Free i7-8086 Got You Down - Trade it for a Threadripper 1950X

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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Would you want to trade your free Intel i7-8086 for a free 16-Core Threadripper 1950X? It looks like 40 folks will get to burden themselves with that exact question. Let me help you in your decision, but I will not take sides here. All I have to say is, "Don't be stupid." Take that to mean what you will. You can see all our CPU reviews here if you need more help than that. Thanks Peter A.


Our competitor recently kicked off a sweepstakes to celebrate the first 40 years of the x86 processor by giving away 8,086 limited edition processors.

We appreciate the advancements they’ve helped drive with the x86 architecture over the last four decades. But, we’re ready to take it from here. That’s why we’re giving 40 performance-hungry enthusiasts in the U.S. an opportunity to celebrate the next 40 years of high-performance computing by trading in their commemorative processor prize for our CPU that enables you to work, play and create with heavy metal.

The first 40 U.S.-based winners of the Intel® 8th Gen Core i7-8086k Limited Edition Sweepstakes (which opened on June 7, 2018 and closed on June 8, 2018) (“Competitor Sweepstakes”) to complete certain steps will be offered the opportunity to exchange their new, in-box prize processor for a flagship 16-core AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ 1950X processor built for the gamers and creators who need a processor that can do it all. Those steps will be communicated on this webpage on June 25 at 1:00:00 PM EDT. Check back on June 25 at 1:00:00 PM EDT for complete details on how to participate.
 
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gigaxtreme1 said:
I think a limited edition run of special processors like the 8086K might wind up being a collectors item
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I know a few people that have a lot of worthless junk stored that they thought years ago would eventually be collectors items. I don't think this processor will fair any better. In any event, this type of speculation is by far the riskiest.
 
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That is kinda weak to give em to people that already won something, but "marketing" I suppose. These companies all deserve each other.
 
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I have no problem with what AMD is doing. I think it's funny and good, playful competition on their part.

I would also totally do it and if I didn't want to keep it, I'd sell it and buy some other stuff. There is no way you're getting $750-800 of value out of that 8086 CPU ever.
 
With an award letter and the serial number it will continue to have value. It is hype but it will be remembered.
 
If I'm doing games at 1440 and below only, then I'll take te 8086. But I am so much more than games and the difference at ultra high rez is GPU limited not CPU limited.
 
I would trade, then sell the amd cpu to pay for an 8086k and a motherboard to go with it, lol. If you have a heavily threaded workload or need more than 64GB of ram, Threadripper is a beast. However, I don't meet either of those requirements, so I'd rather have the clock speed.
 
CrazyRob said:
I would trade, then sell the amd cpu to pay for an 8086k and a motherboard to go with it, lol. If you have a heavily threaded workload or need more than 64GB of ram, Threadripper is a beast. However, I don't meet either of those requirements, so I'd rather have the clock speed.
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Was just going to say, the 8086K is selling for quite a bit less than the Threadripper. Which is better is mainly a function of what you want out of your machine. I would say "foolish" to trade for gaming...but if the person wants to use his computer for other things, it's not foolish at all.
 
The 8086k is $400 at Microcenter. The 1950X is $630. What a way to save money, or make money.
 
PaulP said:
I know a few people that have a lot of worthless junk stored that they thought years ago would eventually be collectors items. I don't think this processor will fair any better. In any event, this type of speculation is by far the riskiest.
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Quality and rarity will always have a market. Only a fool thinks things beanie babies would have any value.

Meanwhile another acquaintance picked up a gearbolt assassin case. He knew what he was looking at.

Arcade pcbs are stupidly priced but sell right now.

It all boils down to what people want and think they can't live without.
 
gigaxtreme1 said:
I think a limited edition run of special processors like the 8086K might wind up being a collectors item
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Why did Beta Max become a sought after piece? It's a processor almost no one will bother to collect it, in fact most electronics never become more valuable unless you bought a video card before the Crypto craze ;)
 
Only 8086 processors in the contest. Only 40 redeemed with certificates of documentation. They could be worth thousands. It's a watershed event and a piece of history.
 
I still wonder if when they come out with a fixed x299 chip if I can claim my cpu under warranty.
 
How are you "being stupid" for sticking with the 8086k? How are we supposed to take it?
 
SeymourGore said:
Where's the [H] review of the 8086k!?
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Intel doesn't give him review samples and secondly a few hundred MHz really dont make much of a difference and hardly worth it when you can look up overclocked 8700k chips and pretty much know the story. The 8086 only hits 5 GHz on a single thread and really is not that impressive, your just getting a better piece of silicon for the money but even that only buys you a 100 MHz to 200 MHz over the average 8700K. It's just made for those that have to say they hit 5 GHz on their chip much like when AMD did the same thing when they stretched their node to the max to try to get people to pay attention to them again. Simply put Intel is at the end of what 14nm can give them and 10nm is a bust so far for them.
 
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I dare say that the Intel CPU will probably some day be worth something.

You are trading it for an off the rack Ryzen, and AMD will keep that Intel CPU or give them out in the form of commemorative paperweights at their next Christmas party.

I'd keep the Intel.
 
magoo said:
I dare say that the Intel CPU will probably some day be worth something.

You are trading it for an off the rack Ryzen, and AMD will keep that Intel CPU or give them out in the form of commemorative paperweights at their next Christmas party.

I'd keep the Intel.
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I like collecting rarer PC parts, I'd never consider the 8086 a 'rare or special part' when it's just a binned 8700k 6 core and released as 'a collector part'. Typically collector parts in past are not released as 'x editions'.

P-Pro, early celery, P4 1.8, 2600k, some of their more recent HEDT stuff maybe... 2600k certainly isn't rare either, likely won't be worth too much in future but was widely acclaimed. 8086 has none of that, what does it have other than being a restricted run of what is a widely available chip? It's like if I released a 2686k with 100MHz boost over the 2600k. Yawn.
 
I like my threadripper, but i went with the 1900x for the higher base clocks. dont need all the extra cores. 8 is enough. I went with it over a ryzen to get the quad channel memory and all the extra PCIe lanes.

i have ZERO complaints with this new beast
 
I think each of those chips are going to have advantages depending on your workload.

The Intel hexacore at 5ghz, will certainly have better per core performance, but for HEDT type workloads you can throw many cores at (rendering, encoding, etc.) I'm guessing the Threadripper will be the one to have.

Should you trade it in? Probably depends on what you do. I'd still imagine the i7-8086k to be the better gaming chip.

This is just based on educated guesses though.
 
Well, I just found out that I'm winner.... now I have to grapple with this question for real.
 
From a "using it as a CPU in a system the winner is building from scratch" the answer may be a no-brainer; but from a "upgrading an already-built low-end 8th-gen Intel system" it's less obvious. And from a "holding on to it as a collectible" (whether or not "to eBay later" is on the end or not,) it's a no-brainer the other way.

If I were to have won, I would have held on to it as a collectible.

Then again, I'm already quite the CPU collector....

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CharonPDX said:
From a "using it as a CPU in a system the winner is building from scratch" the answer may be a no-brainer; but from a "upgrading an already-built low-end 8th-gen Intel system" it's less obvious. And from a "holding on to it as a collectible" (whether or not "to eBay later" is on the end or not,) it's a no-brainer the other way.

If I were to have won, I would have held on to it as a collectible.

Then again, I'm already quite the CPU collector....

View attachment 83512
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Nice collection. Can you list them?
 
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