CPU/Mobo AMD Phenom II X2 550 : transforms to Quad Core

Those 550s are engg samples in my opinion or lucky people got 'em. I just bought the 550 BE 2 days ago.. Whenever I set the ACC to auto either in BIOS or AMD Overdrive, it won't boot ( or display) . I have to clear and replace the CMOS battery to make it boot.
 
How's the 550BE overall? And did you get it locally or from the states or something? If locally, what price and source. I have to build a system for a friend.

Additionally, Sabby, it's just luck. I built two systems with 720BEs for a friend and me, mine got unlocked to quad and runs stable at 3.2ghz, friend's 720BE faces the same issue as your 550BE and refuses to boot with ACC enabled.
 
AMD is going to LOCK the bios for unlocking cores , phenom 2 550 is ultimate OCer can go 5.5Ghz on Air

the performance of 550 is really gr8 VLM
 
And thankfully it beats Core 2 Duo E8400. That means INTEL toh gaya!(in higher end dual core market, and mid range aka E8xxx and E7xxx)
 
The 550 comes with the worst possible stock heatsink I've ever seen. It looks like a Pentium III heatsink that forgot its clips. The core is 3x3 cm, and though it runs cooler at idle than my 9950 w/CCF, it goes all crazy at the slightest hint of load. I wouldn't trust it for a 1MHz OC. The processor is snappy enough, much quicker in Windows than the 9950 though slower at benchmarks. Don't play games on this one, so no way to find out, and no SB750 for me, still stuck w/SB700 so no way (or desire) to unlock cores...

For 5.2-5.5K, there just isn't a better deal, seeing the prices of the 720BE are through the roof.
 
@lxq_ikrana

I got from our Chandni Chowk in Kolkata ( like lammy in Mumbai :p ) and was quite amazed to find it available. When I called 4-5 days before I went there, no one even assured the availability of X3 720 BE and I thought getting 550 BE is impossible as it was launched only on 2nd june. But I inquired into two shops and both of them called some1 and quoted 5300/- and 5200/-. I bought the rig from the later one as I was recommended. And I was also lucky enough to get that Biostar board as cheap as 5k. ( listed as 5.8k or more in most online sources ). And yeah, the processor is blowing my mind, with stock cooling and using the Mobo OC utility ( given in driver CD ) I got 3.7 GHz. I didn't even increase the multiplier or did nothing to RAM ( didn't even increase any voltage or decrease HT link ). Planning to get an after market cooler after selling my old rig and then will go upto 4.2 or more. :D

@cranky, I can't comment on the stock cooler, as I did not observe it so closer and with so detail. But I am having 37 C while in medium load ( and yes, in VISTA ULTIMATE ). I think that is pretty enough @ 3.62Ghz.

P.S. - I don't have any air conditioning facility.
 
The Accurate temperature level for phenom 2 550 processor are not yet been put in to BIOS , for OCing u dont need any air condition just need good modded / ventilated cabinet

Please dont OC ur processor from the AMD overdrive or any utilities just increase the multiplier , also for phenom 550 keep the Vcore voltage in your eyes make u speed stable !!!



JUST ALWAYS OC from ur bios
 
@damngoodman

Thanks man. I know that. Was just testing that utility. I really don't have to OC right now. Just waiting to buy a decent CPU cooler and then I will do some experiments. :)

And about AC, I just mentioned that lest someone suspect about the CPU temp. :p

P.S. - I got the CPU temp from Everest.
 
Running stock, I see idle 32/load 38 using a Coolermaster Gemini II S. That should mean an idle power consumption of about 15 watts, assuming a 0.3 C/W transfer for the heatsink and thermal compound, my ambient is ~30 degrees. That is insanely low by any standards.
 
^^Didn't you had a SCCF ? :S What is the max speed that you have hit..

Man I am dying to buy this chip :)

@shabby : It doesn't matter if its a ES or normal chip meant for sale.. Most of the Mb are able to unlock it.

@damngoodman : AMD has no plan whatsoever to lock core .. unlocking favouring their business and helps boosting sales..
 
^^ amd isnt gonna lock cores bt they are gonna issue microcode update to mobo manufacturers...bios updates after that will disable the unlocking option... people are free to use old bios though :)
 
I do have the CCF. It's doing duty in my (temporary) gaming rig with the 9950BE and a M3N78-EM, till the 890 and Phenom III (?) hit mainstream by end of the year. But now I'm back to an all-AMD setup, after my (mis?)adventures with Intel for 18 months

I haven't overclocked. Don't know if I will till the rains hit town, I live on the top floor and it's a warm 30 degrees inside the room. In any case the board it is running on is the weak link, its a 780G M3A78-EM. Both the M3A and M3N top out at 150 watts on the VRM, my 9950 does only about 2.9GHz stable, and 3GHz Prime unstable, rebooting after 20 minutes of a 4-core run. This is identical for both boards, and both boards have the same VRM scheme.

Still, it should be enough for about 3.6-3.7GHz on the 550BE, and even then I'm not sure of the experiment as this machine is a fileserver and the center of my computing activity.

As for coolers, the Gemini II is no slouch. It matches the CCF at idle and is just 2 degrees worse at load with my 9950BE, the toastiest load I have to offer. And cheaper too, and the downward fan configuration is better for overall cooling anyway.

I love this chip. It does some things quicker than the 9950 because of the higher clock speed, at something like a quarter of the power. The whole room feels a little cooler since the change.
 
@ Dark Star

First, Its sabby not "shabby". Actually I never get shabby. :p

Biostar TA790GX 128M is a popular ( may not be as Asus or Gigabyte ) for OC and people used it to unlock 720 or others. Btw, My default BIOS is of jan, 2009. Would you advise me to get an earlier version ?

@cranky, you bought the 550 too ? from where ( just curious ) ? I 've hit 3.6 Ghz mark @ stock HSF and without changing the Vcore or any other setting. I think it can easily be taken to 4Ghz mark using a good cooler. I will definitely let you know after getting one. And yeah, even at its stock speed, it is a great one to work with... really fast and smooth. :)
 
@sabby

do u hav Biostar TA790G 128M mobo?? It's a gud mobo, but I hav never seen ACC working gr8 on it, always the same blank screen on boot :( ...dats wat I hav seen so far for everyone I hav suggested this mobo, and when OC'ing on reaching 1.5V vCore the mobo becomes unstable(this was the case for X3 720 and X4 9950, dunno how it will be for X2 550)
 
I've so far hit 217x17.5 with a .05V increase in CPU and NB voltages. Mobo was not stable at 220, but fine upto 218.

Temperatures seem normal, but the fantastic temps I reported earlier (and this is for everybody) are maybe not spot on. The mobo may be slightly under-reporting the figure, so I added 5 degrees to the temperature for a more accurate (and safe) assessment. After doing this I'm at 48 load (after adding 5 degrees) and 40 idle @3.79GHz, still good enough to press on. I assume the chip has at least 250-300MHz more before it hits its safe limits.
 
@j1n M@tt,

yeah, same problem here.. no display agter ACC. But I really don't need 4 cores ( though it would be a bonus ). And about the mobo, I already hit 3.6Ghz mark w/o cooler. It is purely stable provided that I have not increased voltages.

@cranky

How much did you have to pay ? :) And what mobo do you have ?
 
From an earlier post:

In any case the board it is running on is the weak link, its a 780G M3A78-EM.
Click to expand...

I paid 5200 ex tax (~5400), and the transport for the CPU, a mobo (not this one, the other one mentioned in the same post), a bunch of fans and other stuff was ~300 bucks, don't remember.
 
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