Intel Unlocked...
 

Intel Core i7-875K Lynnfield 2.93GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Unlocked Desktop Processor

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COMMENTS?

I don't really see the appeal for GIMPS. A year ago I bought the i7 920, which is cheaper than what is here (the 875k), and in 5 minutes overclocked it to 3.5 GHz with very little experience and no difficulty whatsoever. I could overclock further, but with the heavy load of prime95 I wanted to keep my temperatures within a comfortable limit. I had plenty of overclocking options, and I don't see that the highest available core multiplier ratio held me back at all. The related bus speeds were stable beyond what I settled on.

Since the 875k is 45 nm like my 920, I suspect it will get just as hot when overclocked and temperature will be the limiting factor. The 655k is 32 nm, which would run cooler and likely let you run at higher clock speeds, but personally I'm not into dual-core cpu's for GIMPS. I want to beat you guys, and that means more cores.

I thought only the extreme i7-9xx series were the only CPUs unlocked.

stars1020 - if you're looking to gain ranks, best bang for your buck atm is getting one of the nvidia high end gpus. A GTX480 is chewing through exponents quicker than a dual processor hex-core xeon beast. Might be tricky to setup though.

-- Craig

[quote=nucleon;217437]A GTX480 is chewing through exponents quicker than a dual processor hex-core xeon beast. [/quote]
Einen Moment, bitte.
Details please, - in the studio.

[QUOTE=nucleon;217437]I thought only the extreme i7-9xx series were the only CPUs unlocked.[/QUOTE]
Formerly true, hence the "excitement" over the 'k' suffix models.
[QUOTE=Batalov;217439]Einen Moment, bitte.
Details please, - in the studio.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showpost.php?p=215290&postcount=174"]Post[/URL] in this [URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=12576"]thread[/URL]. (Then again, maybe you meant "Only with pre-beta development code.")