Engineering samples?

[taltamir]

Won't be buying. Why does fleabay allow them to be listed?

they don't have a person checking every single listing. they rely on users reporting illegal stuff to them.
Hit the report button and they will take it down and forward the relevant info to the police though.

 

[AdamK47]

Man, I'd love to accidently buy an 8 core ES CPU.

 

[exar333]

Man, I'd love to accidently buy an 8 core ES CPU.

Unless it was some 'cherry' ES, I'm not sure it would be all that much better, unless you are talking about IB-E.

Just conjecture here, but say you could get a SB-E quad to 4.0ghz with 8 cores; thats not a LOT faster than 6 @ 4.6ghz. You could get a bump is very highly-threaded applications though, maybe 10-20%?

IB-E would be totally different. With potential reduced power consumption, you could (just conjecture here) get 8 cores to 4.6ghz, where you could only get 6 cores before. That could be pretty slick. 25% more 'raw' power + an additional 5-10% IPC would yield a pretty nice bump.

I know Aigo will pipe-in eventually and say '8s not enough, I want 10!'. 10 cores at ~4ghz with the IB IPC improvements would be EVEN better for highly-threaded apps.

It really comes down to balacing your needs for threads and clockspeed. Right now, SB-E gives you 50% more cores for only ~10% less clockspeed. Thats a good trade-off for what I use it for. For others, the reduction in clockspeed may not be worth the additional threads.

 

[Meaker10]

Well the 2720 ES has more cache along with better turbo ratios up to 8 threads and the Q9200 is unlocked.

 

[fixbsod]

Just because you haven't had a retail/OEM CPU need a ticket doesn't mean that you'd have the same luck with an ES. Did you not just read how these are essentially beta chips with bugs that get worked out later? And you should of course know what was also mentioned which is that these go to review sites that overvolt and overclock the heck out of them and so you take those 2 together....

I don't remember a single occasion when I actually needed a "support ticket" on Intel/AMD product. I just never had the need for it. Maybe because I haven't had a processor fail on me?

If I know, I won't need the warranty, why pay for it.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Just because you haven't had a retail/OEM CPU need a ticket doesn't mean that you'd have the same luck with an ES. Did you not just read how these are essentially beta chips with bugs that get worked out later? And you should of course know what was also mentioned which is that these go to review sites that overvolt and overclock the heck out of them and so you take those 2 together....

Didn't I write earlier that it can be a "hit or miss" ???

All the samples I used, were fine and didn't differ from the retail product. Or maybe there was a difference I could not notice. However, the difference I noticed was the price. It was much cheaper.

Now certainly, if you can afford and buy retail, go for it.

 

[Ferzerp]

Didn't I write earlier that it can be a "hit or miss" ???

All the samples I used, were fine and didn't differ from the retail product. Or maybe there was a difference I could not notice. However, the difference I noticed was the price. It was much cheaper.

Now certainly, if you can afford and buy retail, go for it. Not everybody can.

Not everyone can afford them, so they should buy stolen goods? I don't follow. Are you entitled to new processors, and so black market (no, not even grey) procs are ok to buy?

 

[taltamir]

Now certainly, if you can afford and buy retail, go for it.

I can't afford a new car, does that mean I should buy a stolen car? (no)
And justify it by saying it was stolen from a dealership's showcase by an employee rather then stolen from a consumer? (no, still stealing)

 

[Magic Carpet]

Not everyone can afford them, so they should buy stolen goods? I don't follow.

The decisive factor for somebody could either be price and / or different functionality.

Are you entitled to new processors, and so black market (no, not even grey) procs are ok to buy?

Now obviously, there may be an additional risk involved going that route. But it's up to you to take it or leave it.

Let's just be objective here, there are two sides to every story.

My story: I have used ES chips, no issues whatsoever. If Intel/eBay really cared about this matter, they would flag every ES listing on the world wide web. They both have the ability.

I can't afford a new car, does that mean I should buy a stolen car? (no)
And justify it by saying it was stolen from a dealership's showcase by an employee rather then stolen from a consumer? (no, still stealing)

I don't deal with cars so I can't comment on it. I deal with computers and nobody really cares where a second-hand part came from. But let's not exaggerate it, ES market isn't that big and often you can score a better deal, going OEM/Retail route.

 

[taltamir]

If Intel/eBay really cared about this matter, they would flag every ES listing on the world wide web. They both have the ability.

http://www.techspot.com/news/46902-engineers-arrested-for-selling-sample-cpus-on-ebay.html

 

[Magic Carpet]

http://www.techspot.com/news/46902-engineers-arrested-for-selling-sample-cpus-on-ebay.html

I saw that. Now go to eBay and look for ES. You will have some options. Let's take action against eBay for offering stolen goods? Now that would make a great headline. eBay is fined for offering... yadda yadda.

The end consumer doesn't know and doesn't care where the chip comes from as long as it works and the price is right. Binary logic doesn't work here.

 

[taltamir]

Let's take action against eBay for offering stolen goods?

ebay doesn't offer stolen goods. It just doesn't have an employee check every single posting (nor can they). If someone clicks the report button an ebay employee will check it and turn it over the police as it should be.

Your suggestion of shutting down ebay because it can be used for stolen goods is basically SOPA.

