New ASUS BIOS offers more advanced AMD Phenom core unlocking

This is a massive benefit for Phenom II X2, X3 and even Sempron 140 owners that have hidden cores because AMD uses one standard Agena die for its quad, triple and dual Phenom IIs. Often unlocking BOTH of these hidden cores will cause instability if everything isn't 100 per cent working, as AMD sometimes uses duff inventory to fill lower rated products.

Asus' advantage is that if you have just one bad core, you can specify the BIOS to unlock a single, specific core to give you a free triple core that's far more likely to be stable and overclockable. Plus, it's a completely free update: what's not to like!