Is buying an Engineering sample a good idea/what are issues with it?

[Nikolas Caven]

As the title states, I'm interested in figuring out whether buying an ES CPU is:

1. Legal (I've seen conflicting answers on this, not entirely sure about whether its even legal to purchase an engineering sample CPU)
2. A good idea (Motherboard support, CPU condition, so on. )
3. Any other issues/problems/whatever.

I've seen a lot of Xeon and "i7 ES" CPUS up for sale that are quite cheap relative to the consumer/release versions on eBay, so that's why I was wondering.

Any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[BrandonYoung]

While I have no experience with "ES" CPU's, I would bet it would be similar to alpha or beta type software, there may be issues with it that a final release would not have.

While you may be getting a good deal compared to a retail CPU, that saved money may not make up for the potential issues (including lack of features, and optimizations) you receive with your engineering sample.

Sounds kinda fun though, Best of luck!

 

[cin19]

It is illegal to sell the ES cpu by anybody, but you can buy. Recommend don't buy it, because nobody knows it has problem or not until you use it.
More info http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-030747.htm

 

[Nikolas Caven]

Ok, so it is essentially a "It might be broken or screwed up- no warranty" scenario? That's the case with most used hardware so thats not ... terrible I guess. Other than the condition being somewhat luck of the draw seems as though ES products wouldn't be that bad of a choice... Then again, maybe the CPU for sale was tested rigorously (or whatever) and barely works anymore... hmm.

Thanks for the input! I've basically decided to not try and get any ES CPU's for my main PC... but might get an old P4 or C2D/C2Q ES CPU to see what they are like. (That and they are only like $15-40 vs 100-150.)