Adventured with an Engineering Sample

[The Reu]

Hey, Watch this.....   There's a 90% chance this will end in glorious failure.

 

I've been playing with the idea of buying an intel engineering sample on ebay for a little while now.  Asside from adding to my small collection of CPUs, it seems like a (maybe) good way to get an ok upgrade on the cheap.

 

I'm currently runnign an Intel Xeon E5 1620v3.  It's quad core with HT and 10MB of L3.  Here the ARK page.  http://ark.intel.com/products/82763/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-1620-v3-10M-Cache-3_50-GHz  I've got 8 threads, and a decent response time.  

 

For 175.00 USD plus 12.00 shipping I found an Intel Xeon E5v23engineering sample with 10 cores, HT, and 25MB of cashe.  According to the sellermy Gigabyte X99-UD4 Mainboard should run the CPU no problem.  They even ask tha you tell them what mainboard you're running before you buy.  Herer's a link. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-E5-2650-v3-ES-LGA2011-3-10C-Compatible-with-X99-i7-5820K-5930K-5960X-/151990443313  It's an engineering sample for the E5 2650v3.  Asside from being an ES, it's also has a top speed that a full 500 MHz SLOWER than the retail version.  That being said, it's still 2.5 GHz on 10 cores with HT...... so I bought one.  It should be here by May 15.

 

I think it goes without saying that trying to do this is a risk.  I'm sure theres a good reason there are a fair number of these avalible at sutch a low price.  If you have a 6 or 8 core CPU im almost certain this wouldn't be worth it.  I'm hoping there's a significant gain compared to the quad core chip I'm running now.

[ShadowCaptain]

13 minutes ago, Reutech said:

I'm hoping there's a significant gain compared to the quad core chip I'm running now.

Doing what?

 

probably not

[The Reu]

So, Maybe this won't work.  I'm reaching out to Intel and ebay about this.

 

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/processors/000005719.html

What are Intel® engineering sample processors?

Intel® Engineering Sample Processors ("Intel® ES Processors"), also known as Intel® Qualification Sample Processors, are pre-production processors loaned to Intel's Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Original Device Manufacturers (ODMs), and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to be used in the product design cycle prior to product launch.

These processors often include additional features that production processors do not include for customer pre-production evaluation and test purposes. The following conditions apply to Intel ES Processors:

• Intel ES Processors are the sole property of Intel.
• Intel ES Processors are Intel Confidential.
• Intel ES Processors are provided by Intel under nondisclosure and/or special loan agreement terms with restrictions on the recipient's handling and use.
• Intel ES Processors are not for sale or re-sale.
• Intel ES Processors may not have passed commercial regulatory requirements.
• ES Processors are not covered under Intel warranty and are generally not supported by Intel

[Edelrat]

I wouldn´t do it, it looks way too scetchy..

For 20 or 30 bucks I would try it, but not it it´s that much money.

[The Reu]

5 minutes ago, MEOOOOOOOOOOOOW said:

I wouldn´t do it, it looks way too scetchy..

For 20 or 30 bucks I would try it, but not it it´s that much money.

I can see your point.  Part of why I'm interested in this is so that I can share the experience.  I sett 200 asside for this experiment.  I'm sure I'm not the only person wondering about this.  I have a message out to intel and ebay to see if this purchase is even legal.  If it is, I should have an interesting experience to share.

[Edelrat]

20 minutes ago, Reutech said:

I can see your point.  Part of why I'm interested in this is so that I can share the experience.  I sett 200 asside for this experiment.  I'm sure I'm not the only person wondering about this.  I have a message out to intel and ebay to see if this purchase is even legal.  If it is, I should have an interesting experience to share.

If you have the money then go for it.

But you said it yourself: " There's a 90% chance this will end in glorious failure. "

 

I really wouldn´t do it, here are some other reasons why:

- the seller is from Japan

- It is written in bad english (because he is from Japan i guess  )

-   “TESTED 100% GUARANTEED WORKING WITH WARRANTY”

I wouln´t trust a seller who is that desperate trying to tell the buyer that it´s fine etc. etc.

- They have lots of other CPUs for sale, pretty much all of them are engineering samples. I really doubt it that Intel would send that many to one company. And I am pretty sure Intel would have done something about that, since there is a very high chance of them noticing something like that.

 

I think you should rather spend your money on something that you will acually get (a SSD for example).

 

At the end it is still your choice, but I would advice you not to do it.

[harrynowl]

I've bought a few ES cpus in the past. Had no troubles.

 

They're just not meant to be sold, but they pop up in china all the time. 

[The Reu]

Allright, it loks like an ES can be legit to purchase.  We're back on I think....   THE SUSPENSE!!!!!  Also I have peanut M&Ms, so it's a good day either way.

[Edelrat]

On 4.5.2016 at 7:27 PM, Reutech said:

Allright, it loks like an ES can be legit to purchase.  We're back on I think....   THE SUSPENSE!!!!!  Also I have peanut M&Ms, so it's a good day either way.

Enjoy your M&Ms

 

And let us know how it went. If everything is good, I may buy some ES CPUs too

[The Reu]

Well, it looks like this isn't happening.  Based on the initial answers I've gotten from Intel support.... I've decided to abandon my Engineering Sample Test.  Looks like it's time for a shinny new (or used) 2011-3 i7.

 

[The Reu]

5820k purchased.  Now we wait....