The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Processor Question: Engineering Sample

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by mp5cartman, Jul 28, 2011.

  1. mp5cartman

    mp5cartman Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    235
    Messages:
    396
    Likes Received:
    48
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Right now I have a i5 540m and looking to upgrade my cpu. So I found this Q1TN and it is a i7 740m or i7 820m ES "Engineering Sample" Do you guys think buying a ES cpu is fine?
     
    mp5cartman, Jul 28, 2011
    #1
  2. Alienwhere

    Alienwhere Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    82
    Messages:
    296
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Engineering samples are just that, samples of early versions of the processors.

    Buying them is fine if you just want to test performance or something, but they can have a fair amount of problems compared to official retail versions of the same chip.

    If you're looking for stable, reliable performance in a notebook, I would suggest sticking to retail chips with a warranty.
     
    Alienwhere, Jul 28, 2011
    #2
  3. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

    Reputations:
    5,413
    Messages:
    10,711
    Likes Received:
    1,204
    Trophy Points:
    581
    ES/QS chips are fine, but QS are preferred as they are nearly the same as OEM. ES models typically are missing the temperature sensor and they run hotter than OEM/QS chips. But if you want a good deal on a chip, nothing wrong with ES. But it is hard finding an OEM chip that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Jul 28, 2011
    #3
  4. xeroxide

    xeroxide Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    487
    Messages:
    1,390
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    My 920xm es is the best laptop CPU I've ever owned. No issues with heat and nothing like sensors missing/not working.

    If you can, get the 920/940 es. They are a big jump up even over the 820.
     
    xeroxide, Jul 28, 2011
    #4
  5. Aikimox

    Aikimox Weihenstephaner!

    Reputations:
    5,955
    Messages:
    10,196
    Likes Received:
    91
    Trophy Points:
    466
    I have an early ES 2920XM and while it can't go all the way up to 4.6GHz on 4 cores it is still perfectly stable @3.7Ghz.
     
    Aikimox, Jul 30, 2011
    #5
  6. CarlosGFK

    CarlosGFK Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    82
    Messages:
    325
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I have that same cpu and it runs perfectly fine, I just wish the BIOS would let me mess around with it.
     
    CarlosGFK, Aug 1, 2011
    #6
  7. Aikimox

    Aikimox Weihenstephaner!

    Reputations:
    5,955
    Messages:
    10,196
    Likes Received:
    91
    Trophy Points:
    466
    Yes, it's perfectly fine at stock clocks and can go stable up to 3.7-4.2 GHz with Turbo. The only regret is it cannot match the OC level of a OEM 2920XM (4.6GHz on all cores)
     
    Aikimox, Aug 1, 2011
    #7
  8. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

    Reputations:
    1,708
    Messages:
    5,820
    Likes Received:
    4,311
    Trophy Points:
    431
    Temp sensors were an issue on the Core 2 ES chips, all SB ES chips i've seen on ebay all have working temp sensors. your main issue is going to be the stepping. the ES models all pretty much use D0 stepping, which is older, and found more commonly in desktop chips, not at all in laptop chips which run a D2 stepping. D2 may be more power efficient and run cooler than D0. The only D2 chip I found is the Q1N8 2920xm, which is probably a QS, but has a D2 stepping. I'd stay away from ES for the time being, except for the 2920xm Q154 chip, which is a really good deal for what it is.
     
    Raidriar, Aug 3, 2011
    #8