is this a good deal?

KennethToronto

Junior Member
Apr 21, 2001
9
0
0
Alright...i'm about to purchase a Radeom 64Mb DDR *engineering sample* w/o VIVO (he tells me it's like OEM)
He says it's practically new and it's only been in his comp to test if it works

He's selling it to me for $215 cdn and giving me a 3month guarantee. ($215 cdn = approx $143 USD)

Can anyone shed some light on what the heck an "engineering sample" is? Are they crappier than OEM/Retails? Used before they're sold? what?

 

Buddha Bart

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
3,064
0
0
They're made by the company to test the standard layout, and sometimes distributed for testing and reviews. In theory they're just as good as any retail board. In practice, YMMV.

bart
 

Rand

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,071
1
81
Engineering samples are pre-release, possibly unfinished samples of the final product.

If it was me I wouldnt trust it if I needed guarantees on performance/reliability/stability.
Think of it as you would think of Beta products... products that are still in development and unfinished. That is essentially what an "Engineering Sample" is.
 

Taz4158

Banned
Oct 16, 2000
4,501
0
0
The Radeon ES are superb. I've owned or tested ten of them and never had a hiccup. They are every bit as good as the standard OEM. I switched to a retail but it was not because of having problems with the ES. I'm in Toronto too and that's a bit pricey. PM me the name of the guy. I know who is trustworthy with the ES in this area.