Phenom II X2 550 turns into a Phenom II X4 B50

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well i tried my vcore and cpunb at 1.375 and got a blue screen. went back to 1.4v on both adn all is running smooth. the highest i seen my temps get were 68 but that is stress testing the cpu checking for errors. under normal load in at 52.
but like i said i got a 550 that unlocks and is running faster than the stock x4 and i paid 140 less.
 
 


Which CPU would you recommend for attempting this? Is it worth the few extra bucks to get the 720?

Trying to stay as bargain basement as I can, but for around 20 bucks more if the 720 is far superior a choice, I could shoot for that.
 
depends on what you are doing..... I personally puchased the 550 due to the overclocking headroom and gaming capabilities..... the 720 is a better choice if you run heavy threaded apps or lets say you normally have several programs running at the same time....
 


Awesome.

550 it is, as I like to tweak the nuts off things and this seems far more fun to work with.

Thanks again for the input.
 
I just received my X2 550 from Tiger Direct. I was able to unlock the 4 cores easily with the Gigabyte BIOS ACC set to "hybrid". I didn't check the batch number before installing the stock heatsink. Doh! I have a serial number on the box, but no batch number.

I have not yet stress tested with the 4 cores. I want to be sure my case cooling is adequate first.

I'm running Prime95 on the stock 2 cores with the HWMonitor running. Anyone know where the motherboard temp sensors are located? After 30 minutes, I have 55C for the CPU and case temps of 42C, 62C, and 55C.

New:
Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H AMD785G Socket AM2+ MB BIOS v F2
AMD Phenom II X2 550 3.1Ghz Black Edition AM3 CPU
OCZ Vista Performace Ed. 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz
Corsair CX400W 400W Power Supply

Repurposed:
320GB SATA HD Seagate
midtower ATX case
keyboard, mouse, monitor
 
WOW! WOW! WOW! 😱 :pt1cable:

Seems like a lot of people are having success unlocking cores on the 550 (including me) :lol:

This is the best CPU for the $$ :) 😛 😀 :sol: :bounce:

And DeSade, if you're planning to unlock, go with the 550, it has the highest chances of unlocking. Just want

to put this out there, but the 720 has very low chances of unlocking, only a few people could do it...
 


550 BE already added to the basket!

Have to wait till after the first, since I decided to spend a few extra bucks and get the DDR3 version of the board and 4GB's of ram. I was aiming to go cheaper since I already have 4GB's of DDR2, but for the increase in speed (800 Vs. 1600) and the extra ability to have a little wiggle room for future upgrades, it's worth the extra 100 bucks.

Been a while since I built a system, getting excited to do it again and see what I can do with this puppy!

Also my first time I am actually buying an AMD chipset. I've used some in the past, but only what I've inherited through fixing other people's pc's, lol.

I'll keep this post updated when I get it together. 😀
 
^Great! Not a bad choice in parts I'd say, as long as everything works out...But everything should work out...
Actually in my 550 build, everything came in perfect condition, the 550 unlocked, ram was stable, and the graphics card didn't die on the third day like I read in some reviews. So I didn't have to rma anything and send stuff back and forth...It was a lucky build and I had it running on the first day...I hope everything is gonna be the same for you...Good Luck! :)
 
Buddy of mine said he put a 550be in his AM2 board just fine (note not am2+) and we have the same board.. M2N-E.. said the BIOS has no clue wtf it is, but it benches just fine as it should.

Really tempting. Especially at the price.
 
How long can the 550BE be expected to last when overclocked like you guys are doing? I was all set on getting the X3 720, but I was searching for info on the GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P and found this thread.

Some of the stuff being discussed is a little over my head right now. I'm still learning. Planning my first build soon and I want to overclock 10-20% not to crash threshold.
 
@VinnyChase,
This CPU, first of all, has a very high potential of unlocking cores (Way higher than the 720)
It runs @3.1Ghz stock so an overclock to 3.6 - 3.8 should be great on aftermarket cooling...i bet it won't even shorten the life...or if it does, only by a little...
It only costs $100, so it's one of the best CPU's you can get for the price!

As for the GA-MA770T-UD3P, it not the best for overclocking, but i reached 4Ghz on it as well as unlocked the other two cores...
And my system works flawlessly. I saved myself a whole lot of $$, and I'm real happy I did what I did! :sol:
 
^
I'm now tempted to buy the 550BE and try unlocking the cores. When
you try to unlock do you want to use the stock cooler so that if they don't unlock you can send the CPU back? Also, is there anything either on the box or CPU itself or maybe through CPU-Z that will indicate a higher probability of unlocking or more importantly a CPU that won't unlock? Finally, are the cores that you unlock functioning at the same capacity? I know on the X3 720 that the locked core can be faulty and may not function at 100%.
 
vinny when you get the cpu you look at the batch number on the cpu itself and there are batches that are known to fail alot more at unlocking the 2 disabled cores. i had a 0924 and it would not unlock. i sent it back because i was getting blue screens and that turned out to be my memory but i got a 0922 batch back and i have never heard of that batch not unlocking.
this link will gove you a little more info on unlocking and what batch to look for
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=227004

 
@VinnyChase,
If you use an aftermarket cooler and you decide to send the CPU back, they won't know if you used the stock cooler or an aftermarket...just put the stock cooler on and then take it off, then put a good aftermarket cooler on...they are not gonna do a whole bunch of experiments to find out if you used an aftermarket cooler...I used the stock cooler at first, but it's bad if you're going to overclock, so I bought a cooler master V8 and it's great! :lol:
If your CPU doesn't unlock, don't worry, it won't break the CPU by trying to unlock, so you could keep it as dual core or send it back to get another batch...If it unlocks successfully, the 2 cores should function at 100%.
 
Assuming you get a 550BE that unlocks, what should the steps be to ensure that the unlocked cores are functioning at 100%. I know there's the 3DMark stress test, but what else should you look for? I wouldn't want to get one that unlocks and then not be able to discern if the cores are at 100%. I'm new to this so I don't know if it's obvious or subtle to detect any subpar performance.
 
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