OEM Duron 850MHz for $82 (TCWO.com)

[jonnyGURU]

Most places aren't going to care if you pencil L1 if you go ahead and erase them. No one can tell if a CPU has been overclocked or not after the fact. If the CPU is not physically damaged and falls within the time frame allowed, I don't see a legitamite reason to not warranty a CPU if it doesn't function properly at at least it's specified speed.



Sseriously....

 

[tigereye]

See, now that gives me something to think about. I knew that no one could tell if it had been overclocked. I didn't realize that it wasn't a big deal to pencil the bridges and erase them. Blast, now I'm gonna have to find someplace that'll give me a decent warranty. Thanks for the advice Johnny.

 

[psxjunky]

Really ? You can just use a pencil to join the bridges ? Does that provide a good enough connection for longterm use, or is it only to do a few quick tests ?

Does a simple mechanical pencil work, or do you need a special kind of pencil ?

 

[Pennstate]

Guru: why are the bundles more expensive than individual parts combined?

 

[tigereye]

Psx,

Yep, you can use a simple pencil to connect the bridges. There are quite a few articles on the web (including on here on Anandtech, I believe) with detailed instructions on this. As for the permanence, that seems to vary greatly. Some folks are able to do it once, and have it last. While others, seem to have to do it about monthly. Just like anything else, YMMV. The most important things are, to make sure the penciling is nice and dark, and that it doesn't cross over to a different set of bridges. I hear that 6b art pencils are the best, as they have the highest graphite content, and therefore SHOULD last longer. However, most people use either a plain old #2 or a mechanical pencil (.5mm is most popular, I think).

Tiger

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

IMO, you want real price/performance, pay the $113 they have the 850 Tbird for. This chip will very likely hit 1.1GHz and is quite a bit faster than it's Duron counterpart due to more and faster cache. I almost picked up the 850 Duron, but after checking TBird vs. Duron benchmarks on a few sites, I think it's well worth the extra $21 to take the TBird instead.

Also, twco.com's shipping rates are incredible, most online resellers give you a low price on a part and then rape you on the shipping. I've ordered a case, HD, CDROM, RAM, and a CPU from tcwo.com and still only paid $6.95 for the whole shipment. Very reasonable.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Pennstate: Don't ask me! I'm just a disgruntled computer tech.

 

[Yknot]

- you choose to violate the warrantee by over-clocking
- but you want companies to warrantee a chip despite that practice

Do you ask up front if they'll honor a warrantee despite your overclocking? 8)

I enjoy overclocking, and sometimes this breaks things: burned out a T-700 (the slow way) just two weeks ago. I'd made the choice, so I footed the bill for it. I'm surprised that it sounds like there's a contrary concensus in this group that we should try to avoid responsibility for our actions -- that someone else should pay!

Believe me, I'm not a -moralist- by conventional standards: I've just a streak of basic honesty. That doesn't make me great, noble, or likable -- but it does make me trustworthy and I'm glad that my friends, family and associates recognize that trait -- while being appalled at my other failings! 8P

I'd be amused to see a poll amongst us:
- how many think honesty and responsibility are good values?
- how many think honest and trusting companies should be taken advantage of?
- how many think it's a mark of cleverness to con folks?

How dumb am I? At Xmas, I received two ABIT KT7's + T-700's + Kaisol's whereas I'd ordered, been charged (~$260), and shipping-slip'd for one. A totally untraceable "gift", except that I called them (Monarch CompSys). I'd like to think most of us would've done the same. Then again, I thought most of us would own up to the warrantee violations and "pay the piper". Now I'm wondering.

'Hate being lied to, myself: folks pay a high price for that, but if they don't care what folks think of them, 'suppose it doesn't matter save that the rest of us pay more.


The above aside: TCWO (Thompson Computer Warehouse) is great -- just received an order from them yesterday. Good prices, fair shipping, and decent folks doing their best.

