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How common is it for a CPU to just "die"?

D

DrewSG3

Senior member
Just wondering because as long as Ive been building my own computers for 20+ years I don't ever remember having to start a new build because of a processor dying on me. I'm not even sure if it's the processor, but my computer won't post and it's giving 5 beeps.
 
Post your mobo and the lengths of each beep. There are different beep codes for different mobos. For example, mine is supposed to beep 4, short times for success.
 
Remove one stick of memory out at a time,see if a post occurs with either one stick in.Switch to a onboard gpu if your using a dedicated gpu as a extra measure if the memory test fails.

I had the beep noise when a stick of memory failed on me.I recently even had a rig not even post with some other memory that was bad but it made zero noise.Had 2 sticks even but the one bad stick caused a no boot.
 
What kind of motherboard? (Model, link to manual.)

The last one I built, 5 beeps meant it couldn't find any RAM. (Wrong type installed.)
 
Good cooling will probably help it last that extra mile (ie. starting the fan at a light RPM a few degrees lower than normal).
 
I had an AMD x2 555.
I used toothpaste on it and overclocked it to 3.8ghz , on stock cooler, in mAtx case with just a single exhaust fan.
it's still working B-)

...please don't kill me, I was 15.
 
WittyRemark said:
I had an AMD x2 555.
I used toothpaste on it and overclocked it to 3.8ghz , on stock cooler, in mAtx case with just a single exhaust fan.
it's still working B-)

...please don't kill me, I was 15.
Click to expand...
Are you serious? You're totally my hero! I dabbled in unprofessional unclean computer rapes myself, having run an overclocked HD4890 on a OEM 400W PSU that didn't even have enough lines to feed the power sockets on the card, but that's nothing compared to your abuse of that poor poor CPU.

Awesome!
 
Morbus said:
Are you serious? You're totally my hero! I dabbled in unprofessional unclean computer rapes myself, having run an overclocked HD4890 on a OEM 400W PSU that didn't even have enough lines to feed the power sockets on the card, but that's nothing compared to your abuse of that poor poor CPU.

Awesome!
Click to expand...

I'm honored.
 
WittyRemark said:
I had an AMD x2 555.
I used toothpaste on it and overclocked it to 3.8ghz , on stock cooler, in mAtx case with just a single exhaust fan.
it's still working B-)

...please don't kill me, I was 15.
Click to expand...
Come on man, don't leave us hanging!...

Was it Crest or Colgate?
 
I've pushed CPU's for year's and several on higher VCore for extended time.

Don't overheat em I'd guess, I've always used good PSU's and CPU coolers.

I've had Mobos die from capacitors fail, I've had several different HDD's die (won't name names), I've had Ram go bad, I've yet to have a CPU die on me, my wife still uses one of my old Q9650's and refuses to upgrade it, and my sister in law still uses my old Q6600 rig I built for her.

Still have a few Xeons laying on the desk, one X5650 I have to replace in a 920 setup soon.
 
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I've fried 3 CPU's in my time. Two of them would still boot but were terribly unstable even at stock speeds. One of them did just die one day and interestingly enough, it was never pushed very hard. It did have a small chip on the die though, which I suspect caused some micro fractures over time with the pressure of the hsf on it, and eventually one of those cracks hit a critical part and that's all she wrote. This was an Athlon XP processor which were bare die.
 
None of mine were bare die, that does put more risk out there I guess.

Never tried that route out here.

Ya, the toothpaste thing was always a nice joke, for a day maybe.

or a few hours.

Slap some Lard on there 😛
 
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I've had one CPU die on me. A Phenom II X4 965 BE. Got no idea how it died, but it was definitely the CPU and not the motherboard, still using its original motherboard with a $50 Phenom II X2 550. Just up and stopped working one day, no unusual circumstances. Extraordinarily rare event. 99% of the time if its between the mobo and the CPU being bad, its the mobo
 
Been 20 years since I started using a PC (486 sx33) and I have never ever seen anything like this 🙂 I've had about every PC components go bad: ram, mobo, vid card, sound card, cu fans, psu, hdds etc but never seen a CPU die on me. My current one is going on 8 years and still going strong. The mobo is starting to show signs of aging. On that rig, one PSU, one HDD, one screen and 2 keyboards already died. The mouse left click was totally worn out and changed 😀
 
Probably memory or PSU most likely. If not those, the MB may have failed. With all seriousness, unless you REALLY abused the CPU, the chances are <1% it is directly the CPU.
 
WittyRemark said:
heh..
Colgate -max fresh gel.
Click to expand...

wouldn't Cool Mint be better for overclocking?

and now for the real conundrum, what do you brush toothpaste off of the CPU with???

so, moral of the story, if you don't have thermal compound, use toothpaste, but de-lid to preserve temps
 
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