Ban on engineering samples

[CZroe]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2065033

I just thought I'd point out that, according to that sticky thread, I couldn't sell my retail EVGA nVidia 6800 video card that I bought new and sealed, retail, at Circuit City. That was many years ago, yes, but I'm sure that this kind of thing happens all the time.

In that case, I bought several for $30 after rebate and started unlocking pipelines to see if I could get extra performance. Some showed artifacts as soon as the extra pipelines were unlocked, others didn't (w00t! free performance!), and one showed artifacts even BEFORE unlocking the pipes. Strangely, the utility showed that the pipelines were already unlocked even though they were bad. I locked them and the corruption went away. Sure enough, I popped off the HSF and saw "Engineering Sample" on the chip. Obviously, it was my property, sold to me by the rightful owners, EVGA and Circuit City. The justification than an engineering sample can never be personal property is wrong.

It happened when HP sent a user an HP TouchPad with Android installed on it. It happened when I bought a copy of Xexyz from Blockbuster Video and found that it was a prototype Nintendo game. We were rightful owners of our property legally within our right to sell them.

Speaking of that, would I be allowed to sell my prototype copy of Xexyz here? I don't know what ever happened to that ES 6800 card anyway. 😉

 

[esquared]

Now I am not going to dispute that you actually received a ES videocard as a retail purchase.

What I will dispute is your statement:
"That was many years ago, yes, but I'm sure that this kind of thing happens all the time."

Yours is the first story I've ever heard of obtaining an ES CPU/card via a retail purchase.

While you may be the legal owner of this card, we are not going to change the rules on selling ES samples here because of one possible example provided.

 

[Ichinisan]

I bought a barebones system from an Atlanta area business in 2003 and the original BIOS had a message: "Engineering Release - Not For Production Use"

 

[esquared]

I bought a barebones system from an Atlanta area business in 2003 and the original BIOS had a message: "Engineering Release - Not For Production Use"

That's really not what were talking about here. That is at worst a mistake. Early BIOS that got loaded accidentally onto production EPROM chips.

That's probably what happened to your brother. It was an accident at the factory and he got a hold of it. I am just saying its infrequent, if/when it does happen, and our rules regarding ES are going to stay the same.

Even the link to the post in FS/T states this from Intel:

"If you have received an engineering sample processor from a vendor, and you would like a production processor, contact your vendor for replacement information."

" Engineering sample processors from Intel are property of Intel Corporation. "


There have been multiple threads in FS/T over the years where we have caught people trying to sell ES CPUs.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I bought a barebones system from an Atlanta area business in 2003 and the original BIOS had a message: "Engineering Release - Not For Production Use"

I've seen that on retail video cards all the time. Mostly NV.

 

[MongGrel]

Extra Spiceys have been that way a long time now on many places.

Just a no no.

 

[CZroe]

I'm saying that this kind of thing happens a lot more often than you may realize because most would never be discovered. Also, just because Intel retains ownership doesn't mean other companies don't actually give them to their partners, especially once development is complete. I'm just saying that the policy may be a bit too broad.

 

[MongGrel]

Oh it goes on all the time.

Have seen many moved around just being on some forums over time.

I actually got in trouble in one awhile back questioning things like that.

*OCF* *cough cough*

 

[DrPizza]

I'm saying that this kind of thing happens a lot more often than you may realize because most would never be discovered. Also, just because Intel retains ownership doesn't mean other companies don't actually give them to their partners, especially once development is complete. I'm just saying that the policy may be a bit too broad.

Then the issue is between you and the company. I'd advise contacting their customer support to resolve the issue. "Hey, I purchased your chip from <store> and it says 'engineering sample - not for resale.' I'm concerned because I'd like to resell it, but I'm not allowed to at the Anandtech Forums (and perhaps other sites). I'm also concerned that a Paypal buyer could file a dispute with Paypal who might refund the buyer's money and tell the buyer to throw out the chip."