CPU/Mobo Intel : Enable HyperThreading and Unlock Your Cache ... just $50

PoBoy

PoBoy

Herald
that the most stupid thing

ppl would rather buy amd which can be unlocked without paying anything extra

if intel thinks it'll counter amd (unlocking) by this than it's a wet dream

fail:(

why pay extra for something which is already there in the product but has been purposefully locked by the company
 
Epic fail :P
Purposely locking something on the hardware and then charging the customers for enabling it :no:
Have they gone mad!
 
Its not a fail actually. Its a boon for all those fail OCers cause if unlocked from Intel, they need to take responsibility for anything that goes wrong after the person plays with it.
 
ultimabasher said:
Its not a fail actually. Its a boon for all those fail OCers cause if unlocked from Intel, they need to take responsibility for anything that goes wrong after the person plays with it.
Click to expand...
OK that just went over my head. What did that mean?
 
I thought this upgrade will be provided for low end PCs to enable people to buy cheaper PCs initially and then upgrade later on. I wonder how Intel is going to justify the $50 if people don't see a noticeable improvement in performance.
 
cant comment whether this is legitimate or not but it wont be too late before it is cracked :P

as for comments about 'me getting what i paid for..!!'

Do you really think Intel and AMD actually bins processors for each and every model they release?

its more like:-

AMD Binned 50 X4 955BE Chips on a silicon wafer... say it cost AMD $2500 for the silicon wafer..

which makes $50 per chip..

but not every chip out of those 50 turns out to be 955BE.

Say only 5 Turn out to be X4 955BE 'with Desired TDP'

Other X4 are with higher TDP and and must be brought to lower TDP .. Thus lower Model and Pricing.. That is, 'They Lock the Performance and Features to make it fit the desired price and TDP'

Similarly Some of the chip are with Bad cores/cache and AMD locks the Specs as per the TDP.

Some of the cores just go bad.

of if talking about 'What we pay for',

A person buying $100 X2 550BE pay for the same piece of hardware as the person buying $200+ 955BE (at that time).

Does it make you entitled of owning the full features and performance of even a 550BE officially ?

I guess that is why AMD had initially locked the unlocking capability on previous bios.

it was rather a goodwill or probably a move to promote sale later on by adding unlocking feature officially.

Just to be clear again, It is all about TDP.
 
There is nothing wrong about it conceptually or morally. Would you rather have Intel enable all the features and have a higher price accordingly? Don't forget that often the CPU's manufactured in the same batch are binned differently based how its performing. This is nothing new. Even during the Pentium era, the 150MHz Pentium and 166MHz Pentium are exactly one and the same. So why does Intel charge more for the 166MHz CPUs? because the 166MHz ones would be fewer in number than ones that run at 150Mhz and they are giving you guarantee that the CPU would run at 166MHz without issues. These companies have been disabling features/decreasing clocks if it gets a CPU to work. Even AMD does the same thing. How about passing out quad cores as tri cores after disabling a core. how about hex cores passed off as quad cores. They disable those because they cannot guarantee that it would work to specs. But you can always try to enable the core although it will not always work out well. If Intel wants to charge for enabling features on a CPU, its because they have to give you guarantee that it would work. Whats a bit off in this case is that the price they are charging is a bit too high for unlocking stuff on low end processor.
 
1) It is (comparably) cheap to manufacture an individual chip, but it costs billions upon billions to design a new kind of chip, create an infrastructure to manufacture it, market it, and sell it to the public. Therefore, it is more cost effective for a CPU manufacturer to have fewer lines, as long as the company can maintain good market segmentation.

2) As with any product, there are defects in manufacturing, and not every chip comes out perfect. However, the CPU industry, along with other computer parts industries, has gotten around this problem of waste by disabling the ineffective cores and rebranding them as lower end chips. As the manufacturing process for a single line gets more sophisticated, the binning process switches from arbitrary to planned.

3) Intel has decided to move the binning process from the hardware to the firmware level (I know those may not be the correct terms; just go with it.) Instead of having to ship OEMs a huge supply of potentially wasted chip varieties, Intel can ship them a ton of the same chip, and the OEM can simply upgrade customers at checkout, probably paying Intel a fee a la carte. Similarly, if a customer either doesn't want HT on a certain chip, or does but can't afford it at the moment, this allows him to buy the chip now and upgrade later, as opposed to having to save up and wait or buy an entirely new chip a few months down the road. As long as pricing levels are concurrent with functionality levels, how is this in any way a bad thing? It seems incredibly convenient.

