How many Athon 3500s are there...?

[Caveman]

See link... Why are there 4 versions ogf this CPU? I was thinking there would be only a retail and OEM version... See link:

http://www.monarchcomputer.com...mp;Category_Code=AMD64


Need some advice... The 3500 seems to be a perfect "fit" for my budget and O/C tastes. You see, I want to have a fast "stock PC, but also be able to experiment and do some OCing... I'd assume I'll be able to get this chip up to 4000+ equivalent speeds?

Also, is the only diff between the retail and OEM the HSF (comes with retail, right?)... Is this a big mess to remove, I want to use something better...

Thanks!

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

130nm Retail
130nm OEM

90nm Retail
90nm OEM

Personally I would go with the 90nm for it has slight (very slight) tweaks and has a lower starting voltage. The disadvantage is it has a smaller die size for dissipating heat so the thermals looks to be very similar to the 130nm. It does use less wattage (67 I believe) so it has an advantage.

I would get an aftermarket heatshink if you want maximum overclocks. I would imagine you should achieve 2400 speeds (3800 speeds) and maybe 2500 (closer to 4000/FX-53 speeds due to difference in L2 cache)

The retail comes with a nice warranty whereas the OEM comes with no warranty and no heatsink. The OEM is usually cheaper but the extra cost for the warranty may be worth it. The heatsink is easy to toss on the retail version and make sure you get Arctic Silver 5 or similar high quality compound for the aftermarket kit.

 

[PumpActionWalrus]

Originally posted by: michaelpatrick33
130nm Retail
130nm OEM

90nm Retail
90nm OEM

Personally I would go with the 90nm for it has slight (very slight) tweaks and has a lower starting voltage. The disadvantage is it has a smaller die size for dissipating heat so the thermals looks to be very similar to the 130nm. It does use less wattage (67 I believe) so it has an advantage.

I would get an aftermarket heatshink if you want maximum overclocks. I would imagine you should achieve 2400 speeds (3800 speeds) and maybe 2500 (closer to 4000/FX-53 speeds due to difference in L2 cache)

The retail comes with a nice warranty whereas the OEM comes with no warranty and no heatsink. The OEM is usually cheaper but the extra cost for the warranty may be worth it. The heatsink is easy to toss on the retail version and make sure you get Arctic Silver 5 or similar high quality compound for the aftermarket kit.

The OEM chips do have a warranty, it is only 90 days, or one year I can;t remember it is changed around a lot

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

Originally posted by: PumpActionWalrus

Originally posted by: michaelpatrick33
130nm Retail
130nm OEM

90nm Retail
90nm OEM

Personally I would go with the 90nm for it has slight (very slight) tweaks and has a lower starting voltage. The disadvantage is it has a smaller die size for dissipating heat so the thermals looks to be very similar to the 130nm. It does use less wattage (67 I believe) so it has an advantage.

I would get an aftermarket heatshink if you want maximum overclocks. I would imagine you should achieve 2400 speeds (3800 speeds) and maybe 2500 (closer to 4000/FX-53 speeds due to difference in L2 cache)

The retail comes with a nice warranty whereas the OEM comes with no warranty and no heatsink. The OEM is usually cheaper but the extra cost for the warranty may be worth it. The heatsink is easy to toss on the retail version and make sure you get Arctic Silver 5 or similar high quality compound for the aftermarket kit.

The OEM chips do have a warranty, it is only 90 days, or one year I can;t remember it is changed around a lot

You are right. I think each retailer/supplier has its own warranty structure on OEM's. It could 10 days, 30 days, a year etc. whereas the retail you get a full 3 year? warranty from AMD itself. Of course overclocking automatically eliminates the warranty anyway so the OEM is probably your best bet.

 

[Caveman]

1) How would the warranty folks know if the CPU had been O/Ced?

2) Doesn't replacing the stock HSF with a (better) aftermarket type void the warranty? If so, OEM seems "smart" here... I guess someone could put the original HSF back on?

3) I'd assume that a 3500 can O/C higher (or at least as high) as a 3200??? I thought I've read some folks getting 2.6 GHz O/Cs on their 3200 chips...

 

[Thermalrock]

youre more likely to hit 2.6ghz with the 3500+ but you can get lucky or unlucky. its less of a gamble tho.

 

[jkresh]

the best 3500 chip should outdo the best 3200+ in terms of overclocking but that doenst mean every 3500 will do better then every 3200, also considering how new the 90nm process is for amd it is quite possible (assuming it is working well) that all of the chips can hit a similar clock (90nm should give a bit of room from where it is starting) so the only difference you will see from a 3500 to a 3000 is multiplier options. As to telling if you oc'd the chip, if you just change multipliers and bus speeds they probably cant figure it out, if you up the voltage a lot and burn the chip then they might be able to figure it out

 

[tterris]

when overclocking, is it advantageous or superflous to up the voltages?

 

[Gnoad]

advantageous, just take small steps and make sure your temps are ok. Usually .1 volts more is pretty safe and will allow for better OCs.

 

[jkresh]

upping voltage will allow you to reach a higher overclock but it will also increase temps and limit processor life, with stock cooling keep within .1 volts of sock voltage, with higher end air maybe .15 to .2, with water .2 to .25 or less, with phase higher is possible. All realy depends on temperatures and how long you plan on keeping the processor.

 

[tterris]

what kind of improvements would you say i could get from a 3500+ if i was willing to oc enough to reduce the life to only 3-4 years. or, in other words, what is the farthest you can safely push a 3500 cpu and have it last at least 3 years...umm.. not sounding too intelligible right now, have alot of other things on my mind, but if anyone thinks they understand what im trying to ask then give answering my question a shot. sorry

and um, when oc'ing a cpu do i have to worry about burning out the mottherboard where the cpu rests, so am i jeopardizing not only my cpu life but also my mobo?