?engineering sample Radeon? what is this animal?

[RmoR]

maybe some of you folks have heard of this beast (or perhaps not Some dude I ran into has a bunch of what he calls "engineering sample" Radeon 64MG DDR boards that he says work just the same as the retail boards out there. But he's selling them for about $100CAN, which is a pretty irresitable deal if it's as good as he portrays! Anyone happen to know anything about these?

 

[demenion]

I think there just clocked lower and MAY NOT have VIVO

 

[Smbu]

The default core/memory speed for the ES cards is 166/166(like the 32mb DDR Radeon and AIW Radeon) and the retail 64mb card's default core/memory speed is 183/183. The ES card also lacks the VIVO(like the 32mb DDR Radeon) features of the Retail 64mb card.

 

[Taz4158]

The ES are very good boards I've tested over 10 of them. The price is way off though. PM for more info and let me know the guys name. I know the 3 or 4 guys in Toronto that can be trusted.

 

[TbirdJayC]

Clocks might not be lower, later ES's are usually production level (retail).

 

[Auric]

Think of 'em like a "grab bag". They may not up to standard and are perhaps defective (in any case fit for neither retail nor OEM) but you may never notice. Best case is they were like demo/test units so they are used but just as functional, but I would not bet on it unless they were substantially cheaper than OEM.

 

[Taz4158]

ATI made 50,000 engineering samples. The majority are every bit as good as the OEM and retail. Ever wonder why they made so many?

 

[Auric]

That's a lot. I do wonder now! I assume it took a long time to get the process right.

 

[RmoR]

Thanks guys, I was kind of curious. Sorry, Taz, I don't have a name for the guy, just an email address with some anonymous tag. He was pretty clear about the $100, tho, so I guess it could be a scam (and I would not ignore a PM for an ES from a reliable source for a decent$). As an aside, I had thought that the demo boards used exactly the same memory as the production boards, so why would the demos be clocked lower? Crappier processor? The question I have then is can they be clocked beyond retail spec with reasonable stability?

 

[Taz4158]

<< Sorry, Taz, I don't have a name for the guy, just an email address with some anonymous tag. He was pretty clear about the $100, tho, so I guess it could be a scam (and I would not ignore a PM for an ES from a reliable source for a decent$). As an aside, I had thought that the demo boards used exactly the same memory as the production boards, so why would the demos be clocked lower? Crappier processor? The question I have then is can they be clocked beyond retail spec with reasonable stability? >>


No, if it has the 6 NS ram they're clocked at 166 and most of the 5.5s are 183. They're easily overclockable ans there are even some VIVO ESes around.

 

[Taz4158]

<< That's a lot. I do wonder now! I assume it took a long time to get the process right. >>


Word has it there were that many made knowing that 50,000 would be sold a bit cheaper and spread the word about the Radeon.