So I was doing a little search on Newegg and I ended up coming accross this Phenom 550 BE.  After reading the comments I found out that this processor paired with a GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P can unlock an extra 2 cores...Isn't that sweet? So the stock fan apparently is shit...so I would just order the dark knight.  If you are cheap (like me) you will probably find this a good deal..I mean..come on..it's $110 bucks..CHEAP for a Quad!Also..it can get to 3.9 on air apparently with the unlocked cores.Anywyas..just letting everyone know that it is honestly a good deal IMHO.Tell me what you think.Links:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387
That really depends, if AMD used a good quad and just disabled two cores then you're in luck, but if the two cores were faulty to begin with then theres no pointl. ethier way your taking a chance by trying to unlock the two cores.
Correct 21DD23, I was about to create a whole blog based around the core unlocking a while back but I fell back after reading from different sources your taking a gamble so I didn't want to put too much hope into something that's not guaranteed.
You either get lucky with simply disabled cores or end up with what you paid for with the other 2 cores just being bad, plus who knows how stable they will run, and lord knows I hate running into problems-
Yep, I really like this proc. it's 3.1 Ghz. stock 45nm and you can possibly turn it into a quad if your luck. Plus massive overclocking headroom and Black Edition all for 110 dollars. Grins
Haha..yeah man...I am seriously considering this cpu...even if I can't unlock the 2 other cores..It's still a pretty damn good deal.