Question on 2500k I5

[umboma]

Hello all,

Sorry guys, but whats the diffrence with :

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Lost Planet 2 PC Game - Retail

and

Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail


The K must mean something?

 

[Stormar]

yep the k means its unlocked so can overclock.

 

[umboma]

ahh so the Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz can go up to 4.5Ghz with clocking while the Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz will only stay at 3.3Ghz.???

 

[Stormar]

yes thats correct

 

[the1gooner]

yes thats correct

Not correct, you still get turbo boost which can take the processor upto 3.7Ghz depending on load.

You also get limited overclocking which can take the processor upto 4.1Ghz with 1 core active.

From anandtech:-

In this case we’re looking at a Core i5-2500, which runs at 3.3GHz by default. When a single core is active, the chip can turbo up to 3.7GHz. If you want, you can change that turbo state to go as high as 4.1GHz (if your CPU and cooling can keep up).

Overclocking these limited unlocked chips relies entirely on turbo however. In the case above, the fastest your chip will run is 4.1GHz but with only one core active. If you have four cores active the fastest your chip can run is 3.8GHz. While Intel didn’t sample any limited unlocked parts, from what I’ve heard you shouldn’t have any problems hitting these multiplier limits.

 

[AlexTrickle]

The K suffix means that the processor is multiplier unlocked.

The easiest way to explain this is:

The 2500 has a Base Clock of 100Mhz
Its multiplier is set to 33 --> 33x100 = 3.3Ghz
It also has turbo boost which is a self 'overclocking' tool. Say you boot up a game which can only use two cores, it will turn two off and boost the frequency of the other two to improve performance.

However with the 2500K you can change the mutiplier so you can increase both the stock speed and consequent turbo boost.

I.e. you could set the multiplier to 43 yielding: 43x100Mhz = 4.3Ghz without turbo boost. Turbo boost can still apply although many with the K chips disable it.