How much better are Phenom prossecors than Athlon?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-phenom-athlon-6...

I dont get it wher does it say how much better a Phenom is than and Athlon?

you can compare them here

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2

and here

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/?q_reviews=&p=1&pp=2...

So basicaly the Athlons dont even compare? On one of the sites it said that the AMD Athlon II X3 425 is a quad and you can unlock the 4th core. Is there a 4th core on the Athlon II X3 440 and if so how do i unlock it?

All X3's are quad-cores with a core disabled. Usually, they are re-enabled through the motherboard BIOS. Just be cautious, cause they're usually disable for a reason.

So how do I enable the 4th core and if I do will it do damage?

X3's are X4's with a disabled core, most of the time there is a reason for it. It will not damage anything but can create issues like instability if bad. There is a option in BIOS on the motherboard if the board is able to unlock the core.

So what would the option in the BIOS be called and if it was unstable it would do no damage and i could change it back. right?

ACC. Here is a guide http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/535501-official-amd-k...

what exactly are you trying to find out donut because you have made several posts already in the gpu forum but you seem to be lost and looking for some specific answer.

are you trying to find a CPU to go with your build?

I have a AMD Athlon II X3 440 but even tho it says X3 it is really an X4 with a the 4th core locked. I am trying to figure out how to unlock the 4th core.
I couldn't find it on youtube.

what motherboard do you have?

this guy does a pretty good job showing how ACC works to unlock cores
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMkBJEBHu5A

frankly, other then GTAIV, I can't think of a game that needs 4 cores.

I have a biostar mcp6p m2+

it doesn't have ACC

So there is no possible way I can unlock the 4th core even if I upgrade the BOIS?

correct but your not missing out on much unless you plan on video editing. in gaming the benchmarks are identical

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/112?vs=122

It looks like it performs on par with the other X4 series CPUs. So it doesnt really matter if i unlock it right?

its an excellent budget gaming CPU. I have an athlon II x3 @3.3ghz in one PC and Phenom II x4 3.6ghz in another. in terms of gaming, its not a major jump, the athlon x3 performs just like the athlon x4 in gaming.

I looked at my Athlon II X3 440 vs. a Q6600 in Crysis benchmarks and the they perform on par. The Q6600 is recemended on gta IV and bfbc2 which are the most demanding games out so im happy.   But let me get this straight there is absoulutly no way for me to unlock the 4th core?

you can get a new mobo with ACC and then try to unlock it

even then its not guaranteed since the core could be locked for a reason, its not stable.

Alright looks like no 4th core for me.   But my tri-core is still a great core, so im happy.  

Social commentary in a can.

It was a joke if you couldn't see that.  

What back and forreth questions?! I asked and declared...