Tray CPUs - Worth the Purchase Risk?

[Jurchen King]

I found a dealer clearing Intel Rocket Lake CPU+Z590 motherboard bundles at very competitive pricing. They're like $200 cheaper than the latest Alder Lake bundle equivalents. The Z590 motherboards are authorized local distributor stock with full warranty. But these are tray CPUs, not retail boxed. So no stock heatsink or box packaging is included, but it's fine by me since I've always used aftermarket coolers.

I understand that unlike retail boxed CPUs, there is no 3 year manufacturer warranty for tray CPUs. Warranty is through seller and probably only 1 year. But given that CPUs typically outlast other key components of a PC, is it worth the risk getting tray CPUs? Has anyone ever bought tray CPUs and what's your experience using them in terms of reliability and lifespan?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[NightRaven49]

100% worth the savings. have bought dozens of tray cpus over the years, including ivy bridge xeons, for personal use, builds for other ppl and flipping with no problems encountered. for the case of buying from overseas (like I normally do) u also don't have to deal with shipping costs as the packaging is usually smaller or in the case of motherboard bundles, the sellers usually just leave the tray inside the motherboard box so there is no additional cost, and as u mentioned no need to deal with stock cooler weight; sending back to seller should anything go wrong should be relatively cheap too. they're also a great way to get rare cpus like 4000 series ryzens or mobile cpus adapted for use in desktops. like u mentioned, cpus generally outlast the rest of the pc and it's quite rare to encounter a defective one, so I would say it is a risk that pays off very well no brainer. maybe in the case of hardcore overclocking going for something with a proper warranty might be a safer bet, but otherwise a tray cpu will be no less reliable or long lived than a boxed one.

 

[TanKianW]

I found a dealer clearing Intel Rocket Lake CPU+Z590 motherboard bundles at very competitive pricing. They're like $200 cheaper than the latest Alder Lake bundle equivalents. The Z590 motherboards are authorized local distributor stock with full warranty. But these are tray CPUs, not retail boxed. So no stock heatsink or box packaging is included, but it's fine by me since I've always used aftermarket coolers.

I understand that unlike retail boxed CPUs, there is no 3 year manufacturer warranty for tray CPUs. Warranty is through seller and probably only 1 year. But given that CPUs typically outlast other key components of a PC, is it worth the risk getting tray CPUs? Has anyone ever bought tray CPUs and what's your experience using them in terms of reliability and lifespan?

Thanks for sharing.

Been buying from tray for personal workstation, servers and enterprise set up many times. They were the same. In fact my last CPU that comes with a box is 4-5 years back. No problem encountered for tray CPUs till this day. Normally I buy direct (in tray) from reputable vendors which deal in bulk (>20), so can easily get one to one exchange even if it was defective. You can also find a few good merchants on taobao/ebay with good return policy. Second hand in tray will be even cheaper. From my experience, mobo and memory dies faster than CPU most of the time, so I really don’t mind even if it comes with 1 year warranty or return policy.

You may only be able to buy from tray if you going with low powered (OEM) CPU like the intel T series with low TDPs. Eg. Intel 12700T, 8700T, etc. Which I normally use for running 24/7 edge devices and servers.​

 

[gld998]

I have no problem buyin tray cpu with 1 week warranty. Recently hooted a i9 10900k for 400SGD tray

 

[watzup_ken]

Tray or retail, these are pretty much the same chips being used. At least in my experience, CPU is one of those parts in a PC that is least likely to fail. So if you are getting substantial savings, then no harm getting it.

However, I do want to point out that there is substantial performance difference between Rocket Lake and Alder Lake. So much so that you can get an i5 that keeps up or may outperform an i7 or i9 Rocket Lake. So you should consider from this angle as well before making your decision to get the Rocket Lake processor + mobo setup.

 

[Phen8210]

wdym by bundle equivalent? in terms of performance or number + 1000?

 

[gld998]

Tray or retail, these are pretty much the same chips being used. At least in my experience, CPU is one of those parts in a PC that is least likely to fail. So if you are getting substantial savings, then no harm getting it.

However, I do want to point out that there is substantial performance difference between Rocket Lake and Alder Lake. So much so that you can get an i5 that keeps up or may outperform an i7 or i9 Rocket Lake. So you should consider from this angle as well before making your decision to get the Rocket Lake processor + mobo setup.

K and non K price difference. Planning to overclock is another thing. I also have i7 12700k build for fun. i9 10900k is slighly faster (2~3%) and less hot... Normally ppl only hoot 12400f and not the 12600k which almost 40% more in price. Its like comparing orange and apple... Alderlake is definately a hot chick chip

 

[watzup_ken]

K and non K price difference. Planning to overclock is another thing. I also have i7 12700k build for fun. i9 10900k is slighly faster (2~3%) and less hot... Normally ppl only hoot 12400f and not the 12600k which almost 40% more in price. Its like comparing orange and apple... Alderlake is definately a hot chick chip

Heat is definitely a problem for Alder Lake because the P-cores are very power hungry. Anyway, when you say that the i9 10900K is slight faster, how did you arrive at this result?

In my opinion, whether its 12400 or 12600K, it really depends on your budget and use case. Personally, I don’t find the e-cores meaningful for my use case. But for some, the e-cores on the 12600K may benefit their workload at that given price point. And I feel the12600K could match a Rocket Lake i7 or i9, while pulling less power at full tilt. So that’s not a bad trade off.

 

[gld998]

Heat is definitely a problem for Alder Lake because the P-cores are very power hungry. Anyway, when you say that the i9 10900K is slight faster, how did you arrive at this result?

In my opinion, whether its 12400 or 12600K, it really depends on your budget and use case. Personally, I don’t find the e-cores meaningful for my use case. But for some, the e-cores on the 12600K may benefit their workload at that given price point. And I feel the12600K could match a Rocket Lake i7 or i9, while pulling less power at full tilt. So that’s not a bad trade off.

I m doing CPU mining. And its on 24x7 no restart non stop. Hash is slightly better on 10900k then 12700k, mayb software not optimized yet. I dunno why.

 

[watzup_ken]

I m doing CPU mining. And its on 24x7 no restart non stop. Hash is slightly better on 10900k then 12700k, mayb software not optimized yet. I dunno why.

That is a possible case. When the e-cores are not utilised, the extra 2 cores on the 10900K should give it an advantage in multi-threaded scenarios.

 

[Koenig168]

...

However, I do want to point out that there is substantial performance difference between Rocket Lake and Alder Lake. So much so that you can get an i5 that keeps up or may outperform an i7 or i9 Rocket Lake. So you should consider from this angle as well before making your decision to get the Rocket Lake processor + mobo setup.

this ^^^^^^

 

[Jurchen King]

wdym by bundle equivalent? in terms of performance or number + 1000?

I meant comparing pricing of Alder Lake Z690 motherboard+CPU bundle with Rocket Lake Z590 motherboard+CPU bundle (from the dealer I found).

 

[watzup_ken]

I meant comparing pricing of Alder Lake Z690 motherboard+CPU bundle with Rocket Lake Z590 motherboard+CPU bundle (from the dealer I found).

I don‘t know if you have any intention to overclock and therefore, looking for a Z series motherboard. But in my opinion, a mid range B660 board with an i5 12400/12500 can be more potent than going for an i7/i9 Rocket Lake, depending on your use case. If you need the CPU to run heavily threaded processes, then I think the i5 12600K is going to walk all over the i9 Rocket Lake since they offer the same thread counts.

Ultimately, you need to decide and make the decision. I am just letting you know of alternative(s).