oem vs retail cpu's

dinkster9

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Jun 27, 2001
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From all i can figure out, the ONLY difference between a retail cpu and a oem cut (no box) cpu is:

1. less dealer warrentee period (naimly due to our missuse of HSF)
2. no pretty box
3. Doesn't come with HSF.

Am i mistaken here?!?!?! Is there any performance/quality/longevity difference between the two?

Just courious, because if i'm going to be buying my own HSF, i want to know if its worth spending 10 bucks extra on a retail CPU if all i'm getting is a throw away fan.

"sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick"
*grabs a stick and places it into the flames* mmmm, smores
 

vk2amv

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Oct 23, 2002
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You are correct. Those are the only differences.
AREA_51

'It's only when you look at an ant through a magnifying glass on a sunny day that you realise how often they burst into flames'
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
Well, the OEM warranty is dealer-only as well as being shorter, while the Retail warranty comes from the manufacturer and is good even if the dealer disappears.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>
 

dinkster9

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Then i guess my last question is: what is covered in the retail warrentee. anything as in miss use, overclocking etc. how do they know if you did those things? what if you hsf stops working and thermal death sets in, is that covered under warentee?...

"sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick"
*grabs a stick and places it into the flames* mmmm, smores
 

Nights_L

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Jan 25, 2003
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how come sometimes, I found that OEM CPU costs more than a Box CPU?
there is a store near my home, and they sell XP2000+ OEM for 130, and BOX XP2000+ for 110$, what the hell?
btw, it's in CAN $..
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
A couple reasons...first would be stupidity, a guy comes in here and asked about a CPU, someone says "don't buy retail, it's a rip off" so they go to your store and insist on an OEM CPU. Another reason would be someone actually wants to see the core revision, looking for the best overclocker, so the store charges more.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>