740 BE unlock question

X@nder36 · Nov 25, 2010

I'm sure you've all seen the 740 BE on sale at the egg for $68, :shock:

and I've been thinking about getting it since the cost is so low. The dilemma I have now is: do I buy the 740 for its low price now, or hold out till christmas to get either a 955/965. I want to upgrade my dually, as its losing its effectiveness in games, especially in black ops because of how CPU bound it is. So its quad or bust for me...until I saw this deal. A good majority of the reviews on newegg say it unlocks. Can anyone give me a good estimate on the chances of unlocking the 740 BE on a Biostar TA790GX A3+ board? Is it worth paying the $68 and taking a chance on the quad, or am I better off buying a regular quad core?

hatchet_warrior · Nov 25, 2010

I say take the chance. I was going to when they were $88 but I found a used 955 for under $100. At $68 I'm buy one for my brother to replace his s939 Opteron 165.

Either way that is going to be a really nice chip. But just as a warning, if it doesn't unlock, you won't see the jump in performance in most games.

X@nder36 · Nov 25, 2010

hatchet_warrior said:
Either way that is going to be a really nice chip. But just as a warning, if it doesn't unlock, you won't see the jump in performance in most games.

Thats what I was afraid of. Maybe I'm better off going with an athlon ii x4 640. I've read that more cores > l3 cache. decisions, decisions...

hatchet_warrior · Nov 25, 2010

I waited a month after deciding to upgrade. I just kept scouring the sale sections on numerous sites. I actually got mine off of craigslist.

ChanceCoats123 · Nov 25, 2010

hatchet_warrior said:
I say take the chance. I was going to when they were $88 but I found a used 955 for under $100. At $68 I'm buy one for my brother to replace his s939 Opteron 165.

Either way that is going to be a really nice chip. But just as a warning, if it doesn't unlock, you won't see the jump in performance in most games.

Unless you're buying a new board and ram as well, I wouldn't do that...

Awptex · Nov 25, 2010

I would hold out, better safe then sorry!

coonmanx · Nov 25, 2010

I would say that if you are OK with a tri core in the end, then you should go for it. There are of course no guaranteed unlocks. Even if the percentage is 70% you don't know if you will get one in that 70% or one in the 30%.

Also a 955 will generally OC pretty high, at least to 3.8 or so. The 740 BE may not get that high.

Marshmallow64 · Nov 25, 2010

Where did you read that more cores is better than L3 Cache? I have heard otherwise.

QuietIce · Nov 25, 2010

Marshmallow64 said:
Where did you read that more cores is better than L3 Cache? I have heard otherwise.

I'm pretty sure that's game dependent - VERY game dependent. Most games can only use two cores so obviously the L3 will help with them but extra cores won't (except maybe a third to pick up what little bit of OS stuff is running in the background). With a game that can use more than two cores there will obviously be bigger gains by adding more cores. It all depends on the game ...

X@nder36 · Nov 25, 2010

Marshmallow64 said:
Where did you read that more cores is better than L3 Cache? I have heard otherwise.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=653309

Neo3000 · Nov 27, 2010

X@nder36 said:
I'm sure you've all seen the 740 BE on sale at the egg for $68, and I've been thinking about getting it since the cost is so low. The dilemma I have now is: do I buy the 740 for its low price now, or hold out till christmas to get either a 955/965. I want to upgrade my dually, as its losing its effectiveness in games, especially in black ops because of how CPU bound it is. So its quad or bust for me...until I saw this deal. A good majority of the reviews on newegg say it unlocks. Can anyone give me a good estimate on the chances of unlocking the 740 BE on a Biostar TA790GX A3+ board? Is it worth paying the $68 and taking a chance on the quad, or am I better off buying a regular quad core?

I too read all the glowing reviews of most people unlocking their 4th core and I bought one. It's a steal and even though it probably won't overclock as high as my X2 555 C3 it should still be better for games with the third core if it doesn't unlock. I'd do it if I were you. Take a chance for that price. :thup:

X@nder36 · Nov 27, 2010

I jumped, the price was too good to pass up. I'll update when I get it and hopefully it will unlock.

Dr. McCoy · Nov 27, 2010

I believe you'll like it whether it unlocks or not, esp for the price.

I do know the average OC of a 720BE is around the 3.8 mark from what I've seen around the web and this one is a higher rated model so your chances of getting 3.8 from it are pretty good. Since all Heka cores have the C2 stepping, it won't clock as high as a C3 stepping chip for the most part but that in itself doesn't mean it won't clock.

My 720BE is a bit of a tradeoff.
It will go at least 4.3+ (Believe the board is holding it back) but doesn't unlock - It's a shame I can't have it all but I'm not complaining so much since it's still a great chip. In fact I may get a 740 if possible within the next week or so.
Don't need to worry about a quad since my 555 has four working cores in it and that's good enough for me.

Marshmallow64 · Nov 27, 2010

My old 720 BE got up to around 3.7 but it took a lot of watts if I remember. Like 1.46.

PicodeGallo · Nov 27, 2010

If it's any help/reassurance, I picked up the 740 and the 4th core unlocked.

X@nder36 · Nov 27, 2010

It shipped out today! I'm excited. Hopefully it gets put in the socket instead of getting stuck under the christmas tree for a month. I don't have unlocking options on the board itself. I vaguely remember hearing something about changing ACC to auto? Can anyone confirm this?

QuietIce · Nov 27, 2010

Using ACC is worth a try. That's originally how people found out about unlocking. Someone used ACC on a Phenom II (it's on-die for them) and all of a sudden had four cores but no core temp reporting. It was later that board makers came out with the unlocking mechanism in BIOS ...

Theivan · Nov 27, 2010

the be740 for 68.99 is sold out on newegg. I ordered one too.

X@nder36 · Nov 30, 2010

Good news. The word is in....and this whole batch probably unlocks, reading by the reviews :attn:

Heres my CPUz, a phenom ii x4 40, and i mildly overclocked it to 3.4ghz

Marshmallow64 · Nov 30, 2010

^ Nice! All stable?

740 BE unlock question

Member

Registered

Member

Registered

d20 in a jacket

Member

Member

Member

Disabled

Member

Registered

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Disabled

Member

Member

Attachments

Member

Similar threads