Did I get a pre-release chip?

[rodboev]

I got my "OEM E6420" today and it says:

INTEL CONFIDENTIAL
QZAL ES MALAY
I(m)(c)'05 [numbers]
[more numbers]

What does this mean? I was planning on OC'ing it. All I know is that the multiplier is unlocked. Besides that benefit, does it OC any worse?

 

[PCTC2]

ES means Engineering Sample. So yes you did. Congrats.

 

[CTho9305]

Does Intel still consider those to be stolen property?

 

[PCTC2]

If anything, it should OC better. Those generally are cherry-picked so reviewers can give great OC reviews. And because it's unlocked, it's basically an X6800. Great find, matey.

 

[JAG87]

wow unlocked multi upwards? congratulations!

 

[TuxDave]

That's kind of weird that someone SOLD you an ES chip. I mean, congrats for an unlocked multiplier but it seems a little unfair that you paid for a chip and got one that may not have its features fully validated. Most likely you won't noticed the difference though.

On the other hand, whoever sold you an ES is seriously doing something illegal.

 

[nick1985]

Sell it and rebuy another chip. Use extra $$$ on....well, you know

 

[rodboev]

I've been brushing up OC'ing for the past week but I'm clueless how to proceed with an unlocked multiplier. Should I increase it first one by one and stress test, then start with the FSB after I find the highest stable multiplier?

 

[rodboev]

An article at http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=407 states: "their multipliers are not unlocked." Truth?

 

[JAG87]

so is it unlocked upwards? if so, set the multiplier to 12 for an easy 3.2 ghz. if you are greedy, set it to 13 and nudge the voltage to 1.45v

 

[firewolfsm]

Well get into your bios and find out.

 

[rodboev]

Still waiting on parts, I'll update when I know but that article is giving me the heebie jeebies.

 

[aigomorla]

You may need to lap the IHS.

all the ES i have gotten came with a really bad IHS problem.

I think i know the store you bought your cpu at.

It starts with an S huh?

 

[rodboev]

Can't I just apply the thermal compound where the IHS is uneven?

If not, how can I tell if it's so bad that it needs to be lapped? I could care less about the warranty but I want to RMA it if it's a B0 or gives me problems, without them asking why it looks like a mirror.

 

[T2k]

Originally posted by: TuxDave
That's kind of weird that someone SOLD you an ES chip. I mean, congrats for an unlocked multiplier but it seems a little unfair that you paid for a chip and got one that may not have its features fully validated. Most likely you won't noticed the difference though.

On the other hand, whoever sold you an ES is seriously doing something illegal.

THere's nothing weird in this - eBay is full of brand new Intel Confidential chips with no warranty; the other day I almost bought few pairs of the hard-to-found (I mean at decent price) 3GHz X5365 for $1,500 PER PAIR...! Too bad I need warranty...

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: PCTC2
If anything, it should OC better. Those generally are cherry-picked so reviewers can give great OC reviews. And because it's unlocked, it's basically an X6800. Great find, matey.

Thats not really the case, sure they will give out cherry picked CPU's to reviewers, but most engineering samples are just that, a majority of them are used for internal testing, and don't always have all features, and certainly aren't better overclockers..just because they can have unlocked multies, doesn't always make them better. I had several that were very wacky, and wouldn't even boot. I had a P4 that was recognized as a xeon on the one board it managed to boot on. Had fully unlocked multies, but was completely unstable at anything other than 2.8ghz. Most of my motherboards wouldn't even post with it.

 

[rodboev]

Turns out it's a B2 stepping with a locked multiplier. I've got it at 350 FSB for 2.8 GHz and it's running 32/54 idle/load (stock Intel heatsink with my own MX-2). Nothing adverse on stress testing and I have to say this chip seems to be performing like a champ.

I've got my memory at 700 MHz now which I guess is the right way to go for a 1:1 ratio. I'll see how close to 400 MHz I can get while keeping load temp below 65 C.

 

[Shimmishim]

All ES's are top locked except for the extreme edition chips.

i'm also going to guess that its a B2 ES and not a B1 since the 6X20's came out much later than the original 6X00 chips.

i have a 6700 ES and its top locked at 10x.