 

[Yknot]

Krakn3Dfx Don't mislead folks: $6.95 s/h only covers the first 150 lbs (if I recall correctly)!!! They probably rip one off for another $6.95 for the second 150 lbs.

 

[tigereye]

Ynot,

After rereading my post, perhaps things came out the wrong way. I 100% agree that when I overclock, I take the responsibility for that overclocking. If I do something that ruins my chip (push it too far, don't get the fan quite right, etc), then I think I am willing to be fully responsible for those actions. I'll be the one who has to explain to the wife why we need a new processor already... :frown:

I guess what I was looking for is a warranty that will cover the chip if it is fundamentally flawed, and dies from something that was NOT caused by overclocking.

However, as I'm typing this, that whole train of thought seems invalid. If the processor is truly bad, I'll probably know within the first 15-30 days that most OEM warranties cover. After that time, who's to say WHAT could cause the failure? It could have been a flaw in the chip, or it truly could be the overclocking. The people at whatever store I buy from aren't going to know how I ran it, but if they see the marks, they'll at least know I was willing to try to mess with it, and I guess that SHOULD be enough to deny a warranty claim.

Ok, long winded post, but I just convinced myself that I don't need a long warranty, cause I'm just gonna void it anyway, and like you I have a fundamental honesty streak what wouldn't allow me to take advantge of a situation. Thanks for helping me think that out....

Tiger

 

[tigereye]

New question I have is if anyone has seen any reviews for the T-Bird 650. I'd really rather have a bird than a duron, but the birds are still a bit out of my range (unless I cut something else). I've seen a 650 that is down in my range, but don't recall seeing any oc results or numbers for it?

 

[psxjunky]

Tiger - can you explain WHY you'd like to go for a 650 T-Bird (which are usually around $70) when you can easily get a 800 Duron for less than that ? Does the extra cache really make it that much faster ?

And from what I understand, it will be much easier to overclock the Duron than it will be with the T-Bird.

I am trying to make this same decision myself (700 Bird or 800 Duron), so hope you won't mind explaining your reasons behind this.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Gee... I guess I'm just a COCK for suggesting that no one can tell if you overclock.

Fact is, it is a moral dilema, but the vendor is in no position to say whether or not the customer is overclocking or not. If they "confront" someone on the matter because they think they overclocked, then odds are one of two things are going to happen:

1. The vendor is wrong and the customer is offended because the accusation was made or

2. The vendor is right but the customer denies it because if he's slick enough to not have the moral objection to returning an overclocked CPU, then he wont have an objection to LYING about it.

Either way... who really cares? :Q



I'm just looking for a hot deal on HomePNA and I got stuck here.

 

[tigereye]

Psx, I wish I could tell you. I am so conflicted about this right now, it's actually pretty bizarre. I am going to get the Duron, and overclock it. I just saw the tbird, and thought the price was good, so it tripped some sort of deal trigger in me. BAAH, see what hanging around here too long does.. I can't even look at a sale ad anymore without thinking how to pricematch it to staples and use a coupon.:Q

No, I don't think the cache will make that much difference, except for benchmarks. (As someone, Johnny maybe, said earlier). Realworld performance will be roughly the same. Yes, I do agree that the duron should overclock more easily.

As I said, I am going to buy the Duron. If I can find someone that has a good price, and a decent warranty, that'll be great, I'll go with them, as I hope to overclock, but I don't have a whole lot of time to sit and tweak everything to heck and back, so I may end up just running at stock speed. In that case, seems the Duron would be good, still.

Those are my thoughts for now...

Subject to change (but I don't THINK they will this time.)

Tiger

 

[psxjunky]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Tiger ! I have been hanging around here for quite some time and realize the "AT deal effect" perfectly well ... often painfully

Anyway, I just started a thread specifically with my questions in the CPU/Overclocking forum here. Track this and you may find some more tips which hopefully will help you finalizing the decision.