AMD Locking Bartons

Zardon · Dec 22, 2003, 11:30 PM

Saw this posted over at hardocp

A few weeks ago we posted links to various forums that were reporting their AthlonXP Barton-cored CPUs were showing up with locked multipliers. We called AMD and asked around as to what the hell was going on and got the basic AMD answer. To paraphrase they said that they would always take the needed steps to ensure CPU security. Basically they neither confirmed nor denied the direct question. But in AMD-ese, this is a confirmation in my mind. With the AFX being marketed as an unlocked CPU and the A64 being locked, it only makes sense to now lock their low end skus. A thread is here for further reading. This seems to be the general consensus posted by C627627:

• All 2003 weeks 43 and later Bartons and Thoroughbreds are locked.
• Some weeks 35 to 43 are locked, some are not, and that includes Thoroughbreds, Thortons and Durons.
• There are rare cases of post 2003 week 43 unlocked Durons.

brc64 · Dec 23, 2003, 12:18 AM

Waitaminute.. so are you saying that this Barton I bought a few months back might be unlocked? I thought AMD locked the multiplier on all their CPUs (like Intel), and they all had to be unlocked using the "pencil trick" or some variation.... this isn't the case? Huh.. learn something new every day. I guess I really need to invest in some better cooling so I can do some good overclocking..

- Me

BWX · Dec 23, 2003, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by brc64
Waitaminute.. so are you saying that this Barton I bought a few months back might be unlocked? I thought AMD locked the multiplier on all their CPUs (like Intel), and they all had to be unlocked using the "pencil trick" or some variation.... this isn't the case? Huh.. learn something new every day. I guess I really need to invest in some better cooling so I can do some good overclocking..

- Me

All Tbreds and And the First bartons were unlocked- they just started locking them. The palamino's were locked too- I guess I'll be getting one of those AMD Athlon XP1700+ 1.47GHZ 384K 266 Tbred (JIUHB:0310WPMW) Tbred B's- To me a locked AMD cpu is a crap AMD cpu. I wonder if any sites guarantee a 2500+ date code, or if it is unlocked or not?

~~craig588~~ · Dec 23, 2003, 01:58 AM

nope, none that I have found.

BWX · Dec 23, 2003, 02:21 AM

Is this one unlocked then?

AQZFA:0344XPMW -- AMD Athlon XP2500+ 1.83GHZ BARTON RETAIL

*edit

Forget it-

locked:
AQXCA 0340

AQXFA 0339
AQXFA 0340 MPMW
AQXFA 0334 (?, since there are no other reports of pre week 39 locks)

AQYFA 0340
AQYFA 0341
AQYFA 0342
AQYFA 0343 RPMW

AQZEA 0341
AQZFA 0342 UPMW
AQZFA 0339 UPMW

unlocked:
AQZEA 0334
AQZEA 0339 UPMW
AQZFA 0340 UPMW
AQXFA 0336

I guess if I need to buy really fast ram to OC an AMD CPU now, I might as well sell the NF7 and buy a Pentium 2.6c w/ compatible mobo- AMD locking their CPU's is a slap in the face. WTF did I buy this NF7 for? I thought I would be able to pick up an unlocked 2500+ barton, and change the multiplier on it- WTF-
AMD sucks for doing this. Merry Christmas to us huh?. Maybe Intel is the way to go now.

~~craig588~~ · Dec 23, 2003, 03:02 AM

yep, my next CPU will be intel. (well after the prommie

)

~~DriveEuro~~ · Dec 23, 2003, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Zardon
Saw this posted over at hardocp

A few weeks ago we posted links to various forums that were reporting their AthlonXP Barton-cored CPUs were showing up with locked multipliers. We called AMD and asked around as to what the hell was going on and got the basic AMD answer. To paraphrase they said that they would always take the needed steps to ensure CPU security. Basically they neither confirmed nor denied the direct question. But in AMD-ese, this is a confirmation in my mind. With the AFX being marketed as an unlocked CPU and the A64 being locked, it only makes sense to now lock their low end skus. A thread is here for further reading. This seems to be the general consensus posted by C627627:

• All 2003 weeks 43 and later Bartons and Thoroughbreds are locked.
• Some weeks 35 to 43 are locked, some are not, and that includes Thoroughbreds, Thortons and Durons.
• There are rare cases of post 2003 week 43 unlocked Durons.

No offense.... But you people didn't know about this nearly 2 months ago?? Wow....

BWX · Dec 23, 2003, 02:44 PM

I heard that some 2500's were locked a month or so ago, but I didn't know ALL AMD cpu's were going to be locked form now on! (accept the ones that cost over 600 dollars- which doesn't count for sh!t)

Hmm, lets see. A couple really good games that are supposed to be out this year never get released, then a bunch more PC games turn out to be nothing more than average, ranging to absolutely crappy Xbox ports that could have actually been great games. Then The RIAA starts suing little girls to scare all the "evil" downloaders. People get their internet service pulled out from under them by moronic ISP's like Cumcast who give no bandwidth limits, but ban people from their monopolized service for downloading "too much" . The government is probably going to start taxing the internet (I believe because of the need to pay for THEM to SPY on US)- we get to pay for them to infringe on our privacy, nice.

Then, on top of ALL that, AMD decides to lock their CPU's, the only reason that I think AMD's are worth buying now. Anyone else see a patern here? People who use the internet and PC's are getting hosed. What's next?

