Phenom965 worth it over 555?

[Zeppelinfreak]

A quick and simple post! I am looking into a bunch of new stuff to buy for a new setup and on Newegg, with the motherboard I am going to get, they offer bundles, as is tradition of their site lol. If you get this bundle they knock off $30, making the 965 $150. My general question is if anyone thinks the 965 at $150 is a better investment than a 555 at $99.

Originally I was going to buy the 555 and hope the cores unlock without any trouble and likely overclock it to somewhere in the 3.5 -- 3.8 Ghz range. But there is always a chance the cores won't unlock at all and then if they do, might be a chance it will not be stable.

Is the extra $50 worth it for the 965?

 

[Haserath]

I wouldn't risk it if you planned on making a 965 out of a 555(and overclock as well!). less then 50% of X3 cores seem to make it to be full quads so a dual core is even less likely. You might as well just spend the extra $50 so that you are sure that you get a quad core, and it can overclock to 3.8ghz easily.

 

[xtc28]

Well here is a little fact here!!! At my place of employment we have installed 322 AMD 550/555 CPUs, all but 5 have unlock sucessfully 254 were over clocked to 3.8 ghz easily and 53 555 units have been OC'd to 4.2 ghz. The 965 is deffinitely a better choice as the ones that have been OC'd here at my shop have achieved a higher OC than any of the B50/B55 X4 unlocks. Also with the unlocked chips the CORE temps cannot be monitored.

 

[Haserath]

Well here is a little fact here!!! At my place of employment we have installed 322 AMD 550/555 CPUs, all but 5 have unlock sucessfully 254 were over clocked to 3.8 ghz easily and 53 555 units have been OC'd to 4.2 ghz. The 965 is deffinitely a better choice as the ones that have been OC'd here at my shop have achieved a higher OC than any of the B50/B55 X4 unlocks. Also with the unlocked chips the CORE temps cannot be monitored.

Wow, I'm surprised that the unlocks work that well. I don't get why AMD is even keeping the 555 if they make so many quads into dual cores. Seems like a waste of money to me .

 

[Emperus]

Don't let those number of unlocks divert yourself.. Am not sure about the logic behind getting so many 555's when the athlon II X4 630 is almost at the same price.. Getting a true quad core is ideal..

 

[xtc28]

Well we bought them in quantity. AND you are right about getting the true quad. It is the best way to go.