Athlon retail box vs OEM

[Topochicho]

Besides the basics of longer warranty and it comes with a fan, is there any diff?

What type of fan? I want something quite but good like a taisol... does it happen to come with a taisol?

 

[Duvie]

I believed it is paired w/ a Taisol....some oems like www.tcwo.com offer 1 year warranty on oem chips w/ a purchase of a good HSF they recommend. TCWO fan I have tested to be excellent at 1.2ghz...fairly silent with a 60mm fan running 5700rpms on my machine. It keeps the chip 37-38c idle and 45c under load and that is a 1.1 tbird oc'd to 1.2.

For a 1.2 retail versus oem could cost you between 30-35 dollars, but it is totally how comfortable you feel about products and such. I go oem since I tend to upgrade yearly and the way cpu market is going it won't be worth much in a year anyways. my 750 tbird I paid 114 for in end of dec of 2000 now it is hard to find and usually sells around 55-60 bucks...my tbird 1100 I paid 158.00 for in end of march is now 108.00 at same store. My 750 may be worth the cost of what the retail package upgrade would have been in a year and I don't know if that is worth it...

 

[sohcrates]

there's a rumor that some oem chips are almost "used"..as in, the company tests them, keep the ones that are good for overclocking, and then sells you the cheaper ones.

anyway, i built a system for my buddy using an oem tbird a couple months ago and it was horrible..when it arrived, the chip was just flopping around in a plastic case that was holding it, and it turned out to be bad so we had to RMA it..anyway, his system still isn't stable, and i blame the chip.

i've always bought retail processors...that reassurance (and the nice warranty) is more than enough to justify the cost for me.

 

[crzyc]

i just built my first system last week with an oem tbird 1.2 ghz, so far i have clocked it at 1333 but didn't want to up volatage yet, blah blah blah all that stuff


it was cheaper, i could get the hsf i wanted, so thats the way i went, i don't need a damned warranty either, if it breaks i bet it would be my fault. but i was way to carefull for that to happen, well anyway i can tell you that i am happy with my oem

 

[Duvie]

<< there's a rumor that some oem chips are almost &quot;used&quot;..as in, the company tests them, keep the ones that are good for overclocking, and then sells you the cheaper ones. >>

That is exactly what this is...a rumor...perpuated by ppl!! If that was the case how come many users here by oem chips and clock the livin hell out of them. Many will agree the taisol is good but not ocers choice for heavy ocing. So the hsf is a waste of money if they are already looking at buying a new more powerful 80mm hsf combo...Total nonsense...

I have heard (not confirmed) that a lot of the chips are tested to see their yields and often may be downgraded to lower mhz or ghz rating if they do underperform.

Many oem builders out there...you think someone would have made a stink about it if it was subpar junk we were getting...

<< anyway, i built a system for my buddy using an oem tbird a couple months ago and it was horrible..when it arrived, the chip was just flopping around in a plastic case that was holding it, and it turned out to be bad so we had to RMA it..anyway, his system still isn't stable, and i blame the chip. >>

oem plastic cases I have been shipped have been quite secure in holding the chip with limited or no movement...overall you just had a bad experience.


My take on the retail and 3 year warranty has always been the fact that amd nows when you are buying it you are buying a cooling solution they know and recommend as being effective, and if used within operating specs should run just fine for 3 years. I have always bought oem fior myself, my clients, and my family...and I can 100 percent that all those processors are running today...even a 6 year old p75, 5 year old cyrix 166, 4-1/2 year old p-pro 200, many 2 to 2-1/2 year old amd k62's and on and on...

 

[whitelight]

oems are cheaper. with the money you save, you can get a better hsf. and i don't care about 3 year warranties. they are all voided after i get my hands on a amd cpu anyway.

 

[NelsonMuntz]

I usually buy a retail HSF for my clients because they like to hear about the 3 year warranty and I don't overclock their stuff at all. The PIII I bought for myself I got retail also because I didn't want to have to worry about looking for a HSF and I knew I wouldn't be overclocking too much on my board anyway because of video card limitations. My next one will probably be oem so that I can do whatever I want with it and can get a good cooling solution. I was also impressed with how well the retail stock HSF did against the competition in Tom's Hardware (sorry Anand) articles on the subject.

 

[mlvance]

Topo, i've built 5 systems now (the last four are athlons). I've used Monarch Computers (www.monarchcomputers.com) for the cpu/mobo/hsf. IMHO they offer a good price and they give you a 3 year warranty on the cpu! The cpu/mobo/hsf comes shipped to you pretested (cpu/hsf already mounted).
mike