AMD Phenom II x2 555 BE Unlocks/AM3 Upgrade

[therandomuser]

Hi there, I'm currently running a 555 BE @4.0Ghz on my AM2+ mobo and I think it's about time to replace it for a newer one. My current board has seen better days running the Athlon 64. The CPU is pretty new, about a month or so since I bought it (pulled a little too hard on my Phenom X3 during a routine heatsink cleaning and bent a sizeable area of pins).

Current specs:
AMD Phenom II x2 555 BE @ 4.0Ghz
Foxconn AM2+ Mobo
GSkill 2x1GB DDR2 1066
500 GB WD Caviar Blue SATA
80 GB WD Caviar Blue PATA (don't really wanna move the files in there, if ya know what I mean )
HIS Radeon HD 5770
Win7 Ultimate 64Bit

I've been researching the core unlock feature, and so far most of what I've read say that the 555 has the best chance of unlocking all 4 cores. Is this true out of all the Phenom II? Also, is it worth it if I upgrade to an AM3 mobo and get the 4-8GB DDR3 RAM too? I'm not much of a heavy user, some moderate gaming and book keeping. Thanks in advance, tru out!

 

[therandomuser]

Bumpity

 

[xerxces]

Sometimes all cores are just locked for selling purposes and sometimes they are locked becasue they are faulty so it just all depends.

 

[xerxces]

Also, if you are not a heavy user, 4GB ram will be enough to run pretty much any game so use that money. What is your budget?

 

[therandomuser]

The reason I was asking about the 555 chips is because that batch of chips had more unlockable stable cores. Seems as though they were intent on selling the dual-cores rather than actual harvesting. That's what the unlock stats say at least.

My budget currently stands at $200 for a new mobo and RAM. I'm leaning on getting an AM3 board for future proofing. Hopefully the Bulldozers will work on AM3, and not just on AM3+.

 

[therandomuser]

Bumpity

 

[therandomuser]

Narrowed down what I'm considering:

G.Skill RAM
MSI mobo

 

[cz-75]

I unlike mine to an X3, but one core is bad.

 

[Wisecracker]

MSI AM3 Motherboards Which (Will) Support AM3+ Processors

The motherboard you selected is not on The List.


[:jaydeejohn:5]

 

[therandomuser]

Best answer selected by therandomuser.

 

[therandomuser]

Thanks wisecracker! Gonna put in the order for this and the RAM on order tonight.

 

[Wisecracker]

Enjoy your new stuff.

My PhII 555 is a champ -- an unlocking and under-volting monster.

Hopefully you will have success in the "AMD Chip Lottery" with unlocking yours, but if not, what the heck?

You'll just have to be satisfied with OC'ing the snot out of it -- LOL

 

[therandomuser]

Hopefully indeed. I live a few cities away from the So Cal warehouse so the egg delivers in 3 days or less. Last time I bought from them, my 555 arrived next day after ordering (I think they just sent out a guy to deliver it to my door LOL). Should be in by tomorrow afternoon. Will give an update on unlock, but for now tru out!

 

[therandomuser]

Success! My 555 has become a B55, but I had to downclock to 3.6GHz. Crappy, dinky stock heatsink is crappy and dinky!