i9-7980XE $426USD

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Jacoub2490

New Member
Apr 23, 2021
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This seller is offering Scratched Core i9-7980XE Extreme Edition Process 2.6G /18C LGA2066 X299 CPU for $426
Scratched Core i9-7980XE Extreme Edition Process 2.6G /18C LGA2066 X299 CPU | eBay
Intel Core i9-7960X SR3RR X-series Processor 2.8GHz 16 Cores 32Threads FCLGA2066for $360
Intel Core i9-7960X SR3RR X-series Processor 2.8GHz 16 Cores 32Threads FCLGA2066 | eBay
Intel Core X-series i9-7920X SR3NG Processor 2.9GHz 12C/24T LGA2066 X299 for $270
Intel Core X-series i9-7920X SR3NG Processor 2.9GHz 12C/24T LGA2066 X299 | eBay
It was confirmed by Linus
This MUST Be Fake - YouTube

Regards
 

grenskul

Active Member
Nov 8, 2020
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linus isn't a good reference... at all. (sorry for the off topic)
The hell are you talking about? A well known tech influencer putting their reputation out there vouching for a product/seller is a great reference. He might not be the brightest tech guy around but it's not hard to benchmark two cpus and see if the results check out.
 

Magnet

Active Member
Jan 25, 2018
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North Florida
I think the concern is that when/if the deal/seller goes south, no one is going to help you...including Linus. Ultimately, its another aliexpress gamble. I think its cool he found them, reported on them and I hope someone finds it useful. I'd be curious if he thinks he's actually vouching for them or not.
 

WANg

Well-Known Member
Jun 10, 2018
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The hell are you talking about? A well known tech influencer putting their reputation out there vouching for a product/seller is a great reference. He might not be the brightest tech guy around but it's not hard to benchmark two cpus and see if the results check out.
That's not a ringing endorsement nor is it "vouching" for the seller or the product. It's just "here's some cool stuff that I found that you might want to consider with a grain of salt" compared with a 10 minute demo. Frankly, considering that Linus runs an ad at the beginning and the end of each of his videos whatever he's vouching for is whatever that's making his payroll that month, and unless he has a server with data running for months on end with one of those scratch-and-ding CPUs, he doesn't have skin in the game, regardless of how much "influenza" he is bringing to the tech world.

At the end of the day it is still a scratch-and-ding processor sourced from a vendor in Shenzhen, China (it says HK but the actual location of the business is north of the border), and that one year warranty that might/might not pan out in case the scratch-and-ding is something more serious. It might be okay for your homelab if the chip dies and it takes 2 weeks for the vendor to send a replacement upon return of the original (if they even offer that) over via EMS. If it's a NAS for a small business who decided to pinch pennies for the wrong reason? That's not going to fly.

It's cheap for a reason, and that reason isn't amortization or overstock - it's risk. As @Magnet would've put it, it's like an AliExpress gamble, and as a gamble, the important thing to note is the risk metrics.
 
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grenskul

Active Member
Nov 8, 2020
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and unless he has a server with data running for months on end with one of those scratch-and-ding CPUs, he doesn't have skin in the game.
Ha yes a multi milion dollar business (that is what his youtube channel is) saying the chips are legitimate doesn't have any skin in the game. It's not like if people buy these and it turns out they are fake they won't get any repercussions and people will lose their trust in what they claim ... Ho wait.
You have a risk inherent to buying used that is always there. He vouching that the chips are real is a big deal considering the prices these were going for .

If it's a NAS for a small business who decided to pinch pennies for the wrong reason? That's not going to fly.
That's completely retarded. Whoever does that deserves to lose their data and job. There is a reason businesses get stuff new . Support contracts . Warranties. On site support.If you can't afford the support and warranties as a business you can't afford the product .
 

WANg

Well-Known Member
Jun 10, 2018
1,302
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Ha yes a multi milion dollar business (that is what his youtube channel is) saying the chips are legitimate doesn't have any skin in the game. It's not like if people buy these and it turns out they are fake they won't get any repercussions and people will lose their trust in what they claim ... Ho wait.
You have a risk inherent to buying used that is always there. He vouching that the chips are real is a big deal considering the prices these were going for .

