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  • Samus - Monday, March 1, 2021 - link

    I can't believe I never knew about this program...though I haven't fried a CPU in almost 20 years. But I pretty much assumed overclocking even K series was at your own risk, and even that said, there are so many sensors and safety measures in modern CPU's they almost wont let you destroy them.
  • Great_Scott - Monday, March 1, 2021 - link

    While I don't imagine any of the reasons in the article are wrong, it does strike me that Intel is probably worried enough about failures at 10nm (combined with the reduced MHz headroom) that offering a warranty plan would lose a lot of money (and silicon).

    Warranty plans are supposed to be free money, after all, not something that should ever get used...
  • lmcd - Monday, March 1, 2021 - link

    Makes sense in general but Rocket Lake is 14nm. Though cutting it off right before Alder Lake would look really fishy.
  • Samus - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link

    I get that these programs, for Intel, are obviously designed around generating revenue. They couldn't give two shits about enthusiasts - the reason they make the K series is simply to milk people for more money, otherwise they wouldn't lock CPU's in the first place.

    But I think the article touched on a legitimately believable reason this program is ending: Intel effectively overclocks CPU's automatically now. Let's face it. Turbo Boost, Speed Shift, DL-Boost, multiple TDP states: these things are already binned out and pushed to their limits. Whatever headroom is left is a few hundred megahertz and using it will probably shorten the lifespan so much it's questionable if its worth it.

    Even many recent Intel CPU's from a few years ago have shown anomalies and reliability issues in STOCK form and I'm starting to question the longevity of the silicon at this point to last a reasonable amount of time. I've personally come across three Ivy Bridge CPU's in OEM systems that had failed GPU's. Installing any Intel Graphics drivers would BSOD the systems so you had to use a discrete video card or settle on the generic Microsoft Display Adapter driver.
  • Alexvrb - Saturday, March 6, 2021 - link

    To be fair, OEM systems tend to use cheap everything. Those CPUs were probably run hot with questionable power circuitry feeding them. But yes, I don't expect them to be as long-term reliable as chips of yore, those found in ancient PCs and consoles alike.
  • willis936 - Monday, March 1, 2021 - link

    I’ve been an enthusiast pc builder for the past ten years and have no recollection of this program. I imagine it was intentionally never advertised and never used. Removing it just cuts out some overhead.
  • StevoLincolnite - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link

    I remember it.
    Pretty sure Anandtech even did an article on it when it was introduced.

    Never used it...

    In saying that, at 10nm electromigration does become a more pronounced issue whilst overclocking, hence Intels desire to ditch the scheme... Or it was more money in logistics and administration than it was worth due to lack of uptake.
  • bug77 - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link

    Or, since people never heard of the program, there weren't that many that opted in?
  • ozzuneoj86 - Monday, March 1, 2021 - link

    I would say that the reason there is little or no demand for a program like this is that Intel and AMD are no longer leaving much performance on the table, so it isn't really worth the time and effort to overclock unless you're a pretty serious enthusiast. Back in the Sandy Bridge era however, you could buy a $200 CPU, slap a decent air cooler on it (or even use the stock cooler if you don't go crazy) and overclock it by 25-30% or more with very little effort. The benefit was that you ended up with a CPU that was faster than the current models for almost 5 years due to the tiny improvements being made with each generation. My 2500K ran from spring of 2011 to August of 2019 in my primary system at 4.2Ghz on all cores (with a few attempts to go higher, but never really enough of a reason to leave it there), up from 3.4 all core turbo stock. It ran very cool and nearly silent on a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme with various 120mm fans over the years.

    Since then, the CPUs do almost all of the work. Plus, with temps fluctuating so quickly and going so high these days, it's a lot less predictable than it used to be. My 2500K was pretty much always between 25C and 55C, no matter what I was doing, with a 24% constant overclock and quiet air cooling (I never even had it temperature controlled). I really like the Ryzen 5 3600 + ARO-M14 I replaced it with, but I miss the cool temps, 100% constant fan speeds and the ability to squeeze out 20% more performance for free. I imagine the experience would have been similar with a newer Intel chip.
  • Jorgp2 - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link

    Yup, that's my thinking as well.

    What's the point of over clocking right now if you only get 200mhz for a lot of voltage.
  • webdoctors - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link

    Wow that's me! I had an i2500k from about 2011-2019 too....great chip. Seriously amazing value/perf. I can't see much value in o/c now, when you get 8 cores at 4 GHz sub $200, questionable it'll matter for most folks. unless games get CPU heavy again
  • ikjadoon - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link

    This program was silly amazing in that Intel would literally ship a brand-new, fully-boxed CPU for with next to zero questions asked.

    I bought the usually-$235 i5-4670K for $199. Spent the discounted $35 on the Intel PTPP.

    2.5 years later later, after a 4.5 GHz OC 24/7 began degrading the voltages required (on an NH-U14S mind you), I called up Intel and got a new CPU *that week*. Proof: https://i.imgur.com/vBBXjPS.png

    Was surprised I got a sealed, brand-new CPU. Realized it was probably time to upgrade, I sold the CPU for $199 (!) on eBay a short time later, aka had a "free" CPU for nearly three years.

    I do not think a voltage/heat-degraded i5-4670K would've sold for even $100, so kudos for Intel to offering this program. Shame it's gone. I let go of overclocking because I value my time / sanity / wallet / room temperature, but those were fun days.
  • qlum - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link

    Would not surprise me if intel never checked if a cpu was overclocked for warranty anyway.
    Buying this warranty in practice allows you to be honest if you return an overclocked cpu.

    That said lying about what you did is not nice.
  • Hifihedgehog - Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - link

    Typo: “None the less” should be “Nonetheless.”
  • Oxford Guy - Wednesday, March 3, 2021 - link

    'Ultimately, although CPU overclocking is far from dead'

    It's dead, Jim.
  • d0x360 - Friday, March 5, 2021 - link

    I remember hearing about this forever ago but I never considered using it.

    I have an i7 5820k, it's a 6 core cpu with a base clock of 3.3ghz. I can get mine running stable up to 5.4ghz on a 240mm aio. I run it at 4.4ghz so it doesn't die early but I might start ramping it up because I'm going to replace it with gen4 ryzen... Or if they just refresh gen3 I guess I'll be getting that. Either way I was planning on upgrading about now but the chip shortage has put that on hold. So this time next year is when I'll be upgrading (if not in December if possible)

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