AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail [HDZ720WFGIBOX]

Reviewed by: Glenn (Leicestershire)

Had this for a few months now and only just decided to have a go at unlocking the 4th core - OMG how easy? Have an Asus M4A79XTD so set AAC to auto and then enable the unleashing option. Job done. Now have a quad core running at 3.3GHz and after two hours of prime95 temps read just 52 deg C in a very warm room. Just buy it.

Reviewed by: rlilewis (Southampton)

I've had this for about 6 months now and I am very impressed. I used to run a P4 overclocked to 3.6GHz but that was still rubbish and ran at 60-70c. This baby I haven't touched at all and it just takes anything I throw at it. Not to mention that with the stock fan I have never seen it go above 35c even after huge gaming sessions hehe, its just amazing.

I'm glad at the low temperatures because I want to keep this chip for as long as possible and since it has so much room for overclocking I see no reason why I couldn't do this.

Reviewed by: Professor00179 (Sheffield )

So far performs pretty well. Have no problems with tempereature and it was quite easy to install the processor thought I have never done it before. I dint try to unlock the fourth core but I'm gonna do it in the future. There is no reason at all to buy 4cores if you gonna play games and not work in 3D environments. Majority of games uses 2cores at max. If the use more the difference in four-three cores is about 3-5 percent so it isnt worth the money thought you can unlock additional cores on almost every motherboard after installing new drivers. From all I heard most friendly in unlocking is GIGABYTE's mobo.

Reviewed by: Stephen (London)

I can't believe the performance of this processor - nevermind the fact it's only 92 quid!! Overclocks effortlessly (in an Asus M4A79XTD Evo mobo) currently running it at 3.2ghz with no voltage changes required. That's enough for me :)

I stayed with Windows XP. (I do not like Vista at all and I am going to try Windows 7 later) I press the power button, the bios thinks about it for around 15 seconds, Windows starts to load.. and in 10 more seconds I am at the logon screen. Amazing. Nevermind the fact I can run all my games (max settings) and the processor rarely goes above 50%

Reviewed by: Kieron (Leicester)

Bought this back in May instead of a Core 2 Duo at the same price point. Vista runs like a dream and seems to have an extra kick when running multiple apps

Reviewed by: Chris

Unlocked my Tri core with advanced clock control now it is a stable Quad core running 3.2ghz with small vcore bump.
Not too shabby....

Reviewed by: Jamie P

This processor is absolutely impressive i have it at 3.8 ghz core 2 ghz NB and 2 ghz HT. Cooled by many a case fan and a shoddy old akasa type cooler. Motherboard is GA770-UD3.

Reviewed by: avrc

A doddle to overclock, currently sitting at 3.4Ghz with an after market cooler.

If you have a Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 Rev 2 board and are thinking about getting one, be aware that you need the very latest BIOS update (FC). Although this CPU is supposedly supported with a lesser update it actually isn't.

Reviewed by: KJS

I'll put this very simply. I had a X2 5600 and 8800gtx and could only run Crysis on medium at 1920 x1200 at playable framerates. Got a this with a MSI 790GX-G65 motherboard and 4gb 1333MHz DDR3. Running not High but Very high at 1920 x 1200 with the same old card. You don't even need to overclock the multiplier, there's a FSB switch on the motherboard that sends you straight to 3.35GHz with this chip, good for the novice and 17oC idle with a passive cooler and 120mm fan. So much more overclocking room, but don't need it yet. Best of all, the price of the set up for the monster performance.

Reviewed by: Paul B

Great piece of kit, childs' play to overclock! To take advantage of it make sure you get an AM3 motherboard and some DDR3 - heck, throw in a Seagate Velociraptor or SSD - you can afford to at this price! Serious bang for your buck here...

Reviewed by: tony

great cpu works fast temprature idl is most of the time 21c 22c. working 33c 35c and yet again great cpu

Reviewed by: chris wray

great cheap upgrade path works in a am2+ compatible mainboard mines @ 3.5ghz with no other adjustments, uses less power and runs allot cooler, when you get an am3 mainboard it will simply swap into it.

Reviewed by: Nyar

this is a brilliant cpu, especially for gamers on a budget. overclocks well, got mine to 3.3 on standart voltage and 3.8 without. leaving it at 2.8 because it does everything i want. far cry 2 (with a 4850) runs silky smooth on my 790gx. (just make sure your mobo supports AM3)

Reviewed by: jisumy

the AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE processor receives my highest recommendation and approval. There aren't many applications that will utilize four processor cores, and when they do it seems that three is nearly as good. Quad-core doesn't translate into better performance, and Tri-core has proven itself superior for gaming as well computing. Take into account the phenomenal pricing and unlocked overclocking headroom, and it becomes easy to see why Black Edition HDZ720WFGIBOX has the potential to dominate both socket AM3 and AM2+ motherboards with either DDR2 or DDR3 system memory.

The Phenom II processors can perform so closely to the Core i7-920 in real-world computing that the added expense seems a waste; primarily because I've been using the X3 720 for a week now and have yet to notice a moment of difference between it and my Core i7 system.

Reviewed by: Craig Rushworth

This is a amazing cpu am running at 4.2 on air with am3 Gigabyte board!

Reviewed by: Kenny

Got one of these off Overclockers very recently, great service again. This CPU is real fast and works great in my system using Vista 64 bit. Games run nice and smooth, and applications load up real quick, I scored over 7200 CPU marks in 3D Mark Vantage (running at stock speed). You get your money's worth with this CPU, another great one from AMD!

Reviewed by: Kenny

I got this CPU off overclockers quite recently and it runs great in Vista 64. Had no probs installing it at all in my Gigabyte GA-MA-770 DS3 board. This is a very fast CPU, games run very nicely on it (both Tomb Raider Underworld and Splinter Cell Double Agent are running maxed out, real smooth!). Applications load in very fast and it scored over 7000 CPU marks in 3D Mark Vantage, just under 10000 in PC Mark 05.

Its not quite as fast as the Phenom 9850 but it runs cooler and its a great cpu for the money. Well worth it!