Unlocking 2400+

[Micke]

Hi, I recently bought a NF7 motherboard. I already have an athlon xp 2400+ cpu and want to oc it. The multipler was locked and the NF7 board could not unlock it. I decided to try Gao's method when you connect 2 pinns on the cpu but it did not work, the multipler is still locked, I've used conductive silver paint and twisted wire but nothing works.
Is this a common thing and is there any other method i should try?

I also have another question. Now I am using the intergreated sound that is built into the motherboard (no soundstorm). How muck performace do I drop in games compared to a "real" soundcard?

[flat-v8]

If its locked its locked, but dont worry just OC using FSB, on NF7 you should be able to get a real decent OC. I have always loved the Thorobred chips for OC ability, but Newegg sent me one of the last Thorton 2400+ XP's they sold, I have never even seen one but man I'll tell you that thing rocked! Runs rock solid at over 2500 MHZ and it was multiplier locked! This Thorton had a high LOCKED multiplier of 15x I set FSB to 172, vcore to 1.75 and she purrrs on a cheap Biostar NForce board.

[Micke]

Thanks for the reply..
So you mean there are CPU:s that cant be unlocked no mather what method you try?

[flat-v8]

You cant unlock any modern Intel chip, FSB overclocking is the only way with Pentiums except the old Pentium 1s. Most AMD processors can be multiplier unlocked, but the methods have changed with each new core revision and generally gotten harder and frankly not worth the hassel or the chance of runing the processor all together. Best thing is the motherboards today allow for so much more control in tweaking to squeeze performance out of all componets, having an unlocked multiplier on CPU isn't that big a deal. The best Athlon XP is the Mobile chips, they are factory unlocked and run nice and cool. I have a Mobile Barton 2500 (actual speed 1.83 mhz) Running perfectly @2610 mhz, I have had it running fine @2750 mhz but was too hot for my liking. Get one before they are gone!