typically the retail version is only a few dollars more than the OEM
version, but when you add the price of a fan & heatsink, plus the longer
warranty the retail version is almost always cheaper in the long run.
OEM is cheaper so $$ saved could be put towards a better
heatsink. OEM warranty is whatever vendor provides,
generally only 15-90 days... but a CPU failure after day 1
is extremely rare unless system assembler or user does
something horribly wrong, which "shouldn't" be covered under
any warranty.
Generally an overclocker or someone critical about fan noise
will buy a better heatsink. Anyone who doesn't care or
isn't willing to spend the time will buy retail. Longer
warranty is nice but the odds of needing it are so remote
that it's a secondary concern compared to the heatsink
issue.
You've obviously never bought from Tiger Direct then? Being British, neither
have I (we have eBuyer and OverClockers and Dabs) but I know, because an
ex-pat friend took a chance on them, and he was sold an obviously returned
CPU as new (they'd resealed the box most expertly, but they weren't careful
enough to remove all traces of the thermal pad from the die). He had to
threaten legal action to get a refund.
An OEM version of CPUs has a shorter warranty period than a retail version.
In addition, an OEM version of CPUs usually does not come with a cooling
fan.
OEM's come by themselves without a cooling fan and heatsink, and have a one
year warranty.
Retail's come with a heatsink and cooling fan and have a three year
warranty.
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