Couple questions from me.

[Jersey]

1.Well I've been looking a lot at parts on the net. I see OEM and Retail, can you guys tell me the difference between the two? Thanks.

[Miker]

OEM... How, lets say, Dell gets there processors; no "Core2Duo inside" sticker, no retail box, no manual.

Retail... How you would get it in the store, colorful box, manual and so on.

[werty316]

You can buy OEM products in store.

[Jersey]

Oh i see.. so its basically they're the same products, one missing all the accessories then? Is there a price difference, quality difference or anything like that? What parts would I get OEM and Retail for?

[werty316]

OEMs are usually a bit cheaper since you are only paying for the product itself and no accessories; OEM products usually carry a shorter warranty.

EX:
OEM CPU - all you get is a CPU.
Retail CPU - you get the CPU, heatsink, manual, and a longer warranty when compared to an OEM CPU.

Give this a read if you are still confused: http://shopper.cnet.com/4002-5_9-5127786.html

[peti1212]

Yep, they explained it really good. :) There is nothing else to it. :) I belive though that if you get an OEM part from a company like Dell then if you are calling for customer service for that product you would have to call dell and not the company that it is originally from. If they cannot help then you call the company that made the product. It all depends though on where you buy it.

[PP Mguire]

TO answer your last question, the parts are the same. So the quality is the same. Just no extra BS to contend with (and no sticker :( )

[Miker]

That reminds me, if anyone has a Extreme Edition P4 Hyper-Threaded Sticker I will take it... :wink:

[Acidtears33]

I tend to get a CPU that is OEM since it saves about $20 and comes WITHOUT a heatsink. I use my own so there is no need for it.

I buy RETAIL video cards since I like the extra that comes with them. (Not sure if these come OEM).

[PP Mguire]

You can buy vid cards OEM as well as anything else. It defeats the purpose though cause uh, you get no disk drivers, no cables, no adapters, no games ect.

[Santino11447]

Another good example:
Newegg is selling Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2C - OEM for $139.99 and Microsoft Windows XP Professional with SP2 - Retail for $286.99....quite a difference.

[Xero (1)ne]

Well I know that the Creative Sound Blaster Live! card that I have also had a brother called the Dell OEM. the cards are exactly the same EXCEPT for the regular version had an emu10k1 chip and the Dell OEM had a emu10k1x chip. the Dell OEM had no EAX compared to the regular model.

[PP Mguire]

Thats why we dont buy Dell.

[Jersey]

Heres another question, you know the power connector to the motherboard. Not the main one, the optional/additional power one. Is that really needed?

[Sadasius]

Heres another question, you know the power connector to the motherboard. Not the main one, the optional/additional power one. Is that really needed?

Depends on what kind of system you are running. Most of the time that is there as a backup. Should be in your user manual for the motherboard.

[Jersey]

Can you elaborate on that? I have mine plugged in.

[Sadasius]

Can you elaborate on that? I have mine plugged in.

I would not worry about it. It is there in case the main connection is not giving enough power such as in overclocking cases etc.

[werty316]

If you are speaking about a SLI motherboard, the extra connector provides extra power when running two cards in SLI for more stability.

Insituations like this you need to RTFM ;)

[PP Mguire]

Im thinking hes talking about the 4 pin connector. If you can plug them in, just do it.

[werty316]

Is so then the 4-pin is used to provide power to the CPU and newer highend boards have a 8-pin connector.

[PP Mguire]

Either which way he should just plug the cable in anyways.

[werty316]

Yep, its doesn't hurt to have them plugged in (the SLI power connector anyhow).