Solved Processor info is showing wrongly in system info after changing MB

[hanuma]

Yesterday I bought a new mother board for my PC my Processor model is AMD Athlon II X3 440 Triple Core Processor, but after changing Mother Board in system information it's showing my Processor as AMD Phenom II 4 B40 four core processor. I don't know why it is showing like this. Is this dangerous for my hardware? I used AM2N68-AM PLUS before and now I changed M5A78L-M LX. Except this every thing else is perfect.

 

[TwoCables]

It's not dangerous, but I believe you can get it to display correctly. All you have to do is open Device Manager, right-click each entry for the CPU and choose Uninstall. When you're finished, reboot and then open Device Manager up when it's done rebooting and check the CPU again. It should be showing up correctly after that, but if not then we'll go from there.

 

[hanuma]

I did the same process as you said but it is still showing same as before. Intact in my bios information too it's showing the same as OS information.

 

[TwoCables]

Interesting. Does Task Manager show that you have 4 cores too?

 

[hanuma]

Yes in task manager also it's showing 4CPUs. I'm totally confused, I haven't changed OS after changing mother board, I just removed old drivers and installed new mother board drivers, is it reason for this kind of strange thing...

 

[TwoCables]

Then your CPU must have somehow been unlocked just by getting this new motherboard. That's all I can think of. It seems like a pretty good deal to me.

 

[braddersz]

What BIOS version are you running on the M5A78L-M LX motherboard.
I see there are Bios updates available for this board from ASUS, That patch CPU issues.

 

[hanuma]

Ok now one thing is clear that my CPU has been automatically unlocked without my knowledge or by mother board's default setting. Will unlocking CPU without proper cooling system affect processors life and performance? If yes can you please tell me how can I set it default settings?

In my bios information it is showing its version as 0902 and build date as 03/26/12.

 

[braddersz]

MAke sure I have your correct Board listed. Heres a list of Bios updates, Perhaps install the latest one.

NOTE: If you have the ASUS utility installed, You should be able to update bios via windows.

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download M5A78L-M LX

 

[Mark Phelps]

I normally advise strongly AGAINST BIOS updates -- usually because folks jump into doing them because they think they are "miracle cures" for things that are wrong with their PCs -- but in this case, I strongly SUPPORT looking through the BIOS updates to see which ones address different processor versions.

If your BIOS is giving you the wrong information, it could also be supplying the processor the wrong voltages and monitoring the processor temps improperly, too. It's not just a naming problem -- the BIOS needs to be able to recognize the processor correctly.

 

[hanuma]

Thank you all for your support after loading default settings of bios now its showing my processor information as before. I think all this problem started when I connected my front panel USB panel to wrong portof MB. My system wasn't booting up and started to shut down in 15 sec after powering it on. May be at that time I chose 4 core enable option. Now after loading default settings of bios every thing is fine. Once again thank you all for your support.

 

[TwoCables]

Oh, yeah that must have been it!

If you want to re-enable it, then I recommend doing some research on it. I've never learned anything about this because I'm more into Intel, but I see a ton of people unlocking theirs over on Overclock.net.

 

[stormy13]

Also known as core unlocking,

How AMD Core Unlocking Works | bit-tech.net

Unlocking Athlon II / Phenom II cores and L3 cache

and for the most part is perfectly safe as long as the unlocked core(s) is stable. On some of the CPU's the core(s) are locked because they are defective, on others they are locked to fill demand for that type of CPU (x2, x3). It is also a way to get a better CPU (more cores) for less.

Only way to find out if the unlocked core is stable is to test it with stress test or gaming even. If it is you can leave it unlocked and use it as a quad core instead of a triple core.