how collectable are es or confidential cpus

[whelenfan]

Just getting started with the cpu collecting bug and I am wondering how badly I need to get an es for my collection... thoughts or insight?

[CPUShack]

They are pretty collectible as they in general were not for general release. So they are a bit 'special'

Some people collect them, and some don't (usually due to the cost)
Some collectors collect ONLY ES CPUs

[alvaro84]

After many years of collecting CPUs I still don't have a single ES. I'd gladly keep them I found one in the scrap, it's just that people rarely used ES CPUs on a daily basis and scrapped the system later.

[Thandor]

It's up to you if you need one or not . Engineering samples are more special than regular production models. Some engineering samples are really close to the final product and some are samples from the early development stages. I like those early samples because they can give insight in the development of a particular CPU. I.e. when did they first have a working sample? Are there crucial bugs? Does it have a fully unlucked multiplier? How does it scale? etc.

I'd also like to have working hardware; preferably early CPU's combined with early engineering sample motherboards. It's interesting to see that early Intel motherboards boot up with 'Intel(R) Pentium(R) 5' when you insert a Pentium D .

[apa4]

Im in with all the rest.
it's a matter of taste.

[whelenfan]

thanks everyone...

[Guest]

Some ES have features not present in regular CPUs like unlocked multiplier. Otherwise they are the same with more errata and lower overclocking.

[Mr.Scott]