I'm planning on getting a 1.2ghz TB, if i'm not planning to overclock it, is there any advantage (besides the warrenty) of getting a retail chip over an OEM one?
If your not overclocking, theres no difference other than the Warranty. If you plan to overclock, ALL retails have copper interconnects, which makes the CPU capable of more speed, while OEM models sometimes have copper interconnects.
Aklein
It's raining outside, and my lawn has grown a foot overnight!
My first AMD was a OEM 900 mhz.
Second was a 1.2 Retail box
The 900 ran hotter and L1 bridges were not conected and would only overclock 100 mhz. stable.
The Box 1.2 came with L1 bridges conneced,AXIA markings and runs cooler at 1.4 than the 900 did not overclocked.
I feel the retail are a better quality procuct even if you dont overclock them.
Just my opinion on my experiance.
The retail also includes a heasink/fan while OEM usually do not.
I have a 1.0ghz 266fsb Retail and able to overclock to 1.4ghz using the Retail HSF that came with my CPU(i dont suggest doing this unless you live in a cold place like me).
Retails are better for overclocking.
Since you won't be overclocking, go save yourself some money and get an OEM (but remember to always get the one with 266mhz fsb instead of 200mhz fsb)