OEM Vs. Retail cpu

[Xeaka]

Hi, I was wondering, is there a difference (other than package) between retail & oem cpu's in general, and with Athlon xp 1800+ specificly?
if there are any diff, please list them (again, I'm talking about preformance. not warranty, package etc.)

Cheers.

 

[bacillus]

<< if there are any diff, please list them (again, I'm talking about preformance. not warranty, package etc.) >>


you get a hsf with the retail package plus the AMDwarranty.
performance wise there's no difference!

 

[bacillus]

btw, welcome to the forums!

 

[Maggotry]

A little off your subject, but the only product I'm aware of that has a different performance rating for it's retail and OEM parts is ATI video cards. Their OEM products are clocked slower than their retail products. I don't know of any other video cards, sound cards, NIC's, CPU's, etc that have different retail vs. OEM performance.

 

[jonnyjack]

i just got a retail boxed duron from newegg...it was the first time i got a retail chip...

it had the chip, fan/heatsink, warranty cards and a little setup poster...the surprise was i got an AMD case badge...that was pretty cool as i finally got something to stick on my case...i know i'm advertising for them with it but i like the way it looks

 

[RSMemphis]

You guys are forgetting something - 3 year warranty vs. 1-3 months.(depending on the reseller)
This is why I got two retail CPUs already

 

[herbage11]

That is what I have found to be the difference also. Warrenty is longer on reatail vs OEM usually. And you also get a few extras w/ retial. Fancy box and CD w/ drivers etc. I know I checked on the Turtle Beach sound card and warrenty was from seller on OEM and for 1 year through company on retail. Hope this helps a little.
herb

 

[AU Tiger]

There used to be a large disparity in prices between OEM and Retail. Now it doesn't make sense to buy OEM as the $10-$20 difference is well worth the 3 year warranty.

Edit: Unless this is regarding a chip costing less than $50.

 

[majewski9]

Buy Retail!!! OEM chips are shipped in poor packaging compared to the nice retail box. My OEM Athlon was shipped in a little flimsy plastic holder. I tried to put it in my board and realized that the processor had several bent pins!!! I was able to bend them back, but it was a hassle.

 

[Viper GTS]

<< Buy Retail!!! OEM chips are shipped in poor packaging compared to the nice retail box. My OEM Athlon was shipped in a little flimsy plastic holder. I tried to put it in my board and realized that the processor had several bent pins!!! I was able to bend them back, but it was a hassle. >>



Retail is not necessarily any better. It took me an hour to install my two retail 1800+'s that I bought to replace my two 1200 TBirds. The TBirds would drop into the socket under their own weight, but the XP's simply would NOT go into the socket. It took me 20-30 minutes apiece to gently rock them back & forth until they went in.

A friend who has essentially the same setup (XP's + Tiger MP) had the same problem.

Viper GTS

 

[Mavrick007]

I would rather buy OEM cause I like to save the money, I don't use the "retail" hsf, and as long as you know what you are doing, you should be alright. I don't need a fancy box and cheap hsf for 20% more cost. There is no difference between the oem or retail cpu.

Most oem components that you buy are just the card and drivers so you don't pay for the bloatware. I don't need the demos for this card if I have to pay that much extra and not have any better performance cause it's "retail".

It's true that ATI is a bit misleading with their cards and that you only get the full "speed" out of your card if you go retail. This is the only case where I would buy retail(hehe unless it didn't cost more, or not much difference). ATI's oem cards are clocked lower and you are not able to raise them to retail speeds in most cases unless you mod your card.

 

[Jen]

there is a big difference as far as warrantty goes on oem versus retail


on oem if you buy from a licensed reseller of amd processors you get a 1 yr warrantty.........such companies are tigerdirect....newegg and frys just to name a few

if you buy from another source you sometimes get 15 to 30 day warrantty on oem


i have been told the serial numbers are also different from the oem and retail cpu's...........


retail gives you 3 yr warrantty.............and heatsink. to me its a better deal. i should know as i just lost 3 oem processors thanks to a bad motherboard. a loss of 300 dollars.........and i have no warrantty on them and no way of rma'ing them back



Jen

 

[WageSlave]

 

[Maggotry]

<< You guys are forgetting something - 3 year warranty vs. 1-3 months.(depending on the reseller)
This is why I got two retail CPUs already >>


Nope. Not forgetting the warranty. Xeaka clearly said he wasn't interested in warranty, packaging, etc., just performance. Nothing more.

 

[yg17]

does the retail warranty cover you if you improperly install the hsf?

 

[travler]

I thought the difference was that OEMs were assembled by trained pigeons, and retail were assembled in spaceships by advance aliens.

as far as the waranty on CPUs. who cares if its 3 years?

the thing either works out of the box or it doesnt. only way its going to break in that time is if you
do something to void the warranty (ie. over heat it, accidently smash it with a hammer , or OC it.)

correct me if im wrong there.

Travler.

 

[PH0ENIX]

Well as far as CPUs are concerned, one thing that was a big issue for me was the manufacturing plant...

With an OEM CPU, you get what you're given.

If you have the luxury of going through a few retail boxes, you can select the mfg plant, and mfg week of your choice.
It's this kind of difference that's usually more appreciated with Intel CPUs - it was how I assured my c300a could do 540,
and no doubt helped my c850 do 1.14, with a WBK68, never going more than 3 degrees above ambient temp...

 

[Maggotry]

<< the thing either works out of the box or it doesnt. only way its going to break in that time is if you
do something to void the warranty (ie. over heat it, accidently smash it with a hammer , or OC it.)

correct me if im wrong there.

Travler. >>


I work at a wafer fab. Nothing leaves the plant without getting a long-term failure analysis. Things can definitely break over time without being subjected to abuse. I can't go into details (proprietary info) but I've seen customers in a certain industry upset by long-term failure that lead to recalls. Not good.

However, having said that, you're mostly correct about electronic components in general: they usually either work right out of the box, or they don't.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

the price difference of retail and oem cpu is almost nothing now, not even $10-20 sometimes ago, or $50-100 in the old days.