FluffyChicken · Dec 23, 2003, 02:54 PM

lol

Zardon · Dec 23, 2003, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DriveEuro
No offense.... But you people didn't know about this nearly 2 months ago?? Wow....

I knew about it three months ago, no offense but didnt you ? WOW !!

zerodamage · Dec 23, 2003, 04:14 PM

Actually, I think most of the Bartons are locked and some of the mobo's unlock the multiplier for you. I know that mine is locked and my Epox 8rda+ unlocks it. Now I could be wrong......

BWX · Dec 23, 2003, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by zerodamage
Actually, I think most of the Bartons are locked and some of the mobo's unlock the multiplier for you. I know that mine is locked and my Epox 8rda+ unlocks it. Now I could be wrong......

I think the new ones won't even unlock that way on any motherboard- and the wire trick doesn't work either..

Dec 22, 2003, 11:30 PM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,481 Rep Power: 162	AMD Locking Bartons Saw this posted over at hardocp A few weeks ago we posted links to various forums that were reporting their AthlonXP Barton-cored CPUs were showing up with locked multipliers. We called AMD and asked around as to what the hell was going on and got the basic AMD answer. To paraphrase they said that they would always take the needed steps to ensure CPU security. Basically they neither confirmed nor denied the direct question. But in AMD-ese, this is a confirmation in my mind. With the AFX being marketed as an unlocked CPU and the A64 being locked, it only makes sense to now lock their low end skus. A thread is here for further reading. This seems to be the general consensus posted by C627627: • All 2003 weeks 43 and later Bartons and Thoroughbreds are locked. • Some weeks 35 to 43 are locked, some are not, and that includes Thoroughbreds, Thortons and Durons. • There are rare cases of post 2003 week 43 unlocked Durons.

Dec 23, 2003, 12:18 AM	#2
brc64 Zeeky H. Bomb Join Date: May 2002 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 826 Rep Power: 0	Re: AMD Locking Bartons Waitaminute.. so are you saying that this Barton I bought a few months back might be unlocked? I thought AMD locked the multiplier on all their CPUs (like Intel), and they all had to be unlocked using the "pencil trick" or some variation.... this isn't the case? Huh.. learn something new every day. I guess I really need to invest in some better cooling so I can do some good overclocking.. - Me

Dec 23, 2003, 02:21 AM	#5
BWX Spinal Tapped Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,579 Rep Power: 95 System Specs	Is this one unlocked then? AQZFA:0344XPMW -- AMD Athlon XP2500+ 1.83GHZ BARTON RETAIL edit Forget it- locked: AQXCA 0340 AQXFA 0339 AQXFA 0340 MPMW AQXFA 0334 (?, since there are no other reports of pre week 39 locks) AQYFA 0340 AQYFA 0341 AQYFA 0342 AQYFA 0343 RPMW AQZEA 0341 AQZFA 0342 UPMW AQZFA 0339 UPMW unlocked: AQZEA 0334 AQZEA 0339 UPMW AQZFA 0340 UPMW AQXFA 0336 I guess if I need to buy really fast ram to OC an AMD CPU now, I might as well sell the NF7 and buy a Pentium 2.6c w/ compatible mobo- AMD locking their CPU's is a slap in the face. WTF did I buy this NF7 for? I thought I would be able to pick up an unlocked 2500+ barton, and change the multiplier on it- WTF- AMD sucks for doing this. Merry Christmas to us huh?. Maybe Intel is the way to go now. __________________ One Big Ass Mistake America Last edited by BWX; Dec 23, 2003 at 03:17 AM.*

Dec 23, 2003, 02:44 PM	#8
BWX Spinal Tapped Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,579 Rep Power: 95 System Specs	I heard that some 2500's were locked a month or so ago, but I didn't know ALL AMD cpu's were going to be locked form now on! (accept the ones that cost over 600 dollars- which doesn't count for sh!t) Hmm, lets see. A couple really good games that are supposed to be out this year never get released, then a bunch more PC games turn out to be nothing more than average, ranging to absolutely crappy Xbox ports that could have actually been great games. Then The RIAA starts suing little girls to scare all the "evil" downloaders. People get their internet service pulled out from under them by moronic ISP's like Cumcast who give no bandwidth limits, but ban people from their monopolized service for downloading "too much" . The government is probably going to start taxing the internet (I believe because of the need to pay for THEM to SPY on US)- we get to pay for them to infringe on our privacy, nice. Then, on top of ALL that, AMD decides to lock their CPU's, the only reason that I think AMD's are worth buying now. Anyone else see a patern here? People who use the internet and PC's are getting hosed. What's next? __________________ One Big Ass Mistake America Last edited by BWX; Dec 23, 2003 at 03:08 PM.

Dec 23, 2003, 02:54 PM	#9
FluffyChicken DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: England Posts: 320 Rep Power: 0	lol __________________ [COLOR=#455b64]Team mauisun.org [/COLOR]

Dec 23, 2003, 01:58 AM	#4
~~craig588~~ Banned Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: In clothing Posts: 3,510 Rep Power: 0	nope, none that I have found.

Dec 23, 2003, 03:02 AM	#6
~~craig588~~ Banned Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: In clothing Posts: 3,510 Rep Power: 0	yep, my next CPU will be intel. (well after the prommie )

Dec 23, 2003, 04:14 PM	#11
zerodamage DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 3,475 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Actually, I think most of the Bartons are locked and some of the mobo's unlock the multiplier for you. I know that mine is locked and my Epox 8rda+ unlocks it. Now I could be wrong......