hrm... half broken cpu??

[ZippyDan]

check out these two threads

happened first:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=1134658&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=arc

happened sometime later:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=1156758&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=arc

it seems my CPU was making my computer unable to restart. after buying a new motherboard, and returning another, the only thing left to try was a new CPU. tried a new CPU and suddenly everything works perfectly.

ive never known a CPU to be half broken. to my experience, they had always been all or nothing kind of electronics. how does this happen? the only symptoms i had were: unable to restart, got random errors when running internet explorer.

ok so how do i go about exchanging a CPU that i dont have the box or receipt for...

~Zippy!

 

[ZippyDan]

wow. cool customer service from AMD. i told the dude the entire story. i dont have a receipt for the processor. im not entirely sure if its an oem or retail part (i have 4 thunderbirds, and at least 2 of them are retail but i dont remember which). he said he wasnt supposed to do this, and that using another heatsink voided the warranty (i used thermalright sk6), but he said all i had to do was find a fan/heatsink for the athlon and he would send me a replacement. apparently AMD uses the heatsink/fan as proof of it being a retail part.

unfortunately i looked through all my stuff and i can seem to find any of the retail heatsinks. i either gave or threw them away. anyone have any spares? fan must have sticker on the top with serial number (i think its a white sticker that says AMD and has barcode and serial number, but not sure)

and im still baffled as to how a CPU half breaks anyway... :/

~Zippy!

 

[Jeff7181]

Buy a Retail processor from newegg, take the heatsink/fan, sell the processor, return your processor and the new heatsink/fan, wait for your replacement.

 

[ZippyDan]

good idea. however it seems that newer AMD processors dont have serial number on the fan (i guess on chip itself). for example, i have fan/heatsink from a barton, but i couldnt find a serial number for it, and the customer service guy said it was too new

~Zippy!