Unlocking an AthlonXP - Unlocking an AthlonXP
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Unlocking the Athlon XP 0.18 micron CPU
Written by: Chad (Memphist0)
Reviewed: October, 2002
Edited by: SPeeD
WGetting Started
First off we have a picture of the un-altered guinea pig. Not that you don't know what it looks like, but it seems like the right thing to do.
If you click on the picture to enlarge it I have circled the L1 bridges so you know which ones we are going to be dealing with.
Step 1. Fill the "trenches" between the L1 connection points with the thermal paste. Smooth the thermal paste out so it is only in the trenches and not on anything else. To do this use a straight edge of a driver's license, credit card, or anything else you have lying around. I also used the point of straight pin to clean off the L1 connection points to make sure the Circuit Writer could make good contact with these points.
Step 2. Mask off the connection points (the gold dots) from the rest of the bridges/connection points. Remove the black rubbery cushion that keeps the heatsink from crushing the core. If you remove this carefully by pealing it up gently using the Exacto Knife to pry it up from underneath it, it makes it much easier to put back on in the end.
Step 3. Mask off the first L1 bridge (the closest to the middle of the processor). Rub the tape on thoroughly to make sure there is no air under the tape that the Circuit Writer fluid could seep into. Remember the connections between the bridges can not touch the other connections.
Step 4. Make a small puddle of the Circuit Writer's fluid on the hard plastic (the case from the Pen works great). Dab the head of the straight pin in the fluid and apply it to the first L1 bridge that you masked off in the previous step. Work quickly here or as you apply the fluid it becomes tacky and you could risk pulling of the previous coating. Let Dry for a couple minutes.
Step 5. Remove only one piece of tape, the one covering the remaining L1 bridge connections. Remove the tape pulling back at an angle. It is less likely to pull off some of the Circuit Writer fluid working this way.
Step 6. Mask off the next set of points making sure that this connection will not come in contact with the previous. Apply the Circuit Writer fluid as we did in step 4.
This is going to cause a layering effect from the tape as we connect each set of points. This is fine. The layers of tape will help the Circuit Writer's fluid from becoming smudged or scratched which would break the connection between the points.
Step 7. Repeat steps 4, 5, and 6 until all five connections have been made.
Step 8. After all the connections are made I put one final piece of tape over all the connections to protect them. Then I trimmed the ape with the Exacto Knife so no pieces of tape were hanging over the edge or stuck to the place the round cushion thing goes. Finally, stick back on the rubber cushion thing that keeps the heatsink level. If you took this thing off carefully the glue on the bottom of it should be more than adequate to hold it on.
After all that your done. You should now be able to unlock any of the multiplier settings in your motherboards bios. If for some reason the processor does not work or you can not unlock the multiplier settings you can easily remove what you have done and try it again. To remove everything simply peel off the tape, use a soft eraser to remove the Circuit Writer's fluid, and then use either the corner of a cloth or a Q-Tip to remove the heatsink compound from the trenches. However, I have had very good luck using this technique and each processor I've tried to unlock has worked the first time.
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