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OEM or Retail?

J

jimbouna

n00b
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
Messages
10
This is comming from a newbie about to do his first build so be easy. I will be purchasing a DFI lanpart UT nf4 ultra mobo, patriot pcp 1gb xblk ddr400 ram tccd chip, radeon x800xl. I am looking to get a winchester 3200 or 3500. Ive never OC before but I have been researching and reading these great forums, so I would like to try . My question is if I found a cheaper processor that was OEM do you think it would be better to get it since I will be OC the cpu anyways voiding the warranty. I think this question could be applied to all processors. Open to all suggestions and comments Thx.
 
The only reasons to get the retail over the OEM is the HSF that comes with it and the warranty. Sing as you are going to overclock which means you'll be getting a new heatsink and fan, and you'll be voiding the warranty, theres no reason at all to get the retail.

-zac
 
jimbouna said:
really, do a lot of ppl do that?
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oem= just the cpu
retail= package as a whole with the stock heatsink ( which is never usefull)

in the past oem was bad, cuz many stores would play around with the multipliers of the cpu and sell you the original cpu more expensive. it was a fraud and theft so oem products got bad repuation becaouse of that. but nowadays its hard to do that multiplers are locked, consumers learned to look at the cpu specs which is on the cpu. so oem is cheap, and better. as you will save some money and splash that into new heatsink, which you would have done anyhow if you had bought the retail.
 
Spacemonk said:
sorry but I'm new to building pc's. What's the difference between OEM and Retail?
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Haha your even more than a newbie than I am. But thats ok...I think the biggest diffrence is the OEM comes with a 1 year warranty while the retail package comes with 3 year warranty. OEM stands for like Original something Manufacture. Also oem doesnt come with all the goodies the retail version has, might not come with manual etc. making it cheaper. But I still dont know what the deal with it is though thats why I posted this thread. :eek:
 
looks like im a little slow...has anyone had any bad or good experiences with an OEM athlon 64 processor?
 
I'd personally get the Retail cpu. Most OEM cpu's only come with a 30 day warranty. :eek: Just keep the original retail heatsink/fan and you should be fine if an RMA needed to be done. I think Newegg offers a one year extended warranty on OEM's but it's $10+ extra. Unless your buying a mobile cpu that's only offered in OEM (like my mobile Athlon XP) you might as well get the retail version. You might want to actually use the original heatsink/fan for a little while so it would appear to have been used with the chip just in case an RMA ever became necessary.

But that's just me - I've never actually had to RMA a cpu. Maybe it makes me sleep better at night. :D
 
go with retail. since you are not going to be crazy overclocking, stock is more then enough. also 3 years warranty is better then 30days. whats the price difference? $15?
 
But that's just me - I've never actually had to RMA a cpu. Maybe it makes me sleep better at night. :D[/QUOTE]

RMA = return ___ ___ ? Come on Im still learning. Thats why they put the noobie rank under my name.
 
return merchandise authorization ;)

as for retail vs. oem, it depends on which is cheaper and if you need a heatsink. if you're going with aftermarket cooling and the oem is more than $10 cheaper than retail, i'd just get oem
you'll know within the first 2 days of owning the cpu if you need a new one or not, it's unlikely that you kill it at some point later, but it is likely that you 'void' the warranty (note the ' ' ;))
however, i see retail as a free heatsink, so.. *shrug*
 
You wont have much of a warranty if you go with OEM. If you go retail you'll get the full 3-year warranty. And yes overclocking voids your warranty but unless you burn the chip up somehow to where its noticeable then there is no way they will be able to know its been overclocked.

And the retail HSF for the Athlon 64's are pretty good and nice to have on hand.
 
If you get a retail like I did you will void your warranty the first time you use it with a After market HSF like I did. GO OEM if it saves you money!
 
EnderXC said:
If you get a retail like I did you will void your warranty the first time you use it with a After market HSF like I did. GO OEM if it saves you money!
Click to expand...

How would they possibly know that unless you told them?? Just run the stock heatsink/fan for a few days or weeks and then swap them out with the aftermarket heatsink/fan. If an RMA is ever needed (unlikely - I know) just send the cpu and slightly used retail heatsink/fan combo in. No Problemo. ;) Here lately the prices of the two (OEM vs. Retail) are very close - usually within $10. That might be the best $10 you ever spent. If you don't ever need it then just look at it as a cheap extended warranty. :)
I've never had to RMA a cpu but I've RMA'ed 3 different video cards and I wasn't the original owner on any of them. 3 different motherboards as well and two of the three were NewEgg refurbs that I RMA'ed through the OEM. Hell, the only problem on an RMA I ever had was a motherboard (MSI) that I did by new but the original store I bought it from was no longer in business and MSI used to refuse to deal with the end user even though the board was still supposed to be under warranty. I'm still a little pissed at MSI over that deal and it has cost them much more than that motherboard ever made them in lost sales after that from me. ;) I've bought probably three dozen Gigabyte boards (at least) since then for myself and system builds I've done for others.
End of Rant.....
 
OEM= Original Equipment Manufacturer - these items were intended for computer manufacturers - (Gateway, DEll, your local Mom & Pop computer store etc.) basically those that build computers to resell to consumers. However, a long time ago, some smart seller realized they had a market to sell the oem parts straight to the consumers (basically started with the early modder/overclocker crowds) and due to the lower overhead they could beat the other sellers' price on the Boxed (official consumer retail parts) cpus. this lead to the sales of other oem parts from video cards to sound cards to motherboards, etc.
The major difference - the warranty and lack of heatsink. Ok, so if you buy a oem cpu, your warranty will vary from seller to seller - in some cases the warranty is as little as 15 days from purchase to 1 year. Some sellers will sell the 15/30 day oem cpu but upgrade your warranty to 1 year, IF you buy their recommended heatsink with the purchase. (Ironically, in most of those cases, the heatsink is no better than the retail box version and you have spent all your savings from buying oem on that heatsink.)
Now, as for buying OEM vs Retail. I suggest Retail as I have had a better experience with them over oem. Usually the savings are minimal ($15 bucks. I remember the heady days when the price difference was so worth going oem...) True, overclocking voids the warranty. But if you decide at the last minute not to overclock, you have the 3 year warranty and the heatsink (NOTE you can sell the heatsink in the for sale/trade thread and recoup the price difference...)
 
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