It will be awhile before Intel releases its upcoming 6-core Core i9 chip, codenamed Gulftown, to the general public, but that doesn't mean you can't get your hands on one sooner. The question is, should you even try?
Engineering samples -- which are pre-release chips primarily intended for reviewers and may or may not sport the same features as the final product -- have already started shipping, and at least one of those chips has made it onto eBay. The chip sold for $1,200, but the cost to the seller be even higher.
All Gulftown chips are bound a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and technically speaking, ES chips aren't supposed to be sold or traded. In reality, it happens all the time, but selling a pre-release part this early in the game is sure to burn a bridge with Intel, especially since the seller didn't bother to blur out any identification marks, making it super easy for Intel to track the chip.
Our advice? Wait for the official release.
