The following is a list of warranty information that people simply don't know about or don't pay attention to:
- OEM CPUs are not under warranty by the CPU manufacturer
- If you f*** up, your warranty is void.
- If you do not use an AMD approved heatsink/fan/PCM, your retail warranty is void
The biggest misconceptions that people have can be summed up in one sentence. This applies to Intel as well as AMD. This also means that if you get CPUs like I do, at the lowest cost from a reputable online store, then THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WARRANTY, not AMD* or Intel. So look up the policies of your favorite stores.
Newegg has a 30-day policy on OEM CPUs, unless you get the extended warranty which ups that to one year (except on refurbished CPUs?).
ZipZoomFly (formerly GoogleGear) also has a 30-day policy.
Monarch Computer has a 60-day policy on Intel OEM CPUs. I suspect it's the same for AMD CPUs, although they do not explicitly mention it.
Note: NewEgg and Monarch Computer above have much longer warranties for just about everything else.
* The only exception is if you buy the OEM CPU directly from AMD. Intel's policy is unclear on this matter.
If you f*** up, your warranty is void
All of the warranties for both OEM and Retail for all the stores have a clause that says your warranty does not cover external or physical damage. So if you crack, chip, or burn up the core on your CPU, your warranty is void. This is pretty simple and clear; and I don't know how many people are confused on this, but these people do exist.
If you do not use an AMD approved heatsink/fan/grease, your retail warranty is void
This is what scares people, and most of them don't realize that their warranty is probably already void via one of the previous two points. Most people heard about the thermal grease from one of the two articles I listed at the beginning. What most people don't realize is that the only thermal grease approved by AMD is only approved for TEMPORARY use (read the XtremeTek article). What's more, most of the heat sinks that are recommended on this site will void your retail warranty.
Check out the list and see if you're using an AMD approved heatsink. I know that I'm not. I didn't see Zalman, Thermalright, or Panaflo on there, and that's what I use.
Intel's policy does not mention the use of unapproved heatsinks or unapproved thermal grease. I will not speculate whether your retail warranty is void if you do use unapproved thermal products
Monarch Computer reserves the right to refuse your warranty if you've used a silver-based thermal paste.
Final Thoughts: Chances are, if you like to build your own system, like I do, your warranty is void. These warranty policies are not written with the consumer in mind, but with the company. AMD, Intel and most retailers don't want to pay for your mistakes or the mistakes of other companies. They will (hopefully) own up to any mistakes they make on their end, but after that, it's out of their hands. With that in mind, I can tell you that I wouldn't make a computer purchase decision based on voiding the warranty. I hope that clears things up for some people.
That's all I can think of for now, but I'll edit this post if I see any more serious confusion in this area.
References:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Tec ... 39,00.html -- AMD's 3 Year Limited Warranty on Processors In Box
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Tec ... 15,00.html -- AMD's policy on non-boxed processors.
http://www.intel.com/support/processors ... ty/qna.htm -- Intel's Warranty Information Q&A
ftp://download.intel.com/support/proces ... nglish.pdf -- Intel's Retail Warranty Information.
http://www.newegg.com/app/warranty.asp -- NewEgg's Warranty policy
https://secure.newegg.com/app/ExtendedW ... orHelp.asp -- NewEgg's Extended Warranty Policy
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Service/Return.jsp -- ZipZoomFly's return policy
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant ... ry_Code=TC -- Monarch Computer's Terms and Conditions & Limited Warranty.