Opteron 1xx to 2xx?
I've tried to find out whether or not it's possible to turn a 1xx into a 2xx processor. So far, it appears that no one has been able to do it, but it also looks like no one has really tried. People all say that there is no difference between 1xx and 2xx (and 8xx, for that matter) except that somehow amd is locking the hypertransport controllers on the 2xx and 1xx.
During the manufacturing process, they have to test the core at some point and see how many pipelines are working, it would seem that not all the processors that are assigned as 1xx actually have only a single working hypertransport controller.
1xx opterons aren't that expensive, so i think it's worth taking off the heatspreader to figure out what amd does to them.
Thrax, you're usually the expert on amd processors and their intracasies, so do you know anything that will derail my dreams or give them some hope?
Dual opteron motherboards start at 200 for new ones, and i've seen the msi go for 167 on ebay, so a dual opteron machine has popped on the radar as my summer upgrade. I know all the pros and cons of going dual, and I've got a dual p3 1ghz i've had for a long time. It's kind of an irrational desire, just ask geeky1, but i think i'm going to have to go dual again.
Thanks for any help.
During the manufacturing process, they have to test the core at some point and see how many pipelines are working, it would seem that not all the processors that are assigned as 1xx actually have only a single working hypertransport controller.
1xx opterons aren't that expensive, so i think it's worth taking off the heatspreader to figure out what amd does to them.
Thrax, you're usually the expert on amd processors and their intracasies, so do you know anything that will derail my dreams or give them some hope?
Dual opteron motherboards start at 200 for new ones, and i've seen the msi go for 167 on ebay, so a dual opteron machine has popped on the radar as my summer upgrade. I know all the pros and cons of going dual, and I've got a dual p3 1ghz i've had for a long time. It's kind of an irrational desire, just ask geeky1, but i think i'm going to have to go dual again.
Thanks for any help.
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Comments
The lock is 100% internal.
that seems like a rather expensive way to do it. i bet they would have sold enough additional 1xx series to enthusiasts to justify not having a lock. Most people that are going to be building a server are going to buy it from a big company, and if the lock is hard enough that it's a pain in the ass, but still possible, it would just be a great way to price discriminate between enthusiasts who aren't willing to pay as much and enterprise customers who will pay a ton.
the 2xx processors aren't that much more than their 1xx counterparts until you get to the x46, but i won't be getting anything for a little while, so hopefully prices will fall some in the next 3 months.
i really don't think many of the people that actually buy 8xx processors, or even 2xx's, would use unlocked 1xx's if the process of unlocking the 1xx was at all difficult and very large portion of the 2xx's and 8xx's out there are probably sold by large oem's, who certainly wouldn't be unlocking amd's processors.