Future Build Planning - ES Chips?

[adgjk]

Hi all,

 

I'm going to be having a big move in about 6 months time and won't be able to bring much besides my laptop with me. I currently have a Macbook Pro and a Hackintosh Desktop. I definitely prefer Mac OS, but Windows has been getting progressively better for me over the years. I'm still yet to try out 10, but do have a free upgrade waiting when I have the time and patience to install it. 

 

Basically, I work in audio. Avid Pro Tools mainly, very small amount of Apple Logic Pro, Avid Sibelius and lots of virtual instruments hosted through Native Instruments Kontakt, as well as other samplers. I was thinking all along that I'd just build another Hackintosh, or even buy a Mac Pro trashcan when I move, but I really can't be bothered to go through the whole Hackintosh process again (not for my main rig, at least, maybe another time in the future) and the Mac Pro is just too expensive and not expandable enough for what you actually get. 

 

Whilst looking at potential Hackintosh builds (after deciding against a real Mac, but before ruling Hackintosh out) I saw someone on another forum saying you could build a Xeon Hackintosh as there are always cheap Xeon chips on Ebay. I thought that they'd either be years out of date, or that "cheap" wouldn't necessarily mean cheap by my budget. I was wrong though, there are a lot of Xeon's from the last couple of years going for only a few hundred dollars!

 

Upon further investigation, I discovered that most of these are Engineering Sample chips (ES). As far as I understand it, these are chips that reviewers receive soon before they're released to the general public? I wonder if anyone has had any experience using these before. It would be great if I could a 10 or 12 core, or maybe even a 14 core if one presents itself within my budget so that I can have a computer running Windows 10, that matches or beats a top spec Mac Pro still leaving me room for future use and expandability, for a fraction of the cost. 

 

Any replies would be helpful,

Thanks!  

[thekeemo]

No warranty and possibly heavily abused but should be fine. haven't heard complaints from people that used them.

[brob]

There are no shortcuts or magic bullets. Engineering samples may be pre-production versions that have idiosyncrasies. And often as @thekeemo suggests have been subjected to intensive off-spec use and abuse.

 

[adgjk]

Thanks so far. @thekeemo do you know if they're used often, or is it a rare thing for someone to buy? 

[adgjk]

Anyone else?