cables

[Lamilia]

thanks to hi ho and kov-ice and glc for helping me choose a computer (look at signature) I am going to be buying the parts soon and I'm wondering if all of that stuff comes with the IDE cables and anything else I need

[Staren]

This is why most people buy retail motherboards unless they are doing some special modding. A retail boxed motherboard comes with all the cables you need, along with your driver CD and some other goodies. That's why most people say to get retail motherboards and OEM most everything else. It's the most cost effective and easiest way to do it.

[Lamilia]

oh cool after a long hard stare I noticed my mobo does include them I thought those were straps to strap down the motherboard for some reason lol. oh and what is OEM?

[Staren]

OEM stands for Orginal Equitment Manufatuer. Basicly it means just the part itself in just a white box or bubble rap. No four layer packageing like retail, or a fist full of cards and documents you don't need. Just the part, ususaly some screws if needed, and the most basic papers. It's the same part as retail, but cheaper since they don't have to make up all that extra junk to put in the box.

Take for example a hard drive. A retail box has a ton of packing, 20 slips of paper for this or that, and an IDE or SATA cable along with the drive itself and screws. The OEM would come taped up in a layer of bubble rap with just the drive and a usualy a little zip-lock bag of 4 screws. OEM most always runs cheaper for this.

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by Lamilia oh cool after a long hard stare I noticed my mobo does include them I thought those were straps to strap down the motherboard for some reason lol. oh and what is OEM?

Original Equipment Manufacturer. Basically, it is a "barebone" product - only the advertised product with minimal additional items are included with purchase. For example, a Processor OEM would only include the physical chip - no CPU Fan or Thermal Pad. As a general rule, always purchase motherboards, CPUs, and Cases retail unless there is a reason otherwise - they have necessary additional cables and softwares.

kram

[Lamilia]

ok thanks for the answers

[Cricket]

I've bought OEM motherboards before and they came with everything the retail motherboard comes with...just no box.

Cricket