Intel Pentium E6500K has unlocked multiplier

At AMD, all Black Edition processors feature an unlocked multiplier, whereas competitor Intel only provides its Extreme Edition flagships with the unlock. This has led to an increase in sales for the much cheaper Athlon II and Phenom II processors, which are both a cheap and simple solution to overclockers. It seems that Intel has now come with a response, in the form of the E6500K. Expreview has acquired a sample of this E6500K processor in China. Contrary to the also-announced E6500 CPU, this model will feature an unlocked multiplier. This makes it likely that Intel will launch two versions of its new E6500 processor.

The E6500K uses a 45nm 'Wolfdale' processor core and has a reference clock frequency of 2,93 GHz. This makes the chip identical to the regular E6500, which also features 2 MB of L2 cache and a 1066 MHz FSB. The E6500K however will not be bundled with a CPU-cooler and is recognized in CPU-Z as an 'Engineering Sample' with an unlocked multiplier.

CPU-Z recognizes the E6500K as an ES.

As of yet, the E6500K has only surfaced in China, where it is sold at the equivalent of $84 USD, equal to the pricetag of the normal E6500, which does come with a CPU-cooler. It's still unknown when the E6500K will be released in the rest of the world.

Tags: frontside bus overclocking phenom athlon

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