Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz LGA 1155 Processor $259.99 AC Microcenter B&M

Quote from Mike C : tried that, different email completely, different FB account, different computer (no cookies to worry about), and it still knew, I think I should have changed the IP of my router :/. Perhaps I will try seeing if I can get a different external IP and try again with another FB account and gmail account. BTW, for those that don't know what I am talking aobut on making IB OC better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pypdbN367to it helps get the IB OC over the hump so that the best "normal" OC on an IB out performs the normal best OC on SB (which most say is around 5GHz). Supposedly there are a few other reasons that IB doesn't have more OC room even though the opposite was expected vs. SB given the die shrink (the tock), with the new trigates, on board graphics, super small die size to xfer heat, etc., etc. (I see tons of theories, of course Intel says nothing ), who really knows what the deal is. The one thing that made it clear there was a heat xfer problem is that people were seeing throttling when working their CPUs (prime 95, etc.), and their heatsinks weren't even warm, indicating that the die wasn't conducting heat well to the heat spreader as they confirmed good contact between the heatsink and the CPU, good TIM application, etc.(these are folks that know what they are doing, and took pics to prove it ). So this solves that problem, as after this mod is done, your heat sink gets hot to the touch like it should when you work the CPU, and higher overclocks are possible without throttling or instability.

FYI, I picked up my 3770k yesterday, and did surgery on it before I even tested it. Unlike the ones that most have been getting, MINE DID NOT HAVE A THERMAL PAD, it has a TIM connecting the die to the head spreader. Mine was manufactured 06/12. I don't know WHAT I was thinking of not testing before I did the surgery, given I cannot get anything better than a 4.6GHz over clock on it, and the factory TIM may actually have been better . Also, with a brand new razor blade and just the right amount of presume and rocking back and forth on the corners, I was able to remove the heat spreader in 5 min with no scratches, no damage to the die, etc., it wasn't nearly as hard as that YouTube vid I posted.

Right now my over clocking attempts have purely consisted of using the Asus Z77 Premium 1 botton overclock app (which is pretty cool), the only issue with that app is that it jacks the VCC way too high and limits the over clock due to the thermals caused by such a high VCC for the IB chip. Of course when I tried it manually I couldn't get nearly as good as the Asus app did, nor did it work to let Asus do its thing and then reduce the VCC it set. Overclocking my Q6500 wasn't nearly this hard, there are a CRAPLOAD of settings now compared to the Q6600. I easily OC'ed my i2600k to over 5GHz without having to dig into all of these settings, but with IB it looks like I am gonna have to do some reading if I want 5GHz (and I do have water cooling, albeit Corsair H100 vs. a real water cooling setup.

Also, placing my order online for a 3570k, 3770k, and Asus deluxe MB, and then removing the 3570k DID WORK to retain the $50 bundle discount on the MB, so I got an Asus Deluxe for $223 and the 3770k to $259.99, the MB I plan to flip since I already have the Premium, hopefully to make around $40 profit to make the chip cost around $230 after tax. Thanks for the post OP!

Quote from okinawanmatt : So, I tried contacting Microcenter via online chat to ask for a coupon, but they asked me to e-mail their Customer Support. Customer support sent me a 1-line reply that, paraphrasing, said "no". lol

You have to work with their internet sales department. I had printing problems, they reset the coupon for me, and I was finally able to get one to print, they had a lot of reports of issues printing the coupon, and had it taken care of pretty quickly. Dunno why you weren't helped appropriately.