Wednesday, February 12th 2025
Processors in EU Retail Channel Could Lose "Unnecessary Packaging," Possibly even Stock Coolers
The EU could influence the mobile phone industry to ditch bundling wall chargers with their phones, and got them to standardize the USB-C connector, with the goal of minimizing the number of wall chargers people would have to own, which could last years, spanning many phones. It even got Apple to ditch its proprietary Lightning connector in favor of USB-C. The European Commission could be turning its attention to the way products such as desktop PC processors are sold in the retail channel. In the OEM channel, things are golden—processors are sold by the 1,000 units in trays that aren't all that different from the way eggs are sold to restaurants. In the retail channel, these processors put on elaborate packaging material that includes boxes that are about 20 times the size of the processor itself, and include stock cooling solutions that can run the processors at stock settings.
This could change, as the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) came into effect on February 11, 2025. This regulation gives manufacturers an 18-month grace period for compliance, and it affects desktop processor packaging in the retail channel. The first casualty will be special edition or flagship SKUs that come with swanky acrylic packaging, like Intel's large dodecahedron that shipped with the Core i9-9900K. Intel has already made the switch, and its current flagship, the Core Ultra 9 285K, comes in much simpler paperboard boxes. AMD's flagship processors also comply, as they come in compact paperboard boxes even for the top Ryzen 9 9950X. Then there's the issue of stock CPU coolers included in these boxes, at least for the 65 W processor models.
Enthusiast-segment processor SKUs, such as Intel's K/KF/KS series, and AMD's X-series (TDP 105 W or higher) already lack stock coolers. The 65 W SKUs from both brands, however, tend to include coolers. PPWR could force processor manufacturers to unbundle this cooler. The cooler could be sold separately at a nominal price for those who really want a no-frills cooling solution to run their chips at stock settings, but it will no longer be in the box. This doesn't affect the vast majority of the DIY gamer/enthusiast user-base that leaves these coolers in the box untouched, and uses aftermarket coolers.
Both Intel and AMD have made conscious efforts to ensure that CPU cooler compatibility outlasts CPU sockets. Intel's LGA775 and LGA115x sockets have been legendary examples of this. You could have bought an LGA775 cooler way back in 2003, and used it all the way till 2009. You could then have bought an LGA1156 cooler, and used it well into 2021, spanning LGA1155, LGA1150, LGA1151, and LGA1200 along the way. LGA1700 and the current LGA1851 share cooler compatibility. AMD has cooler compatibility between sockets AM4 and AM5, so your cooler from 2017 can be used in a current platform from 2025. All this presents Intel and AMD with the perfect opportunity to unbundle stock coolers.
EU regulations tend to reach far beyond European borders, as has been the case with smartphones unbundling chargers or standardizing USB-C, and we could see the trend of simpler desktop processor packaging and unbundling of coolers, similarly spread.
Source:
NikTek (Twitter)
This could change, as the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) came into effect on February 11, 2025. This regulation gives manufacturers an 18-month grace period for compliance, and it affects desktop processor packaging in the retail channel. The first casualty will be special edition or flagship SKUs that come with swanky acrylic packaging, like Intel's large dodecahedron that shipped with the Core i9-9900K. Intel has already made the switch, and its current flagship, the Core Ultra 9 285K, comes in much simpler paperboard boxes. AMD's flagship processors also comply, as they come in compact paperboard boxes even for the top Ryzen 9 9950X. Then there's the issue of stock CPU coolers included in these boxes, at least for the 65 W processor models.
Both Intel and AMD have made conscious efforts to ensure that CPU cooler compatibility outlasts CPU sockets. Intel's LGA775 and LGA115x sockets have been legendary examples of this. You could have bought an LGA775 cooler way back in 2003, and used it all the way till 2009. You could then have bought an LGA1156 cooler, and used it well into 2021, spanning LGA1155, LGA1150, LGA1151, and LGA1200 along the way. LGA1700 and the current LGA1851 share cooler compatibility. AMD has cooler compatibility between sockets AM4 and AM5, so your cooler from 2017 can be used in a current platform from 2025. All this presents Intel and AMD with the perfect opportunity to unbundle stock coolers.
EU regulations tend to reach far beyond European borders, as has been the case with smartphones unbundling chargers or standardizing USB-C, and we could see the trend of simpler desktop processor packaging and unbundling of coolers, similarly spread.
62 Comments on Processors in EU Retail Channel Could Lose "Unnecessary Packaging," Possibly even Stock Coolers
On the other hand, depending on your upgrade cycle and after market cooking setup, you really don't need 2 or 3 of the things stacked up in a closet somewhere never seeing use.
Ultimately, I think the EU just made official what both AMD and Intel have been moving toward for a while now. Lower shipping and manufacturing cost to them, same price for the rest of us anyway.
Looking forward to see people finally being able to replace their battery on the phone without specialized tools or advanced services.
This move is a good thing.
eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202500040&pk_content=Environment&pk_keyword=Regulation
And learn more about this initiative from:
environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/packaging-waste_en
BTW, the source tweet (from a satire account, no less) got community noted for being misleading, low-quality information on X, someone posted a similar interpretation there.
nothing environmentally positive about it.
loads of things the eu can do to make a positive impact without screwing over the consumer like these measures that would have a far bigger impact, like prohibiting octuple packed mini snacks and the export of waste
It is a good move.
This is more of an issue with heavier stuff, like say a GPU, but you get idea. If you're concerned about the environment why the heck are you making regulations that "enable" perfectly fine goods to be damaged so easily!
Charger uncoupling worked because it was largely standardised, and there were regs in the work to force those who didn't follow the line. PC cooling is has absolutely no mechanical compatibility to speak of. A couple of generations being the same or aftermarket oems packaging half a dozen of mounts/adapters doesn't change the core issue. The latter is perhaps an even worse symptom. Trees grow back, metals don't.
Mechanical compatibility should be measured in decades. An ATX box from the 90s would work today, why shouldn't a lump of copper/aluminium with a fan attached to it do the same?
I wouldn't mind cutting down on the packaging for boxed versions, though. A little sealed package with the tray inside would do the trick for me.
Amazon packaging is well documented to be absurdly oversized. Look it up online and stop being ignorant. CPUs have slightly improved, but still current packaging needs to half in size, so that waste is reduced. Some Nvidia 5000 GPU packaging is stupidly oversized. This will have to change too, and many other products.This. Thank you.What is your source and evidence for this?
Apparently these kind if shenanigans are happening with other parts too, and it's often not communicated at all what warranty you do get. So your CPU, HDD has problems, manufacturer denies warranty based on a serial number and points you to the store -- which might not even be in business any more.
Top of the line CPUs are dropped stock coolers for years, and tray CPU-s are cheaper by €30.
What argument you have to attack this decision?
If you just view the world as something that doesn't revolve 100% around economic growth, it all starts to make sense quickly. In the end business and economy is a means, not an end. The EU is convinced the end goal of those means is to provide civilians with good lives, fair, with some degree of equality in opportunities. Happy people are productive, get in trouble less, cost less.
Clearly not bundling a cooler with your CPU is all part of the big plan. :rolleyes: I can see how this looks :) But the premise is the right one. How do we make things better.