AMD PhenomII X3 710(720BE) 3core --> 4core PhenomII X4 920

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Though I'll probably go X3 720, I could wait till fall and see what's out. I don't see any bottlenecks at 1920 x 1080 with the 8750, and it's good enough for everything else. I'd rather not overclock or run with shady bios hacks.

I'd rather have a native Phenom II quad or triple @ 3.6 down the line. For the overclockers, that would be great, as it would probably push over 4 gigahertz.

Didn't they all say clock speed was dead or dying a few years ago as more cores came into play? LOL More cores, spotty support for all those cores and higher clocks. The more things change the more they remain the same.
 


First off I am in full agreement that one shouldn't buy a 720 expecting a magic core. But as to the question as whether one can be unlocked or not, you go right ahead and stick with that story. You and your friends can even bad mouth me over you're lattes. You give me job security.
 


How about the fact that the BIOS being unstable can cause more problems than just with the CPU and also the fact that with OCing you can usually stableize it where as if you use a custom BIOS you are pretty much screwed if it dies?

OCing is completely different since I can change settings to stableize it. BIOS is hard codded and only down flashing will fix it IF it doesn't fry the mobo.
 


Neither is my sis, but its just nice to wind something... maybe... I doubt we can afford a quad-core Phenom thats not the Phenom B2.
 
9600, 9950, 9750 are all cheaper than a 720 on the Egg. Those are Ph1's and I understand completely if you discount those out of hand, I was just being a smarta**.

As to the general direction the thread is turning to, I think some of us are referring to the Biostar M/B exclusively and I am referring to unlocking the core in general. In regard to the 720, Joe User would never have had need/reason/curiosity to look further. He would be happy as a clam "overclocking" to 3.0 with the cute little software package AMD puts out. But through trial and error I have found that the 4th core, (CORE2), on my chip is unstable below 1.4v. That being outside spec it was "locked out" and the part was sold as an X3 chip. As I am not JU I have no issues running 4 cores @ 1.45v on a 3.33G clock and insuring I can do so with a reasonable, (to me), level of stability. Which to me means OCCT 4 cores/4 threads stable for an hour. Yes I have had it fail, everything from a full SRB, (spontaneous reboot) to the dreaded "duck call" but in the end I have a chip that is running better than AMD's current high end at stock clock. That's what we do isn't it?
 


1.55? Thought I read on AMD's site it was 1.45. I am probably wrong. Probably read the wrong line. :lol:

Hm. I might go a little higher (1.5?) and try to get 3.5-3.6GHz. i'm still not even getting close to 50C full load, and I ran Prime95 for 30 mins the other night in Large FFT. I think it peaked at 45c?

I haven't uninstalled and re-installed, but I might just do that tonight. I like OCCT for showing me the basics of settings plus the core temps and all.

Thanks
 
How do you find out the CPU batch number at purchase from an online retailer? I'm under the impression that it's on the box, so to get a chip of the confirmed batch wouldn't you have to walk into a store and buy it there at a 10-15% markup from Newegg? At which point if you don't get a fourth core you just over paid correct?
 


Guess I got lucky. I got one from the 0904 batch. I had it OCed over the weekend at 3514MHz at 1.5V. Mine isn't OCing as well as others have been reported. But, I run@3.4GHZ at 1.4625v with temps of 22c idle/46c load.

So I am happy. 4 cores @ 3.4GHz for $145.

As for getting it from online, I don't know if you could get an e-tailer to give you the batch number from the CPU before purchasing unless they were a smaller operation. With Newegg, their order systems are disparate from their shipping warehouses. So, I think it's highly unlikely. But you never know. Chat them and ask the rep.

Otherwise, I think you're stuck with going to a local store and looking at the CPU through the little window.

Good luck
 
I asked the Egg about that kind of deal back in the Athlon64 days and I assumed I got lucky when the rep just came out and said there's no facility to pass that kind of request to the pick-n-pack monkeys in the warehouse. Nor would they know what to do if there was a way to ask them. That's how I got through school.

