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Processor without heatsink?

Serj

Member
Hi guys,
I was just wondering, if I want to test a processor on a mobo, and only want to check if it boots up, is it ok if I test it with the processor, mobo, ram and graphic card, without a heatsink? how hot would it get if I only access bios
Thanks in advance
 
Depends on the chip....they can get hot very fast...especially the amount of time it would take to get into the bios to possibly set something.....

What chip would you be trying this with? Hope it has thermal protection features, or the board does as well...

 
the CPU heats up as soon as power is applied, don't do it...

in the old days, your CPU would start burning/smoking within 5 seconds of pulling a heatsink if it was under load.

now CPUs are set to limit their clock cycles if they are overheating, still not something you should be trying 🙂
 
It will most likely overheat before you even get a display on the monitor. They do limit themselves / shut down when overheating, but too much heat too quickly could still do damage. It's not something I'd be willing to try unless I was about to throw it out anyway (and even then, I'd probably still try to find a use for it).

If you have it, why not just shove the stock cooler on there for now? It's not that much of a pain, and should at least get it to boot, even if you're horrible with the push pins and mount it incorrectly like I do nine times out of ten. Otherwise, just wait for the other heatsink.
 
I second what Curse said, if you want to get into the BIOS and tweak things before the Zalman shows up, why not just slap the stock cooler on there for a few days? It actually does a pretty good job of cooling, for what it is.

Unless of course you somehow got the chip without the stock heatsink?
 
and on that topic, what's up with these push pin Stock HSF? I had a hell of a time trying to get it right, At first I was afraid I might crack the board trying to force them in to click, but then I started worrying that my thumb wud crack... (thats how hard it is to get these in)
 
dude you guys..

the chip will heat up to the point of thermal shutdown if it ever went up that high.

It can probably last though bios on stock settings without a sink expeecially cuz it will down throttle when it gets close... past that i wouldnt hold your breath.

It will start... then it will just turn off...

And how do i know? cuz ive had dead pumps b4. And didnt realize why my system kept shutting down until i pulled things apart and found out my pump died.

and its not a windows shut down. Its more like pulling the power cord from the outlet shut down.

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
no, u cannot power on the e8400 without any cooling

??? im lost on this... why?

I have nothing plugged onto my cpu power header on my E8400 but its on water...
 
old cpu's, about 100ms before they fry if you attempt to power on without a heatsink.

not sure about amd, but yonah onwards will do a thermal kill. usually it will prevent damage, but no guarantee. also, your warranty is void if you attempt it.
 
Originally posted by: dmens
old cpu's, about 100ms before they fry if you attempt to power on without a heatsink.

not sure about amd, but yonah onwards will do a thermal kill. usually it will prevent damage, but no guarantee. also, your warranty is void if you attempt it.

he said wolfdale.

E8400... which should have the same thermal shutdown protocol built onto the die to shut down at thermal shutdown like C2D and C2Q.

On a T-brid, NO definitely dont try this. The chip will melt right though the motherboard.
 
Yes, you can test your CPU without heatsink as long as you leave the bios CPU settings to default so that the motherboard will shut down automatically once it reach to limit.
 
You could always put a raw egg on the CPU's heat spreader first.

Not sure of the thermal reduction properties, but at least you'll have breakfast ... :laugh:
 
thanks for the replies guys, i dont think i want to risk it, i might as well wait for the zalman or use the stock heatsink for now. I just never cleaned the thermal compound off the processor, so i was trying to avoid that, but hopefully it's not that difficult
 
Not sure about a stock Wolfdale, but I had an IBM R40 laptop with a 1.4Ghz Pentium M banias that I'd surf the BIOS without a heatsink attached.

That was a notebook chip though...I don't think I'd try it.
 
Originally posted by: Midnight Rambler
You could always put a raw egg on the CPU's heat spreader first.

Not sure of the thermal reduction properties, but at least you'll have breakfast ... :laugh:

TSS FTW!
 
Originally posted by: aigomorla
dude you guys..

the chip will heat up to the point of thermal shutdown if it ever went up that high.

It can probably last though bios on stock settings without a sink expeecially cuz it will down throttle when it gets close... past that i wouldnt hold your breath.

It will start... then it will just turn off...

And how do i know? cuz ive had dead pumps b4. And didnt realize why my system kept shutting down until i pulled things apart and found out my pump died.

and its not a windows shut down. Its more like pulling the power cord from the outlet shut down.

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
no, u cannot power on the e8400 without any cooling

??? im lost on this... why?

I have nothing plugged onto my cpu power header on my E8400 but its on water...

All very true, but keep in mind, you have something attached that draws the heat away. If you run it completely open, they heat up extremely fast (I'd estimate 2 seconds at the most, probably less). If you could get it to make decent contact, even an empty soda can would be better than nothing. Add some thermal paste and a mounting system, and you should be able to boot into BIOS no problem, maybe even Windows. 😱

I started a P4 Northwood with nothing on it once... one of those "started to work on it, then got interrupted" projects. The fans spun up for a split second, and it instantly shut down. I tried pressing the power button a few more times, thinking the button was sticky / broken; the fans would jolt just enough to make a half rotation, and it would all shut off again (the heat hadn't dissipated). I was dead sure the power supply had just died. You can probably imagine my surprise when I opened the case back up.

I can't speak for the E8400, but I'd be willing to bet its no different. Like I said before, you probably won't do any damage if you give it a try, but I wouldn't risk my own hardware. If it was something I no longer used, then maybe.

 
Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
no, u cannot power on the e8400 without any cooling

??? im lost on this... why?

I have nothing plugged onto my cpu power header on my E8400 but its on water...

never said anything about any cpu power header...
 
Originally posted by: Serj
thanks for the replies guys, i dont think i want to risk it, i might as well wait for the zalman or use the stock heatsink for now. I just never cleaned the thermal compound off the processor, so i was trying to avoid that, but hopefully it's not that difficult

I remember a video a while back with the old AMD thunderbirds (or was it an Athlon XP) - they tested a MB and cpu and in a few seconds a loud explosion - booom! Punched a whole into the motherboard - use your imagination.
 
Originally posted by: Regalk
Originally posted by: Serj
thanks for the replies guys, i dont think i want to risk it, i might as well wait for the zalman or use the stock heatsink for now. I just never cleaned the thermal compound off the processor, so i was trying to avoid that, but hopefully it's not that difficult

I remember a video a while back with the old AMD thunderbirds (or was it an Athlon XP) - they tested a MB and cpu and in a few seconds a loud explosion - booom! Punched a whole into the motherboard - use your imagination.


that was staged, i've burned a Barton by not seating heatsink properly. no boom or pop, just a brown colored cpu.

you can just put the heatsink on without paste or thermal compound for short periods of time. It will just run hot but not blow, did this all the time with my XPs for testing perposes.
 
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