I really want to know if anyone knows the real difference in these two since the 6400 BE is unlocked, but only to lower multipliers?  can one be Oc'd more than the next?  I would assume that both can be adjusted in terms of fsb and the vcore to increase the ghz the same, am i wrong?  

yeah i guess they are both the same.but i think you do get better chip since the BE is a overclocker chip.

well, is it worth the lack of rma support to order a 6400 BE form another site and get the rest of my stuff from a reliable source?  or should i just get the regular 6400 and everything else from one reliable, fast shipping location?

really depends where you put your values, if you value support then go 6400+
 
theoretically the BE is the better chip, slightly
i own a 6400+ BE and found that it (at least mine) prefers odd multipliers; being a 16x multiplier out of the box i couldn't get the ghz i could with a 15x multiplier. basically you might get an extra 100/200mhz out of the BE

wouldnt you be able to get that with a 6400 as well?  also, why would the 6400 have better support?

i dont know of a "reliable" source to get the BE anymore; with places such like newegg your more likely receive better customer support when you have a problem. as for software/hardware support i dont believe there's a difference.
 
with the 6400+ your stuck at a 16x multiplier, the only way to overclock is playing with the fsb and voltages. with the 6400+ BE you have the option to use lower multipliers which will allow for higher fsb; sometimes resulting in higher clock speeds. in my case a 15x multiplier performs better than a 16x
i dont know why they decided to only unlock the lower multipliers, seems more like a marketing ploy than anything
 
then again, you might get lucky with a 6400+ and be able to overclock higher than most BE's
 
if i were you id just get whichever one is cheaper; the little extra you'll get out of the BE might be worth $5/$10; that and you can always contact amd with any problems

well, i can get the 6400 BE from tiger and compusa, but the egg only has the 6400.  the BE is actually $10 less than the 6400 now, but more shipping.  its really a toss up, other than getting it from a reliable source such as the egg.

i must have overlooked it at tiger, and was too lazy to check many other places. tigerdirect seems almost as good as newegg (from experience); as for compusa i think they own tigerdirect. they always have the exact same items for the same prices.
maybe you could go to a compusa store and see if they will order it for you, that might lower shipping charges; if theres one in your area
 
but yeah, definitely go with the BE

thanks for the help guys, i pulled the trigger and got the BE. saved me $3.  i'll get in one of the forums once i get it up and running.

Don't worry, tiger has always been pretty good to me.  I considered them on par with the egg until recently when they stopped stocking some of the new stuff (780G MBs, 9x50 Phenoms).  In fact, I just made an order from them a couple weeks ago.

Less than a month later I'm looking at the exact situation. I want to build on the 6400+ but not sure to buy the 6400+ from newegg, or go somewhere like Amazon for the BE (Even Tiger is not carrying the BE anymore).  
 
Any thoughts?
 
 
Also, I'm looking for the best am2/am2+ motherboard that I can buy - around $200 (less is good and maybe a bit more 30+?).

well, you can check compusa for the 6400 BE, thats where i found it for less shipping than tiger.  for the motherboard, you need to give a little more details on what you want if you want recommendations.  at least how many PCI Express 2.0 you want.  most of the boards are under $200, you should be fine there.  unless you were looking for the chip and mobo for around $200.  with the chip at $160, you could get a board for about $100.  is $260 in your budget?

Yea I might do that for the chip. Isn't CompUSA going out of business?
 
But anyways. I'm looking to probably just 2 pci-e 2.0. 4+ Sata, room for 4 DIMM's and no onboard video.  
 
Really my only other condition is that it not be MSI. I've had some horrible luck with them in the past.  
 
Oh, and up to 200 on the board alone.

well, i'm not impressed with some reviews of the Gigabyte mobo's, but maybe you could give this one a shot...
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813153097
 
i think it might be a good bet with good overclocking capabilities.  so it seems.

Yea I've been looking and that's one that I landed on. Kinda worried as I cannot find any other reviews (quick-er google search).  
 
Any experience or knowledge of JetWay?

well, there isnt much info out there on Jetway, but i think they are much bigger in Japan.  here are some links that give a little info:
 
http://www.jetway.com.tw/jw/mother [...] 04-Extreme
 
http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id- [...] treme.html
 
http://jennyqiu.en.ec21.com/produc [...] 04-Extreme
 
i don't know if those will help, but it still seems like a good board to me.

There is no difference in the 2. I actually just had it out with them and the conclusion that they came to with me was" The difference in the BE and the retail 6400+ is that you get a Collectors edition box"! That is exactly what I was told word for word by one of their reps. Oh and it doesn't have an unlocked multiplier. According to the rep I talked to,"We do not recommend overclocking your CPU as it voids your warranty!!!",but then you bring out a 5000+ BE with an unlocked multiplier. And he just pretty much stuttered and had nothing else to say to me. I think that it is kinda shady that they misled me and others into believing that it had high OC potential. When in actuality it doesn't and costs more than the retail version that comes with a fan. Anyway that being said....I am staying away from AMD!I have never used anything but them ,so I guess I better get to learning Intel products a little more.

No difference. One comes with the stock HSF the other one doesn't.

I just ordered from tiger direct today 5-16-08 the BE 6400 $163.99 and asked if they would match NEWEGGS free delivery and they did , for AMD I think its the best way to go until the quards have a stable proven track record , dont ya think ?

I'll keep this ABIT AN-M2HD board until I get an AMD quard 9850 cpu and mabey the CROSSHAIR ll  MB , gonna see some nice MB's comming out in the next few months to go with the AMD quards !! For now thats why I went for the BE 6400 I think it might even be rare and unatainable in the far nere future , right ?