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What mobo do you have and what video card?

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Stay away from Phenom 1, they are bad. Your best bet out of what you listed is the 720 BE. If you want to try your chance at unlocking cores then the 555 BE is a solid choice. Even the 635 is a good budget choice.

I say stay away from that 9950. TBH, I think the 720 is the best among the lot, but you cant go wrong with the 635 either. The 555 is good and can be unlocked to a quadcore(so can a 720). Just make sure your motherboard has the ACC feature.
Please do note, the extra core that will be unlocked may or may not be stable. Hence I think it has to be between 720 and 635. You might also want to take a look at AMD Athlon II X3 440 which retails @ around 70$. If 100$ is too much for you, go for that. Else, 720 or 635 are too good @ 100$. GL. And, about your GPU, how much are getting it for? You can probably wait a month and buy a 5770 for 130$.

thx ive been leaning towards the 635 for a while so i think ima go with it and im getting the 4770 for $170 where can i get it for $130???? is the price expected to drop?

I would get an athlon II x3 440 and spend the money saved on the GPU

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With $170 you can get a much faster HD 5770.

720BE for me to. One of the most value for money chips from the Phenom II's. Also a monster overclocker. Don't know if the unlocking of cores is possible because most newer BIOS don't allow it.

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That one is 150 after rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

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Why not athlon II x3? I'd say the 440 is the best to get because its the new stepping (for higher OC) and not as expensive as the 445.

Athlon II x3 is good value for the money.

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