OEM vs retail?

[Hicks12]

Right as BD hasnt really brought much to the table i think im finally set to grab an I7 system, just debating about oem vs retail, as far as i remember OEM is simply 1 year warranty and no cooler but i swear i recall someone saying that the warranty doesnt cover being cooled by a third party cooler so its basically void? (obviously overclocking voids it but i wont be doing that till i need to!).

OEM costs £233 and retail costs £246

[kalniel]

Depends on small print. I think the last OEM chip I had the warranty was valid as long as you used a cooler rated to meet or exceed the retail cooler. Same will apply if you change the cooler from the retail package.

If you're using a third party cooler then go OEM. So the decision is whether you want to use a retail cooler or not.

[Hicks12]

just read through intels site and see no mentions of third party coolers BUT i did find an interesting post by wesley http://forums.hexus.net/1328390-post35.html which he said intel says they dont mind as long as it didnt cause the damage, which i presume means stuff like mounting issues etc. Id expect that stance to be the same so i think retails the way, as you never know .

[djnaff]

36 months on retail and 12 on oem warranty normaly
but saying that have never had a cpu fail

so really comes down to if you want the stock cooler or not