Engineering Sample 4790K

[ninjacore]

Sigh...sigh...

So, I purchased a CPU recently. Seller (from another forum, but heat/rep checked out) advertised it as an i7 4790K. Scooped it up and waited FOREVER to receive it... Actually, let's skip past all of the other issues I've had with this particular transaction and just go to today...

Received the CPU (recorded the unboxing, if that's any indication to how this has gone ) and noticed immediately that the heatspreader did not read 4790K. Instead it looks like this:



So, I pop it in and to my utter amazement, it boots up and shows as a 4790K.

Google, google, google. Learn all about engineering samples from Intel...

So, now I have this CPU which works fine, but is not warranted. I can't sell it. I'm not supposed to own it. Unless I'm given money back first (probably, a la Paypal dispute), I am not about to send it back to the seller first and hope for a refund.

I've chatted with Intel today via text and phone, trying to get them to swap me a retail chip for this one. Best I could get was the email address of the department which handles engineering samples (not holding my breath on even receiving a response). That would, of course, be the ideal scenario, but if it doesn't happen, what should I think about this chip?

Are ES chips really worse than their retail counterparts? Is there any way of knowing what features/modifications this one lacks that later revisions (retail chips) have?

Part of the story I didn't mention was that it took so long to get the CPU from the seller that I was forced to buy another. I was planning on selling this one once I received and tested it out, but that's obviously not happening.

What should I do!?

 

[Witchdoctor]

See if it is better or as good as the chip you bought.
If it is sell the retail and keep it

 

[Scout]

Intel will probably want it back, most likely it was a review sample of some sort. They are usually 100% as good as retail except in some cases where they are early T&E samples. I say ask for a partial refund and just rock it, if you look at ebay they're lots of Engineering samples in the wild and they are worth a little less because they are not retail.

 

[Lvcoyote]

It looks to me like a CPU that Intel sent to be reviewed. That's exactly what the one I received for review looks like. As far as missing features or not performing as well as a retail CPU, fear not as the ES units most often are better. Now, if you really want to get back at the guy, find out if he reviews for a particular web site. If you find out he does, then turn his *** in to Intel because those CPUs come with strict rules to not be sold.

 

[Witchdoctor]

Disagree, just give him poor feed back at heatware

What he was selling is of less consenqunce than him not shipping in a tiomley manner and misrepresenting what he was selling if indeed he said it was retail

reason being many guys that review hardware have to put out a lot of money to make it happen, I am sure you can agree with that Lvcoyte

Some have to sell off this stuff to continue reviewing new samples, As you state many times these ES chips are cherry picked monsters, it is nice when a normal everyday overclocker can get his hands on one

 

[Lvcoyote]

When you agree to accept a review sample from Intel your also agreeing to their policy. And that policy strictly prohibits selling a ES CPU....

 

[ninjacore]

Yea. While I was going through the ordeal of waiting for the thing to arrive, I found out a bit about the guy. He started/runs a fairly popular (?) hardware news/review site. I'm generally not a malicious person, but he's been so terribly unhelpful that I'm really running out of options. We'll see how things go with the Intel email and what the seller says (I emailed him basically a wth message about it being an ES chip).

I did a quick test session with it. It boots up and passes 15 min of prime95 at 4.5 and 1.25v (xmp profile for ram at 2133/1.6v). Temps were pretty high, though. 97 max (!) with a true 140, but I guess I was in a bit of a hurry when I installed it...

4.6ghz @ 1.25v booted, but immediately blue screened (or whatever you call a crash in 8.1 ) when I kicked off prime. I didn't try upping the voltage from there as 97c seemed pretty warm to me.

 

[Witchdoctor]

When you agree to accept a review sample from Intel your also agreeing to their policy. And that policy strictly prohibits selling a ES CPU....

True dat

But rarely observed

 

[ninjacore]

I've purchased a lot of used CPUs and this is the first I've ever come across or even seen advertised. I think their sale was more popular 5-10 years ago?

