Is my CPU still working or not?

[ihong5]

Hi, I'm new here.. I just happen to come across this community
I have a computer I built on my own, and here are the status of my parts on my computer:
I can still power my computer, but it won't turn off; I am aware that if I turn power on my computer with CPU installed but without CPU heatsink
the computer will automatically turn it self off... but it won't. I try touching the CPU as well (I know it's not safe) but it's rather somewhere between warm and cool instead of extremely hot like it will nearly burn my finger hot like it should be.
I do think that I have to replace my motherboard (hard to find for my CPU... socket 1366)
but I still want to believe that my CPU is still in a working condition.. it's core i7 950 after all
the display won't turn on (obviously) and I still yet have to try testing RAM and my GPU on my friend's computer (can't test CPU because he has AMD)
so... any thoughts? Please help!

 

[jcurry23]

Do you have the heatsink on the cpu when you turn it on? without the heatsink you will burn up your cpu.

 

[Guest]

cpu + NO heatsink = fried cpu

 

[ihong5]

without the heatsink my cpu will burn up, I am aware of that. but that's the problem, I turned my computer on without the heatsink, and it is supposed to turn off automatically (which i've seen happening many times) but it won't turn off automatically. my cpu temperature is rather between warm and cool too.

 

[diellur]

I'm not clear on what the original problem is...why have you decided to try and test the CPU's overheat protection?

You're right; a PC should turn itself off to protect the CPU in the event CPU temperatures go too high. I'm speculating, but what may have happened is that previously the shut down didn't occur quick enough, and that has damaged the CPU. This damage is subsequently preventing the CPU from operating correctly, so it's staying below the thermal shut down temp.

 

[Guest]

without the heatsink my cpu will burn up, I am aware of that. but that's the problem, I turned my computer on without the heatsink, and it is supposed to turn off automatically (which i've seen happening many times) but it won't turn off automatically. my cpu temperature is rather between warm and cool too.

i thought that also and my Q6600 is now a paper weight.

 

[ihong5]

it's really a long story, but i'll try to make it short:
I cleaned out my computer, and I put everything back together. I turned it on, and see that the display is all black
first I thought gpu is malfunctioning, which I am going to test on my friend's computer along with the RAM (hard drives I tested they work)
now I still need to see if my motherboard is still in working condition (which I don't think it is) and my cpu.
at first, I did install the cpu heatsink and turned it on, needless to say the display won't work. I did consider the CPU might be the problem as well
I tried touching the heatsink myself with the fan running smoothly, but I found that the heatsink is cool; rather too cool for heatsink to cool down the cpu
which lead me to try to manually turn it off and turn it back on without the heatsink installed, and thats when i found out that the PC won't turn off itself..
does this mean the motherboard AND cpu are both dead or is the cpu still fine but just the motherboard is dead?
thanks!

 

[ihong5]

and now that you all mention it, let me ask this:
suppose my cpu is already fried and it no longer works, it's dead, and also suppose I am NOT aware my cpu is already dead. (regardless of how it died or how it got fried)
if I take that dead CPU and install it with or without heatsink, what happens? will it still continue to run with the motherboard still powered?

 

[ihong5]

i thought that also and my Q6600 is now a paper weight.

umm... what does that mean?

 

[Guest]

umm... what does that mean?

it means i thought the thermal protection would keep my cpu safe and boot without a heatsink; it didn't.
the computer shut down ok, but after putting the heatsink on, windows would BSOD at the log on screen until i got another cpu.

how about you post what motherboard and PSU you have along with what graphics card you have? that is important and it will give time for someone that may have a better answer to come along.

 

[ihong5]

it means i thought the thermal protection would keep my cpu safe and boot without a heatsink; it didn't.
the computer shut down ok, but after putting the heatsink on, windows would BSOD at the log on screen until i got another cpu.

how about you post what motherboard and PSU you have along with what graphics card you have? that is important and it will give time for someone that may have a better answer to come along.

okay, here goes:

motherboard: Gigabyte ga-x58-ud3r - socket 1366
CPU: core i7-950
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 (need to test)
RAM: corsair xms3 triple channel - 12GB (need to test, don't think it works)
PSU: cooler master 750W

also, I haven't mentioned this yet but i'll mention it now, hopefully it will help someone answer my question more precisely:
on my motherboard which i think it's dead, i took my RAMs out and put my friend's RAMs that works, nothing happened, that's why I thought my RAM is dead too.
I know i can try testing my cpu and motherboard if it's dead or not, but unfortunately i don't know anybody else who also owns socket 1366 motherboard and cpu, not to mention it's really hard to get anyway.

again, thanks for your reply

 

[Guest]

cooler master PSUs are not exactly a quality brand, swapping with another PSU might be something to give a shot.

 

[ihong5]

cooler master PSUs are not exactly a quality brand, swapping with another PSU might be something to give a shot.

then can you recommend me what brand to use for PSU?

 

[mactronix]

Your CPU is fried would be my take on this. The CPU has thermal protection but was never ever intended to be used with zero cooling. I would expect it to heat way faster than any throttling could kick in.
Also if you consider that the throttling is expecting some cooling to be present then im pretty sure its not a super fast on/off switch. It just drops the clocks to a lower state (I think ?). This would mean that its still going to be too hot regardless of the fact that its throttled down.

Mactronix

 

[Guest]

then can you recommend me what brand to use for PSU?

before you go buy one teest with someone elses
a seasonic, antec, corsair, silverstone, pc power and cooling, XFX and some ocz are better than coolermaster.

 

[ihong5]

Okay, thanks for your replies. I was hoping that my CPU is not dead yet... I guess I will have to replace them later when I can afford it. Thanks

 

[videl]

Hey ihong5,

I have been through such unfortunate events as my motherboard frying as well as cpu frying. I have a lot of experience with x58 systems...lol now that I've been through a lot and 3 cpus...

What you described leaves me to think that most likely your ram, graphics, other pci/pci-e cards, and hard drives are most likely in working condition and are not fried.

If your psu is still working correctly, it is most likely the motherboard and/or the cpu that are dead. Both can be fried, but also it can be one and not the other. Once I had a motherboard fry and the cpu and everything was fine. Another time I had the cpu die and everything was fine. One I had a bad cpu kill the motherboard.

The only way to know for sure is testing the parts in another computer/build. The best part to start with is cpu... then motherboard. Like I said earlier, these two are the ones that are most likely dead... however, as someone said earlier the psu might also be the problem here, although less likely.

Another thing to check is for beeping codes from the motherboard. You will need to hook up a speaker or a piezo transducer (beeper) that usually comes with your motherboard or computer case. The ud3r does not have one built into the board so usually the motherboard will come with an external piezo in the box that you can hook up to hear the beep codes. Using the beeping codes you can identify if the cpu or ram is faulty or missing. If the motherboard does not beep at all, then most likely it is dead. To make sure you should take out the cpu and ram and power on the motherboard. If the motherboard works it should have some kind of beeping sounds telling you that the ram or cpu or both are not installed. If the motherboard does not make beeping sounds at all, no matter what you do, then it is probably dead.

You can loop up the meaning of the beeping codes online and probably in your motherboard's manual.

Good luck, I hope your cpu is not dead

PS: 1366 parts can actually be found for pretty nice prices on ebay right now. All you have to do is look around and dig around some of those ebay listings. I guarantee you can find some nice deals on 1366 cpus and motherboards there.