CPU OEM or retail?

[zer]

Hi from Greece.
I am planning to upgrade my computer any time now (P4 2,6Ghz , Radeon 9800 Pro) and thinking of buying AMD 3700 San Diego. Only problem there are two of them in the site: OEM and Retail!!! Are these the same CPU? If i buy the "cheap" OEM version do i need to spend more money buying something more (like fan or something)? i have heard of something called heatsink but do i need it?
Thanks in advance!!

 

[easyrider]

yes you will need to get a heatsink and fan with the oem version.
If i was you and you were getting a new rig get a conroe one for similar money

 

[Sparky]

Get the OEM.The stock hsf with AMD are pants anyway.Only plus of a Retail chip is the 3 year warranty but these days most ppl change cpu after about a year anyway.

 

[benjo]

You'll need a pretty hefty CPU cooler to keep it cool in greece

 

[zer]

Thanks. Is Conroe the new Core 2 from Intel?
I was thinking of buying AMD 3700 because they seem so cheap right now and they had so good critics in the past.
Another thing is that i will NOT be overclocking, mainly because i do not know how (LOL) Is that an issue weighting at the decision AMD or COre 2?

 

[Iraklis F.C.]

Thanks. Is Conroe the new Core 2 from Intel?
I was thinking of buying AMD 3700 because they seem so cheap right now and they had so good critics in the past.
Another thing is that i will NOT be overclocking, mainly because i do not know how (LOL) Is that an issue weighting at the decision AMD or COre 2?

time to learn how to overclock then

 

[Jimbo]

Hello Zer.. yep the conroe is indeed core 2 duo. If you can afford a oem 6300, that would be the cpu to go for at the mo, although others might not agree.

 

[Justintime]

Building from scratch : Core 2 all the way.