New purchase advice needed.

[Ryokurin]

Well, it's time to retire the Opteron 175 and move on to something running DDR3 for future sake, and Microcenter's 20% off sale ends Saturday so its decision time on what to buy.

Currently what I plan on buying is as follows.

Athlon II X4 630
Asus M4A79XTD EVO (for the sb750 SB)
4GB DDR3-1600 (Corsair CL9)

The price for all three after tax comes up to $332 (before you say it, it's only about 5 dollars more than newegg) However, there's several other chips that are available for around the same price which may be better. Would you go with what I chose or any of the others listed below?

Phenom II X2 550
Phenom II X2 555
Phenom II X3 720
Athlon II X4 620

All are $99 with the exception of the 550 which is $87. I know the 555 could be unlocked with this board but how lucky have people been with this as of late? Thanks in advance!

 

[OFaceSIG]

the l3 cache of the phenom will benefit you in gaming. Unlocking is a crap shoot. Lots or people have done it with the right motherboard. I however don't overclock or unlock (my mobo won't unlock) and love my x3 720 for gaming. Beyond that if you game a lot a higher clocked dual will be better. If you do lots of heavy work, video encoding, transcoding, etc a quad whether athlon or phenom will be better.

 

[silent-circuit]

I'd get the P2 X3 and try to unlock. As OFace up there said, the L3 cache on the Athlon IIs is pathetically small and it really can hurt. 720 or 555 if you're feeling lucky.

 

[Ryokurin]

While I do occasionally game most of what I will be doing is video encodes thus the decision on the Athlon II. What I'm really wondering if I do decide to go with what I originally chose what are the chances of being able to get a decent overclock there?

 

[=HPSF=Roadrunner]

I'd say the BE550 or 555. From what I have been reading, they seem like a hella chip for the $. I am biased of course, since I just got an Asus M4a785-m+BE550. It unlocked to quad no prob, and seems stable at 3.2 (first OC attempt ever) simply by bumping up the multiplyer. All on stock HS/F, and I am total noob.

If you're feeling lucky, you can roll the dice, and hope for a succesful unlock. If not, I still say the BE550/555 are great chips for the $, and likely have nice OC'ing ability, even if you don't get succesful unlock.