Unlocking the Phenom II X2 555: 3.2GHz Quad-Core for $99
by Anand Lal Shimpi on January 28, 2010 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
More Detail on the Phenom II X4 910e
I was actually surprised by the number of folks who were interested in the Phenom II X4 910e. It's a voltage binned Phenom II X4 running at 2.6GHz that falls in a 65W TDP envelope.
The performance is no different than the regular 95W Phenom II X4 910, it just uses a lot less power since it runs at a much lower voltage. Some of you wanted to know exactly what that voltage was. The table below gives you more detail on our CPU as well as a standard 125W Phenom II X4 965 BE (unfortunately I don't have any 95W X4s to compare it to):
| Processor | Idle Voltage | Load Voltage |
| AMD Phenom II X4 965 (125W) | 0.992V | 1.392V |
| AMD Phenom II X4 910e (65W) | 0.976V | 1.168V |
It's a pretty significant difference in voltage (and power consumption) but you do pay handsomely for the privilege. The 910e costs as much as a Phenom II X4 955: $169.
That seems to be it until we get Zosma and Thuban in late Q2. See you then.
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7Enigma - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
I think your best chances for successfully getting an unlockable chip would be to buy from a high-volume but low stock company (ie NOT Newegg and probably not even ZZF). Someone that does a lot of business so the chips aren't from last year, but just as importantly someone that isn't buying 10,000 at a pop and sitting on them. I don't know how Microcenters distribution chain works (do they have a huge warehouse that purchases in bulk, or is it more region-specific ordering), but they would seem to fit the bill if you're near one.jcgamo88 - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
I did purchase a 620 with intent on unlocking it. Was un able to do so on both a MSI GD70 and DFI 790fxb. :(Taft12 - Monday, February 8, 2010 - link
It's like doubling down in blackjack - the payoff can be huge, or you might bust :)Now the question is can you resist buying another CPU to try again :D
sciwizam - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
Patientiently waiting and a self-initiated reboot later and my CPU was identified as a Phenom II X4 B55 BE. Four cores running at 3.2GHz, just like a Phenom II X4 955 but for $99.?
/typo police
MaDS - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
The Phenom II might prove incredible value for money when unlocked, and you consider it "THE best value for money" if done so, but as far as I'm concerned an L3-cache unlocked Athlon II X4 (if it works, ofcourse) fits the bill just as nicely and you get the added benefit of two extra cores in any case. So for people that can put 4 cores to good use, the Athlon II X4 might be the better buy.I unlocked my Athlon II X4 620, the full 6MB L3 cache is functional, rock stable and I can run it at 3.6GHz with a very slight voltage bump (and a not-top-of-the-line Xigmatek HDT-S1283 with silent fan).
Assimilator87 - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
The problem with the Athlon II X4, is that only a small number of them were Phenoms with disabled cache. Most of them are a different die that doesn't have any L3 cache at all.MaDS - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
Well, I don't know the passing rates for the Athlon II X4's versus the Phenom II X2's. If the passing rate of the unlocking of the X4's are really that low, the safest bet would indeed be the Phenom II X2.I'll just consider myself lucky then :)
StevoLincolnite - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
I'm another user who managed to get the cache unlocked on an Athlon 2 X4. :)Phenom 2 x4 910 performance at a much lower price, can't complain about that!
zarkness - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
May i know what is the batch of Athlon II x4 are u all using because i plan to buy one too...Taft12 - Friday, January 29, 2010 - link
Almost surely it was the very first waves of Athlon II X4's could have their L3 cache unlocked. They needed to get a lot of these into the channel when the announcement was made since (unsurprisingly) a $99 quad-core CPU sold like mad out of the gate, and the non-L3 die production was just getting started.Unfortunately, your chances of buying a new Athlon II X4 that is cache-unlockable today are very low.