Intel's Haswell May Be Last Interchangeable Desktop CPU?

[Prunes]

I have never seen any numbers about how big a part of Intels total income comes from enthusiasts, but I'm sure it's tiny. We are a dying race, and this move makes it cheaper for Intel and OEMs afaik. It apperently reduces heat and power consumption, which is benefitial in laptops, tablets and phones, which is a growing market.

I have nothing concrete to support this claim, but this is what I've been reading for a long time.

 

I'd expect that Intel will keep selling LGA sockets, but I'm not sure for how long. Like Paul stated, most people these days upgrade mobo and cpu in the same move, unlike back in the days, where a mobo could outlast a CPU.

[d6bmg]

"eliminate that mainstream DIY option altogether unless the user is handy with a soldering iron." I hate it when idiots write idiotic things. BGA = Ball Grid Array and you can't just easily re-solder chipsets that are BGA mounted. To do it right requires specialized equipment that starts at around 2K and can cost upwards of 20K depending on the size and throughput of the rework station.

At any rate - if Intel moves in this direction it may give AMD a door of opportunity for seizing the lions share of the enthusiast market (assuming that they don't move in the same direction).

 

I posted another link saying this some days ago and thought all of these to be rumor.

Intel guys totally have to be out of their minds to make a decision like this, seriously. Although we should not forget that we have AMD.

[VaporX]

A look at electronics and history would have made this predictable. Look back at the early radio and how for a long time the kits were the way to go. Gradually those kits began to vanish. The same with the TV, in the early days you could actually build your own, it was not easy or cheap but doable. There is always it seems a busrt at first with a DIY option then a gradual slide away from it. <br><br>I think we tend to forget as well that as hardware enthusiasts we tend to focus on the parts, the real world focuses on what they do with the PC first, this is the growing trend. Look at Windows 8, a move away from tweaking toward a simpler, what I do oriented OS.<br><br>

[Locutus]

Just because it won't be interchangeable doesn't necessarily mean it will be bad for enthusiasts.

 

I mean, my laptop's APU was easily overclocked, and if I had a better heatsink I'd have a lot more room to fiddle with things.

 

Then again, Intel is moving away from easily overclocked CPUs anyways...so I guess we'll see.

[wevsspot]

Don't forget that sometimes someone wants to build a new computer but the processor they want isn't out yet, so they build the computer with a less-desirable CPU and wait.

Adding to this, we have all witnessed the evolution (stepping) of many AMD / Intel processors when the second or third stepping offers better performance at lower thermal and voltage thresholds. I'll use i7 920 C0 stepping versus D0 stepping as an example.

 

 

 

[road-runner]

I have never seen any numbers about how big a part of Intels total income comes from enthusiasts, but I'm sure it's tiny. We are a dying race, and this move makes it cheaper for Intel and OEMs afaik. It apperently reduces heat and power consumption, which is benefitial in laptops, tablets and phones, which is a growing market.

I have nothing concrete to support this claim, but this is what I've been reading for a long time.

 

I'd expect that Intel will keep selling LGA sockets, but I'm not sure for how long. Like Paul stated, most people these days upgrade mobo and cpu in the same move, unlike back in the days, where a mobo could outlast a CPU.

 

 

^ this... We are such few intel could probably care less and then they will not have to replace burned up hardware from overclockers lol...

[freddie]

I think the enthusiast market is bigger than what ecofriendly has suggested.

[wevsspot]

I look at the value of enthusiast PC users in much the same way a car company, oil company or tire company look at the value of sponsoring Indy or Nascar. It is a proving ground for new technology, mining ideas and getting valuable feedback. We may be a small minority in total sales revenue, but we are a very knowledgeable and vocal group when it comes to giving the technology mfgs. ideas and feedback about their products. I think in most cases, if it satisfies the enthusiast, it will also satisfy the average consumer. Essentially we are a huge and relatively free "focus" group

[freddie]

I agree with Wev.

 

 

 

This should be a poll for Monday

 

--

 

"Have you upgraded your CPU and kept your motherboard? "

 

No.

 

Yes, 1-2 times

 

Yes, 3+ times

 

--

[Onion]

I had two chips for one board in 5 years.

[DanTheGamer11]

I had two chips for one board in 5 years.

 

Same here, granted one board broke.

[d6bmg]

I think we should wait for some kind of official announcement from Intel before thinking too much about it.