OEM or Retail ?

[Epitaxial]

If I want to fit my own CPU cooler then am I right in thinking that I need the OEM or are there any other considerations (I am thinking here of AMD 939 FX and X2)

Many thanks

mike

 

[harris1986]

it all depends really, the only difference between oem and retail is the fact that the retail cpu's come with the stock heatsinc, hence why the oem's are generally cheaper. If you bought a oem cpu you would need to buy your own heatsinc yes, but there is no difference in the chips between oem and retail.

 

[Minstadave]

If I want to fit my own CPU cooler then am I right in thinking that I need the OEM or are there any other considerations (I am thinking here of AMD 939 FX and X2)

Many thanks

mike

OEM is cheaper, only has 1 year warranty.

Retail is more expensive, but you get the heatsink and 3 years warranty.

 

[Teknodeamon]

oem all the way!

 

[dale1uk]

oem all the way!

Depends on the price difference really, my retail 3700sd was only £7 more than an oem one but has the benifit of 3 year warrenty instead of 1 and would have thought a retail pack would possibly sell better than an oem one when I'm looking to change.

 

[stoofa]

I usually buy Retail - the difference in price is usually minimal and you get (on average) three times as long warranty.
Some places only give you six months warranty on OEM - so in that case you're getting six times as much warranty for a minimal amount extra.

 

[Stelly]

I thought that retail gave you better overclocks??

Stelly

 

[Jimbo Mahoney]

I thought that retail gave you better overclocks??

Stelly

Urban Myths 4tw

 

[Minstadave]

I thought that retail gave you better overclocks??

Stelly

Don't think so mate, never seen anything to suggest it.

 

[hp7909]

OEM is cheaper, only has 1 year warranty.

Retail is more expensive, but you get the heatsink and 3 years warranty.

Like said above. But noticed that price difference between OEM & Retail on some chips is negligable. So, better to just go retail. I think you also get a nice little sticker with Retail (apart from the nice packaging also)

Question: If you use your retail chip with another heatsink apart from the supplied one does it void your warranty?

 

[Minstadave]

Question: If you use your retail chip with another heatsink apart from the supplied one does it void your warranty?

I don't think it does, they wouldn't no anyway, provided you had used the Retail sink at some point to melt the TIM pad.