Quote Originally Posted by AMD-C View Post
The only issue I have with "unlocking" is the widespread idea that is guaranteed or even particularly likely to work, much less with reasonable temperatures, voltage and stability.

There are a bunch of people running around now who are certain in their beliefs that the different models only exist for the purpose of marketing and binning is done for fun. They make irresponsible recommendations to people who don't know better.
At first getting X3 CPUs to unlock was very hit and miss. Now that most BIOSes actively support unlocking, the Phenom II is mature most x2 550 CPUs are binned for exceeding TDP or VID targets rather than for defective CPU core as was often the case in early 720s. With 550 it has gradually moved from a black screen fail to a need to tweak but the majority go through with no problems.

By allowing the practice to continue AMD unofficially makes the X4 B50 the best value CPU on the market. Offering near i5 750 performance for half the price, backward and forward compatibility and making a mockery of the supposedly competitive i3/i5 in any multi threaded application or game. The CPU dependence and core count scaling of popular AAA titles like BF:BC2 and L4D2 make it the obvious choice for gamers who are strapped for cash but don't want their CPU to be strapped for cache.