your thoughts on unlocked i3

[Diceair]

Hi all

 

 

So i was thinking today why intel decided to release a Pentium unlocked but no i3 unlocked. i know it's 20th anniversary but how awesome would it be if we have i3 unlocked. I mean it's almost an i5 but with HT instead of real cores. If I look at gaming the G3258 only has 2 cores and I think would struggle in the near future. So what's your thought's on it would you buy an i3 unlocked CPU if intel releases it or do you think it would be a waste of time. Personally I think I would buy it for a mid ranged pc and I think it should be so close to unlocked i5.

[Paralectic]

It would cannibalise the i5 too much I think.

[AlwaysFSX]

i3's are binned lower, they probably don't overclock well.

[Prodigydeadeye]

I have actually posted about this before. I think it would be awesome. I would buy it for my brother. It would be like the G3258 but with hyperthreading. I think it would be a fun addition to the Intel family.

[Kamina]

I wish they would unlock everything like AMD.

[Kevinkt]

they used to be unlocked. the first gen i3 were anyways. http://www.anandtech.com/show/2921/5 i don't think intell liked that.

[Coombzy]

The new Pentium is essentially a Haswell i3 that is unlocked in terms of performance from what I have seen.

(no hyperthreading) 

[Sauron]

As a general rule, it would be better if every cpu was unlocked, even if you don't plan on oc'ing now. I only got a locked one because it was cheaper and i wan out of money and I didn't think I wanted to oc. As @Paralectic said though, an unlocked i3 might drastically reduce core i5 sales, especialy the lower reange ones.

[Paralectic]

As a general rule, it would be better if every cpu was unlocked, even if you don't plan on oc'ing now. I only got a locked one because it was cheaper and i wan out of money and I didn't think I wanted to oc. As @Paralectic said though, an unlocked i3 might drastically reduce core i5 sales, especialy the lower reange ones.

Honestly, I'd get any unlocked i3 with a 212 evo/little more expensive CPU over the i5.

[harrynowl]

[Linus_torvalds]

they used to be unlocked. the first gen i3 were anyways. http://www.anandtech.com/show/2921/5 i don't think intell liked that.

Oh i remember my i3 540. i overclocked that processor to 4.2 GHZ without increasing voltage on BOX cooler!

 

that beast would blow new haswell i3 out of the water!

 

[Diceair]

Wow love the feedback. We as the community must let intel know. Even if the i3 unlocked is a little bit more expensive than the cheaper i5 it would be better due to overclockability. I just feel the pentium due to only being 2cores/2threats it wouldn't last that long. it might sound awesome now but still I prefer even the i3-4150 due to games in the near future being able to utilize more cores and make better use of 4 threads.

 

I feel the intel should really work hard on the budget/entry market and this idea should just make that happen. Make H series only able to overclock i3 and then pair it with mid ranged gpu you should be able to get a really awesome rig for the money.

[Rubenis]

Nah. Unlocked i3 will not come out, I think. Just because that would lower i5 sells. Now why would Intel shoot themselves in the leg??

 

Unlocked Pentium?? That got Z97 motherboard sales up, got Pentium sales up (but as I recall I read somewhere, that Pentiums are lower binned i3 and HT off), and did not quite change i3 sales, because it is still not the most selling product of Intel. Usually people choose Pentium or i5, i3 is just wierd product. Same as FX 6300 in my country it is like 1 Euros cheaper than FX 8320. Whats the point of that??

[Sauron]

Honestly, I'd get any unlocked i3 with a 212 evo/little more expensive CPU over the i5.

 

exactly, and that's the last thing intel wants.

[SpyRosL]

It would probably lower the i5 sales BUT (imo) It would destroy the AMD 6300/8320 sales.The pentium k is simply not enough and budget oriented gamers tend to go 6300/8320 instead of i3.

I keep thinking that if intel does that with the i3,it would eliminate any budget AMD processor until they step up the game with their new line in ~2016.

 

Isn't that a win from intel?

[Rubenis]

It would probably lower the i5 sales BUT (imo) It would destroy the AMD 6300/8320 sales.The pentium k is simply not enough and budget oriented gamers tend to go 6300/8320 instead of i3.

I keep thinking that if intel does that with the i3,it would eliminate any budget AMD processor until they step up the game with their new line in ~2016.

 

Isn't that a win from intel?

 

Intel is winning allready, because AMD is stuck on old CPUs in high end. And that is bad for us, because Intel has a lot tricks in pocket, but while there is no real competition, there is no point to show them.

 

Saw a forum thread with unlocked i7 9XX with 12 working cores. That was years ago. So yeah, unlocked i3 would do more harm, than good.

[harrynowl]

Hmm. Not sure how bad the impact of i5 sales would be. OEMs wouldn't start putting overclocked i3s in their PCs and OEMs like HP, Dell etc count for probably 99% of Intels CPUs shipped.