- Joined
- Feb 4, 2003
- Location
- SF Bay Area
There has been plenty of confusion and questions over the "locking" and "unlocking" processors. I wrote this up in an effort to clarify this for myself and others. Please post if any corrections need to be made.
Athlon Thunderbird 1.2 ghz and below/ Athlon XP Palomino
These processors are factory locked for one multiplier and one multiplier only. Regardless of what motherboard you use, you will only be able to access the one multiplier that came stock, unless you connect and blow bridges.
TBird 1.33 w/133fsb / TBird 1.4ghz/ Athlon XP Thoroughbred 2000+ and lower/ Athlon XP Barton 2500+, 2800+
These processors are factory unlocked for all multipliers.
On Via KT333 and below, and nvidia nForce 420 and below, you can only access multipliers from 5x to 12.5, as they can only read one x8 bit at a time. To access the higher multipliers, you must blow an L3 bridge to force the motherboard to read the higher multipliers. You will be able to use higher multipliers if you do this, but they will appear as lower multpliers in the BIOS. Normally, the lower multis in the bios equate to that multi +8, i.e. if you select 5x in the bios, you get a 13x multiplier.
On nvidia nforce2 and Via KT400 based motherboards, you can use all multipliers between 5x and 20x without altering the processor physically in any way. The two chipsets support these multiplier settings, however not all motherboards using these chipsets do.
TBird 1.33 w/100fsb/ TBred 2100+ and above/ Barton 3000+
These processors are factory unlocked for all multipliers.
On Via KT333 and below, and nvidia nForce 420 and below, you can only access multipliers from 13x to 20x, however they will appear as lower multipliers in the bios. You may connect the L3 bridge to access the lower multipliers. The two chipsets support these multiplier settings, however not all motherboards using these chipsets do.
On nvidia nforce2 and Via KT400 based motherboards, you can use all multipliers between 5x and 20x without altering the processor physically in any way. The two chipsets support these multiplier settings, however not all motherboards using these chipsets do.
Athlon Thunderbird 1.2 ghz and below/ Athlon XP Palomino
These processors are factory locked for one multiplier and one multiplier only. Regardless of what motherboard you use, you will only be able to access the one multiplier that came stock, unless you connect and blow bridges.
TBird 1.33 w/133fsb / TBird 1.4ghz/ Athlon XP Thoroughbred 2000+ and lower/ Athlon XP Barton 2500+, 2800+
These processors are factory unlocked for all multipliers.
On Via KT333 and below, and nvidia nForce 420 and below, you can only access multipliers from 5x to 12.5, as they can only read one x8 bit at a time. To access the higher multipliers, you must blow an L3 bridge to force the motherboard to read the higher multipliers. You will be able to use higher multipliers if you do this, but they will appear as lower multpliers in the BIOS. Normally, the lower multis in the bios equate to that multi +8, i.e. if you select 5x in the bios, you get a 13x multiplier.
On nvidia nforce2 and Via KT400 based motherboards, you can use all multipliers between 5x and 20x without altering the processor physically in any way. The two chipsets support these multiplier settings, however not all motherboards using these chipsets do.
TBird 1.33 w/100fsb/ TBred 2100+ and above/ Barton 3000+
These processors are factory unlocked for all multipliers.
On Via KT333 and below, and nvidia nForce 420 and below, you can only access multipliers from 13x to 20x, however they will appear as lower multipliers in the bios. You may connect the L3 bridge to access the lower multipliers. The two chipsets support these multiplier settings, however not all motherboards using these chipsets do.
On nvidia nforce2 and Via KT400 based motherboards, you can use all multipliers between 5x and 20x without altering the processor physically in any way. The two chipsets support these multiplier settings, however not all motherboards using these chipsets do.
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