What´s the deal with airplane peanuts..I mean OEM??

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alonso

alonso

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I know that an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) is a company that uses product components from one or more other companies to build a product that it sells under its own company name and brand. But how does it apply to buying computer parts? i mean i sometimes see that somebody sells a Seagate hard drive that is OEM or an Abit mobo that is oem, so what does it mean, that it is not certified? that it is just the bare part ?? Howthe heck does it affect the purchase or the quality of the product if it is oem?
 
OEM parts typically don't have fancy printed boxes and the parts usually don't come with software bundles, like video cards often do. OEM parts usually have a shorter warranty, or at least they do for CPU's.
 
OEM parts are intended for sale to companies that will use them for assembling their own brand products. Eventually the left overs end up for retail sale.
 
Nowadays, a lot of OEM parts aren't even leftovers. Manufacturers know that enthusiasts will buy them, so they make extra "OEM" parts for the retail market.

Do be careful about warranty details. Like Elevate says, an OEM part may have a shorter warranty, or none at all. This generally isn't a big deal - if a part doesn't fail during the burning in process, it's probably going to last a while. The thing to avoid is buying a part with no warranty. That isn't worth it. At least make sure it's guaranteed against being DOA.

OEM hard drives are definitely the way to go - when you buy a retail hard drive, you get a bunch of junk that you don't need, like software (Which you can download from the manufacturer's website for free) and an IDE cable (if you're like me, you have fifty million of them laying around).

For example, Best Buy charges $150 for an 80GB 7200RPM ATA100 Western Digital HDD (Retail). NewEgg, on the other hand, charges $114 for that very same drive with none of the unnecessary bells and whistles. You get a three year manufacturer warranty either way.

OEM sound cards are good, unless you want the bundled games that might come with them, or a printed manual. I own an OEM Sound Blaster Audigy. It came with the card, and the installation CD. That's it, but that's all I need. I didn't need any of their extra software, because I already knew what programs I wanted to use. My card cost $57. The cheapest retail Audigy, direct from Creative, costs $100.

OEM video cards, RESEARCH before you buy. Sometimes an OEM video card will actually be clocked lower than the retail version. Off the top of my head, I believe an ATI Radeon OEM (Also called the "LE") is clocked about 15-20 MHz slower than the retail version. But, that translates to maybe a 5% difference in performance, for about $100 less. Nevertheless, video cards are one area where the OEM and retail versions of a product aren't always the same.

An OEM CPU won't come with a box or a cooler. So unless you don't want to use the retail cooler (In Intel's case, they are generally very high-quality, but don't perform as well as some other coolers), or already have a cooler you want to use, it's sometimes a good idea to go retail instead of OEM. If you just want "any old cooler", the money you spend will probably negate the difference.

I also use an OEM Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0. Great bargain - you just have to buy it with a major piece of hardware, such as a hard drive (The same rule applies when buying an OEM version of Microsoft Windows). I saved about $30.00 that way.

One thing you should never skimp on, though, is your power supply. Get a nice retail boxed model by a company such as Enermax.

Maybe more than you wanted to know, but hope it helps.
 
Thanks a lot for the help. So OEM doesn't mean that it is a leftover crap, for example the stuff that is oem from newegg i believe that is quality just as retail, or am i wrong? For example, you can get an 80gig Seagate 7200 hdd for $100!!!! Of course, about cpu i am gonna buy a nice cooler that does the job for my athlon xp2100...So the only thing to worry about oem is to get a warranty?
 
So OEM doesn't mean that it is a leftover crap
Click to expand...

Not at all. With one or two exceptions, like the video card case I mentioned, the actual product you're buying will be exactly the same. Hardware manufacturers basically sell OEM products as a service to system builders, who don't need thousands of boxes to unwrap and throw away, and don't care about things like cables, when they already buy them in hundred thousand unit lots - and to savvy home computer enthusiasts who like to bargain-hunt. If you don't need the extras, then you're in the clear, and you can easily shave a couple hundred dollars off the cost of your new computer.

Just make sure you get a warranty, that's right. I'm checking out TCWO now, another very reputable hardware seller. Here's their warranty rule, for Athlon XP CPUs. If you buy an OEM CPU, you need to buy an AMD-approved cooler, from them, at the same time, and you get a one-year warranty. Otherwise, it's a 15-day warranty. AMD CPUs run VERY hot, and without proper cooling they literally burn up, due to no thermal protection - so you can understand the strict warranty rules. If you buy a retail CPU, you get a three year warranty. In the case of the 2100+, they sell the OEM flavor for $169, and the retail for $194. That leaves you $25 to buy your cooler with, if you want to break even (which is why I mentioned that unless you already have a cooler, or you are a very demanding customer with regards to CPU cooling and don't want to use the retail cooler, going OEM with CPUs doesn't necessarily save you money).

But speaking in terms of just the warranty, with regards to CPUs, three years versus one doesn't mean a hell of a lot. If a CPU lasts one year, it's most likely going to last ten or fifteen years, or "forever", as long as you're keeping it cool and not overclocking. I personally have never seen a CPU that didn't work, unless the owner was overclocking it and burned it out. In my basement, I've still got a Tandy 1000 and an Amiga 1000, both from 1985, that fire up whenever I want them to.
 
the thing is that i wanna buy a Silverado for the cooling, and since it costs about $63 i really appreciate the $30 i gain from buying oem
 
I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure that a Silverado won't cool well enough for an Athlon. Have you looked into that?
 
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