Intel Targets AMD With Affordable Unlocked CPUs 207
EconolineCrush writes "For years, AMD has catered to gamers and enthusiasts with mid-range Black Edition processors whose unlocked multipliers make overclocking easy. Intel has traditionally reserved unlocked multipliers for its ultra-expensive Extreme CPUs, but it has now brought the feature to affordable models that compete directly with AMD's most popular processors. The Core i5-655K and Core i7-875K have two and four cores, respectively, and they're priced at just $216 and $342. It appears that both will easily hit speeds in excess of 4GHz with air cooling. Surprisingly, even at stock speeds, the i7-875K offers better performance and power efficiency per dollar than just about any other desktop CPU out there."
That's "frequency", not speed (Score:4, Informative)
Re:igive up (Score:3, Informative)
26 other letters, or maybe only 25 other letters?
Re:Yawn (Score:5, Informative)
Exactly. You can get an unlocked quad core 3.2Ghz AMD 955 for $160 on newegg, that is more than enough performance for anything a "gamer" is going to be doing. The only reason to even want more than that is if you are chasing ego with benchmarks/folding@home or are doing bulk HD video encoding/graphics rendering.
Re:Please explain overclocking. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Goes to 11, Oblig (Score:2, Informative)
Obligatory XKCD
http://xkcd.com/670/ [xkcd.com]
Re:Please explain overclocking. (Score:5, Informative)
Historically, they make a whole batch of processors together, then run some tests to see how fast each will run. Some go faster than others (or more to the point, some are reliable at higher speeds, some less reliable) so they get divided into different speed batches and sold at different prices.
The reasons behind the reliability are varied, however, and mostly down to heat dissipation. As the chip gets hotter (and they get v hot inside) it gets less reliable. The manufacturer tests against a standard heat diffusion system, but some people will spend more money on good cooling, either a big heatsink and fan, or even water cooling, or down to liquid nitrogen (!). The upshot is, any particular chip will be more reliable at a higher speed.
Sometimes, however, it's just about the market. It may cost $200 to manufacture your product, but some people want to buy a good product at around $300, some want to buy one at $500 and have the best. So you sell your product for $500, but nobble a few (say in firmware) to run a bit slower, and sell those for $300. Overall, you will sell many more that way than just the $500 ones, so you make more money.
This is EXACTLY what happened with the Geforce 6800GTS (If I remember correctly) - they used to manufacture dies with 4 cores on them. If it had 4 cores working, it was a high end model, if it had 3 cores working, it was a low end model. This allowed them to increase yields dramatically, as all the ones with just one fault still sold. However, the market demand for the low end one was far greater than the number of defective parts they had, so they ended up taking the 4-core model, locking one core in firmware and releasing it as a low end model - after all, selling a card at a cheaper price is better than not selling it at all, right?
The upshot was some people could programmatically unlock their 4th core, and get a high end card for low end price! I tried it myself, but had one with a defective 4th core so just got a bunch of video corruption until I locked it again :>
Re:Yawn (Score:3, Informative)
However it leads to being a social outcast.
Re:Yawn (Score:1, Informative)
There's an XKCD for that: http://xkcd.com/606/ [xkcd.com]
Re:That's "frequency", not speed (Score:3, Informative)
Even with highly overclockable AMD's, you have to search for the production code, then determine which week it was produced. There may be one single week, or a run of two to four weeks, but you have to narrow it down to one of those good periods. One week, you get a near lemon that won't overclock 5% - the following week, you get an "OH MY GOD THAT'S FUCKING FAST! CHECK THE TEMPERATURE!" chip. Even among the known good overclockers, stability becomes an issue. Week 32 will run super fast, but will only stay up and stable for a week or so at a time, while week 47 will run the same speed forever.
Now, I'm pulling numbers out of my ass, but you get the idea here. If you're serious about overclocking, you have to hit the forums, and find out what other people are doing. Then, when you've identified a chip that does what you want, you start searching for it. But, be prepared to pay a premium.
Personally, I shop for a fairly good overclocker - I have two Opterons that are known to run at ~3GHZ and be stable. But, they are rated at 2 Ghz and 2.2 Ghz. I bumped them up a conservative 5% using the soft-menu or EZ-menu or whatever in the motherboard BIOS. Why, you ask? Well, I figure that I've got a good, super quality chip known to run for years under extreme abuse. They should last ME damned near forever!!
Well - maybe not that long, but at least until the next ice age. ;^)
Re:Yawn (Score:5, Informative)
However it leads to being a social outcast.
That is a valid point for someone under 25, but I'm in my 40s, albeit not typical, as I still game regularly and enjoy new technology on a regular basis. I also fish and garden a bit to make sure I get some exercise. I don't game socially (multi-player) very often simply because the demands of family and work make it difficult to schedule gaming, but I still play at least an hour a day. For most of us over 30, delaying gratification works out to save some money. This means when the rare something new comes out and I just MUST HAVE IT NOW, I don't feel so bad spending the money, as that is the exception rather than the rule.
Re:Description is flawed (Score:3, Informative)
The 2.8ghz i7-930 is $199 vs $342 for a 2.93ghz i7-875K, so almost double the price for 0.13ghz more.
To be fair, the Microcenter price is a bit of a loss leader. Trying to get a 930 just about anywhere else, and it goes for ~$288. While the multiplier is locked, the FSB on both the 920 and 930 can be bumped up to some crazy amounts. My experience with the 920 let the x21 multiplier clock up to a stable 4.6ghz [multiply.com] using a H50 cooler. Same sort of overclocks folks are seeing with the $1000 975 Extreme Edition version.
It will be nice when the stock multipliers start hovering around 4ghz by default, rather than everything dabbling around 3.
Re:Description is flawed (Score:3, Informative)
-1, Poor Language Skills
The word you were looking for is moot not mute.
Also, the entire world does not live near a Microcenter.