Im stupid what does OEM mean ?

S

Saint

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 20, 2004
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I noticed that when looking at computer parts on newegg they have OEM after the description. Could someone please explain what this means ?
 
OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer. It means that it is intended for sale to a reseller for use in a system. It comes with little or no software/cables and often has a shorter manufacturers warranty.

b0b
 
Definition= Original Equipment Manufacturer.

If this appears after a computer part at, say, newegg, that means it does not come retail and does not have a bunch of goodies with it. Possibly there is a lesser warranty. If it is a processor, the OEM version will simply be a processor and not much else. The retail version of the processor will probably come with more warranty (like 3 years), a heatsink and fan assembly, more documentation and a nicely decorated box... perhaps. Most OEM processors arent that much cheaper than their retail counterparts, so the loss of warranty (possibly only a month or two) is questionable.

OEM can also refer to large corporations who make and assemble their own computers and components, such as Dell, HP, Compaq, Gateway, etc.

apHytHiaTe

Edit: oops looks like i didnt type fast enough! Wow, you [H] guys are on the ball!! :D
 
nweibley said:
Original Equipment manufacturer.
Click to expand...
Right, but can't you guys elaborate a bit?~

Retail parts come with pretty boxes, sometimes extra software, and warranties may be different than their OEM counterparts.

OEM parts generally come in non-pretty boxes (plain cardboard with just the logo of the company or along those lines), and may not contain some things the Retail package includes. And as stated above, there may be differences in warranty.

There is nothing wrong with buying OEM, it's a much better choice sometimes since it can be cheaper. For processors, OEM means no heatsink, by the way. And I believe warranty is much shorter. But for mostly everything else, there's not much of a difference.

EDIT: Bleh, guess I took too long to write this. Plenty of people beat me to it.~
 
Anarchonixx said:
EDIT: Bleh, guess I took too long to write this. Plenty of people beat me to it.~
Click to expand...

That happens to me all the time, too. But you gave a good amount of useful info. :)
 
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