 

[Magic Carpet]

ebay doesn't offer stolen goods. It just doesn't have an employee check every single posting (nor can they). If someone clicks the report button an ebay employee will check it and turn it over the police as it should be.

Your suggestion of shutting down ebay because it can be used for stolen goods is basically SOPA.

They do have someone watching out for suspicious listings. Since I am a heavy eBay user, I often sell things and know for a fact, certain listings do get flagged almost instantly (like software). This "issue" apparently just gets slipped through their fingers. Intentionally or not. After all, eBay gets money from these sells. It all adds up to their lucrative business model. It's 2012, not some ancient 1995 with dial-up and static pages. If there is a will, there is a solution.

 

[Gillbot]

Best advise with ES processors is just don't do it. While we may not come after you if you buy one; we won't offer any support what so ever with one. http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-030747.htm

MAY not, but CAN, WILL and HAVE is the key here. If you have a new state of the art chip out and are "flaunting it", I would bet Intel will certainly come after you to find out how it got into the public.

Holy **** that's impressive considering these chips are locked notebook CPUs that wont have been overclocked..... If these are sandy bridge CPUs.

But reviewers wont have OCed notebook CPUs either.... so really.

Why did you bother typing anything again?

Many people overclock with notebooks too.

ebay doesn't offer stolen goods. It just doesn't have an employee check every single posting (nor can they). If someone clicks the report button an ebay employee will check it and turn it over the police as it should be.

Your suggestion of shutting down ebay because it can be used for stolen goods is basically SOPA.

eBay will pull them typically if they are reported.

 

[dmens]

1. Everything is tagged with a serial# after packaging.
2. Inventory needs a signature when checked out and if that chip shows up on ebay, the signer is in deep shit.
3. ES steppings might not even be the production stepping, so why bother?
4. ES overclocking margin is complete crapshoot, so again, why bother?

 

[Gillbot]

I've typically found better results with overclocking on retail processors.

 

[Magic Carpet]

They could make an interesting Collector's item.

 

[aigomorla]

they only go after the sellers

uhhh... no... once they got the sellers paypal info, the go after you.
This is totally up to intel Security...

IF they feel they need to contact the buyer, they will.

Trust me on this.. ive seen a few friends get nice emails from intel security.

 

[Magic Carpet]

What did the e-mails say, send the proc back and we'll refund the difference?

 

[exar333]

I saw that. Now go to eBay and look for ES. You will have some options. Let's take action against eBay for offering stolen goods? Now that would make a great headline. eBay is fined for offering... yadda yadda.

The end consumer doesn't know and doesn't care where the chip comes from as long as it works and the price is right. Binary logic doesn't work here.

Are you serious? The auction description says' ES'. That tells you right away its esentially stolen. Thats like buying a $1000 TV for $300 when the description says 'TV I stole from my neighbor'. The buyer is absolutely complicit there.

 

[Gillbot]

What did the e-mails say, send the proc back and we'll refund the difference?

umm, no, they say return our property now or risk litigation

EDIT: You bought an ES openly, you knew it was stolen so you have no legal recourse

EDIT 2: If someone stole your car, would you pay to get your car back? Absolutely not!

 

[taltamir]

EDIT: You bought an ES openly, you knew it was stolen so you have no legal recourse

And had you bought it unknowingly your recourse would be from the thief not from the victim.
Aka, the person who sold you the ES CPU, not intel who doesn't owe you a dime.

 

[fixbsod]

Can't afford retail??

An i5-2500k is $229!!! That is like the most screaming deal of the century for the performance it offers. What I want to know is wth it became ok for video cards to cost more than cpus??

486DX33 -- Cirrus Logic 1MB card CPU > Video
Pentium 200 -- Matrox Mystique 4MB card CPU > Video
P4 Northwood 2GHz -- Ti4200 64MB card CPU > Video
i7-2700k -- 580Ti 1.5GB Video >> CPU

I fail to follow the logic on all these debates on nitpicking the cheapest darn cpu that money can buy when non/minimal-performing options/items (optical, choice of mobo, hdd size) can easily negate a $20 bill saved on a CPU

Didn't I write earlier that it can be a "hit or miss" ???

All the samples I used, were fine and didn't differ from the retail product. Or maybe there was a difference I could not notice. However, the difference I noticed was the price. It was much cheaper.

Now certainly, if you can afford and buy retail, go for it.

 

[exar333]

umm, no, they say return our property now or risk litigation

EDIT: You bought an ES openly, you knew it was stolen so you have no legal recourse

EDIT 2: If someone stole your car, would you pay to get your car back? Absolutely not!

Exactly! If you buy a retail and get a ES shipped, thats a whole other situation. When the auction says 'ES' its clearly both the responsibility of the seller AND buyer at that point.

 

[hawtdawg]

Wanting a quad core for my laptop. The engineering samples are about $80 cheaper than a regular CPU.

Anything to be cautious about?

I have an ES C2Q extreme laptop CPU (Q9200 as people like to call it) Its stock speed is 2.4ghz, I've gamed on it regularly for over a year and a half running 1.3v and 3.2ghz. I'd have to say at this point that I wouldn't recommend against an ES CPU.

It's actually good enough to finish vantage runs at 3.733 ghz if you feel like abusing it.