Triple core processors reliable?

When they say tri cores have 1 core disabled its because there are actually 4 cores on the chip one of which is disabled, making it a triple core. In some cases, this can actually be unlocked and used.

I've just recently bought a Phenom II X3 black edition and would recommend it!

You're almost right. The only company making triple core processors is AMD, and they're really quad-core processors with a single core disabled.

Basically AMD just makes Quad-core processors. However, when they test the processors, sometimes they find that one of the 4 cores on the chip doesn't work properly. Rather than throw away those chips, they just disable that 4th core and repackage it as a triple-core CPU.

so triple core processors, are actually quad core processors, with one of the core locked down so u cant use them, they are just as reliable as all the other processors