Intel selling $50 'upgrade' cards to unlock built-in CPU features

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    Intel selling $50 'upgrade' cards to unlock built-in CPU features


    Last Updated: 20 Sep 2010 at 03:09
    Intel wants to charge $50 to unlock stuff your CPU can already do Hold onto your hyperthreaded horses, because this is liable to whip up an angry mob -- Intel's asking customers to pay extra if they want the full power of their store-bought silicon. An eagle-eyed Engadget reader was surfing the Best Buy shelves when he noticed this $50 card -- and sure enough, Intel websites confirm -- that lets you download software to unlock extra threads and cache on the new Pentium G6951 processor. Engadget

    Id Software vs. The Supreme Court – Are video games free speech? This landmark Supreme Court case will determine whether video games will continue to be protected as free speech like any other respectable medium of art. Today was the last day to file, "friend of the court briefs" to be be considered by the court before the case is heard. Well, the gaming pioneers over at Id Software have done just that. In a 32 page document, Id states many reasons why games should receive the same free speech protection as do movies, books and other forms of media... Ripten

    USB 3.0 to begin hitting critical mass in 2011 The adoption of USB 3.0 is expected to begin hitting critical mass in 2011, with NEC on track to ship at least 20 million next-gen xHCI controllers by the end of 2010. "The high-rate of SuperSpeed adoption illustrates that USB 3.0 is a thriving and advanced ecosystem. It is already driving and creating a new generation of devices and components," USB-IF president and chairman Jeff Ravencraft told TG Daily at IDF 2010. TG Daily

    4chan DDoS takes down MPAA and anti-piracy websites Following a call to arms yesterday, the masses inhabiting the anonymous 4chan boards have carried out a huge assault on a pair of anti-piracy enemies. The website of Aiplex Software, the anti-piracy outfit which has been DDoSing torrent sites recently, is currently down having been DDoS’d. They are joined in the Internet wasteland by the MPAA’s website, also currently under huge and sustained attack. TorentFreak

    Why bricks and clicks don't always mix Not so long ago, in 2005, Blockbuster seemed invincible. However you preferred to rent movies -- in stores or online -- the company was ready to accommodate you. At the time, Netflix could offer only one way of obtaining a movie (the mail) and one way of returning it (the mail). It was clicks, with no bricks. As for Blockbuster, which was spun off from Viacom in 2004, it's now a penny stock, and its woes are as visible as the "Closing" banner in the window of a store in your neighborhood. The NY Times
    Source: Weekend tech reading: Intel selling $50 'upgrade' cards to unlock built-in CPU features - TechSpot News
    Crispy's Avatar Posted By: Crispy
    19 Sep 2010



  1. Posts : 3,322
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
       #1

    Crispy said:
    Intel wants to charge $50 to unlock stuff your CPU can already do Hold onto your hyperthreaded horses, because this is liable to whip up an angry mob -- Intel's asking customers to pay extra if they want the full power of their store-bought silicon. An eagle-eyed Engadget reader was surfing the Best Buy shelves when he noticed this $50 card -- and sure enough, Intel websites confirm -- that lets you download software to unlock extra threads and cache on the new Pentium G6951 processor. Engadget
    In a way I think that could work out pretty well. Such as buy the processor then save up a couple of months and unlock the rest of it later.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 2,292
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
       #2

    Interl software= demonoid.com X)
    ID software=hell yeah!!!
    USB3.0=cool
    the rest=meh

    Good read, nevertheless
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 4,517
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #3

    Gornot said:
    Interl software= demonoid.com X)
    Just a way to trick an unsuspecting user into Giving Malware admin rights. to run.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 3,487
    Win 7 Pro x64/Win 10 Pro x64 dual boot
       #4

    Intel with DLC unlocking now? My, my, wait till the cell phone companies find that out.

    Oh wait...
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 6,879
    Win 7 Ultimate x64
       #5

    At least the ram upgrades are still free,

    Download More RAM!

      My Computer


  6. Posts : 8,135
    Windows 10 64 bit
       #6

    A sharp-eyed reader noticed an interesting item at Best Buy recently, namely a $50 Processor Performance Upgrade Card from Intel that will allow you to unlock some extra threads and cache on the new Pentium G6951 processor. Chip manufacturers often sell hardware-locked chips as lower-end processors and this $50 code will allow you to enable the full 1MB of L3 cache on the processor along with HyperThreading support, which would be a noticeable improvement. The rollout isn't a full launch yet and is currently limited to a small pilot program in parts of Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, and the US. Such a move might be useful to folks who recently purchased a notebook using that processor but realized that they needed a little more processing grunt. Of course, not everybody would be willing to shell out $50 extra in order to bump the speed of their budget notebook, so it remains to be seen how response to such a program will be.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 1,158
    Win7 HP (x64)/Win7 Ultimate (x64)
       #7

    stormy13 said:
    At least the ram upgrades are still free,

    Download More RAM!

      My Computer


  8. Posts : 6,349
    Windows7 Pro 64bit SP-1; Windows XP Pro 32bit
       #8

    stormy13 said:
    At least the ram upgrades are still free,

    Download More RAM!

    Yeah but it is all DDR2.

    Old left overs.

    Now the free video card download was really nice!

      My Computer


  9. Posts : 310
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
       #9

    stormy13 said:
    At least the ram upgrades are still free,

    Download More RAM!


      My Computer


 
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