Intel Extreme Processors

who opted for the extreme processors? desktop or laptop...either one. What made you go with the extreme? Is it worth it to you? What do you use the system for mostly?

 

Well, you would get the extreme processors for easier stable overclocking. Either for enthusiast gaming, or encoding.

 

the extreme have the multipliers unlocked

nothing special about them


the i7 975 your considering is the biggest waste of money ,,,,,,, The i7 920 can be overclocked to 4+ ghz and doesn't cost 1k

 

Extreme processors are those units that handle all of Intel's vigorous burn-in testing without a problem, thus are made unlocked since they proved they can handle overclocking.

The non-extreme chips often fail at certain points during the burn-in. This does not mean they are bad chips, they simply are unstable after a specific setpoint. These chips get binned at the highest level they functioned with stability. Intel locks the multiplier mainly to prevent unscrupulous business from changing it and remarking the proc as a higher version. Very common practice outside the West.

I remember buying a "400MHz" Pentium II in Riyadh, and my system would keep crashing. A closer look revealed it was a re-marked 266MHz CPU.

 

As Moo says. The i7 920 is easily overclocked to 4GHz even on AIR cooling (although you will need a good air cooler to do so).

 

I can run my 920 (C0 stepping as well) at 4 GHz with a TRUE 120 lapped with 2 fans in push pull just fine. Temps get up there during OCCY/Prime95 but nothing else

 

I had a standard OEM T9600 processor installed in my M17 from Alienware running at the normal 2.8GHz but I wanted to get something that would perform a little better in games.
I bought the X9100(3.06GHz) as an engineering sample off Ebay and gaming has improved a lot, it feels so much smoother and doesnt struggle as much. This was rather surprising as I only jumped 2.06GHz in power.

I rate the X9100.

 

Ha, that's a pretty huge jump

 

Only?

Seriously though, I've overclocked my Q9000 to 2.5GHz in the past as my sig shows and have seen about 2-3fps difference in Crysis and next to no difference ANYWHERE else.

 

Agreed. I can only recommend the Core i7 920 as well. I've had it running at 4GHz rock stable since I got it (actually, it runs 4.2GHz 72h Prime rock stable as well, but I opted to downclock it a bit just to be on the safe side)and it's a beast of a CPU for a moderate price. Get it, you won't be disappointed, even if you don't happen to manage to reach as high clockspeeds. It's a great CPU. Of course, the rest of your system's component should be quality as well and you need adequate system cooling.