very very iteresting just read this AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz can be a quad core
FROM a REVIEW on NEWEGG
Pros: Cheap and very fast X2 processor. 80W vs 125W from the 6400+ it replaced. 6MB L3 cache. The two disabled cores 3 and 4 could be unlocked with a 790X/790GX/790FX mobo (please see other thoughts). Easily OC'ed to 3.6GHz with all cores activated. Black Edition so the OC'ers will love it.
Cons: As several reviewers said, the heatsink is cheap. You will want to replace it even if you don't plan to overclock it and/or unlock the last 2 cores.
Other Thoughts: I bought this CPU to replace the 6400+ on a 780G mobo. I read about how easy it was to unlock the cores and to overclock this CPU on a 790 mobo so I just wanted to see if I could do the same with my 550. I took the 955 out of the MA790XT-UD4P that has the latest BIOS F.4.G, put this one in, went to the BIOS to set ACC to Auto and EC Firmware Selection to Hybrid. Because AMD has changed the BIOS microcodes to prevent us from unlocking the cores on the 720 and 550, when we use the new BIOS versions, setting ACC to Auto alone might not allow us to unlock the remaining cores. We also will need to set the EC option to Hybrid to let the mobo run the latest firmware with the old microcode (thanks, Gigabyte!). After unlocking cores 3 and 4, I oc'ed it to 3600MHz, installed Vista Ultimate x64 then ran Prime95 for 12 hours with no problems. Next day, I ran CPU stress test with Everest Ultimate for 6 hours with no problems. Vista recognized the 4 cores as Phenom II X4 B50 and gave it a 5.9 PR.
OMFG why has no one told me this before, and yet it makes so much sense now that i think about it.... HT = "CISC WTF"
