- Joined
- May 8, 2004
Do you get the big picture yet. DIY is what pushes the gaming industry not OEM desk top sales.
I really don't get the big picture with regard to Overclocking
I know plenty of people that gladly upgrade their RAM, HD's, Video cards, and even CPU's and complete OS re-installs themselves. Yet they have no clue what Overclocking is and certainly haven't OC'd their CPU's. Some *might* OC their GPU's via ATI's driver based OC utility - and that's as far as it goes and is only used because the OC capability is built into the driver and is 100% automatic! I agree the "DIY" market is big, but again the percentage of that DIY market that has any clue about overclocking - and then the fewer that actually overclock their rigs - is miniscule compared to Intel's big business of OEM's...
I know I personally wouldn't buy an expensive (>$300) CPU just because the cheap ones would be locked. I'd go AMD instead. Do you get that big picture or is my stance as a dedicated Intel consumer (I'd even call myself an intel fanboy) also irrelevant?
Here is where we stand:
1) Either the MoBo manufacturers will find loopholes around this and it will be a non-issue just like it was before i7 was released (remember this same issue came up back then, too )
2) Intel's K series will flop and they will eat crow once they lock all of the cheap CPU's (will have to wait for i7 to die off first)
3) The enthusiasts will all migrate to AMD - also resulting in Intel eating crow
4) Intel's odd marketing strategy will be a "hit" and they will sell more $500 CPU's than they ever have (I'm SERIOUSLY doubting that outcome).
I'd also add that unless you can increase the bus speeds/bandwidth, a simple unlocked CPU Multi is NOT ging to give you the same performance benefits that we see now via FSB/bclck overclocking. Food for thought.
I'm all set for the next year or so - two i7 rigs, two C2Q rigs, and two C2D rigs to keep me going. The fact that Sandy Bridge might be a better architecture is no motivation for me to spend $500 on a CPU and $300 on a high-end MoBo when my $199 i7 930 and $170 ASUS P6X58D-E will be right on it's heels at less than 1/2 the cost!!! Clear as a bell to me - but that's me
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