Cooling included with parts

[I rule]

I am currently in the market for a AMD Athlon 3200+ winchester(socket 939) and I have come across a $20 cheaper OEM AMD without the heatsink and fan. But then the retail box is coming with a heatsink and fan. What I want to know is if the heatsink and fan are crucial to keeping everything cool and if I should take the manufacters heatsink and fan or buy my own? And if I should by my own some suggestions would be nice. Thank you.

 

[iamtrout]

If you're not overclocking, just get the retail with the retail HSF. The retail also gets you a longer warranty.

 

[wcoffey]

stay with the retail boxed processor for the warranty

 

[stevennoland]

Originally posted by: wcoffey
stay with the retail boxed processor for the warranty

Bump. Get the extended warranty.

 

[akira34]

OEM= 90 day warranty
Retail= 3 YEAR warranty

I purchase the retail processors for all system builds, even for customers. The average cost difference between OEM and retial is only a few dollars (typically under $10). You can't get a HSF that will do a better job than the retail one for the cost difference. With my own systems, I sometimes upgrade to a better/more silent cooler later, but only after I'm sure the stock one isn't cutting it in the situation. I'll still keep the retail HSF for the rest of the warranty period, just in case I need to send the processor back (gotta love long warranties). I'll also keep it in case I upgrade to a newer processor while the warranty is still good on this one.

Another suggestion... Get a mobo with a 3 year warranty too. MSI offers that on their Athlon64 boards. With both covered for 3 years, you're set until you want to do your next upgrade.