News Rumour: Phenom II X3 can have fourth core unlocked

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2009/02/24/phenom-ii-x3-can-have-fourth-core-unlocked/1

AMD's bottom-end Phenom X3 710 can reportedly have it's fourth core unlocked to give you a dirt cheap quad-core CPU.

 

I thought about this when I read the BT review of the x3 720. Maybe AMD just want to sell more processors by simply shutting down one core and sell more then a x4 but for lower price is also profit see. The fourth core does not even have to be faulty.

 

I heard that this was only limited to a single batch of X3s, chances are, as time goes on, more and more X3s will be ones where the 4th core didn't pass testing.

 

Worked on my friends CPU, he purchased it 4 days ago.

 

hope it works on the 720 and other M/B manufactuers cotton on and figure out how to enable this
I'd say as time goes on more and more quads will pass testing and x3's will be perfectly capable quads with one disabled core