I know this is long, but there are two additional points that need addressing:

4) A lot of people keep saying that the reason the practice is EVIL is that it is not a physical limitation of the chip, but rather an artificial software limitation. Yes, I agree there is a difference there. What significance does it have? As long as Intel advertises the limited chip with the proper feature set--and charges accordingly--how has anyone been ripped off, except people who either don't research their purchases or expect a top-dollar product for a bargain basement price? It's like buying a 360 Arcade and expecting a 250GB hard drive to come with it.

5) Everyone keeps saying that it's "idiotic" or "naive" to assume that Intel will price the limited chips according to functionality. I don't appreciate being called an idiot, so I ask: do you understand economics? If I am Mr. OEM and Intel tells me, "Hey, we're going to sell you these chips that can be upgraded to all these various speeds, but we're going to charge you the maximum price for all of them," I'd be making a call to AMD in the next ten minutes. I'm sure that, unless OEMs are just monumentally stupid, the various companies will work out new purchasing/sales models with Intel. Of course Intel will try to make the most profit out of it, but so will the OEMs. Assuming, of course, this goes mainstream, which it probably won't, because people are so happy to be offended these days.

Overall, I think all of this uproar stems from an unwillingness to try new methods of sales and purchasing, a general aversion to large companies in general, and the strange disease of the Internet that seems to breed outrage and moral indignation every time some rich guy doesn't remember to put the toilet seat down.
Click to expand...

One of the comments on Gizmodo...kinda makes sense to me now..
 
nfsnfs said:
Where does it show the list of CPUs that can be worked on ?
Click to expand...
For now at least, it will work only on the (relatively very low-end) Intel Pentium G6951 (a processor not even widely available yet).

Secondly, cracking this is going to quite hard, though it should be possible at some point.

Thirdly, those outraged by this just need to read the posts of "madnav" and "Lord Nemesis" in this thread - Intel (and AMD) have always been following this practice. Now Intel probably has so many GOOD YIELD chips, that locking them down permanently to a far lower set of features/speed/cache, just because bean counters at Best Buy wanted to save US$5 per machine, would be a shame and so they are offering this facility (to atleast the few who might benefit and thus benefit Intel too). Useful for those who don't want to (or don't know to) get their hands dirty with upgrades.
 
in my opinion it boils down to:
1 more options for buyer
2 more profit for intel ;)
i just dont like the amount
50 dollars seems steep for low end prrocys
 
Intel's upgradable processor: good sense or utter catastrophe?

The Pentium G6951 is a low-end processor. Dual core, 2.8GHz, 3 MB cache, and expected to be around $90 each when bought in bulk—identical to the already-shipping Pentium G6950. The special part is the software unlock. Buy an unlock code for around $50, run the software downloaded from Intel's site, and your processor will get two new features: hyperthreading will be enabled, and another 1 MB of cache will be unlocked, giving the chip a specification just short of Intel's lowest Core i3-branded processor, the 2.93 GHz Core i3-530. Once unlocked, the G6951 becomes a G6952.

The processors will ship as part of a pilot program next quarter to a select number of resellers in just four markets: US, Canada, the Netherlands, and Spain. Systems with the G6951 will have to use one of two specific Intel motherboards (DH55TC and DH55PJ), as well as an up-to-date BIOS. The process also needs an Internet connection: before authorizing the upgrade, the unlock code and ID of the OEM need to be validated by Intel. One OEM that will participate in the scheme is Gateway; the upgrade package that Engadget posted was for that company's forthcoming SX2841-09e desktop that will be available from Best Buy.
Click to expand...
 
Someone will find a way to unlock it for free. But yeah, lord nemesis is right- if one made a legit purchase, intel will guaruntee that it will unlock.
 
FAIL...I don't think this is a smart move by intel.The only ppl who ae interested i gaining a performance bonus(legally or otherwise) are gamers and enthusiasts.AFAIK this processor will only be popular among casual PC users(entry-level ) who are not aware of this scheme of intel's and really don't give a duck for 1MB of cache.This is a poor attempt by intel to counter the unlocking options in phenom II series processors.
 
I dont know why people are comparing this to unlocking AMD chips. Its totally different, this is Hyper Threading and more Cache to go with it.

Think of it like this core i7 wihout HT 200$ with HT 250$. Or maybe a more likely scenario i3 2 core 3k in india , i3 with HT 5.5k.

Its a smart move from intel as they can drop the price of their chips and should people want more performance out of it they can just drop intel 50$ more.
 
Choor saala !! :P

I hope someone figures out how to do this for free !!

But in their defense , its like a mid life upgrade for 50 $ if you feel the need for more power at a later date . Stiff think it sucks though.
 
Back
Top