Intel sells processors through retail stores, such as Best Buy, Fry’s, your neighborhood computer shop, etc. and wholesale channels such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Gateway, etc. or resellers. The wholesale channels are often referred to as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Retail processors are sold in clearly marked individual boxes and typically carry a 3-year warranty directly from Intel.

Wholesale processors are not sold in retail boxes and are typically pre-installed by an OEM or reseller. Intel ships the processors to OEMs in trays so we refer to these types of processors as OEM/Tray processors.

Intel does not provide direct warranty support for wholesale processors. If your processor was sold through an OEM or reseller, you must contact your OEM or reseller for warranty support. Also, see the Intel Warranty Guide for Processors video.

If you are not sure who to contact, find the fan/heatsink and processor markings (see below) and contact Intel.

See the Processor Identification web site to identify if your processor is a boxed vs. an OEM processor. For Intel China boxed processors, please see the China Boxed Processor Identification Web site.

Fan/Heatsink markings
Record the part number and manufacturer from the top of the fan. The part number is generally the first number found and starts with a 'D' 'E' or 'C'. The manufacturer is located near the bottom of the label (for example, Nidec, Fujikura, Sanyo-Denki, Delta).

Figure 1 – Fan/heatsink markings

Processor markings
Record the processor markings from the physical processor. The markings on the box label are not sufficient. The information you need is identified in example 2 and 3.

Figure 2 details the general markings used for most current Intel® Processors. Figure 3 shows the markings for older processors. The location of certain markings (for example, Processor #) vary based on the type of processor you have.

Figure 2 - Processor markings for most processors

Figure 3 - Processor markings for older processors

This applies to:

Intel® Celeron® Desktop Processor Intel® Core™ i3 Desktop Processor Intel® Core™ i5 Desktop Processor Intel® Core™ i7 Desktop Processor Intel® Core™ i7 Processor Extreme Edition Intel® Core™2 Duo Desktop Processor Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor Extreme Edition Intel® Pentium® 4 Processors Intel® Pentium® D Processor Intel® Pentium® III Processor Intel® Pentium® III Xeon® Processor Intel® Pentium® Processor Extreme Edition Intel® Pentium® Processor for Desktop Intel® Xeon® Processor Mobile Intel® Celeron® Processors Mobile Intel® Pentium® 4 Processors - M Mobile Intel® Pentium® III Processor