[Solved] AMD Phenon II Black Edition

Hi All,

I recently got my new AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE Black Editon, with a Asus M4A78LT-M-LE motherboard, 4GB Corsair RAm (2x2) and I 1TB HDD, My friends are saying that i should have gone for I3 instead. I got this souly for Gaming processor, Please let me know if it was good buy when compared to I3 and also how good is the motherboard when gaming point of view its got upto 1gb shared graphics. Please suggest me if i need to exchange the present AMD processor for the I3.
I3-2100 and Phenom II X2 555 BE,, Tell me which is the best betweent this ?

Thanks so much i will wait for ur suggestions.

Message edited by vishalc08 on 08-21-2011 at 08:12:11 AM

Reply to vishalc08

You can't change to an i3 processor without also changing the Mobo but what you have should work fine.

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Message edited by beenthere on 08-21-2011 at 05:36:10 AM

Reply to beenthere

beenthere wrote :

You can't change to an i3 processor without also changing the Mobo but what you have should work fine.

Thats fine, i can change it i just got 2 days ago i work this out with the shop, But let me know how good is it when compared to I3 ? Is it worht the buy from a gaming point of view

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Reply to vishalc08

vishalc08 wrote :

Thats fine, i can change it i just got 2 days ago i work this out with the shop, But let me know how good is it when compared to I3 ? Is it worht the buy from a gaming point of view

Not enough info. Which I3? Which Phenom?

In either case, it wont make much difference in practical application.

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Reply to FALC0N

FALC0N wrote :

Not enough info. Which I3? Which Phenom?

In either case, it wont make much difference in practical application.

I3-2100 and Phenom II X2 555 BE,, Tell me which is the best betweent this ?

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Reply to vishalc08

vishalc08 wrote :

I3-2100 and Phenom II X2 555 BE,, Tell me which is the best betweent this ?

Well,frankly speaking,the core i3 2100 is better, for gaming and everything else, by a significant margin(but its costlier too).

Also, if u can't return ur system, u can easily overclock your 555 BE (unlocked chip) to cover up for the difference in performance U may even be able to unlock 1 or 2 more cores!! But then,do this only if you know how to, don't risk it

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Message edited by $hawn on 08-21-2011 at 08:57:15 AM

Reply to $hawn

If you return the chip, you will also have to return the motherboard.

Just unlock a core or two and overclock the crap out of it.

AMD BE make nice gaming machines, yes a little less powerful than an Intel, but you save £££ for the GPU.

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Message edited by das_stig on 08-21-2011 at 09:32:42 AM

------------------------------ HP Pavilion DV7-3020EA Entertainment Notebook PC + Win 7 Pro SP1 x64
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Reply to das_stig

$hawn wrote :

Well,frankly speaking,the core i3 2100 is better, for gaming and everything else, by a significant margin(but its costlier too).

Also, if u can't return ur system, u can easily overclock your 555 BE (unlocked chip) to cover up for the difference in performance U may even be able to unlock 1 or 2 more cores!! But then,do this only if you know how to, don't risk it

Thanks i really wanted to go for I3-2100 i did a last minute mistake the difference in pricing was so less, i regret my decision now,, m pretty unsure on how to how over clock n unlock the chip, could you please advise

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Reply to vishalc08

das_stig wrote :

If you return the chip, you will also have to return the motherboard.

Just unlock a core or two and overclock the crap out of it.

AMD BE make nice gaming machines, yes a little less powerful than an Intel, but you save £££ for the GPU.

Could you let me know how to unlock it and overclock my chip does this need additional cooling i got air cooling in the system. one heat sink fan and one cabinet fan does it need any additional cooling

Reply to vishalc08

Well as you said you saved money by buying the AMD CPU, so invest it in a dedicated graphics card instead of relying on your shared on board graphics, as this will give you much better gaming than an i3 intel CPU with just on board graphics....

So to clarify

i32100 + On board shared graphics = bad gaming machine

PhenomII 555 + Dedicated graphics card like an ATI HD 6770 = good mid range gaming machine.

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Reply to uther39

How is the price difference small? There should atleast be a 30$ minimum difference. If you can, return it ASAP and get the i3. For unlocking an extra core, its fairly easy. You can even find it out using youtube videos. What motherboard is it?

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Reply to wrazor

Best answer

vishalc08 wrote :

Thanks i really wanted to go for I3-2100 i did a last minute mistake the difference in pricing was so less, i regret my decision now ........

The I3 2100 is much faster at stock than the X2 555. About 40 percent faster. But as others noted, you pay more also.

There are 4 significant advantages in staying with the AMD package. Many have been addressed by other posters. Here is the list as I see it.

1) Saved money can be invested in a GPU which would be a better investment for a gamer, or pocketed if your not a gamer.

2) The X2 555 Black edition processors have unlocked multipliers, making overclocking easy. That chip should Overclock to around 4ghz with little trouble. Narrowing the speed gap considerably.

