Phenom II X2 550 BE or Phenom II X3 720 BE

[TallgeeseCNC]

I'm about to spend about $250 or so dollars on a new motherboard, cpu, and cooler combination. +/- $15 would be within budget. I am interested in the 550 and 720 because of their solid price to performance ratios and a little intrigued by their potential abilities to unlock cores. With the 720 going for $139 on Newegg and the 550 going for $103 the processor price is reasonably close. It does seem however that the 550's have a much higher chance of unlocking the other cores over the chances of the 720 unlocking the fourth. Which one would you roll the dice on? The 720 would require either a BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M or ASRock AOD790GX/128M to be able to unlock the 4th core. The 550 on the other hand could use a GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P which based on the reviews seems to be a superior board in comparison between the other two. I guess I should be taking these reviews with a grain of salt. Either way this will be a first time partial build and I am interested in ease of use with the components I buy. The 550 has a higher potential for win if 2 cores unlock but the 720 is rock solid as is. Both overclock exceptionally well. 720 combo price with the Biostar is $229 while a 550 with the Gigabyte is $213. Of course there are cheaper boards but I was crossfire capability even if it is the watered down version.

I am upgrading from a Pentium D840 with a 955 express chipset. I have a Radeon 4830 that is ball and chained to my well aged processor. I play ETW, run ballistic coefficients with shooting software and browse the web. Let me know which one has the best potential for my needs.

 

[TallgeeseCNC]

Another thing you all may think about; what about getting a ECS A780GM-A Ultra AM2+ board for $75 with a $15 MIR instead of a board with 8x/8x crossfire capability? The 955 express chipset I have doesnt even have PCI-E 2.0 support and I get a little over a score of 7000 on 3dmark06. My Radeon 4830 overclocks by 25% completely stable and haven't pushed it further because I see no gains in 3dmark06 when overclocking at all. Maybe the 840D and 955E mobo are an unbelievable bottleneck and simply ajavascript:%20validform(this);n AM3 ready mobo with a SB750 and PCI-E 2.0 compliance coupled with either of the aforementioned processors would bump my synthetics and real world results significantly. What do you guys think, and does anyone have any similar experience? I could always get a new setup altogether in a year and a half once I graduate with a degree and hopefully snag a better paying job.

 

[astrodudepsu]

personally, I would go with the 720. the reason being is that IF the core unlock fails, at least you have three cores.

in the words of clint eastwood;

"you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk? "

*note* this does not imply you are a punk.

 

[Jim937]

Hi,

I read several times that the Phenom II X2 550 is running on all 4 cores. Not sure if the GA-MA790XT-UD4P will unlock the cores, it's only $15 more the GA-MA790XT-UD4P

GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail Price $124.99 after mir
Support AM3 Socket Phenom II DDR3 CPU Only
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378

We managed to activate both blocked cores on our Phenom II X2 550 sample and turn it into a fully-functional quad-core CPU without any effort. By the way, it immediately overclocked to 3.8GHz.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/phenom-athlon-ii-x2_15.html


THE PHENOM II X2 550 Black Edition chip is much more than a simple "low-end" Phenom II. First tests show that not only is it a joy to overclock, but if you hook it up to the right mainboard, you can activate all four cores on the processor.

Yes, that's right. The cheapest Phenom II around can have all four cores activated... for free. Using AMD's OverDrive we were able to switch on all four cores through the ACC. Unexpected to say the least.
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1184444/phenom-ii-x2-550-black-edition-surprise

 

[mindless728]

i would stay away from ECS boards, not that good IMO

 

[TallgeeseCNC]

Hmm, I really appreciate your input guys thanks a lot. From what I have read the 550 has very high odds that the other 2 cores are unlockable and stable. As for the mobo I'd prefer to stay with DDR2 as I already have 4GB of OCZ even though it only runs 800 mhz. Either way I want to stay with a lower end AM3 cpu. As far as the 790X board from Gigabyte, I believe any board with a 750 series southbridge can unlock the cores. Even boards that cannot unlock the 720's 4th.

