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Intel offers processor upgrades via gift cards
CHIPMAKER Intel is offering customers another way to upgrade their processors by purchasing gift cards to unlock features that are already in its chips.
These magical gift cards allow users to download an application from Intel's website that will unlock features already present in compatible processors. Apparently $50 is all that's needed for customers to gain access to Hyperthreading and some more Level 2 cache. Intel calls this dial an upgrade procedure "down-the-wire hardware upgrades".
Processor manufacturers typically cut down chip capabilities at the fabrication plant in order to sell them at different price points. While customers have become accustomed to this binning procedure, Intel's down-the-wire upgrade plan is likely to be unpopular with users who dislike having the true potential of their purchased processor chip curtailed by a software lock.
As features such as Level 2 cache and Hyperthreading are already physically present in the chip, there is no price saving to be had by either Intel or the system builder by restricting it. Rather it raises the question of whether both parties are simply doing this to extract some more cash from customers at a later date.
Then there is the question of whether these 'upgrades' offer particularly good value for money. However the placebo of buying a shiny bit of plastic and seeing another CPU graph on Windows' Task Manager might do it for some.
Currently the upgrade gift cards work with low end 'Pentium' parts that are actually rebranded Core i3 chips, however it will be interesting to see if Intel will release something similar for the more expensive parts favoured by enthusiasts. That is unlikely given that Intel can probably make more than $50 either directly or indirectly through licensing or flogging a mainboard chipset and CPU combination.
Intel's move is likely to cause discontent among those who see it as intentional crippling of hardware that the user has already paid for. However for Intel and some of its OEM partners this offers them another way to make more money by doing absolutely nothing. µ
Tags: Intel
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Currently the upgrade gift cards work with low end 'Pentium' parts that are actually rebranded Core i3 chips. Let's get this staright, they rebranded (Slapped a pretty i3 sticker on an older processor)and then probably raised the price on the CPU due to the nice shiny sticker and then tuck it to the consumer.
Who wins on this. AMD due to the negative publciity towards intel on this.
I wonder if system manufacturers would be able to buy a multi licence for this upgrade and if so would it be transferable to the customer because if you have to reinstall would your chip suddenly be slower than when you brought the system as new.???
This might violate the terms of the Intel-AMD settlement agreement. Found here:
http://download.intel.com/pressroom/legal/AMD_settlement_agreement.pdf
“2.3 Technical Practices
Intel shall not include any Artificial Performance Impairment in any Intel product or require any Third party to include an Artificial Performance Impairment in the Third Party's product..."
The agreement then goes further to state the x86 compiler shall not be written to impair the performance of AMD products.
Since this is a key to a software lock that Intel is selling, it seems that the Compiler itself can be adjusted to recognize CPU numbers or types and impair or disable certain functions. This should cause great alarm as there now no way to be certain that Intel can’t simply disable functions of any cpu running it’s compiler, AMD or otherwise.
Is this really different than shareware to charge you for reg key to unlock additional features that already included in the software you have downloaded 30 days ago?
Why is it OK for software companies to do it but not a hardware company?
I can see this as a boon for IT managers to buy one computer model for the whole company and only upgrade a selected numbers if extra performance is needed. Simplifies IT management considerably.
As long as it is price competitive, why shouldn't they charge more for extra feature/performance?
I wonder if this option is available to the i3 laptop customers which most of the time do not have a luxury of having a higher cpu for a specific model.
This is probably the strategic direction a corporation takes when accountants are running the company.
Then you must realize that this is incredibly stupid to even consider. The people you will piss off with this will just crack it JUST so spite you. Then AMD will silently assist in this cracking just to do anything to hurt you.
DON'T DO IT! DON'T CONSIDER THIS! THIS IS A BAD IDEA! WHO EVER GREEN LIGHTED THIS NEEDS TO HAVE THEIR ASS FIRED.
I think it's a good thing. It means that Intel will ensure that these features are not just "possibly" usable like an extra core on an AMD 2 or 3 core processor, but just dormant, ready to be unlocked.
Then I can find the crack online (because I'm sure as hell not paying for the privilege), and unlock those features from my CPU just as I "unlock" extra performance using overclocking. I'm sure some clowns will call it "stealing" but good luck convincing anyone to believe that!
It'll be like the old days when a driver upgrade from nVidia would often give significant boosts to your card's game performance (not talking about benchmark hacks either).
