AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ AM2 chip? I can get those for $30 and the board I bought doesn't support DDR3 ram anyhow. As I said my dad uses Adobe Premier Elements to transfer video from his mini dv camcorder to DVD. I might be able to get him into using Photoshop for scanning and editing photos. Mostly it's for watching movies and surfing the web.

 

[jvroig]

Would I see better performance if I replaced it with a AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ AM2 chip?

Against a single core Sempron 140? Absolutely.
Against an unlocked (therefore dual core) Sempron? Probably not much if at all. However, since your Sempron doesn't function well when unlocked, then going the cheap X2 5600+ route seems fine.

 

[formulav8]

I have a Phenom2 based 5000+ (2.2ghz, Deneb core) 2x 512mb l2 cache if your interested. I have one that does 3.6ghz without to much trouble. You can try unlocking if you want but i've been unsuccessful. But your mobo may support specific core and/or L3 cache unlocking. I do know there are some gigabyte boards that supports those specific features. Even at stock its still a fast cpu and very cool running as well.

Anyways, I can give it to you for $35 shipped. Just shoot me a pm if interested.


Jason

 

[Phil1977]

Cut your losses. Sell this chip on ebay and buy a Athlon X2 chip.

 

[JACKDRUID]

did you try another videocard?
disable/lessen full-acceleration in display property?
does it happen both oc and stock?
what is system temperature?
try another memory (since igp uses system memory)?