"You want me to pull, package and ship 350 orders a day *and* you want me to look out for when the chip was made? So you're saying that we're down to 15 minute lunches right?"

jc, None of the higher clocks I've read, (3.7+), mention the 4 core or it's mentioned in the next to last paragraph that starts with "I've heard ..." I figure the 4@3.33 I'm running will give about a month of package checks as the boss walks by, I gotcher 3.33 right here bay-bee.
 


They did say that clock speeds had "hit the wall" but that was mainly on 65nm and earlier tech where heat dissipation wouldn't allow higher clock speed before damaging the chips. Now with newer manufacturing processes the clock speed wall has been pushed up as the smaller manufacturing process generates less heat.

However this 3.6ghz native P2 you keep referring to is nowhere, that I can find, on AMD's road maps for 2009. The next P2 x4 release seems to be the 955@3.2 stock (950 was scrapped) after that there are rumors (I hate to report rumors) of 960, 965 and 970 running at a 140W TPD but these are all rumors as it's hard for even AMD to predict what frequencies their processors will yield at a given TPD. Though these rumors suggest a 3.5ghz stock with the 970 and this may be what your referring to, however I've seen no release data information on anything beyond the 955 and it's lesser siblings.

The only references I've seen to a sock speed as high as you are looking for comes with the rumored/prediction of what AMD's 32nm shrink will yield; that is tentatively slated for Q4 2010. I don't know if I could wait that long when running an original Phenom for a rumored chip that may or may not be. However with the 955 coming out in April (this seems fairly confirmed) along with it's cousins in the lower end Quad Core and Dual Core market segments the time to buy seems to be May. By May the price in DDR3 RAM should be starting to hit high end DDR2 levels as there will be allot of platforms supporting it that have been out for several months. Also Intel is planning to release more Core i7 chips (800 series just behind the 920) as well as their little sister the Core i5 platform. May looks like a great month to step up. However if your dead set on a 3.6ghz stock cpu from AMD you could have a long wait.
 


What about an P2x4 800 series? Or if you can wait for Intel to release it's Core i5 Quad-cores targeting the mainstream markets, which puts them in direct competition with the AMD 800 series prices are sure to fall fast on both chips. Right now the P2x4 810 is only $50 (USD) more then a P2x3 710 and only $23 (USD) more then the 720. In a couple months after Core i5 is released these prices are likely to drop.
 


Ya know...

I just tried to remember back to a time when I used to order PC parts from someone other than NewEgg...and...I can't :lol:

Friggin hell...NewEgg is the single best about customer care and stuff. When they make a mistake, they always do something to make it up to me.

I remember when I built my first total new build from almost all their parts. I got 2 of the parts from other dealers. One was the PSU. Got $20 cheaper. What happened? 6 months later, that company went out of business. Newegg is still puttin along.

So now unless it's 33-70% off of Newegg's price (a big savings), I pay the extra. They're dependable and honest and good to me. Hell, they even gave me a free baseball cap...and unknown to them, I have a baseball hat collection. :lol: brownie points for Newegg!

But yeah, you can't expect miracles from warehouse workers. I wouldn't want them to have to check every CPU. That's just crazy.

As for the high clocks...I read somewhere (when the whole unlock thing started) about someone going over 3.6 on air, and to 4.0 on water. I'm not gonna go buy water for $200-500...and I am not gonna take my chip to 1.5875 to get 3.6.

3.399GHZ on the PII 720BE x4 @ load ~46c is fast enough for me. beats the Phenom 9850 x4 running @ 2.9GHz and load temps @60c+ :)
 
I bought the phenom ii 720 be because for the price and unlocked multiplier high clock was worth more to me than 4 cores. Well stock voltage it's stable at 3.3G. With 4th core enabled only stable at 2.4G. So my 4th core definitely weak. With just a vid increase it's 48hour stable at 3.8G. I'm happy as a clam, remember that the X3 has all 6MB of cache same as x4. Chip and heatsink run amazingly cool, this is a snappy system that is gaming very well.
 
This is also confirmed in Taiwan. My guess is.. AMD use CPU ID to lock the 4th core on 2009 week 4 shipments. AMD Taiwan has officially asked all the MB manufacturers release BIOS update to address this issue and as well as pulling away those old bios from their website.
 
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