On Wed, 2010-09-22 at 09:49 -0700, Michael Miles wrote:
All amd processors are either locked (Multiplier set) or unlocked (Black Editions , unlocked multiplier) Which means the multiplier can be raised to adjust the cpu speed. I think you are thinking the cores themselves are cut and in some mobos you can unlock some cores. Amd Phenom x2 555 is a Phenom x4 555 with two cores disabled for marketing reasons.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2927
It's a roll of the dice to see if one of these can be unlocked to show 4 cores. Some do and some don't
In reality when the price of these units are so low you could have got your self a real quad for just over 100 bucks
Good luck Michael
Sold my MicroCenter as a black edition processor