Intel Puts Chip Upgrade Programme On The Cards

Intel is planning to pilot a programme designed to let desktop PC users boost the power of their processors for a $50 fee.

Under the programme, a user would have to buy a card containing a security key that can be used over the Internet to unlock certain features. The scheme is getting battered by critics who say it is nothing more than an attempt by Intel to squeeze more money out of end users.

End Of Kitchen Upgrades

Intel officials have defended their stance, saying the idea behind the programme is to give PC users greater choice and flexibility in the systems they buy. It would allow them to upgrade their PCs easily without having to hire a professional to do it.

At first, the programme will pertain only to systems running Intel’s G6951 chip, part of the company’s Pentium family. Reportedly, the upgrade would make the PC run faster and run workloads more efficiently. This would be achieved by unlocking the chip’s hyper-threading technology and, at the same time, bumping up its cache memory capacity.

The process is described on Intel’s help page for the service. Essentially, through the service, users run a 4MB installer program, enter the security key when asked, and restart their computer, according to the site.

The dual-core 2.8GHz G6951 is not yet available to buy but is due out soon in systems such as the Gateway SX2841-09e desktop machine.

Website Engadget reported that it had found and photographed some of the Intel upgrade cards at a Best Buy shop in the US. Cory Doctorow, a blogger on the Boing Boing Website, slammed the programme for putting customers in the role of licensing, not owning, a system.

“It’s an idea that is fundamentally anti private property,” Doctorow wrote. “Under the ‘If value, then right’ theory, you don’t own anything you buy. You are a mere licensor, entitled to extract only the value that your vendor has deigned to provide you with. The matchbook is to light birthday candles, not to fix a wobbly table. The toilet roll is to hold the paper, not to use in a craft project.

“‘If value, then right’ is a business model that relies on all the innovation taking place in large corporate labs, with none of it happening at the lab, in your kitchen, or in your skull. It’s a business model that says only companies can have the absolute right of property and the rest of us are mere tenants,” he continued.

That idea most definitely does not fit in computing, he said, and Intel has benefited from that. It was not until third-party innovation in the form of software, peripherals and networks were developed that Intel processors became valuable. Doctorow also questioned whether Intel would try to sue a person who can figure out how to unlock their chips without paying the company.

Intel spokesman George Alfs told BBC News that the programme is designed to offer users greater flexibility and choice.

“The pilot, in a limited number of retail stores, will centre on one Pentium processor, one of our value brands, and will enable a consumer to upgrade the performance of their PC online,” Alfs told the BBC. “This saves the user from buying a new system or taking it in for a physical upgrade.”