Phenom ll 550 BE coming, I need a motherboard/ram

[cudaviper]

Hi all,
I have a Phenom ll 550 coming and have yet decided on a motherboard, I like Asus, Biostar and Gigabyte. question is, which make and model. I am looking at some ddr2 800 444-12 for the ram, but am open to suggestions. I would like to be able to see if I could unlock the other 2 cores or even just one, but it is not the main reason for it all, although is certainly wouldn't suck, a nice stable overclock would be great as well.... I'm kinda old school with the xp1700s B versions, overclocked like mad and now am running the athlon 64 3200 in all my stuff, not so great overclockers venice cores but solid..... so this is going to be a step up in all directions. I've read so much I have info overload. Is the north bridge more important than the south. Do I want at least a 750 north and 710 south. Money is a factor. 75 to 85 is in the budget for the board. Lean times for now. What should I be considering? Thanks and any other useful info is appreciated...

 

[o1die]

The way prices are going, I would compare carefully. Any new model is going to cost you almost as much as some older models. The 710 is already under $100 at some places. I'm waiting for the 600e or 605e quad core 45w models to see if amd has enough to sell at the retail level.

 

[o1die]

With your budget, you might want to look at some newegg open box boards, such as the biostar tforce ta790gx for $74.99 with free shipping. If you don't get any accessories, biostar will mail you a backplate for free, and you can download the board manual off their website. Just email them that you didn't receive a backplate with your board; no need to mention "open box".

 

[cudaviper]

thanks o1die,
im an oldie as well..ha. i actually have looked at that very board at newegg. and one of the thoughts was the back plate. respectable reviews and i have a couple biostar boards working nicely right now. if you realy like that one, i wouldnt mind spending a few more and just get the retail new. ( im more concerned about the open box than the plate). on a 40 buck board it never mattered, this one im hoping to carry me for 3+years.
i appreciate your input.

 

[Rhoxed]

Gigabyte MA790X-UD4P ~ $109 newegg, im sure you could wait for open box or look around

been unlocking 550's and 720's like crazy with new bios (f5a) but supports both chips with shipping bios, just cannot unlock as well

this gigabyte also raised my OC ~200mhz over my $220 (brand new last year) foxconn that couldnt even unlock the chip

 

[s44]

Instead of paying over $100 for an AM2, why not just get this Gigabyte AM3? 710 southbridge, unlocks cores, etc. $80 shipped even absent any deals.

 

[cudaviper]

[/L]http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/ga-ma770t-ud3p-question-32677/

here I find that gigabyte hasn't got their bios on this board to unlock these yet...is that what I am reading??? Looks like a great board for the money aside from that...priced right for sure.
thanks

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f6...t-ud3p-question-32677/

 

[s44]

Check the very first review on the Newegg page.

 

[cudaviper]

yes, i saw that, just wanted a bit more confirmation.. looks like a great board too. i am surprised they didn't mention anything about unlocking in this excellent review although they showed where you could lock or unlock cores on the bios screen shots....???

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/985/3/

i have changed my shopping cart so many times since last night i need a new basket..ha.
i appreciate your help and info.

ps. what do you make of the review???

 

[Stoneburner]

Originally posted by: s44
Instead of paying over $100 for an AM2, why not just get this Gigabyte AM3? 710 southbridge, unlocks cores, etc. $80 shipped even absent any deals.

the Callisto core 550 is deneb based so I think it's am2+ only. Could be wrong..

 

[richierich1212]

Originally posted by: Stoneburner

Originally posted by: s44
Instead of paying over $100 for an AM2, why not just get this Gigabyte AM3? 710 southbridge, unlocks cores, etc. $80 shipped even absent any deals.

the Callisto core 550 is deneb based so I think it's am2+ only. Could be wrong..

The 550 is AM3. The only AM2+ Phenom II chips are the 920 and 940.

 

[s44]

Originally posted by: cudaviper
yes, i saw that, just wanted a bit more confirmation..

ahem

maybe review sites aren't supposed to talk about this? other mobo manufacturers have actually *taken out* unlock options in their BIOS -- Gigabyte has added/fixed them

 

[Stoneburner]

Originally posted by: richierich1212

Originally posted by: Stoneburner

Originally posted by: s44
Instead of paying over $100 for an AM2, why not just get this Gigabyte AM3? 710 southbridge, unlocks cores, etc. $80 shipped even absent any deals.

the Callisto core 550 is deneb based so I think it's am2+ only. Could be wrong..

The 550 is AM3. The only AM2+ Phenom II chips are the 920 and 940.

The 920 and 940 are deneb, and I'm pretty sure callisto is really deneb as well... at least that's what xbit labs says and what cpuz says. You have word people run a 550 on an am3 board?

EDIT: I am WRONG. it does run on am3 boards Sorry for any confusion.

 

[wolfman11]

Originally posted by: cudaviper
yes, i saw that, just wanted a bit more confirmation.. looks like a great board too. i am surprised they didn't mention anything about unlocking in this excellent review although they showed where you could lock or unlock cores on the bios screen shots....???

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/985/3/

i have changed my shopping cart so many times since last night i need a new basket..ha.
i appreciate your help and info.

ps. what do you make of the review???

Unlocking of cores aside, I've built two systems on this Gigbyte board - GA-MA770T-UD3P. It's a very nice board for the money. Easy to work with, quality components and works great with Ubuntu. They've both been rock solid without a single issue - highly recommended if you don't need RAID 5 or Crossfire...

 

[cudaviper]

thanks to all that have responded, i ordered the 770 and it should be here next week, along with all the other items, so hopefully i will report, over the July 4th weekend, how it went along with some specs and numbers.
thanks again and best regards...