Since the Slot 1 Pentium 3 era, my system has always used an AMD processor and will do so in future.
I'm currently running a Phenom 2 X2 550 with Readeon 4850 on a GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 2 motherboard.
... but not if you saved $50 in the first place by buying the crippled-down chip, and now you fork over $50 to Intel for this nifty upgrade. They got you in the end...just took longer to get their whole Benjamin. What dismal news this is for the future....
The Intel Fail Boat sets sail!
You buy a whole system, that incorporates thermal, electrical and reliability constraints based on the initial CPU. When unleashing more power it is up to YOU to make sure your system can handle it.
is how they would be (legally) defending themselves against cracks for this feature?
CPUs are not always binned by what they can do or how good they can perform. It would make no sense to package everything as an Extreme processor if they all came out good. Not everyone will pay that much for them. There needs to be a lower end of the market. Intel has been down-binning good parts for a long time. All the chips are made on the same wafers, some are better than others. They have to do this to create the correct product mix that customers buy. If they didn't down-bin there would not be very many cheap processors around and everyone would really bitch about them doing that.
This will allow people to buy cheap now then upgrade later when they can afford it. It will save the customer money. It will create more revenue for Intel because those same people would not have spent any money at all if they had to buy a completely new chip with the packaging, shipping, etc to pay for.
But the bottom line is that I get a CPU that runs faster and I paid only $50 for it instead of $100 if I wanted to buy the faster one in the first place. No?
This is absolutely brilliant! Just like how Micr0$ucks sells crippled version of its famous LoseDoze Operating System (O/S) - see LoseDoze XP/Vista/7(6.1) Home Edition - and then gets users to "upgrade" (i.e. de-cripple) features when buying the "Professional" or "Ultimate" versions.
Micr0$ucks has made so much $$$ it was only a matter of time before other vendors realized that emulating their business model of screw the customer was the way to go.
reveals that this is probably using intel's AMT interface AND has capability to make "upgrades" that expire. Meaning that if Intel so desires, they can implement the whole thing on the chipset/BIOS level.
I always thought that what AMT offers (e.g. an embedded VNC server in hardware, allowing one to control the whole boot process via network) is very scary. But this is even worse than I thought.
Ahhh, good call. This is an attempt to sidestep the controversy over that Processor Serial Number crap they tried to pull back in the P3 days. It would make you think you are paying upgrades rather than to be personally identified and tracked by Intel.
Yup, you get a gap in performance between the top dog and the mutt and next thing you know the top dog slows down so he can do less work.
Intel did this with 486 processors, I am betting they will do it again.
This should be fun - who wants to bet that eventually these features are licensed to specific customers and aren't transferable when the CPU is resold.
This makes me so angry I am really really really pissed off at Intel. You would have thought they would have learned their lesson with the 486sx.
This is unbelievable. I won't buy a Intel product for a decade if they do this. Neither will my friends.
This seals the deal for me. I will never buy another Intel CPU. This is a blatant rip-off. If Intel can afford to sell the CPU for a lower price, why not just do that without limiting it. Seems that we are paying extra for Intel to have had to design an elaborate scheme for DRM.
So, for example, Intel has to bet on the possibility that every one of these CPUs sold may never be "upgraded". And in that case they have to price the CPU accordingly to make mitigate that possibility, meaning customers will be paying extra for one of these CPUs that they may never unlock. That is the real scheme I see being cooked up here.
I'll pay for more clock or more cache, but not for more fluff. What a bunch of d-bags.
It isn't your cpu. You just license it. You probably can't even resell it.
The binning process can depend on market segmentation, but also downgrading parts that do not meet target specifications. I looks like the "gift card" is a little like a "grab bag". You might be able to upgrade to a higher capability chip at spec or you end up with one that does not meet spec. The price point differential will be something the customer will want to look at.
I, for one, am skeptical.
I thought it's more L3 not L2 cache that is unlocked
Seriously I give it 2 weeks tops before cracks appear!
This is not an IBM Mainframe and they are not the only game in town!
"However for Intel and some of its OEM partners this offers them another way to make more money by doing absolutely nothing."
Customers tend to screw them back.
How long do you think it will take before there will be 'free gift' software around?
Start the clock.
Sweet, so now we'll be able to download cracks for our processors. I love it.