• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

POLL: What kind of processor do you buy?

Depends on the price and manufacturer.
With AMD I always buy OEM because I dislike their retail cooling solution.
With Intel I buy retail unless there is a huge price difference between OEM/Retail because I think extremely highly of Intel's retail HSF units.
 
Depends whats available at the time.

My last CPU (Athlon 1.4) was OEM and I got a separate heatsink. The time before that, the PIII 850 was retail.
 
I always buy my cpus off the For Sale forum here. I only keep them for a couple months at the most, so I normally buy the oems that people are selling.

The SK6 will definitely be around for awhile, though. 🙂
 


<< Interesting comments. Seems many like Intel's stock cooling. >>



Justifiably so IMHO. They use extremely high quality HSF units that are more then adequate for overclocking, and manage to be quite quiet as well.
 
I buy OEM in the case of my last two AMD processors and choose my own heatsink/fans.

🙂
 
Hmmm. From reading the comments, I think I should have worded this different. I should have broke down the categories by Intel/AMD. I think all or most of the votes for retail/stock are from Intel cpu's. The oem/after-market is probably all AMD. The retail/after-market is probably a mix of both.

The poll got a lot more responses than I had expected. Thanks to all for playing! 🙂
 
Got my last chip free from AMD, and I bought my own HS/FAN, because the one AMD supplies, while adequate, doesn't suit my needs.

When I buy (AMD or Intel), I buy retail if I can use the heatsink and/or it is just a couple of extra bucks (retail less likely to be an overclocking reject chip some disreputable store is selling after pretesting it and selling the "good ones" for an obscene profit). Of course, if you buy from a reputable store like Newegg, you will most likely get a true random chip that has not been tested and rejected for overclocking anyway. Just be careful not to by a "random" or "regular" chip from a store that sells "guaranteed to overclock" chips if you go the OEM route. Likewise, if you are hoping for a certain stepping (i.e. you heard it overclocks well), don't buy a regular OEM chip from a store that charges a premium to be guaranteed that stepping, as you probably won't get it unless you pay extra for it. Pretty much common sense. 🙂

Nack
 
OEM is the way to go. The price of OEM CPUs is always about the same as buying the CPU and a pretty decent heatsink.
 
Once bitten for me I guess. My last AMD was an OEM that died when my motherboard committed suicide after about 3 months. I was out a couple hundred bucks. My next upgrade will be to a retail chip so I get the warranty. I have no need to overclock so I don't need the risk.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top