Question about Phenom II 550BE and some prices.

Hello everyone,
I wanted to ask you guys, when you unlock the 2 extra cores in Phenom II 550 proccy does heat production increase considerably? And, will I need a new cooler for it or will the stock cooler do if I don't plan to OC it.....just unlock the 2 extra cores? My main purpose is gaming!

Also,
I need some info of prices of the following products if I buy them from Lamington Rd:

• Biostar TA790GX A3+ (Some people quoting 6k, some 6.7k so wanted to confirm)
• Transcend DDR3 1333 MHz (Same here, some people saying 2.5k and some 2.1k)
• Corsair VX550
• 100 Mbps LAN Card

-Thanks all! ^_^

As long as you dont overclock more than say 300 mhz above stock values, even the stcok cooler should be ok to go. As far as the rates go, I would suggest you look at deltapages, as that gives u a close indicator of the current prices. Also you can ask one of the dealers for quotes. Prices change from city to city.

u wont get much improvent on a HD4850 even if u buy a Phenom II and unlock it to a quad core....the gfx needs to be upgraded here..

@OP
You sure you want to go for a 1333MHz DDR3 rams?

Why not?

Not really looking for much of improvement here, I am already getting 65+ FPS in all games (incl. Crysis Wars). I just need to use these old parts of mine (CPU,mobo etc.) for another PC so I am replacing those with new parts.

I have seen more than 4 p2 550s unlocked and temps on them, and I would suggest you go with an aftermarket cooler. Temps could go very high with video encoding or multithreaded apps. With Prime temps can go above 65 sometimes. Undervolting, better ambient temperature and better cabby might help but I like to my temps around 50 and not more than 55. And more importantly, you could overclock it a bit too .

well when you unlock the cores the temp diodes fail. Hence, dunno abt the actual temps, but temp should not be an issue.

i bought that mobo for 6.2k from cochin.

If you don't OC, the stock cooler should do, provided, your cabby is well ventilated.
BTW: Why do you need a VX550? Going in for the likes of 5870?

Because they're nothing great than a fast DDR2 800/1066MHz ones.
However, if you already have a DDR3 board or have finalized in getting a DDR3 board, then there's not much to say against a cheap 1333MHz DDR3 ram. If you had mentioned going for a 1600MHz DDR3 ram (CL7 or CL8), then I wouldn't have asked you the question.

VX550 cuz l8r when I upgrade my GPU frm HD4850, I wont have to upgrade my PSU again! and also VX550 is about 1.5-1.6k more than VX450 so might as well....
Cabby is well ventilated....using CM690

Hmm....actually I had a thread earlier on which I was asking advice on what parts to buy and people said that it was best that if I was upgrading my mobo, go for DDR3 only.....so hence the decision to go with DDR3 RAM+mobo. And ya, maybe will get a better ram. Any suggestion?

stick to cheapest available 2GB ddr3 ram module. Upgrade after 3/4 months when prices should be half of the current value.

am I missing on some news??? any news that prices will reduce by half in the next 3-4 months???