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Symptoms of a broken CPU in new system? (AMD A8-3870K)

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Soulkeeper said:
Why not take the CPU to the local pc shop and ask them to test it ?
i'm sure they've got an fm1 board they could swap it in real quick
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Actually don't think there is a PC shop around here that would be able to do that, there are really just a couple of local places that even sell components, and with me not having even bought the stuff from them it is unlikely that they would test it for me... 😛
 
Thanks for all the replies so far, it has been very helpful. 🙂

So far I have seen several of you mention that I might need a BIOS upgrade for this CPU, but on the other hand some mention that even with an old BIOS I should still get some kind of output.

I have also seen that a couple of you mention that these exact symptoms with no beeps, no graphics output and fans spinning are consistent with a busted CPU. Unfortunately I do not have access to a new CPU to test with, so I may just have to go ahead and return it to my retailer and see what they say.
 
Domner said:
Interesting, I was actually going to use a Corsair CX 430W for this build, so that is one of the power supplies I'm using. The other one I have tested is a Zalman though.
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Trust me it won't work. I bought all my computer parts at a store that helps build the computer. They said they tried 3 different corsair cx430w's before giving up.
 
BIOS version is not the issue, found a sticker on the Asus board that has the BIOS version (1103), and that is the correct version to support the A8-3878K CPU. Very helpful of Asus to put that sticker there btw. 🙂 Am in the process of returning the CPU to my retailer and hope that will solve the problem.
 
Domner said:
BIOS version is not the issue, found a sticker on the Asus board that has the BIOS version (1103), and that is the correct version to support the A8-3878K CPU. Very helpful of Asus to put that sticker there btw. 🙂 Am in the process of returning the CPU to my retailer and hope that will solve the problem.
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It's very rare, though.. but sometimes a bad flash can cause all sorts of problems. Since you have no tools to play with, it's best to return. Hope, you get a new one that works 🙂
 
Figured I would provide an update on this as it might help anyone with the same symptoms who finds this thread through a search. I haven't had all that much time to work on this, but I did come to the conclusion that it must be a broken CPU and so I returned it and received a new a few days ago. Annoyingly enough the system still failed to start, so by now I was getting very very frustrated. Then last night I got the idea that I should try to disconnect the reset switch, in case that was short circuted, and today I got the chance to test my theory. Indeed once I disconnected the reset switch connector from the motherboard everything booted fine! Testing the connector with a multimeter showed that it was indeed short circuted, causing the motherboard to think the reset switch was permanently pressed and causing the symptoms I experienced.

In the end a good result, but very annoying that it took so long to find the problem and surprising that it was a fault in the last component I would expect to be broken. 🙂
 
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