 

[JeffJohnson]

Hmm, I really appreciate your input guys thanks a lot. From what I have read the 550 has very high odds that the other 2 cores are unlockable and stable. As for the mobo I'd prefer to stay with DDR2 as I already have 4GB of OCZ even though it only runs 800 mhz. Either way I want to stay with a lower end AM3 cpu. As far as the 790X board from Gigabyte, I believe any board with a 750 series southbridge can unlock the cores. Even boards that cannot unlock the 720's 4th.

I am purchasing a 550 tonight with the hopes of unlocking all 4 cores. Still debating what memory brand to get though....

Even if my unlock fails...the 550 can be overclocked big time and MOST applications out there will not benefit from the extra cores. Several that I use should (Photoshop)..but I'll take that risk.


I'll post on how it turns out once I get it all up and running (probably this weekend depending on how fast Newegg ships)

 

[TallgeeseCNC]

Awesome I appreciate it. From what I have read the vast majority of people with boards capable of ACC have successfully and stably unlocked the 2 other cores. This is such a huge deal it is very tough to pass up even though this would blow a good amount of my extra cash. With the 720 BE priced at $120 on Newegg now instead of $135 I am tempted to go that route too. I would just rather have a Gigabyte board with the unlocked 550 than a Biostar with the unlocked 720.

 

[M3T4LM4N222]

Get the 720. I got the 550, and was not able to unlock the cores. I am 100% sure I have the right south bridge, and I even downloaded the Beta Bios which I am also 100% supports Unlocking, and no unlock. So I got a 550 with 2 fully disabled cores, and now have to send it back and pay a $15 restocking fee.

 

[smithereen]

So you got what you paid for. I don't know, consider unlockable cores a bonus, not part of the product. Like getting a CPU that OCs particularly well.

 

[TallgeeseCNC]

I have always loved the idea of a triple core, and have always enjoy the price performance of the 720. To say I need a quad core would be lying... my Pentium D840 does a respectable job for its age, but that's just because I'm oblivious to the speed new hardware can provide. I am confident I would see huge speed and performance increases with the 720 or 550 but with a now $17 difference I really like the guarantee of at least 3 very solid and overclocker friendly CPU. I only wish the 720 came in a good combo deal with a very solid DDR2 board.

 

[AlphaOmegaX]

I have always loved the idea of a triple core, and have always enjoy the price performance of the 720. To say I need a quad core would be lying... my Pentium D840 does a respectable job for its age, but that's just because I'm oblivious to the speed new hardware can provide. I am confident I would see huge speed and performance increases with the 720 or 550 but with a now $17 difference I really like the guarantee of at least 3 very solid and overclocker friendly CPU. I only wish the 720 came in a good combo deal with a very solid DDR2 board.

I got My 720 & an Asus DDR3 790GX board for 194.99?

So hey, mobo for 75 bucks. Then ddr3 isn't too expensive either

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.203011

 

[TallgeeseCNC]

Okay Alpha I did notice that combo but I do already have 4GB of OCZ DDR2 800 ram and am not too keen on replacing it unless I would see substantial increases without spending over $65 on the new modules. For example, in combination with a x3 720 for $120:

If I use my DDR2 modules then I will go with the Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P for $109.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387

I can then afford to buy the XIGMATEK HDT-SD964 for $23.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233014

On the other hand if I go with this combo, http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.203011 for $195. The problem lies in the fact that I then need to buy DDR3 ram. I am looking at these modules with that combo:

G-Skill 4GB DDR3 1333 $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231200

OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB DDR3 1333 $64
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227293

Mushkin modules are just seemingly a tad too pricey. I know they are superb but the G-Skills have better specs on paper and seem to perform accordingly given the right mobo. DDR3 1600 speeds hike prices even further and the modules within $10-15 of the 1333 speeds seem to have spacey timings. From what I understand slightly slower memory speeds with very tight timings trump faster memory speeds with lazy timings.

