Boxed Vs. Retail Duron 800 and Thunderbirds

[trikster2]

Familiar with with boxed intels but not boxed AMDs

Putting together a computer and based on reviews leaning towards Duron 800

Noticed that I can get a retail duron 800 for $99 on buy.com. While pricewatch lists the Thunderbird 800 OEM for $133.

Are the retail CPUs more or less overclockable?

Is the retail fan/heatsink decent, or will I just end up throwing it away? (only looking for sane overclocking, nothing wild).

 

[RobsTV]

Boxed IS retail, and includes heatsink and fan, as well as 3 year warranty.

OEM does not include anything (CPU only), and usually has a 30 to 90 day warranty.

Boxed warranty is handled through AMD.
OEM is handled only through the distributor that sold you the CPU.

Boxed units are same as shipped from AMD.
OEM units may have been through many distributors and dealers before they reached you, and may have been tested by the distributors or dealers with the best overclockers cherry picked out. Since the Duron's are easily overclocked, it shouldn't make much difference, but you may only get 950Mhz out of an 800Mhz OEM, while boxed may give you a better chance to hit 1Ghz+.

 

[office boy]

Mine was boxed, and hit's 1081 stable (I can run it at 1103, but it get's a little flaky, but it will post at 1123

 

[Celstar]

I've been getting boxed from the start. I feel much better that way. All the cpu's that I've bought have been retail and they've all been good overclockers so far.

 

[Liquidh2o]

I'd recomend going with another heatsink/fan than what comes with the retail version of a duron/t-bird, ecspecially if your intention is to overclock em