That's completely retarded. Whoever does that deserves to lose their data and job. There is a reason businesses get stuff new . Support contracts . Warranties. On site support.If you can't afford the support and warranties as a business you can't afford the product .
First of all, it's not the question of whether the processor was fake or not - which I've never questioned. As Linus himself would've put it - it's not easy to counterfeit an HEDT chip like this, and he discussed the possible source of the chips (low volume production on almost idle 14nm fabs made to satisy demand in Asia, chips with cosmetic damage that would not otherwise fly being sold at a discount to liquidators and then resold). The question is whether you can trust a chip like that and what kind of post-sales support you can expect. At the end of the day it's still a company located in Shenzhen, China, and you are still buying something that has scratches and dings on it, which might or might not impact it (probably not). For some people that's worth the discount. For others (like me) it's not.

In terms of reputation loss to LTT if someone watched the video and bought a chip, and the chip dies in 6 months, and the seller screws that person over, how much damage would it do to Linus' reputation or his bottom line? It is just a heavily discounted scratch and ding chip sourced from China, who would blame him for it? He's not like he made a non-factual statement in the video. At the time of the day you are still taking a risk with the chip, and if it fails, well, tough shits. In this case whatever Linus says about it being real means nothing, and considering that he can do the story and not have any real long term obligation about the scratched chips that he bought, he doesn't have any skin in the game.

Eh, if you think that's a completely retarded scenario, there are some serious war stories on the STH forums of people trying to do dumb things to save a dollar or save a few hours of work. I can tell you a few war stories at my past employment of people trying to cheap out on server components like RAM or network components like SFPs/DAC cables, and getting massively bitten in the ass because of that (guess who's job it was to clean up after their messes, which might or might not happen while they are still here?) Not everyone on the management side of IT (or the CFOs) believe fully in the idea of support contracts or periodic hardware replacement.
 
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Cruzader

Well-Known Member
Jan 1, 2021
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The hell are you talking about? A well known tech influencer putting their reputation out there vouching for a product/seller is a great reference. He might not be the brightest tech guy around but it's not hard to benchmark two cpus and see if the results check out.
Is that not the problem tho?
that he is well known for endorsing whatever pays him that day, with a history of not disclosing it.

Him vouching for anything is worthless when its for sale.
 

Vit K

Member
Feb 23, 2017
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Well if Linus made a link for a deal, it is a out of stock deal. Seller already rised the price, but it is still decent.

If only I bought 2066 when motherboards cost dirt cheap... LGA 3647 has much lower clocks and more expensive, yet i7 11700 probably destroy 14-16 core Skylakes in any task except benchmarks.
 

JediAcolyte

Active Member
May 29, 2020
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US
As a person putting together a home lab, what kind of platform with similar specs could you use as a server in this price range?

Something 16+ cores and supporting a decent amount of memory.
Granted there's no ECC or IPMI.

I purchased one, found a good looking (quality) motherboard and I'm up to almost $750. I was looking at getting another but if someone can make a recommendation for something else I'll take a hard look at it.
Just a novice's take.

Also, from what I've seen, the performance uplift from the newer Intel HEDT generations is pretty small.
Edited for clarity
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
1,871
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As a person putting together a home lab, what kind of platform with similar specs could you use as a server in this price range?

Something 16+ cores and supporting a decent amount of memory.
Granted there's no ECC or IPMI.

I purchased one, found a good looking (quality) motherboard and I'm up to almost $750. I was looking at getting another but if someone can make a recommendation for something else I'll take a hard look at it.
Just a novice's take.

Also, from what I've seen, the performance uplift from the newer Intel HEDT generations is pretty small.
Edited for clarity
3/5950X with a X570 Pro WS Ace?
 

alex_stief

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May 31, 2016
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You don't even need a 16-core CPU. From a pure performance perspective, even a Ryzen 9 5900x beats the old Intel CPU in most cases.
 

JediAcolyte

Active Member
May 29, 2020
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I'm guessing a comparable Supermicro motherboard and a 1st gen Epyc 16 core for about $800 would get other forum members votes here?
(Plus ECC & IPMI support)

Edit for clarity
 
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