save 50$ and get a es sample cpu??

is it worth it? would you do it to save 50$?? i would save that over the retail one i just bought since the one i had went into the wife's system.. so would you do it?? and issues with going that way?? thanks

 

Any reason not to? I often buy OEM to save money.
As long as the same warranty applies, you're golden.

 

Are you getting that from a retailer? Cause technically, they're not supposed to be sold.

 

no its not from a retailer, and no the es sample has a 30 day warr. the retail one has a 3 year warr... but i know the cpu's are usually the most reliable part of the system, at least ive never once had one go bad. so do i really need the three year warranty?? im not sure..

 

Processor engineering samples NEVER have a warranty from the manufacturer, as they are not intended for resale. Just internal testing, and review sites get them some times. It's standard OEM's that usually have the 30 day warranty, and even then, not from the manufacturer but the place you bought it from.
Personally, *I* would go with retail, it is more expensive, but the warranty is good for piece of mind. Just my opinion.
Plus, if you go retail, you are garaunteed to have a manufacturer approved heatsink included in the packaging that will work within specs, if you don't overclock.

 

I would recommend the retail one with the 3 yr. warranty.

Sure it's $50 more, and probably a bit more after shipping and taxes.

But, the 3 year warranty would give you that peace of mind knowing that IF anything goes go within that 3 yrs., you can probably send it back for a replacement.

That works out to ~$20 per year for that peace of mind. Is it worth it? I say yes.

 

I was really flamed once, many years ago on an old messageboard (3dfiles.com) for buying a retail processor, that OEM is "soooooooo much better and cheaper". Of course, after my processor died LITERALLY 31 days after I bought it, I was the one laughing when I got a full replacement for nothing.
That was a 1st gen AMD Athlon btw.

 

well the person id be buying it from gives a 30 day warr. on it.. but yeah i dont know what to do. if it dies at even 6 months from now.. i basically spend prob another 175-200 at that time for another one...i usually dont care about warr but in this case it may be good i guess... dont know

 

Well, buying it used, and although I don't know who it is you're buying from, because it is an engineering sample (read: unlocked), it was probably overclocked, and I would be weary of that.
Overclocking can really shorten the lifespan of a processor.
When it comes to such an investment ($200 dollars is not pocket change imho), I'd want peace of mind.

 

this is not "suppose to be used.." they may have done testing to it though at intel not sure.. but the seller stated they never used them..

 

Well, it's your money.
And you seem pretty intent on buying it, so I can only say good luck to you.
You just might get a good processor that will last a long time, but I wouldn't chance it. I gave my opinion, for what it's worth.
But just remember, you will get no manufacturer support for it if anything goes wrong.
All the best.

 

yeah im still deciding, ill prob stay with the retail one... we'll see..

 

for $50 id go with the retail version. The warranty is worth it. Also the fact ES CPU's have often been heavily stressed and therfore can be less reliable than teh retail versions. Remeber they were built for testing purposes only and testing normally includes things outside of normal operation.

Also so you know I have a Q6600 ES CPU. But when I got that the retail version was $1600 AUD & I got my CPU for $800 AUD. So in my case I figured the saving was probably worth the risk.