Intel Corp. sells upgrade cards that enable Hyper-Threading, additional cache and other capabilities of Pentium-class processors and bring them to the level of performance of Intel Core central processing units (CPUs).

An upgrade card that costs $50 enables 1MB of cache as well as HyperThreading technology support on Intel Pentium G6951 microprocessors, reports Engadget web-site. The upgrade card is currently sold at Best Buy stores, according to the report. The microprocessor is made using 45nm and 32nm process technologies.

It is noteworthy that Intel sells upgrade cards for its inexpensive processors and does not redesign its product line in an attempt grab larger upgrade market share. In fact, this is the very first time in history, when a hardware maker enables a software upgrade.

Interestingly, how much time will it take hackers to enable the application to all owners of Pentium-based systems? Or maybe that was indeed the plan to slowdown sales of CPUs by Advanced Micro Devices?

Tags: Intel, Pentium, Core