I finally got to upgrade my 939/AThlon 64 2.2GHz/7800GT setup. I can't say enough good about the deal I got on this processor. It's the Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition. With the deals, and discount for mobo purchase, I paid $140 out the door for the processor, and an Asus M4A785-m. Only bad thing about the mobo, is it's micro, but it'll work great in my HTPC case, on my next upgrade, and I didn't have to sacrifice too much. Also, at that price, it won't be to hard to upgrade soon if I need something it doesn't have.

WHat I really wanted to share, was about the processor. If you are thinking about (or in need) of a processor upgrade, you might want to grab one while they are still a great deal. Both the 550 BE, and 555 BE are dual core, with unlocked multipliers. From what I've read, the "chip harvesting" technique AMD is now using in their manufacturing makes use out of X4 cores that don't quite pass requirements to be sold as X4 processors. So, they deactivate 1 (X3), or 2 (x2) cores, and sell them as X3's or X4's. From what I have read, it seems that as high as 70% of these cores can be succesfully unlocked, and an X2 can become an X3, or X4, and an X3 can become an X4. There is no guarentee, and you will want to research mobos, bioses, processor batch numbers perhaps (some seem to have higher succes rates) to see what might help your chances. Aftermarket cooling is a must from what I have read. I had a succesful unlock on stock HS/F, and stock CPU voltage. I simply used Asus's ACC (advanced clock calibration) in the Bios. Other boards have the same setup now (Gigabyte for one).

If you are not lucky enough to get a succesful unlock, you still have a pretty nice dual-core, and at least you're into the AM3 socket platform, so upgrading to Quad when it's more necessary will be a snap. I didn't think I needed a quad yet, so opted to save some money, and go dual for now. The Phenom II's architecture seems to be alot better than the AThlon's also, though I really don't know about that stuff, just what I've read.

Another great aspect of this processor, is it has great OC'ing potential. I wasn't planning on clocking it at all, till I found out just how easy it was, with the unlocked multiplyer, and just how well these chips take to OC'ing. I have not done a whole lot of experimenting yet, (reaching unsafe temps, and waiting for aftermarket cooler. AMD stock HS/F is WAY inadiqauete) but I went from 3.0GHz to 3.2 with a simple multipler bump. I didn't touch voltage at all. It does run cool enough for everyday use, and gaming, but gets around 64c when I run Prime Stress test. Once I get my new cooler, I hope to get around 3.8GHz, as this seems to be an easily attainable number. Whatever I get out of it, it has been fun, and informational.