If you buy an Athlon XP 1800+ 1.53GHz chip OEM, they offer a dealer warranty anywhere from 15 to 60 days. If you buy Retail Box they advertise a 3 year warranty. Does that mean that if you buy OEM and your CPU dies after 3 months that you are out the money spent to purchase the CPU? Also what is the difference between an OEM and Retail Box except, the box? I'm sure some of you have purchased an OEM at some time or another. Thanks in advance.
CPU Retail Box vs OEM dealer warranty?
- Thread starter farmercal
- Start date
An OEM CPU is just the CPU itself. There is no heatsink/fan, or any documentation with it. It's just the CPU. OEM chips, as you've already found out, only have a very short manufacturer warranty. That's because they are meant for sale to businesses that manufacture a lot of computers. Then the builder of the computer will have their own warranty and some of the load is taken off of the CPU manufacturer. If your chip dies after the warranty period is over, you lose. If the warranty has expired they will not replace the chip.
In a retail CPU you get the CPU, a heatsink/fan combination with a thermal compound, usually some fancy stickers to put on the case of your computer, and some minimal documentation. The retail versions also have a three-year warranty. If you plan on doing any overclocking, I say spend a little extra money and get the retail version. This way you'll have time to fool around with overclocking and not have to worry about frying your chip and losing the money you spent.
In a retail CPU you get the CPU, a heatsink/fan combination with a thermal compound, usually some fancy stickers to put on the case of your computer, and some minimal documentation. The retail versions also have a three-year warranty. If you plan on doing any overclocking, I say spend a little extra money and get the retail version. This way you'll have time to fool around with overclocking and not have to worry about frying your chip and losing the money you spent.
Actually, OEM chips have no manufacturers warranty. The only warranty you get is from the dealer. Some dealers like MWave give you a 1 year warranty. Many give a shorter warranty.
Overclocking will void that warranty for which you paid the extra money to buy the retail package.
Thanks folks, I guess I will stick with Retail even if I am going to change the HSF to the Alpha Pal 8045, the warranty is worth it. You guys and gals are the best for advice!
Keep the old HSF if you do that. The serial # which you will need for any warranty claims is on the fan sticker. 
I've had really good luck going both routes.
If you require breaking a factory seal, Retail is the way to go. Nothing like that Christmas feeling. Generally only $5-$10 more.
The OEM route takes more faith. The distributer buys the chips on trays. Alot of bad things can happen with that route. I've seen pin damage from mishandled trays. If someone returns a problem CPU, it can easily be resold as OEM (no packaging). Those returns have to go somewhere. No one seems to talk about ESD, I have firsthand seen chips fail from ESD. Worst yet, they are damaged and fail sooner due to damage (or have intermittant problems that cant be pinpointed).
ESD is real, you cant see it but it does exist. Would you trust a surgeon who didnt scrub for bacteria that cant be seen either?
Being patient and doing a proper burn-in test on either OEM or Retail should lay all fears to rest.
If you require breaking a factory seal, Retail is the way to go. Nothing like that Christmas feeling. Generally only $5-$10 more.
The OEM route takes more faith. The distributer buys the chips on trays. Alot of bad things can happen with that route. I've seen pin damage from mishandled trays. If someone returns a problem CPU, it can easily be resold as OEM (no packaging). Those returns have to go somewhere. No one seems to talk about ESD, I have firsthand seen chips fail from ESD. Worst yet, they are damaged and fail sooner due to damage (or have intermittant problems that cant be pinpointed).
ESD is real, you cant see it but it does exist. Would you trust a surgeon who didnt scrub for bacteria that cant be seen either?
Being patient and doing a proper burn-in test on either OEM or Retail should lay all fears to rest.
If you are experienced then it does not really matter. A lot of times I have seen people fry their cpus because of lack of experience and patience in installing and then of course they come crying RMA time. For my part I have never bought retail for as long as I can remember and have never regretted it epecially considering I overclock all my cpus (to the extreme) but then thats me.
oem is for system builder, system integrator only, not supposed to sell to end-user, but most vendors sell it alone, you don't get any warranty from the manufacturer.
retail is for end-user, the manufacturer has put the user error into the cost, so no matter you fry it or break the pin, you can get warranty replacement, that's why you pay much much more - under $10 for today's entry-level cpu, used to be $50-100 difference at least.
retail is for end-user, the manufacturer has put the user error into the cost, so no matter you fry it or break the pin, you can get warranty replacement, that's why you pay much much more - under $10 for today's entry-level cpu, used to be $50-100 difference at least.
If I were to buy an 1800+ and use it for overclocking, i would be making visible modifications to the chip. So in case something happened, would a retail processor still be good, or if overclocking, am I automatically screwed over anyway?
just don't cut the bridge, you can claim warranty even you blend off the pin, fry it in microwave, sink it in water, etc.
make sure to run the stock fan for some amount of time, make it looks like you've been using the stock fan with the cpu.
make sure to run the stock fan for some amount of time, make it looks like you've been using the stock fan with the cpu.
One of the main reasons why I would go retail and what allot of people seem to miss out on is that with Retail you get the real deal.
Most OEM cpu's sold to Mom & Pop stores are gray market cpu's, which means that they can still sell the cpu with cut-throat competition and still make a meager profit. When store A sells the exact same cpu for $10 less that store B, then store B has no choice but to go gray market in order to match the price. Large Computer Manufacturer's buy cpu's in tray's of 1000, they will keep the ones that meet the most stringent requirements (the best) and dump the rest (those that are below par) to gray market dealers, who in turn dump them on Mom & Pop stores which in turn dump to consumers. With this practice LCM's retain the best cpu's while still recovering %90 of the cost of cpu's that are below par.
I'm not saying that all OEM cpu's are gray market but with a retail cpu you are guaranteed a high quality cpu.
Most OEM cpu's sold to Mom & Pop stores are gray market cpu's, which means that they can still sell the cpu with cut-throat competition and still make a meager profit. When store A sells the exact same cpu for $10 less that store B, then store B has no choice but to go gray market in order to match the price. Large Computer Manufacturer's buy cpu's in tray's of 1000, they will keep the ones that meet the most stringent requirements (the best) and dump the rest (those that are below par) to gray market dealers, who in turn dump them on Mom & Pop stores which in turn dump to consumers. With this practice LCM's retain the best cpu's while still recovering %90 of the cost of cpu's that are below par.
I'm not saying that all OEM cpu's are gray market but with a retail cpu you are guaranteed a high quality cpu.
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