When Buying New CPU - With or Without Fan ?????

[nasttcar]

Sorta settled on going with either the E6300 or E6400 and an ASUS P5B Deluxe MB. In searching for prices on CPU's I notice that some are priced as bare and some for about $10 more include the fan.

I plan to overclock a bit, not wildly and wonder should I just get the bare CPU, or one that already has fan attached.

Your thoughts?

 

[Alone]

Regardless of what you plan on doing with it, a heatsink and fan are necessities for a processor. Under no circumstances should a processor run without anything cooling it.

 

[nasttcar]

You are absolutely correct. I would never run without a fan or heat sink.

However, I am wondering if it is better to just buy the chip bare and then add an excellent heat sink/fan or just go with what comes with the chip if bought with a fan.

 

[Alone]

If you plan on doing very little overclocking, the stock HSF should be more than enough. But if you really want to, I would spend a decent chunk of change and get a Tuniq Tower or something.

 

[catalysts17az]

Here is what you need to know. with out the fan, 1 month warranty with the fan 3 yr warranty. who is going to know that your processor had a 3rd party HSF on it. pay the extra ten bucks and get the warranty or you could purchase the warranty for about 40-60 bones on the side. common sense says go with the chip with the fan.

 

[nasttcar]

I agree with you.

I plan on getting a Lian case that has special ducting for removal of the heat. The case will also have great cooling so I think staying with Intel's heat/sink/fan is the right way to go.

Should I overclock and find temps just too high, then I will dial things back and work on finding a great cooler at that point.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: catalysts17az
Here is what you need to know. with out the fan, 1 month warranty with the fan 3 yr warranty. who is going to know that your processor had a 3rd party HSF on it. pay the extra ten bucks and get the warranty or you could purchase the warranty for about 40-60 bones on the side. common sense says go with the chip with the fan.

Except that you void your warranty when you overclock the chip so neither the 1yr or the 3yr are worth anything. If you oc, it's better to save the money to put towards a nice aftermarket heatsink.

 

[imported_AndyT]

This is good debate. Is $10 worth a 3 year warranty? Will overclocking be detectable and void your warranty?

I often purchase the packaged proceesors with heatsink because they seem to better overall processors. Unless you can find a store that will sell you a specific stepping, it seems to me that the best CPU's go into retail packaged products.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: AndyT
This is good debate. Is $10 worth a 3 year warranty? Will overclocking be detectable and void your warranty?

I often purchase the packaged proceesors with heatsink because they seem to better overall processors. Unless you can find a store that will sell you a specific stepping, it seems to me that the best CPU's go into retail packaged products.

While your argument would make sense, they sell all steppings in both OEM and retail. Well, AMD does, anyway. Of course, I always buy retail myself, if at all possible.:laugh:

 

[imported_AndyT]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: AndyT
This is good debate. Is $10 worth a 3 year warranty? Will overclocking be detectable and void your warranty?

I often purchase the packaged proceesors with heatsink because they seem to better overall processors. Unless you can find a store that will sell you a specific stepping, it seems to me that the best CPU's go into retail packaged products.

While your argument would make sense, they sell all steppings in both OEM and retail. Well, AMD does, anyway. Of course, I always buy retail myself, if at all possible.:laugh:

I have seen quite a few "dodgey" tray CPU's that don't overclock well, where I have had better luck overall with retail versions. Could it be that both AMD and Intel put their best tested processors into packaged versions and sell the "also ran" units as tray versions?

 

[myocardia]

Actually, a much more likely scenario is that whoever sold you the cpu sold you one that an overclocker had sent back, because it overclocked like crap. However, it is possible that it happens like you guess. I don't know enough about that to even take a guess. I do know that quite a few people will buy multiple cpu's, and send back the ones that overclock the worst. Like I said, I always buy retail, because I want a brand new cpu, and you're never sure you got one, when it's OEM.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: AndyT
This is good debate. Is $10 worth a 3 year warranty? Will overclocking be detectable and void your warranty?

I often purchase the packaged proceesors with heatsink because they seem to better overall processors. Unless you can find a store that will sell you a specific stepping, it seems to me that the best CPU's go into retail packaged products.

I don't think a good arguement for doing something illegal is "will anyone know?". Not only is it illegal but it also raises prices for the rest of us when a company has to eat the costs of your lack of ethics or lack of overclocking knowledge. Please don't peddle that here.

As far as chip quality is concerned, I've always gotten my best overclocks with the OEM chips I've bought. I don't believe that Intel or AMD bin their OEM and retail chips any different.

 

[imported_AndyT]

Originally posted by: Elfear

Originally posted by: AndyT
This is good debate. Is $10 worth a 3 year warranty? Will overclocking be detectable and void your warranty?

I often purchase the packaged proceesors with heatsink because they seem to better overall processors. Unless you can find a store that will sell you a specific stepping, it seems to me that the best CPU's go into retail packaged products.

I don't think a good arguement for doing something illegal is "will anyone know?". Not only is it illegal but it also raises prices for the rest of us when a company has to eat the costs of your lack of ethics or lack of overclocking knowledge. Please don't peddle that here.

As far as chip quality is concerned, I've always gotten my best overclocks with the OEM chips I've bought. I don't believe that Intel or AMD bin their OEM and retail chips any different.

I did not suggest that anyone buy a CPU and then overclock it. I gave no advice in that regard. I merely asked a question.

It is a fact that they have no way of telling what speeds a CPU runs at. I have never RMAed a CPU myself, ever. An individuals ethics are just that. I peronally would not overclock a CPU and then return it because it failed or did not meet my expectations.

 

[catalysts17az]

1. they have no way of knowing if it was overclocked or if you used an OEM HSF (not detectable), so who cares if you void your warranty.

2. IF you know what your are doing, I DO suggest (if your systems allows) to Throw the hammer down and OC the hell out of your processor (w/Proper cooling!)

3. Never had too RMA a Processor ever......................

4. Elfear i don't think OCing is "illegal". When you buy something its yours to do what you please with, well there are some exceptions (sony, ipod, macs, microsoft)

5. Ethics........hmmmm do you think what microsoft is doing with XP is right? The OS always reports to Redmond. Just what are they reporting? This is my system i bought all the parts and the OS. And what if you bought an Ipod whats up with the lack of codecs or using other services like yahoo for music. you bought it, you should be able to use anyway you want? Sony PSP, it was hackers that got it online and sony caved in and officially gave it internet access but there are still many restrictions (ie emulations). oh yeah getting back to $ony....can you say rootkit? When you realize what companies are doing to us it is hard to be ethical about some things.

6. well that my .02

 

[DrMrLordX]

Elfear didn't say that overclocking is illegal. He said that warranty fraud is illegal and unethical. He's right, too. If you void the warranty, don't RMA the thing later unless the warranty allows it.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: DrMrLordX
Elfear didn't say that overclocking is illegal. He said that warranty fraud is illegal and unethical. He's right, too. If you void the warranty, don't RMA the thing later unless the warranty allows it.

I'm glad someone got what I was saying.