I want open hardware that is not super expensive! Does it look like it is going to happen? To me it does not, but perhaps someone is more informed and up to date.

The single-socket POWER9 systems the Raptor folks sell aren't that much more expensive than a similarly performing Xeon box and are completely open.

Sadly I do not think that I will ever be able to afford it, just like I would not be able to afford a similarly performing Xeon box. :( My processor is from the Intel® Pentium® Processor G Series, a really cheap one.

I find them hard (sadly) to justify as developing on POWER brings me no palpable benefit over doing so on a low-end workstation-class Xeon box and their performance is way more than what I need. I find their work on the single-socket system commendable, but, if IBM wants people to have POWER9 desktops, they'll need to offer low-cost SKUs.

I really don't know why they don't do it - it's not like the CPUs are a significant part of the overall BOM of their p and i series machines and the profit margins are very thick. Their lowest of the low end box is already quite insane.

Nope, they completely removed it. Thank god that they had other similar systems laying around that regulated core functionality like power and booting! :D

Tin foil hat on? Edited: typo

If you duckduckgo 'intel processor backdoor' the first hit is:

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/is-the-intel-management...

So it doesn't seem like it is bullshit.

Another note: While yes, the foil of the hat is thin, the term is 'tin foil hat'.

Intel ME is not a conspiracy. It's a feature.

Is it tinfoil hat worthy when Intel has such a poor track record?

Any feature that sabotages the computer after 30 mins once disabled is not a feature. Intel me is a backdoor.