Such irony this really is. Consumer demand for AMD triple-core Phenom II CPUs is seeing an upsurge following recent reports that the fourth core can be enabled by BIOS settings on certain motherboards, according to board makers.

Motherboard makers said the credibility of the reports is very high, but added that the method may only apply to certain batches of CPUs. AMD responded in saying that Phenom II X3 CPUs speak for themselves in terms of value, but said it cannot comment specifically on the unlocking claims.

The company has reporedly asked motherboard vendors to fix the "buggy BIOS". Ironically, in the wake of the DigiTimes report about upsurge in demand, AMD gave another statement, saying that the value Phenom II X3 processors offer speaks for itself.

For those interested, the Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz sells here for $149.99