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Phenom II X2 555 BE C3 Revision, where are they ?? :-)

Soldato
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Im happy with my 550 quad, but id like one of these when they hit the uk :)

CPU part number HDZ555WFK2DGM
Box part number HDZ555WFGMBOX



I'm not particularly excited about the Phenom II X2 555 BE, but AMD has sweetened the deal a bit. This chip now supports hardware C1E, like the first Athlon IIs. And no, I haven't encountered any CnQ bugs with it.

The hardware C1E means lower idle power consumption (I explained it in greater detail here) and it's courtesy of the new C3 Phenom II stepping. A side effect of this newer silicon rev is that it should overclock better. Our old Phenom II X2 550 BE hit 3.5 - 3.6GHz on air at stock voltage, and our new chip did 3.8GHz in the same conditions:

cpuzzzzzzzzz.jpg




Part of the success of our chip here is due to its nearly 1.4V default voltage. Lower default voltages may only see 3.6GHz without going any further. Pushing beyond 3.8GHz proved to be very difficult on air, at least with any amount of stability under Windows 7 64-bit.
 
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Soldato
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It says estimated release Q1 2010......

Still got another 8wks for them to deliver......

And even if a C3 goes beyond 3.8, its still not going to go much past 4Ghz on air, and i doubt you will notice any performance increase in games and apps with only an extra 200mhz.....

I can run my C2 550 @3.85 with 1.47vlts and keep temps under 55c at full burn test loadings with a cheapish aftermarket cooler, so i cant say a C3 550 would be any real advantage.
 
Soldato
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Cant see the sense in changing from a quad 3.8 to a dual (which 'might') unlock, simply for the sake of being a C3 revision...:confused:

Oh well if you have money to burn....each to their own i guess...:)
 
Soldato
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Cant see the sense in changing from a quad 3.8 to a dual (which 'might') unlock, simply for the sake of being a C3 revision...:confused:

Oh well if you have money to burn....each to their own i guess...:)

The thing is , its fun, trying to get one that unlocks, i bought 3 x2 550,s, one was poor and unstable on 4 cores, the other two were brilliant.

As its the c3 revision, use less power etc, as the graphs show, maybe overclock more. I want to to try ;)
 
Associate
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i gotta sempron 140 @ 3.35 which my board refuses to unlock for some strange reason...

although the 555 has supposedly been out for about a week or so, i only seen very small quantities of uk stock which seem to be overpriced.

so, now that i have a bit more cash on hand,

should i hold off untill overclockers get it in stock? (i am close enough to pickup instore so i dont pay delivery :)

or should i just go for the 550?

not that fussed about unlocking, although it would be nice. ive heard people have had success with the 550 on my mobo so ya never know :)
 
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yeah, but that involves a new mobo for me. Too much time and effort involved :D
that, and i gotta admit, im a bit of an AMD fan.
I know the i3 will probably whip the phenoms arse, but the way i see it, if we all went intel, there would be no more AMD, hence no more competition, hence id probably be stretching my budget on a brand new netburst p4 right about now ... no thanks.

and regarding £80 per chip plus about a fiver shipping, i thought the 555 was supposed to be priced at the current 550 price (which is currently £71-72 @ OC, with no shipping for me)
 
Soldato
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The X2 550BE should be compared with the Core i3 based Pentium G6950 which is a similar price(around £70):

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/clarkdale-review_9.html#sect0

and regarding £80 per chip plus about a fiver shipping, i thought the 555 was supposed to be priced at the current 550 price (which is currently £71-72 @ OC, with no shipping for me)

I would expect that after a few weeks the price should settle to X2 550BE levels as there are stocks of the latter processor which also need to be sold too.
 
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Soldato
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Is it the same stock cooler which comes on the Phenom II X3 and 95W Phenom II X4 processors??

Is it the one on the right in this picture??

720%2B750.JPG


This review says that the stock cooler on the X3 720 was OK was some light overclocking:

http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/cpu/phenom-2-cnq-p1.html

Do you think it you were able to unlock an X2 550BE or X2 555BE to a triple core or quad without overclocking that the cooler would suffice??
 
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Soldato
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This is it, id be scared unlocking 4 cores on it, only thing id use it for is a paperweight :p

stockcooler.jpg





Is it the same stock cooler which comes on the Phenom II X3 and 95W Phenom II X4 processors??

Is it the one on the right in this picture??

720%2B750.JPG


This review says that the stock cooler on the X3 720 was OK was some light overclocking:

http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/cpu/phenom-2-cnq-p1.html

Do you think it you were able to unlock an X2 550BE or X2 555BE to a triple core or quad without overclocking that the cooler would suffice??
 
Associate
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i guess ill wait another couple of weeks for the new phenom then :)
my trusty sempy has the same stock cooler, and it is running 3.35ghz, 1.4v with 50% fan speed and temps are 26.c idle, 35ish load.

oh and all at about 10% of the noise made by the dustbuster on the old 2600+
 
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