OEM vs Retail

[Keeksy]

Should I buy OEM or retail? OEMs are cheaper, but I;m worried about quality. Any thoughts?

 

[dowxp]

Uh... generally, OEMS come with almost no warranty while retail get up to 3+ years. uh... retail is more expensive.. regarding pentium3, oem is generally the older kinds of stepping processors, while retail would have the cc0 stepping. im not exactly sure. all i know is oem is cheaper.

edit: cc0 is the newest stepping version out by p3, best for overclocking. oem may not get this.

 

[shiznut123]

i never buy oems. i like retail because of the warranty

 

[MassMhz]

You usually get screwed on OEM,because there is a lot of pretesting going on for highly overclockable units.If it is not guaranteed overclockable,don't buy OEM.Unless you are not going to overclock.

 

[todays]

Or just buy from a store that doesn't sell overclocked CPUs. You'll have better luck.

 

[toph99]

also with retail CPU's, hard drives etc. you get the necessary drivers and add-on's(heatsink/fan, IDE connectors, etc.)

but keep in mind, that if you're going to overclock, you void your warrantee anyways

 

[groovy]

The way I see it: Pay extra $$ for retail and get:1.) A warranty that is voided immediately upon Overclocking.2.) A heatsink and fan that is discarded because they are not adequate for Overclocking.The only way that retail gives any bang for the buck is if you don't overclock. What fun is that?

 

[spellbound]

I remember back in the Celeron 300A days there was a theory that retail cpu's got were selected from better parts of the silicon wafer or something like that. Whether retail cpu's are any better, I have no idea and tend to doubt it. It's more where they are manufactured and what stepping. I have purchased retail cpu's (300A @ 461 & now PIII 700 @ 933) and oem pretested (366's @ 560) that worked great. I don't worry about warranty as long as it's not DOA. Who needs a three year warranty, I'm upgrading cpu's about once a year I expect oem cpu's are fine as long as you don't purchase from a place that is selling non oc'able castoffs and to me that's the biggest disadvantage of oem. So personally I either buy retail or pre-tested at a certain speed.

 

[NOX]

Buy it from a local VAR/retailer/mom&pop in your area; most offer a 1 year warranty. I bought two OEM 700E?s about three months ago for my dual system. Both cpu?s overclocked at 933 1.7v 100% stable. So I think the quality of OEM is really not an issue. It?s damn cheaper that?s for sure.

 

[SuperSix]

Nox has it right. Most places offer a 1yr w/fan purchase, just don't tell them you didn't use their fan. Do you honestly think you'll care for/even own that processor 1yr from now?

OEM is fine if there's a significant cost difference, but depending on where you shop, you can get retail CPU's cheaper than some OEM CPU's + HSF. And the retails come with the coooool case sticker..

 

[Ulysses]

If you do go OEM, avoid those with a very short warranty.

 

[nickburns]

i like how people that like the Retail warranty also have their sigs show big overclocks on their systems....there goes your warranty right there.