 

[Witchdoctor]

I see them from time to time , more prevelent on forums that cater to extreme overclocking and have many members that recieve these chips, neither here nor there though

Not an air guy so i do not know what temps you should be at, but they seem high for 1.25 core ?

what temp is your retail running at with same settings ?

 

[ninjacore]

It's not a 4790k. I'll have to get you numbers tomorrow. Bed time

Thanks guys. Good to know all is not lost lol

 

[doz]

It's not a 4790k. I'll have to get you numbers tomorrow. Bed time

Thanks guys. Good to know all is not lost lol

Easiest thing to do is document it and ask for a refund if you do not want it. If the seller did not advertise it as an ES but as a 4790k, you did not get what you paid for. Pretty simple refund really.

Just as stated above, ES does not mean its not as good. ES used to be coveted and people would pay a premium because they used to be generally better than retail chips. Is it legal to own? No. Do many people own them and sell them? Yes. Would anyone be the wiser if you choose to keep the chip and use it? Hell no, unless you blatantly let people know.

Im curious why you purchased an expensive CPU without a picture honestly.

 

[turbobooster196]

I have the same problem here.

I received also a es sample of the 4670k, but as it turns out it clocks very good with low vcore.
its 100% stable at 4.6ghz with 1.2v but I can not go any higher because it produces more heat then what I have seen from retail chips.
But I am keeping it, because I think its a good 1, run benchmarks at 4.9ghz with only 1.34v.

as far as the temps go, but I DONT USE prime95 on haswell, my temps getting around 83 degrees Celsius with 1.2v in intel burn test.
Oke I now It can take more, but I would like to stay under 85 degrees.
I,m cooling it with a corsair h105.


http://valid.x86.fr/7931jk

 

[ninjacore]

Just as stated above, ES does not mean its not as good. ES used to be coveted and people would pay a premium because they used to be generally better than retail chips.

Not that I think this one is that early of a revision, but one negative attribute of ES chips is that they have the potential to lack modifications (to architecture or encoding) that later revisions of the same chip possess.

So they're not necessarily worse, but I do think the possibility exists and there's no way for a non-Intel employee to know.

Im curious why you purchased an expensive CPU without a picture honestly.

Price, of course. It was a low enough price, that I didn't go any further than checking out the seller's heatware and forum account history.

Obviously, this has turned out to be way more than I bargained for, but the price was enticing

 

[Woomack]

ES are not for sale and they're property of Intel no matter what you do with it. People are selling them but I have no idea how are they later explaining that to Intel as when you receive any ES then you have to sign agreement that you won't sell it and if you lose it then you have to pay its market value. Actually Intel looks at sales of ES chips as steal. I don't know how it's in the US but in EU if Intel reps find ES chips on the auctions then they can check serial numbers and seller ( or person who received it ) will have a lot of problems.

ES are early samples that are usually worse than retails. Haswells from 4670/4770K series were usually dying at 1.75V+ ( or even lower voltages ) what was later corrected. Sometimes there are other issues like some features are turned off or in some series C stages were not working correctly. Usually it's not affecting performance or lower clocks for daily usage.

 

[Quest For Speed]

In a case like this the seller acted in a very unethical and IMO dishonest manner and should be reported to intel. I would try to get at least some compensation or Total refund.

 

[ninjacore]

Alright folks, decision time. No word back from Intel. No response as usual from the seller.

I have 3 CPUs and I need to keep two of them.

-4690k (new)
-delidded 4770k (supposedly does prime-stable [email protected])
-engineering sample 4790k

I figure I could probably get $190 for the 4690k, $230-240 for the 4770k, and $210 (back) for the 4790k after I filed a PayPal claim and shipped it back to the seller (which of course carries a bit of risk).

I'm leaning toward keeping the two i7s. Good plan?

 

[turbobooster196]

I would probely do the same keep the i7,s

 

[Quest For Speed]

I agree keep the I7's. Sending the cpu back was the right thing to do. You just need to be patient and diligent and keep in contact with Paypal about the status.

 

[ninjacore]

I agree keep the I7's. Sending the cpu back was the right thing to do. You just need to be patient and diligent and keep in contact with Paypal about the status.

One of the i7s is the CPU I would be sending back...