# i7 950 unlocked?



## SpringWater (Mar 6, 2013)

I just read that all of the i7 900-series cpus are unlocked, is that true?


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## salvage-this (Mar 6, 2013)

Kinda.  The FSB is not locked but the multiplier is.  So if you are OCing i7 920/930/950/980x you will need to bump the system clock not the multiplier to get an OC.


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## Darren (Mar 6, 2013)

Is there any particular reason why they don't have unlocked stuff on all processors? Marketing scheme to buy more expensive unlocked versions.


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## salvage-this (Mar 6, 2013)

Kinda for marketing, kinda for the protection of the processors. They can sell you a processor for $200 at 2.6GHz or $250 for 3GHz.  If it's completely locked down then you have to pay more for a better chip.

The protection part is for both Intel and the customers.  Intel can release chips that might not be stable at the higher speeds if they lock it down at a more stable setting without having a lot of bad reviews due to unstable chips.  The disabled cores of the Phenom II x2 and x3are good examples of this (although AMD lets you unlock them anyway).

The other half of that is not giving users that might not know a lot about OCing the power to mess with their system.  There are tons of videos that say "copy these settings for a 4.8GHz OC."  Most of us know that is a terrible idea but users new to the idea might want a quick way to get it done.  So for them it might be better to lock it down.  

For that generation of CPUs from Intel the biggest reason (that I saw) was that multiplier OC was not super popular yet for Intel.  They had one i5 and one i7 that were unlocked and the rest were locked down to a point.  Either they had good success with the unlocked CPUs that they were using or wanted to compete with AMD's unlocked market so they started releasing more unlocked and easily overclockable chips.

Sorry that got a bit long...


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## Drdeath (Mar 6, 2013)

salvage-this said:


> Kinda.  The FSB is not locked but the multiplier is.  So if you are OCing i7 920/930/950/980x you will need to bump the system clock not the multiplier to get an OC.



Ohhh no/ The multipliers are not locked neither is the BClck


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## salvage-this (Mar 6, 2013)

I had a 930. It was locked past the standard multiplier for 2.6GHz...


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## wolfeking (Mar 6, 2013)

There are some (definitely the x series) LGA1366 processors that are unlocked. If memory holds the 950 and 960 were among them.


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## salvage-this (Mar 6, 2013)

Ok I wasn't sure if the 980x was in that list or not.  I knew that there were two K models in that series that were unlocked but I thought both were on socket 1156.


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## Drdeath (Mar 6, 2013)

salvage-this said:


> Ok I wasn't sure if the 980x was in that list or not.  I knew that there were two K models in that series that were unlocked but I thought both were on socket 1156.



Ok the models changes with SandyBridge... to K and non K models.......These models are LGA 1366. I think your confused.


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## salvage-this (Mar 6, 2013)

no there are two k models for 1156.

i5 655k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116369

i7 875k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116368

This was just before the 1366 socket came out.


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## Drdeath (Mar 6, 2013)

salvage-this said:


> no there are two k models for 1156.
> 
> i5 655k
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116369
> ...



1156 and 1366 are dead sockets. Those are what is pretty much left in retailers inventory. 1366 was out before 1156. I think...


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## salvage-this (Mar 6, 2013)

Drdeath said:


> 1156 and 1366 are dead sockets. Those are what is pretty much left in retailers inventory. 1366 was out before 1156. I think...



I know they are dead sockets but 1366 is the socket that he would be using for the i7 9xx series CPUs.


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## SpringWater (Mar 7, 2013)

So the answer is no, since the multiplier is not unlocked.


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## wolfeking (Mar 7, 2013)

Try it and see.  I am pretty sure it is limited unlocked (which means it is unlocked, but not fully. Generally less than 10 range).


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## FuryRosewood (Mar 7, 2013)

i7 965, 975, 980 and 990 were unlocked for 1366.


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## salvage-this (Mar 7, 2013)

If it's not unlocked and you want to OC, don't be afraid to do it with the Bclk.  It is a bit harder to find what is causing the instability but it still not all that hard if you take your time and do it right.


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