Athlon XP purchase questions........

[JETninja]

I'm looking at (had an order, but cancelled so I can redo and put on AMEX card for price protection) getting a XP 1600....the place I'm dealing with (found at Price Watch) Lynn Computer Products list two versions of each XP. The first is I guess the basic chip, and it comes with a 1 year warranty from the supplier I guess. The second is $10 more, is known as a AMD Boxed processor, comes with Heatsink/Fan (wont use it), case logo, and a 3 year warranty from AMD.

Any thoughts as to why I should pay the extra $10? The additional 2 years of warranty is nice. Also does AMD pre-mount the HSF? Will I have to remove the old Temp Compound? How?

This will be my first AMD system build, so I want to do it right!

Thanks!

 

[gaidin123]

The 2 different CPUs you are seeing listed are the OEM and Retail versions.

OEM will come in a bag, or a little piece of cardboard, a warranty that varies in length between a few days and a year from the reseller, NOT AMD. The OEM version will not have a heatsink/fan.

Retail will come with a 3 year warranty from the manufacturer (Intel or AMD usually) and it will come with an approved heatsink/fan combination. While this will never be the best heatsink/fan you can get, it will cool the CPU adequately at it's spec'd speed.

If you plan on overclocking or even just buying your own heatsink/fan, buying OEM is probably a better deal. If you plan on using your CPU up to 3 years from now then the extra long warranty on the CPU might be tempting. People will tell you to go with both sides, mostly for the price vs. warranty reasons.

The heatsink/fan on the CPU is not premounted since the heatsink actually will always mount and attach to your motherboard, not the CPU itself.

Good luck with your system build!

Gaidin

 

[Swanny]

<< The second is $10 more, is known as a AMD Boxed processor, comes with Heatsink/Fan (wont use it), case logo, and a 3 year warranty from AMD. >>



You will use a HSF, won't you? If you don't your CPU will be fried in about 5 seconds (really).

If you are overclocking it you will want a better HSF and it will void the warrenty anyway, so it's best to buy OEM. If you are just a regular user then buying retail is probably better since you have the extended warrenty and a HSF already provided.

 

[JETninja]

What I meant was I wouldn't use the stock HSF, I'm leaning towards a Zalman CNPS 5000.....for it quietness, adjustability, and pretty good cooling from what I've read. I may try some minor OC'ing, (I like to tinker) but this is the main PC used by the wife besides me....I need the power because I beta many commercial Flight Sims....as well as Freeware products.

My proposed system will be based around the Via KT266"A" (leaning towards MSI, but watching carefully over the next 2 weeks)

512Mb Crucial DDR ($70! Yeah!)
TNT2 Ultra (upgrade later...)
19" Trinitron
1 Ata100 40G, 1 Ata66 20G
CDRW, Hardware DVD, TB Montego II, and about 8 usb devices (2 powered hubs)

Need a new PS...probably a Enermax. It's all going into my Dell Tower that now houses a P3 550.......

Good chance it will still be around 3 years from now, At the least one of these will be a Linux Hardware Firewall someday.