But for comparisons sake here is a reasonable 1600 module OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227320

Also is a 6-6-6-20 timing better than a 7-7-7-18 at 1333mhz? I don't seem to completely understand the overall performance affects in the minor differences. Either way I would not really be able to afford the XIGMATEK HDT-SD964 unless I waited another week or two to save up. All in all is it worth the extra money to go ahead and snag an AM3 board? And will the DDR3 1333 modules perform well or better in comparison to my DDR2 800 modules? I'd like to save the money if possible. Either way it's a huge upgrade from my Pentium D840.

 

[AlphaOmegaX]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227297

These are the modules I went with. Simply because I read good reviews about them overclocking well.

They were only 70.99 when I ordered them. If you're not in any hurries I can let you know how my system performs when it's finally done. Ram & mobo come tomorrow. Everything else literally came today. I got screwed pretty much.

I bought the cpu/mobo combo, the ram, a 4890 and a 640gb caviar black...then a corsair tx650 to power all the case fans & crap I bought Although now I wish I had bought the 750. Oh well. I'll just buy one when I build my wife's tower and swap them. Muaha.

On a serious not though I can let you know how ddr3 fares

And for teh cas...divide the latency by the ram speed... i.e. 6/1333

The lower the better. I think.

 

[Melvinado]

I have gigabyte ma790gp-ud4h motherboard, had an asrock a790gxh before and it was pretty nice but not as good as gigabyte, which also costs more. I have had bot phenom II x3 720 and x2 550. I got lucky and my 720 unlocks core and i can do 4 cores at 3.4 ghz, but not "stable", it will crash in varying amounts of time running prime95, which maxes out all cores to %100 and heats it up big time. I can, however, play gta iv or crysis or do many other demanding things for hours without any problem. the x2 550 i got won't unlock at all, won't even post w/ acc enabled, i have to clear cmos to get a screen. I'll do more reading to see if there's something i haven't tried that might make it work tho.

 

[Melvinado]

I have gigabyte ma790gp-ud4h motherboard, had an asrock a790gxh before and it was pretty nice but not as good as gigabyte, which also costs more. I have had bot phenom II x3 720 and x2 550. I got lucky and my 720 unlocks core and i can do 4 cores at 3.4 ghz, but not "stable", it will crash in varying amounts of time running prime95, which maxes out all cores to %100 and heats it up big time. I can, however, play gta iv or crysis or do many other demanding things for hours without any problem. the x2 550 i got won't unlock at all, won't even post w/ acc enabled, i have to clear cmos to get a screen. I'll do more reading to see if there's something i haven't tried that might make it work tho. The phenom x3 720 worked just fine w/ 3 cores, just use 4 cause i can.

 

[TallgeeseCNC]

Okay I currently have a Pentium D 840 running at 3.2GHz coupled with a 955 Express motherboard from Dell and DDR2 memory running at 667Mhz. The modules I have are actually capable of running at 800MHz:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227267

I am going to buy a Phenom II x3 720 BE processor and am looking at the following combos:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.200066

720 BE + BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M = $194 which is AM2+ using DDR2 or...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.205337

720 BE + ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX = $195 which obviously uses DDR3 which I currently have no modules of.

Either way I go I will see a huge upgrade when combined with my MSI 4830 running on an old school PCIe 1.0 x16 pathway with 667MHz memory speeds. Is the performance really worth bumping up to $65ish DDR3 modules or do you agree with my uncertain opinion that my OCZ DDR2 800MHz modules are plenty bang for the buck and aren't even completely appreciated yet? I am a little leary of the Biostar board as I use a RAID 0 configuration for storage and hav.e read that this board can be troublesome when setting up SATA RAID configs. Do you guys sense user incompetence or a real issue? This would be my first "build" so to speak and it's not even a complete one at that so I prefer the path of least resistance. I feel that my OCZ memory is still too useful to just ditch but like I said I have no experience with Biostar but feel confident in ASUS. Chime in with some experiences and opinions!

