Intel Introduces CPU Replacement Plan Targeting Overclockers

[qubit]

I'm in favor of it, doesn't mean I'd ever buy it lol

I voted it down, but I guess one could ask if having this available does any harm? I don't think the answer is clear-cut.

 

[cadaveca]

I'm in favor of it, doesn't mean I'd ever buy it lol

This isn't really meant for "average" computer enthusiasts such as yourself, IMHO. It's meant for those that do not OC, or have no idea, but heard you could, an also heard about the risks. Many "average" pc users will pay to remove that risk, especially considering the small cost.


Please note that enthusiast and user are note mutually exclusive.


Anyway, "Big Box" electronics retailers already offer similar protection plans on everything they sell, from movies, to TVs, and the average is about 10-15% of the retail value. This sits at the lower end of that spectrum, making it more appealing than what others offer(including my own local PC retailer), and I know for a fact that the companies that offer such plans make a PROFIT offering it. That's why so many do it.

Example of PC retailer already offering similar on nearly every product they sell:

http://www.memoryexpress.com/


Check any product. You pay the fee, you get "no questions asked" instant replacement. Those that do not pay, wait for the retailer to RMA, and typically wait 4-6 weeks for a replacement.

Sapphire Graphics cards are now ONLY warrantied by the retailer here in Canada, and in the US too, I am pretty sure. There's far more to this than most think, perhaps. It'll be offered at retailer like "would you like fries with that?"

And everyone likes fries.

 

[n-ster]

haha funny you mention MemEx as I shop there a lot because of their price beat 25% thing. They used to have more affordable shipping though.

Yes they make a profit and their main clientele isn't the extreme enthusiasts like it should be, but I like the option of it being there. Sadly, the average consumer who wants to try out OCing for the first time will be a huge market for them, but I don't see that being Intel's fault.

I agree that in the grand scheme of things this is to make money off customers who have exaggerated fear for their CPU, but the fact is that it can be used for extreme OCers too

 

[cdawall]

Yea, this is a new one. But then again, how many people have killed thier CPU by overclocking (not modding / or doing something stupid)? Raise your hands.

P4 540HT died on its own never touched it, board and cooler were fine. Outside of that I have killed more high end AMD chips than I care to count.

Never killed one (got one runing at 90 C for ½ year). Got the feeling that mobo will die first. I would say it is a calculated move that Intel made here and they will not lose money on it.

I have killed both sides depends on what you are doing. Neither AMD or Intel like low vcore with high vdimm.

yup cuz once they do they will stop the service without any user notification. its just another money scheme. CPUs already have a warranty on them plus from etailers too. no sense in having to pay money for the same warranty, who would tell a company they overclocked the CPu and it failed on them?

I sure as hell don't.

 

[Super XP]

AMD may offer something similar. Anyhow this looks like a marketing gimmick to make money.

 

[Undead46]

I'd rather pay a $50 replacement fee, after burning the chip.

 

[n-ster]

I'd rather pay a $50 replacement fee, after burning the chip.

That sounds better but they wouldn't make nearly as much money

 

[cadaveca]

That sounds better but they wouldn't make nearly as much money

Ah, but then you must use paypal. See, to me, they got that there for the extreme guys.

"Blow your chip up, pay $35, we'll give you a new one in 30 days. Just post it online, m'kay?"



If they can get retailers to push this, then they can perhaps create a larger enthusiast audience, too. And I'm sure if they get someone to sign up for paypal to buy after, they'll get a kickback from paypal, too. Sounds like win all around to me.


I could so easily sell this @ checkout. It should do well.

 

[Bundy]

I think this is a clever marketing ploy because there will not be that many intel chips that die. Can't say the same for the mobo's though, I expect there will be a rush of BIOS updates coming through soon to make sure the low end boards don't burn up.

 

[treboRR]

ohh...but what about those who allready have buy'd one....can they upgrade to that plan?

 

[G@dn!q]

Well my friends, don't you see what's really goin' on? We are paying Intel so they find out how hard these high end CPU's can be pushed. They know too well that fried cpu's are burned from OC in 95% of the cases. They will keep an eye on the enthusiasts forums and collect the data - highest OC's in real life - different configs (mobo's, ram, cooling, gpu, psu etc.). Long story -short: We pay for Intel's research! Honestly guys do you think that Intel is going to lose money on this? I do really believe that all RMA-ed CPU's will be paid with the money they do from selling this option to the regular users - not us. (a friend of mine is working in computer hardware store and you wouldn't believe how much people are out there spending insane amounts of cash for ready high end machines just to watch movies and browsing the net, and they will pay for this option if persuaded well by the seller ). So... it's a really clever move by Intel.

 

[N-Gen]

ohh...but what about those who allready have buy'd one....can they upgrade to that plan?

You can get the insurance within a year of purchase.

I think this is a fairly good idea, depending on who you are. I think a fair share of the overclocking maniacs already get free stuff though so I guess this is for some people who just aren't there yet as well and want some serious volts dumped into their cpu.

I honestly think that frying a cpu at this day and age is just the user doing something wrong with it anyway. I've been overclocking stuff beyond what I should for about 8 years now, I overvolted laptop vgas and all those nice things, but nothing fried.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Yea, this is a new one. But then again, how many people have killed thier CPU by overclocking (not modding / or doing something stupid)? Raise your hands.

My has, though got it replaced under warranty anyway, still like this idea.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153264

 

[Tatty_Two]

Intel is going to loose some money on this..Well at least from the suicide runners go out get a $1000 CPU add $35 get a insane world record, call Intel No questions asked get your new replacement and use it for other stuff.

