Intel Core i7-875K 2.93GHz Unlocked Quad-Core Processor Review

Final Thoughts and Conclusions

The Intel Lynnfield desktop processor
lineup has been bringing impressive performance to the mainstream market for the past eight months. The release of the ‘K-SKUs’ from Intel doesn’t bring anything other than an unlocked processor to the table. The technology and general performance of the processor remains the same. In fact not even the stepping has been updated over the past eight months! The only real big news here is that the processor has become unlocked for easier overclocking and that the price has been slashed for the flasgship LGA 1156 processor.

• Intel Core i7-870 – $579.99
• Intel Core i7-875K – $342.00

The Intel Core i7-875K is priced $238 under the Core i7-870 that is exactly the same processor, but locked. This is an amazing price difference as the Core i7-875K costs a whopping 41% less than the Core i7-870. It’s not every day you see Intel do something like this and if you are wanting a Lynnfield processor the Core i7-875K processor is the obvious choice. You get an unlocked processor for the LGA 1156 platform and the price can’t be beat if you want the fastest processor that money can buy for this platform. The choice you have to make here is do you want an LGA 1156 platform or an LGA 1366 platform? The Core i7-930 can be had for $199 at Microcenter and performs roughly the same as the Core i7-875K in the benchmarks. You can buy a motherboard like the ECS X58-A2 for $154.99 and an Intel Core i7 930 processor for $199.99. That puts you at $355, which is just slightly more than an Intel Core i7-875K processor. Granted, the Core i7-875K processor is unlocked, but it makes you think what platform should you invest in.

That said, gamers and enthusiasts that run the LGA 1156 platform are going to love the Core i7-875K processors. We were able to take this unlocked processor all the way up to nearly 4.5GHz on air cooling, which is awesome. Taking a processor rated at 2.93GHz (without Turbo Boost) up to 4.5GHz just goes to show how much these processors really love to be overclocked if you have a decent high-performance air cooler for them.

In closing Intel has unlocked the Core i7-870 processor and re-named it the Core i7-875K. They dropped the price from $580 on the Core i7-870 to $342 on the Core i7-875K. We tested it out and showed that it’s a fast processor and overclocked nearly 200MHz beyond what we could reach on the locked Core i7-870 processor. What else is there to say? This is a great processor that is well worth the money!

Legit Bottom Line:
The Intel Core i7-875K processor is the first unlocked quad-core processor for the Intel LGA 1156 platform and is priced right!