Phenom II X2 550 BE or Phenom II X3 720 BE

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.

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.

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

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)

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.

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.

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/Prod [...] 6813128387

I can then afford to buy the XIGMATEK HDT-SD964 for $23.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233014

On the other hand if I go with this combo, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.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/Prod [...] 6820231200

OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB DDR3 1333 $64
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227293

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/Prod [...] 6820227320

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.

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.

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/Prod [...] 6820227267

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.200066

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.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!

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.

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

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!!!

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!

Or GTS 250's

I am looking at the same considerations re cpu 550 or 720 - but I will go DDR3 - since the future (future proofing?) is all DDR3. (and my current sys is junk)

I will not go Biostar. I will go Gigabyte with 790X chipset (790XT-UD4P). My main reason is about Power Handling.

I believe Gigabyte has stronger PWM Mosfets. If you are planning oclox, you use more power, make more heat. A weak mosfet is threatened. A stronger mosfet is simply safer. The Giga has a heatpipe also to help w cooling this section - and all the copper helps too.

Biostar has some fans however - but if you want to oclock with less worry, go Giga. But you can't get a Biostar "X" c'set - so you are actually buying a GX w onboard vid = useless with your 4830 (which I also plan on).

I don't have specs at hand; but look it up - you will probably see more info on the Giga site about PWM Mosfet. Also I think Giga is the only one offering the X chipset - almost same as the FX with some minor differences in bios, and of course the PCI-e2 slots (x8x8="X" ) vs (x16x16="FX" ). The FX offers a few minor niceties; but is aimed at hardcore gamer/oclox/multiple xFires. But the X mimics it. And that 2nd vidcard is future anyway, and x8 will be adequate. (not much diff, unless u r hardcore freak)

Get the Giga board and the 720 = play it safe - the unlock may not work - you mostly only hear about the ones that do work; others don't. Also a bios upgrade could lose the unlock capability. If you think you will use the 3-core; do it! Protect your investment.

re your DDR2 - no problem with that idea - in future, you can simply upgrade the mobo to a DDR3 mobo plus DDR3ram, and switch the cpu = done - but there is not much diff for now. In my case, I do not have DDR2. So if I buy ram, it only makes sense to go DDR3. Your alternative is to sell old ram, buy DDR3 - again you can do that anytime. But it's a future expense if you want it that way - but that's your secondary decision - the cpu is primary - get the triple.

OR - cheap the mobo w Biostar and upgrade it later to a Giga. (avoid ecs aka pcchips)

You have lots of options - and that's good.

Hope this helps.

(in Canada, the outlined sys is selling off the shelves - good thing I am in no rush - it can only get better).

Yeah my apologies for the "$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." My point was to identify that the 4850 and GTS 250 are on par and run well at those bandwidths I just forgot to stick with the whole crossfire deal. I just took pleasure in knowing the guy to was out to razz me got his...LOL.

So anyways superb feedback I am really enjoying this information ping pong we have going on here. I really look forward to Razbery's data, but I am just really appreciating the fact they I have so many great budget options that are very capable for their prices nowadays. I think we can all toast to that.

So assuming that you can't unlock cores on either chip, and run relatively stock, which would be better for a budget gaming rig (FPS like Call of Duty 4, 5 & 6)?

If you want to run stock, you could choose the 710 Triplecore which has a locked multiplier; but you could also oclox the bus speed from 200 to 210 or 220 for a little extra crisp response; and little else would change re bolts or cooling etc. - and that would save a few dollars.

The unlock multiplier just makes for easy oclox - but you can adjust the socalled fsb in bios anyway on the locked multiplier Ph II 710. That would be a good choice if you plan on no oclox. I would choose the Black Edition just so I could play - but I am not a serious ocloxer anyway. I would run at slightly boosted level full time; and I would tend to include the fsb boost also.

If budget is main concern - get the dualcore. It's very tempting with the 6 meg L3. Also the Athlon II's are out now; and they are stock clocked at 3.1 ghz, have zero L3 cache; but they DO HAVE extra L2 cache. Check test reports on those too; they are not slouches. They are specifically a redesign of the PhII and are not disabling anything. They are lower TDP watts also.

I used to want a 790GX until I realized I was also planning a discrete vidcard (4830) as well; then I discovered the 790X mobo which is almost an FX at low price, has lots of bios tweaks, good PWM/mosfets and low cost due to - no onboard vid cost. It seems a pretty pure board.
But if you don't play big games, the onboard vid (3200 or 3300) is fairly potent; and in that case the 790GX is best ticket - plus it has PCIe2 slot so you can always future upgrade with the discrete vidcard. Oclox are good on either board. And both are fullsize ATX.

I am surprised that Giga is the only one offering the 790X chipset - as far as I know. It's selling like hotcakes.

Anyone have any luck unlocking cores using an ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO MB? It appears to have the proper facilities in the BIOS however my first attempt failed.