 

[tidefan94]

Both are fairly reliable brands, but honestly, I don't think DDR3 would be that much of a boost for you.

 

[videl]

I'm about to spend about $250 or so dollars on a new motherboard, cpu, and cooler combination. +/- $15 would be within budget. I am interested in the 550 and 720 because of their solid price to performance ratios and a little intrigued by their potential abilities to unlock cores. With the 720 going for $139 on Newegg and the 550 going for $103 the processor price is reasonably close. It does seem however that the 550's have a much higher chance of unlocking the other cores over the chances of the 720 unlocking the fourth. Which one would you roll the dice on? The 720 would require either a BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M or ASRock AOD790GX/128M to be able to unlock the 4th core. The 550 on the other hand could use a GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P which based on the reviews seems to be a superior board in comparison between the other two. I guess I should be taking these reviews with a grain of salt. Either way this will be a first time partial build and I am interested in ease of use with the components I buy. The 550 has a higher potential for win if 2 cores unlock but the 720 is rock solid as is. Both overclock exceptionally well. 720 combo price with the Biostar is $229 while a 550 with the Gigabyte is $213. Of course there are cheaper boards but I was crossfire capability even if it is the watered down version.

I am upgrading from a Pentium D840 with a 955 express chipset. I have a Radeon 4830 that is ball and chained to my well aged processor. I play ETW, run ballistic coefficients with shooting software and browse the web. Let me know which one has the best potential for my needs.

The 550 is a great choice, it does have a very high chance of unlocking cores successfully. There is another motherboard I'm sure will work with unlocking cores, GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P. Its cheaper than the UD4P and should work just as well. You might need a bios update. And remember to select the hybrid option in the ACC if you want to unlock cores.

 

[Jai2009]

Just bought a new system this Saturday. I paired the Phenom 550 with Gigabyte GA-MA790XT. First thing I did was update the bios and proceeded to unlock the 2 cores with ACC. I ran Prime95 stabled for 7 hrs this morning and now am running it with an OC of x17.5 multiplier. Even if I can't OC it, its still a steal to have a 45nm quad core CPU for this price.

 

[RazberyBandit]

I just bought both of these CPUs, which I'll be pairing with both the Gigabyte MA790X-UD4P and Biostar TFORCE TA790GX 128M (both AM2+, not AM3). I also chose two different pairs of 2x2GB G-Skill RAM for each - the F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK (DDR2-1066) and F2-8800CL5D-4GBPI (DDR2-1100, 1.8v-1.9v). I already have a ZEROTherm BTF80 cooler, and ordered a new ZEROTherm ZN120, so I should be good to go as far as keeping these suckers cooled as I test.

It's going to be a pain in the arse, but I'll find out which one is the kick-ass combo as I test each and every option to see how each one OC's and/or unlocks on each motherboard. From what I've read, the Biostar board has had success unlocking cores, and the Gigabyte board OC's like a beast... Once they arrive and I get a day or two to tinker around, I'll post results. But I'm already drooling with anticipation.

Oh! I'll be sure to test different BIOS versions as well. Already have several downloaded

 

[msroadkill612]

I just bought both of these CPUs, which I'll be pairing with both the Gigabyte MA790X-UD4P and Biostar TFORCE TA790GX 128M (both AM2+, not AM3). I also chose two different pairs of 2x2GB G-Skill RAM for each - the F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK (DDR2-1066) and F2-8800CL5D-4GBPI (DDR2-1100, 1.8v-1.9v). I already have a ZEROTherm BTF80 cooler, and ordered a new ZEROTherm ZN120, so I should be good to go as far as keeping these suckers cooled as I test.

