Intel wants to charge $50 to unlock stuff your CPU can already do

[Squilliam]

LordTheNightKnight said:

Squilliam said:

When I bought Windows 7 there was basic, premium, professional and ultimate on the same disc.

When you buy this there will be basic and premium on the same die.

no difference.

how are discs made? Fabs.

how are cpus made? Fabs.

no difference.

Whats the major cost in a software disc? Research and development

Whats the major cost in a CPU? Research and development

no difference.

Who makes the software? A near monopoly.

Who makes the CPU? A near monopoly.

no difference.

1. I wasn't aware that all of them were on the same disc.

2. So what about Windows? Copy/pasting the data is free. The disc is otherwise identical. Putting components on a CPU is not. A smaller cache instead of a locked cache is of a different make. Thus they can't compare.

Its cheaper to design one CPU and then cut it down than it is to create two CPU designs. In this case they would have to design one CPU to have hyper-threading and 4MB of cache and another with only 3MB of cache and no hyperthreading. This costs more than the <10mm^2 difference in die size between the two hypotherical models.

So in this case the distinction is as arbitrary as the distinction between two different WIndows versions. That same die is the delivery mechanism for at least 3-4 SKUs which range from the bottom end all the way up to the lower mid range in performance.