Dangers with buying an ES processor?

Hey guys,

I'm looking to upgrade my i5 540m to an i7 820QM but I can find an OEM that won't make a unrecoverable dent in my wallet. On ebay for example I see a lot of ES processors. They say they're tested any working, just like the retail versions. Is there any issues with processors like these? Known defects, life time issues? etc.

I'd appreciate any advice.

Engineering Samples... pretty much wide open and completely unlocked, do with them as you please. You'll get no warranty or guarantee from the maker (Intel, AMD, whoever) and your only recourse is if the seller offers some return or warranty (and that if something is going to happen that it does so within whatever time period they offer).

Aside from that, I'd say there are no real negatives to ES chips except that they may not work in some situations because of being early revisions or steppings. This is a far more troublesome and sensitive issue for laptops because laptop chipsets are far more customized than desktop chipsets are - you could end up with a processor that your mobo won't even recognize, even with firmware updates for the particular type/class of the processor (in non-ES versions). It's a shot in the dark in that respect.

As long as the seller offers some return policy, and they have stupendous feedback, take a chance... can't hurt I suppose.

ah thanks, I have an Alienware M15x coming in, I'd like the ability to upgrade in the future if needed.

There was one company in the UK? that had 30day warranty with the ability to buy an extended 1-2yr warranty for an additional cost but the CPU's are more expensive than anyone else selling them.

They're considered stolen property unless they're being sold directly by Intel, and I'm quite sure that isn't the case.

I replaced the i5-430M with an ES i5-540M in my laptop. I did stress testing and power consumption testing.

result: this ES CPU actually uses LESS power both under load and idle then the factory i5-430M (while being like 15-20% faster) also has all same features.

I read all the "OMG they are illegal, broken features, unstable, more power consumption," horror posts and went ahead and bought a retail boxed i5-540M before trying out this i5-540M ES, but after testing I have some buyers remorse!

hopefully the retail CPU at least will match this ES's power consumption and features, lol.

Been running a T7200 ES in my Thinkpad now for over 2 years. Not the first ES I bought either. Also had another T7200 ES in my HTPC back then too. Also have purchased a P4 2.8C ES. Never had problems with mine. Just try to see if the previous users overclocked the crap out of them. If they didn't, then go ahead and buy it.

EGM92 said:

Hey guys,

I'm looking to upgrade my i5 540m to an i7 820QM but I can find an OEM that won't make a unrecoverable dent in my wallet. On ebay for example I see a lot of ES processors. They say they're tested any working, just like the retail versions. Is there any issues with processors like these? Known defects, life time issues? etc.

I'd appreciate any advice.

Click to expand...

Done it on my DV7, worked fine out of the box