Question about product types

[Ferny]

Hi. I've been shopping around for a graphics board. Currently I'm looking
for a 9600Pro or a 9600XT. System specs as follows:

P4 2.4
AOpen AX4B-533
512MB PC2100
Sapphire Radeon 7500 PCI

I've read great reviews on the Asus brand 9600XT (mainly for the software
extras) and others. What I need to know is the difference between retail,
bulk, and OEM versions of different cards. Any help is appreciated.
Cheers.

Ferny

 

[Tod]

Retail versions will come in a nice box (with full detailed product
description on box)
with the full software CD(s) and manuals, maybe even a game.
and warranty is directly with the card manufacture.

OEM, bulk or "white box" is where a manufacture (like ATI or Nvidia) sell
like 20 cards in one big box
to some system manufacture like Dell, Gateway or Compaq, who install the
cards in their systems
Also wholesale places buy these and then sell them to retailer/mail order
business.
You the buyer still get the driver CD and a manual. Card is usually
sold/shipped in a plain brown or white box.
OEM, bulk, "white box" may not come with as long a warranty as the retail
version.
To warranty service of these cards, you the buyer may have to send the card
to the retailer/mail order you bought
it from, the retail/ mail order would then send it the wholesaler, who then
sends it to the manufacturer for warranty service.

Some manufacturers will directly warranty OEMs cards, but it is up to the
manufacturer.