Intel's Creates New Protection Plan Just for Overclockers

not bad $20 I'm think gonna use this... time to burn my cpu

This is actually a pretty good deal for the price. Especially if you are purchasing a higher end CPU or a Sandy Bridge e.

/fixed

I would be interested as well. I bought my processor at best buy hope they are included as well.

Nice... but it doesn't cover my Core i5-750....

I would get it if I upgrade my CPU soon... $20 is nothing compared to a $200+ replacement

I can see it already. This is going to generate huge revenue for Intel because a bunch of ignorant or just plain stupid individuals are going to buy this protection plan, when the truth is less than 1% of the people purchasing Intel processor will actually be able to make use of this plan. I have two friends that are a prime example of this, I am sure they will be amongst the first to purchase this protection plan, thinking it will benefit them. Keep in mind that these are two people who know nothing about overclocking, and barely have the ability to put together a system in the first place. Further more, nearly every system they have ever built themselves hasn't functioned correctly due to their lack of knowledge. The best part is when a piece of hardware legitimately stops functioning due to a defect, they don't even bother getting a warranty replacement they just order a new one because somewhere in their twisted minds they believe the replacement won't perform or last as long as a brand new piece of hardware.

Congrats Intel you found a way to profit from utter stupidity. I am not sure if I should be bowing my head in approval or shaking it in disgrace. Either way for the people out there that actually overclock and can make use of this plan, I think it will be highly beneficial. For the rest of the people who don't overclock, DON'T PAY FOR SOMETHING YOU NEVER INTEND TO USE.

LOL the obligatory CPU insurance is being after all these years.

Just in time. I was planning to buy a i7 3930k and x79 with CM HYDRO H100. Now i can get it beyond 4.6 ghz on my new h100 without worrying about warranty for 1 time only. Intel should extend this type of programe more than 6months so that more overclockers could use the capabilities of upcoming ivy bridge in march or so without worry about warranty.

Money, money, money. And Intel's revenue continues to go up. Nice play Intel.

6 months isn't a very long time frame.
How many people actually kill their CPU in the first 6 months? This is just for people, who do extreme overclocks.

I guess one benefit is, that you can get a replacement if your particular CPU doesn't overclock well. Just fry it and ask Intel for a (hopefully better) replacement.

This is great decision by the marketing folks at Intel. By introducing this safe guard Intel is encouraging novices and people that are generally careful to try out overclocking with confidence for only a small price premium. As a long term offering i can only imagine that such a option would generate more sales as novices take the plunge in order to develop the skills. One could read all of the how-to's on the internet but no-one has become a master Overclocker without cracking a few eggs in the process.

Maybe I'm missing something, but can't you just return a fried CPU under warranty even if it was overclocked? How would the retailer know?

I'm already done experimenting with the 2600k. I pushed it up to 5.1xx ghz with 1.42x volts and squeezed out some super pi times. If I paid $25, the only reason would be to try for 5.5 and have a safety net. I'll pass. The thrill isn't the same w/o some danger and consequences.

Hmm.. get your chip home to find out it's not a good overclocker. Burn it with some crazy voltage (I have always wanted to do this), get a new. Profit!

Seriously though, in all my years of OCing I have never lost a CPU or graphics card. I can't see myself buying this.

Once you get to the point of needing this protection plan, you have overclocked your CPU so far you aren't just entering into the land of diminishing returns, you are practically drag racing though it.

Laughable way for Intel to bend you over yet again.

They can't fully endorse overclocking due to liability reasons??? Then what are the unlocked processors that they charge extra for????

As if an enthusiest's/overclocker's need warranty after 3yrs anyways, what a joke.

Pray for AMD to continue in the desktop market, otherwise Intel will just charge you $1000 for an overclockable cpu like they used to.

I know the feeling. The only reason I own a gun is to play Russian roulette with it. But as fun as that is, its only thrilling when I knowingly do it without having health insurance....

There's no way in hell I'm not buying this plan.... Now the enthusiast community can get a significant amount of data on what long term (6 months) safe voltages for enthusiast chips are. You have NO IDEA what a big thing this is on expensive chips. Few will try to take a 3930 or 3960 to the max and see if it still works in 6 months, and their reports are too few in numbers to mean anything. If this program keeps up, it will make safe overclocking easier for those who have no intention of burning their chip.

A good friend and I have a idea for liquid cooling this would make the prototype much less risky.
We would no doubt push the CPU's to the limits while testing. This can save us quite a bit of money. Time to call him up and get started.

Expect me to (maybe) do that.

Health insurance wouldn't help either way. You'd need life insurance as a bullet to the noggin is more likely to cause death than severe injury. In addition, I believe Japan is the only place you may find a company willing to cover suicide in their plans, if you can afford it.

I'm sure a lot of folks think the 'upcharge' already included in the price of the overclockable cpus should be sufficient for added protection. It's there, and noone's forced to purchase it just like when they offered those cards that unlocked more performance from their low end parts, like the pentiums.

There's additional forces at work that influence product prices beyond whether there are competitive products or not. One being what the average person considers a fair price to be, and what they believe the value to be. The average person is much more in tune with pricing and reviews as we all become more connected to the net. There's always exceptions of course, hence why Apple does so well... but... ah well to that haha...

Call me a devils advocate, but I wouldnt put it past Intel to already manufacture something into the chip that already makes this feat next to impossible. That it resets way before it would fry itself and thus making this insurance policy unnecessary, but something silly people will buy for peace of mind. I havent tried the chips in question, but in all my many years of overclocking, I have never fried a chip based on overclocking, mad motherboard vrm sure, too much tension on the heatsink in the days before cpu slugs and cracked the cpu maybe, but never due to overclocking. Usually I cant squeeze any more out of the chip so it sits where it sits and my systems get turned over in less than two years so I dont ever see the problem. Oh well, I am sure like it seems in these posts, there are stupid people that are going to buy it anyway.

Yes, the thought did cross my mind... but then I'd have dis-assembly and reassembly to look forward to and that just made it not worth it

Haha a little insurance for newbs to make Intel even more money. Come on experienced system builders, how many systems have you built and overclocked vs how many cpu's you've fried.

I'd venture a guess that 99% of custom builds go without a hitch, and you really have to try hard to fry a cpu these days, with the thermal protection circuits and such.

I'll tell ya what, I will insure all of your next overclock attempts against failure for $15 fo 60 days (assuming you're not trying to blow the CPU up by feeding it 240v or something stupid like that), and if I can get enough people to buy in, I'll be a millionaire.

another way to get money from the customer.... I don't need this.

I have not heard of burning up a CPU in such a long time... I mean, don't you have to work at it to get the chip to sizzle? Good luck getting past the boot screen with a bad overclock. You'd have to deliberately set the voltage to something insane.

And some people would still RMA fried CPUs without the protection plan.

Where does it say that the added insurance only lasts for 6 months?

Also, could the Tom's Hardware staff put a little more time/effort into proof-reading articles before posting them? Please.

Good way to bring down chip inventory....

YES! I can get components from Altech!

Let's go burn some Sandy Bridge!