Chipped I5 2500k IHS

At the end of this past week an I5 2500k was delivered to me from New Egg. It was a brand new CPU and was in the original retail packaging. I opened everything up all the parts that were delivered to me for this build to inspect for any broken or damaged parts. When I opened the CPU I noticed that the far left side, along the edge of the IHS there are two fairly large chips. My question is do you think I should RMA it or keep it? Will those chips cause any kind of heat or performance problems? Is it worth it to go through the hassle of the RMA for something that may not be a big deal?
 
Hello Rds1220;


Along the far left side when oriented like this?
core_i5_2500K_fb.jpg



Any chance you can upload a picture? I'd be most interested in seeing the underside.

When you look at the edge straight on (with a good light and magnifying glass if possible) what does that edge chip look like?
 
Yes when it's oriented like that, as it would be in the 1155 socket. The processor works fine and all the contact pads on the chip itself is fine it's just the IHS that is chipped. Under a magnifying glass I see a pretty nice size mark like someone took a flathead screw driver and really dug it in there.
 

dave85uk

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Mar 3, 2012
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As an enthusiast OCer personally I would get the CPU replaced. The thermal paste if used as a filler will not perform as well as the metal material it would have replaced in the chipped hole. But really it depends on how much of an enthusiast you are ,and arguably it is a small chip and so will have a very insignificant effect.

If your not overclocking it will be fine, it may create a hot spot on your heat spreader and raise your CPU temp by a margin of a margin of a margin (extremely small), but will not effect stability or performance.

As an overclocker I would try to squeeze as much ghz as poss out of it and would demand to have a perfect CPU, but again I'm a anal enthusiast and a perfectionist ha.

Go bud ;)

Source: I'm a professional mechanical engineer (have experience with thermal analysis)