3) That series of X2 chips are just X4 quad cores with 2 disabled cores. Those core can be reactivated. Some are defective and will not function once reactivated. But you may end up with a quad or a tri core. Which could also be overclocked. If your lucky, you could end up with a 4 Ghz quad core. Which would be significantly faster than the I3 AND cost less at the same time.

4) Two to four years down the line, when you decide to upgrade your CPU, there will likely be an affordable drop in replacement for your current chip. This is rarely the case with intel. That is good savings and versatility down the line.

So I wouldn't panic. You didn't make a bad decision at all. I would stay where your at if I was you. But these things are very personal decisions. Its up to you.

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Reply to FALC0N

uther39 wrote :

Well as you said you saved money by buying the AMD CPU, so invest it in a dedicated graphics card instead of relying on your shared on board graphics, as this will give you much better gaming than an i3 intel CPU with just on board graphics....

So to clarify

i32100 + On board shared graphics = bad gaming machine

PhenomII 555 + Dedicated graphics card like an ATI HD 6770 = good mid range gaming machine.

Thanks ,, Yes i have saved some cash but not that much which may cause signficant difference in buying a GPU, How good is

i32100 + On board shared graphics= PhenomII 555 On board shared graphics

Reply to vishalc08

wrazor wrote :

How is the price difference small? There should atleast be a 30$ minimum difference. If you can, return it ASAP and get the i3. For unlocking an extra core, its fairly easy. You can even find it out using youtube videos. What motherboard is it?

Thanks Bro,, it is Asus M4A78LT-M-LE

Reply to vishalc08

FALC0N wrote :

The I3 2100 is much faster at stock than the X2 555. About 40 percent faster. But as others noted, you pay more also.

There are 4 significant advantages in staying with the AMD package. Many have been addressed by other posters. Here is the list as I see it.

1) Saved money can be invested in a GPU which would be a better investment for a gamer, or pocketed if your not a gamer.

2) The X2 555 Black edition processors have unlocked multipliers, making overclocking easy. That chip should Overclock to around 4ghz with little trouble. Narrowing the speed gap considerably.

3) That series of X2 chips are just X4 quad cores with 2 disabled cores. Those core can be reactivated. Some are defective and will not function once reactivated. But you may end up with a quad or a tri core. Which could also be overclocked. If your lucky, you could end up with a 4 Ghz quad core. Which would be significantly faster than the I3 AND cost less at the same time.

4) Two to four years down the line, when you decide to upgrade your CPU, there will likely be an affordable drop in replacement for your current chip. This is rarely the case with intel. That is good savings and versatility down the line.

So I wouldn't panic. You didn't make a bad decision at all. I would stay where your at if I was you. But these things are very personal decisions. Its up to you.

Thanks so so much for the detailed explaination, I'm now relaxed after seeing ur information about the AMD Phenom-II, Also wanted to know how could i unlock the Cores, And do i need any additional Cooling or increase the Voltage for the same. Please advise, I have got an Asus M4A78LT-M-LE MObo.

One last questiong how good is: i32100 + On board shared graphics= PhenomII 555 On board shared graphics

Reply to vishalc08

To say that a Phenom X2 + dedicated card is better than an i3 2100 + IGU is such a poor comparison. If you take an I3 2100 vs a Phenom X2 and match similar dedicated GPU's then the i3 litterally destroys it over and over again, then when you use the arguement of overclocking, that is not necessarily a good thing to oc your CPU constantly only to match or just be better than a stock CPU, OC'ing is not good in any circumstance.

While AMD are more flexible in the upgrade paths, and this will save you down the line. When you consider the i3 2100 vs X2 555 the better choice would have been the i3.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ Aerocool BX-500 Evil Black/Asus Crosshair V Formula Thunderbolt/PhenomII x6 1100T/Patriot G2 DDR3 1600/Crossfired HD6970's/XFX Core Edition Pro 650w/Asetek AMD Liquid cooler.
Reply to sarinaide

sarinaide wrote :

To say that a Phenom X2 + dedicated card is better than an i3 2100 + IGU is such a poor comparison. If you take an I3 2100 vs a Phenom X2 and match similar dedicated GPU's then the i3 litterally destroys it over and over again, then when you use the arguement of overclocking, that is not necessarily a good thing to oc your CPU constantly only to match or just be better than a stock CPU, OC'ing is not good in any circumstance.

While AMD are more flexible in the upgrade paths, and this will save you down the line. When you consider the i3 2100 vs X2 555 the better choice would have been the i3.

The idea of the comparison is that buying AMD allows you to invest more in your gpu.

Reply to uther39

Fair enough, Intel cannot match AMD in the affordability bracket.

------------------------------ Aerocool BX-500 Evil Black/Asus Crosshair V Formula Thunderbolt/PhenomII x6 1100T/Patriot G2 DDR3 1600/Crossfired HD6970's/XFX Core Edition Pro 650w/Asetek AMD Liquid cooler.
Reply to sarinaide