I don't think they are stupid enough to lose money, as some have said, currently if you overclock and overvolt your CPU to death, you warranty return it and intel have a pretty difficult job to prove that it was overclocked, I guess they could but it would probably cost too much in time/productivity and resources, this way, a proportion of those overclockers pay them not too spend their time understanding why a CPU failed..... win/win.

On looking at the terms and conditions, under EXCEPTIONS I see this..... decipher as you see fit! .......

This Plan does NOT cover:


Damage to the Eligible Processor due to external causes, including accident, problems with electrical power, abnormal electrical, mechanical or environmental conditions, usage not in accordance with product instructions, misuse, neglect, alteration, repair, improper installation, or improper testing;

 

[EarthDog]

eh i just dont tell them i overclocked it, just state it failed even though it was installed properly etc.

Thats a shady practice there. You have a pair to come out and openly admit that...

AMD may offer something similar. Anyhow this looks like a marketing gimmick to make money.

Here is the thing... people overclock and burn up their chips and return them anyway (like the person above this quote so proudly admitted for some reason). So Intel is just trying to get some money back. THe reality is, most people who get this, will not use it. You have people here who overclock to 4.5Ghz and dont push things get this AND NOT USE IT since the CPU will not die there before you need an upgrade. But since they are overclocking, "they should probably have it".

However for people like me on SS/DI/LN2, this is great. Now I dont have to eat $600 if I kill my first 3930k.

EDIT: Yeah...... what Cad said!

 

[eidairaman1]

Ya I have a pair n a pair to spare. I dont see why you have such a problem with it. Look at it this way id rather not spend extra on a cpu when it already has a 3 year warranty anyway.

Thats a shady practice there. You have a pair to come out and openly admit that...

Here is the thing... people overclock and burn up their chips and return them anyway (like the person above this quote so proudly admitted for some reason). So Intel is just trying to get some money back. THe reality is, most people who get this, will not use it. You have people here who overclock to 4.5Ghz and dont push things get this AND NOT USE IT since the CPU will not die there before you need an upgrade. But since they are overclocking, "they should probably have it".

However for people like me on SS/DI/LN2, this is great. Now I dont have to eat $600 if I kill my first 3930k.

EDIT: Yeah...... what Cad said!

 

[badtaylorx]

kudos to intel.....great idea and good piece of mind

 

[n-ster]

Ya I have a pair n a pair to spare. I dont see why you have such a problem with it. Look at it this way id rather not spend extra on a cpu when it already has a 3 year warranty anyway.

You don't understand that it is illegal and dishonest... If you sell me a CPU and you tell me that you will replace it if it is DOA within 30 days, and I burn the chip and claim it was DOA, how happy would you be?

 

[EarthDog]

You don't understand that it is illegal and dishonest... If you sell me a CPU and you tell me that you will replace it if it is DOA within 30 days, and I burn the chip and claim it was DOA, how happy would you be?

Exactly. Until now, Intel would not (in almost all cases.. ive heard a story or two) RMA a CPU because you killed it overclocking. You returning a chip YOU killled running the CPU out of spec is not right. I strongly believe that is part of the reason this was implemented. At least they can recover some money from the dishonest return of perfectly working products until they were run out of spec.

 

[n-ster]

Remember that intel has the safe voltage thing... If you don't go over that voltage but OCed, and that you had proper cooling, and it still died, then sure. But if you are putting 1.7V with stock cooler, too bad for you

 

[Wile E]

Yea, this is a new one. But then again, how many people have killed thier CPU by overclocking (not modding / or doing something stupid)? Raise your hands.

*raises hand* All chips (from either maker) with the memory controller built in are easy to kill by overvolting the memory.

And they replaced it no questions asked anyway. I don't see why I would pay extra to have what I already get with the regular warranty.

I paid $1000 for a CPU targeted specifically for OCers. I expect it to be replaced if I blow it. I'm not paying extra for the "feature". It should be standard for an Extreme chip.

I have absolutely no moral qualms about it either.

 

[n-ster]

*raises hand* All chips (from either maker) with the memory controller built in are easy to kill by overvolting the memory.

And they replaced it no questions asked anyway. I don't see why I would pay extra to have what I already get with the regular warranty.

I paid $1000 for a CPU targeted specifically for OCers. I expect it to be replaced if I blow it. I'm not paying extra for the "feature". It should be standard for an Extreme chip.

I have absolutely no moral qualms about it either.

Even if you go over voltage spec, if you do suicide runs, or if you do something stupid like not put thermal paste or use a bad cooler while OCing it?

I can still understand with Extreme editions but not with K unlocked processors

 

[Wile E]

Even if.

If they don't want to replace cpus killed due to OCing, don't advertise oc-ability as a feature.

 

[n-ster]

You can OC, provided you have the proper cooling and you don't go over the intel's spec in voltage

 

[qubit]

I think The Inquirer has it right:

It's not surprising to see Intel offer such a warranty. The truth is it is pretty hard - though not impossible - to physically damage a processor through overclocking, due to the thermal monitoring that's in the latest processors. Intel most likely knows that the number of come-backs on its offer is likely to be low, and decided that it could extend its profit margin at the expense of enthusiasts.

Intel's offer of a free processor replacement for $35 is not bad for those who are squeamish about overclocking. However seasoned overclockers will most likely look at PTPP in the same way as the extended warranties sold in high-street electronics shops.