ES Suffix on CPU in CPU-Z

[jonathan_phang]

Hi all,

would appreciate any thoughts on this. I've recently bought a second hand i7 system and have just been doing a quick OS test to check the components.

All is fine and dandy, and I noticed that when opening CPU-Z, the processor, which is an i7 930, has an 'ES' suffix. Does this mean engineering sample?

What does this mean? Is this good, is this bad?

Should I have been told?
Will it affect oveclocking if I decide to do it (good/Bad)

Just seemed odd, not accusing or anything, just want to know what implications there are

Thanks
Jonny

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would look at the CPU as the markings should indicate if it is an ES CPU or not.

TBH,I would avoid most ES CPUs as it is hard to say what they were used for originally and how intensively tested they were in the first place.

[DR]

ES are engineering samples - most of the CPU's we get at HEXUS are that.

They are the same as S-Spec CPU's but often unlocked (so a nice little bonus)

They don't die - they work fine and seem fine to us....

So maybe grab the CPU - whack it in another system and clock the hell out of it

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

OTH,most review websites are more likely to have got late pre-production CPUs which are representative of retail silicon. There are multiple levels of ES CPUs and the OP cannot say which type they have got,and it sounds rather dubious the seller did not tell the OP either!! On top of this selling ES CPUs is technically not legal unless cleared by Intel IIRC.

[jonathan_phang]

Confused now Have to make a decision quickly, as my chances of getting anything back, if at all, as it was a personal sale, get less as time goes on... Why cant things just be easy?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Confused now Have to make a decision quickly, as my chances of getting anything back, if at all, as it was a personal sale, get less as time goes on... Why cant things just be easy?

Was the system price quite low??

What are the markings on the CPU?? You first need to confirm that it is actually a ES CPU in the first place.

Secondly,put the CPU under a number of stress testing programmes to see if it passes them fine. I would also see if it passes memory tests fine. Also look at the operating voltages and clockspeeds to see if the CPU is running like a a retail CPU would.

I would also run the following tests:

http://www.aida64.com/product/aida64...ition/overview

Basically,I would try and see if it is acting like a fully functional retail CPU.

[jonathan_phang]

Cat, it was £300 for: i7 930, Asus P6X58D-E, GTX 470 and all cases/cabled with PSU and Optical drives, so its a good deal.

On a quick stress, the frequency is as expected, with the correct multi of 21 (22 with turbo on). I'm comparing with the CPU image in the Hexus review, and the QPI speed is 3207 mhz, which differs. This could be a BIOS setting, I'm not sure, tbh, I havent read up about all the new i-series terminology yet, so not sure what affect this.

Voltages on load seem fine too, a steady 1.224, so that looks fine.

I'm sure that its all fine, but its in the back of my mind that something might not be right, and it would make selling it on harder, as I would feel obliged to tell people, and that might put them off.

But first thing is to get in touch with the seller. Sigh

[Rob_B]

Ask the seller direct if you haven't already?

[jonathan_phang]

seller had been nothing but genuine, so I have no reason to believe anything else, but I'm going to pop him a PM with my concerns.

[DR]

I'd have PM'd him before doing this thread personally

[jonathan_phang]

I would have liked to have just done that, but I wanted more information first because I was unsure of what it meant. Ill probably end up looking bad out of this, but i don't think that It's wrong to want to know more about something before getting into a conversation about it.

[DR]

I would have liked to have just done that, but I wanted more information first because I was unsure of what it meant. Ill probably end up looking bad out of this, but i don't think that It's wrong to want to know more about something before getting into a conversation about it.

Of course not It's nothing bad having an ES... I wouldn't worry about it at all.

We use ES CPU's in a ton of systems at HEXUS

[Splash]

As DR seems ot be condoning the sale perhaps this rule needs changing?

The Wanted & Classifieds section is restricted to items technological in nature. This includes most day to day tech items, which the specific exception of:

Car Audio Equipment,
Mobile Phones,
Engineering Samples (from any manufacturer),
Items received in the course of a Review or Editorial endeavour,
OEM Software not provided with the hardware to which it is licensed,
Vouchers of any kind - this includes, without restriction, credit notes, gift cards etc.

If you are in any doubt as to whether your item fits within the definitions above, contact one of the For Sale Moderators or Administrators BEFORE POSTING.

I'm not complaining (it doesn't bother me either way tbh), but I think it probably needs to be addressed.

[jonathan_phang]

Ah, ok - I'm not wanting to drag anyones name through the mud - as said I have no proof of anything bar 2 letter in a diagnostic program. Awaiting replies and probably best left as that for now.

[dave87]

Splash, you are quite right - there is an apparent contradiction. Perhaps an explanation of why the rule is there would make things clearer, and why DR's stance appears to be contradictory to the rule.

The forums here are a great community, but ultimately HEXUS, which picks up the tab for the hosting, the administration and development of the forums, is a business. (Bear with me, I'm not trying to teach you to suck eggs ) As a result, things like selling Engineering Sample products can cause issues - not only for HEXUS in a legal sense, but also in a commercial one.

The main reason why 'ES' chips pose a potential problem is not the nature of the hardware itself (in this case the physical item) but rather the associated agreements that come with them. As Engineering Samples, as the name suggests, come very early in the product development cycle, they often have Non-Disclosure Agreements attached to them, amongst other agreements on what may or may not be done with the product. Thing is, they're largely private agreements between the party supplying the hardware and the person receiving it - and as such, we're unlikely to know the finer details. This poses a problem, as it would be quite easy for the company concerned (e.g. Intel/AMD etc etc) to have put in place restrictions on what may or may not be done with the hardware. If they do, but we don't know about it, how can we make sure they are complied with?

Well, ultimately, we shouldn't have to, nor do we. Largely because it would be nigh on impossible and far beyond what we think the odd occasion such things come up necessitates. The reason for the restriction on sale of such items is that, should a company take issue with the particular product being sold, they may decide to take issue with HEXUS. That would ultimately end up diverting the attention of DR & other staff away from what they want to be doing - making HEXUS better than ever, so we'd rather they didn't. Also, as mentioned briefly above, the issue comes up so rarely because of the limited distribution of such chips that it isn't worth investing time in trying to find someway to allow them without risking recourse against HEXUS.

There is also the matter of internal consistency in the rules - we've no idea of the terms under which the person acquired the ES chip - it may have been given, it may even have been bought - but we've no way of knowing - and therefore it would make a mockery of the rule restricting the price of an item to lower than what you'd paid for it.

Hope this makes things slightly clearer.


TLDR? - whilst the actual hardware will often have no problems, and as DR says, be perfectly fine to use, it is the additional baggage that comes with it which poses the potential problem.

[Rob_B]

At the time DR posted it wasn't clear this was a sale on here, contradiction problem solved