
Quote: Originally Posted by
stuartrozier
but I'm not sure what you mean about the 'k'... are you able to explain or link me to somewhere which describes what it means ?
For Intel i-series processors (i3, i5, i7) there are special models that end with the letter 'K' like yours: i7-875k, i5-2500k, i7-2600k, et al. The letter 'K' denotes an
unlocked chip, which means you can set your own clockspeed (within reason.)
Most modern processors derive their maximum speed from the concept of multipliers. Let's take your i7-875k processor: it uses a 22x multiplier on top of a 133Mhz bus. 133 x 22 = 2933Mhz or 2.93Ghz. Someone who bought an i7-860: it uses a 21x multiplier on the same 133Mhz bus. producing 133 x 21 = 2800Mhz or 2.8Ghz.
On normal processor models, you cannot raise the multiplier to make the processor go faster. However, for processors that end in the letter "K" or "X", you
can raise the multiplier to make the processor faster.
Thus, you unknowingly bought a processor that allows the speed to be almost anything you want -- in multiples of 133Mhz. So, you could conceivably set the multiplier to 30 and have a 4Ghz processor

You must also understand that it isn't always that easy; making a processor go faster than it is meant to requires cooling and power that your HP system may not support.