It's going to be a pain in the arse, but I'll find out which one is the kick-ass combo as I test each and every option to see how each one OC's and/or unlocks on each motherboard. From what I've read, the Biostar board has had success unlocking cores, and the Gigabyte board OC's like a beast... Once they arrive and I get a day or two to tinker around, I'll post results. But I'm already drooling with anticipation.

Oh! I'll be sure to test different BIOS versions as well. Already have several downloaded

I willalso be drooling - for your results.

 

[TallgeeseCNC]

Awesome Razbery I appreciate it. Those are the exact two boards I am comparing atm and I am trying to decide to go with a 720 or 550 again because of the surge of reviews of newegg of successfully unlocked cores. The biostar board does seem to unlock well but I use a RAID 0 setup with 2 160GB hd's and would like to keep it that way, and I have read many a bad review on the biostar's ability to setup RAID easily. I am very new to this do it yourself computer building and feel much better about the gigabyte board, but the biostar board may really not be bad at all. It's just hard to argue with the $194 price tag and free shipping for the biostar and 720 BE.

I am considering that combo, a 550 with the gigabyte, or a 720 with the gigabyte. Let me know which one seems to be easier to handle!!!

 

[RazberyBandit]

Most of my parts are arriving tomorrow, with the exception of the DDR2-1100 G-Skill RAM and sound card. However, I have to work tomorrow night, so I'll have no time to tinker until Thursday, my day off. It's back to work Friday through Monday, so I'm sorry to say that truly in-depth tinkering will be delayed...

For me, the choice between the two CPUs for either board was based on my usage, which is primarily gaming and internet-related. A quick look at the parts I have can help explain that in a primarily stock setup with a little overclocking. Core unlocks are truly a bonus, so I'm not entering that into the equation just yet.

My intention has been to stick the 720 on the Gigabyte board along with the DDR2-1100 RAM. This while using an HD4890 on an ASUS VH242H 1920x1080 monitor. This system would become my new gaming rig. Meanwhile, I planned to stick the 550 on the Biostar board using the 1066 RAM and my trusty eVGA 8800GT 512 on either an old Hanns-G HG216D 1680x1050 monitor or Samsung Syncmaster 943SWX 18.5" 1360x768 monitor. I was going to give this system to my kid brother so he could have a decent little gaming rig, which he's been begging for lately. He's still using an old Athlon XP 2000+ system with a 9800XT AGP card. I told him he's got a PS3 and HDTV for games, but he's recently fallen in love with online shooters... LOL

Anyway... The above configurations were all based on whether the two CPUs will run at similar speeds. Let's say that frequency is roughly 3.2-3.4GHz, and without any core unlocks. It simply made sense to have the extra core in my main rig because several of the games I play will make use of it. However, if either one of these CPUs is able to unlock cores while installed on either one of these boards, still OC to a similar frequency range as above and remain stable, that will affect which one ends up where.

All that said, I think my original intentions, which in no way takes into account the possibility of core unlocks, are well-founded and make sense for my usage. Only the possibility of successful core unlocks will change my current configuration plans.

 

[TallgeeseCNC]

Yeah you make a good point, the PII X3 720 is a very strong value and worse case scenario you end up with a processor with it's 3 functional cores that overclock to 3.4 Ghz. Not bad at all, and this combos with the Biostar board are very appealing.

Let me ask you this...is the Biostar board a solid motherboard or is it a little on the cheap side? $194 for a 720 and a 790 series board with watered down crossfire (which is perfectly suitable for 4850s/GTS 250s in CF) is tough to beat. The Gigabyte 790X is $109 which is a reasonable price but without that combo with the 720 BE that puts the tag for the two at $228. $34 is a big difference when in the budget market and thats a solid 92mm heatsink/cooler and premium thermal compound. I just feel like unless the Gigabyte board is simply that much better, my money will go much further with the Biostar option.

Let me know what your experiences are with both boards if you don't mind, as I am very eager to know!