Intel Planning to Ship Multiplier Unlocked CPUs?

Multiplier unlocked processors are not the norm, despite being a surefire hit with the enthusiast community that likes to decide clock speeds for themselves. Those in search of such processor have to turn to AMD's Black Edition CPUs or Intel's Extreme Editions, both of which come with a price premium. But there may be another multiplier unlocked CPU coming from Intel, according to recent reports from the web.

Most telling is a BIOS compatibility chart listed by Gigabyte for its GA-P55A-UD6 that clearly displays an unannounced Lynnfield CPU – the Core i7-875K. Like the Core i7-870, it too supposedly runs at 2.93GHz, but speculation says that the Core i7-875K will be multiplier unlocked.

The same speculation says that the 'K' is for unlocked. If that's true, then there may be another reason to get excited. Expreview has noticed references to a Core i3-655K with base clock speed of 3.2GHz and a top Turbo Boost speed of 3.46GHz, which matches up with the Core i5-650, which currently sells for around $185. The Clarkdale i3 processor will supposedly hit in June with the Lynnfield i7 landing in July.

When asked, Intel declined to comment on rumors or speculation.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • Tindytim
    I sometimes wonder if Intel if punishing me for buying a 1366 board. Excuse me, I'm going to curl up into a ball and cry.
    Reply
  • ktasley
    so whats the 15-870s? Low power I am assuming from the clock speed?
    Reply
  • polly the parrot
    Intel should've had the 920s unlocked...but obviously they wouldn't have made a dime from the overpriced 940s and 965s.
    Reply
  • jenesuispasbavard
    Is it also going to be priced like the i7-870?
    Reply
  • random_yggdrasil
    Well this is some news I like =] I would like some nice price tags to go along with the news tho :)
    Reply
  • saaiello
    LOL this is gonna be expensive cant wait to see what has to be mortgaged to buy this one. :lol:
    Reply
  • matt87_50
    yeah, just a shame that the 870 is already a massive ripoff compared to the 860. so clearly they are just making mini extreme editions for each platform.
    Reply
  • freename
    I'd be very surprised if Intel actually shipped an affordable multiplier unlocked cpu that had any kind of legs for OC'ing.

    Why would they bother adding more performance per $ when they're essentially competing with themselves in the top performance levels? All they'd do is stop someone with OC'ing know-how from buying a more expensive chip.

    The only way I could ever see this happening is if AMD's next chip is a market-changer.
    Reply
  • Tindytim
    freenameWhy would they bother adding more performance per $ when they're essentially competing with themselves in the top performance levels? All they'd do is stop someone with OC'ing know-how from buying a more expensive chip.
    Just because the 975 has an unlocked multiplier doesn't mean everyone who bought it was going to use it for overclocking. The fact of the matter is, when a 920 ships it's only guaranteed to work at 2.6 Ghz. Some chips will go much higher, and other won't, but that's not intel's problem. If you were building something that you wanted to be sure was stable at 3.333 Ghz, you could take the chance with an 920 and void the warrenty, or you could spend the extra money for stability and some peace of mind on the 975.

    You or I may not care as much, but then again, very few of us were going to be buying a $1000 dollar processor when we could get about the same for a third of the price. Point being, most of us aren't going to be spending that much on a processor anyway.
    Reply
  • JohnnyLucky
    The escalating prices are taking their toll. It doesn't look like I'll be doing any upgrading for quite a while.
    Reply