How do you get a replacement TBird for a fried one?

[MysticLlama]

I just had a run in with frying a TBird. It had been running for a month, and I wanted to pull it open to get a number off of a label on the chip, so I pulled off the heatsink, and without touching the HS or the core, wrote down the number and put the HS back on.

Well, it tried to boot for all of 10 seconds, then popped, then smelled kinda smoky. This is ridiculous. The core is not cracked and the HS was installed properly, and the fan was running. (The case was still open)

Is there a way to get this replaced? My problem is that I got it from someone on the board, but I believe it's an OEM, and I don't recognize the label. I can't get ahold of that person now either.

Help.

 

[Quad]

u gotta find out WHERE the cpu was purchased from

i was in the same boat, except my cpu burned because of a fan defect (the thing stopped spinning after 1 hr). i was able to get my money back because there were no cracks, scratches, or chips. and the tbird looked brand new. didn't look brown or burned. but i knew it was burned. so i said that i was a dead cpu to begin with, and the guy had no way to prove me wrong. if yur cpu still looks new, then try that

good luck man

 

[Kitros]

RMA

Look it up

 

[Zzzt]

Were you using thermal paste or the sticky pad that comes stuck to the bottom of most heat sinks? If it was the pad, that pad is toast after heat is added. When you remove the heatsink, you need to scrape off the pad and use thermal paste. If this is the case, you ruined the chip, and the vender isn't responsible. Don't be surprised if you don't get a replacement. Athlons are chipping and burning up everywhere because of user error, and vendors are really cracking down. (I know - I go through a few hundred a week!)