what's the difference between oem and retail?

[m1ke101]

i'm trying to decide whether to get the oem or a retail version of a tbird. is the oem exactly like the retail except without the box and fans?

 

[AndyHui]

Different warranty as well....usually OEM warranty is shorter.

 

[m1ke101]

so do you think i should go with retail or oem? the oem was cheaper, but i've never added fans or anything to a processor before so i'm not too sure if i should.

 

[wasnlos]

Retail processors come with a 3-year-warranty,
tray or bulk only with 6 months, at least in germany.

 

[bjc112]

mainly warranty.. like he said.. plus some hardware has better software that comes with retail..

 

[bernse]

Some OEM CPus do not come with a heatsink or fan. Verify if it does or does not if you are going to order OEM. If it doesn't, it may actually be cheaper to buy retail.

That being said, I always buy OEM when I can to save some scratch, and I have never had a problem.

 

[jepatbentley]

You should definately go with the retail. When i bought my processor the difference in cost was around $15. It is well worth the extra money to get the proper fan and heat sink and the 3 year warranty

 

[Airbud12]

RETAIL...i just bought a new 1.2ghz tbird w/ a swiftech heatsink but i still bought retail because of the warranty. the extra $20 is worth it.