Intel now charging for EXTRA speed

**DonVitoJr** · 09-20-10, 06:32 PM

I got this link from my friend who is a geek about all things that Intel fails at. According to this article, you will now have to pay to get more speed out of your CPU. No more overclocking, so to speak. They are trying this on low end CPU's to see how business goes. I think they will see a drop not only in sales, but also employees. Read up on this, i suggest going to AMD since they will do better with sales than Intel if they go through with this.

Intel wants to charge $50 to unlock stuff your CPU can already do -- Engadget

**DancingCorpse** · 09-20-10, 06:41 PM

Wonder how they will enforce that

I don't recall any Intel programs that change my BIOS settings...

**Imisnew2** · 09-20-10, 06:52 PM

I really wanna see something like this blow up and make news... Because only then would producers start listening to consumers... at least for a little while...

**Bunni** · 09-20-10, 07:03 PM

wow, really? I suppose they probably have their reasons (like sick and tired of folk calling up saying "i fried my stuff")... But still...

**Too Much Damage** · 09-20-10, 10:07 PM

I do not endorse this product and/or statement.

**DonVitoJr** · 09-20-10, 10:24 PM

Dibs on that for a sig. But to add to this I was reading on Cnet that Intel is also working on firmware integrated into their processors that detect torrent downloads. According to Intel, it's to stop those from stealing software from particular sites that is defined by them and a government agency. I think that will be shot down due to privacy rights and hackers. I'll post a link up about that tomorrow.

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**HeavyG** · 09-20-10, 10:51 PM

Vito, you are such a conspiracy theorist...

Right... Intel, a hardware manufacturer, gives a shit about the software you are stealing.

As for the locked stuff... It is cheaper for Intel to build trays of high end CPUs and under power them than it is for them to build the slower CPUs on a different assembly line. This is regular practice for both Intel and AMD. This is Intel's way of saying "you may not have the money for it now, but we can let you unlock more performance later". Some chips will be geared towards the budget consumer (at a lower price), while the performance-oriented consumer can unlock the Hyperthreading for a mere $50. Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me. If I could pay $50 to unlock it on my i5, I would do it in a heartbeat.

I actually like the business model. It is designed to benefit the consumers. Instead of forcing the consumer to pay for an expensive CPU that performs well beyond their needs, they can save a few bucks and keep it simple with no hyper threading.

Also, this is a pilot test for some shitty Intel low grade CPU. We will see if it hits the main stream market. Either way, this method of "locking" features on CPUs is there to benefit us. Hasn't AMD been locking cores for a while now?

**moving-target** · 09-20-10, 10:54 PM

sounds like a pretty dick move

**DancingCorpse** · 09-20-10, 11:00 PM

Heavy hit the nail on the head.

And I agree. If I can upgrade my system over time when I do have the money to do it incrementally, I would be all for it, and it saves Intel on production cost, so it's a win for me and them.

I would rather have the one chip configured how I want it to be instead of having to rely on having the correct CPU hardware.