Question Intel CPUs locked only to HP PCs? (i5-4690)

[jrichrds]

I've been buying used CPUs to upgrade older Haswell PCs, and came across i5-4690 CPUs that will only work in HP-branded PCs. They don't work in Asus motherboard, MSI motherboard, Lenovo PC...all with latest firmware and will accept other i5-4690. I checked with the seller, and sure enough, the CPUs came from HP PCs.

I can't find any info on Intel making CPUs that only work with HP PCs, so does anyone know what's actually going on? The sSpec (SR1QH) and the info reported by CPU-Z is the same for all of them. The only difference I can see are the MALAY ones work in all PCs and the VIETNAM ones only work in HP PCs.

 

[jpiniero]

You're not buying from eBay are you? They are probably fake and the HP PCs is an excuse.

 

[jrichrds]

You're not buying from eBay are you? They are probably fake and the HP PCs is an excuse.

I am buying from eBay, and they do work in my HP PCs. They're not fake unless they can trick CPU-Z into reporting incorrect info and frequencies as well. I am assuming the fakes are just relabeling the top heat spreader.

All I can surmise is Intel produced a newer batch of i5-4690 CPUs from Vietnam for HP so only HP motherboards recognize it. The Vietnam ones all appear to have much newer date codes than the Malay ones that work in all PCs. Even with the same sSpec and stepping, do Intel CPUs have some other sort of signature that determines motherboard compatibility?

 

[LightningZ71]

If my memory serves, Intel produced Haswell for a long time. There are some steppings that were produced years after introduction. I've encountered it a few times over the years that some OEMs and board makers just never bothered to include those stepping codes in their BIOS support list and, while thos processors are in the correct family, they won't boot because they lack BIOS support.

 

[zir_blazer]

Meet Intel Boot Guard. Here is a far more detailed writeup.