[SOLVED] How to safely remove sticker from new CPU ?

[aluneeeee]

guys help, i bought this processor online with this sticker on it, how to remove without damaging the pins?

https://imgur.com/a/8k0OYYW

View: http://imgur.com/a/8k0OYYW

 

[SoumithCS]

It was opened previously. There should not be any stickers near the CPU contact pads. Please ask the retailer for replacement. You can remove the stick using 70% Isopropyl Alcohol but the cpu won't survive. Only choice is to replace or refund

 

[sizzling]

There looks like damage to the pins already

 

[kurdtnz]

Did you buy it from a reputable company or 'someone' off ebay etc?

 

[drea.drechsler]

guys help, i bought this processor online with this sticker on it, how to remove without damaging the pins?

https://imgur.com/a/8k0OYYW

View: http://imgur.com/a/8k0OYYW

Drench the label in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and carefully work at it with a soft tool...something like a toothpick or even tooth brush...if you must.

You can place the whole CPU in a shallow bath of IPA and let it soak for a few hours, that should make it even easier. But if you do you'll have to be sure to thoroughly dry it out after as some could be drawn under the heat spreader through tiny weep holes in the bonding glue. Heating the CPU to 75-100C in an oven for a half hour or so will give you confidence it's dried out before attempting to operate it.

But there's really no good reason to remove it since working at it is more likely to damage something than leaving it there.

Hopefully you've tested the CPU already and found it perfectly functional. You'll not likely collect on even an eBay warranty if the label is removed.

 

[SamirD]

That's a fake/modified cpu--look at the two additional notches cut into the cpu 90 deg to the factory notches--I wouldn't install this AT ALL and get your money back.

 

[Remeca]

That's a fake/modified cpu--look at the two additional notches cut into the cpu 90 deg to the factory notches--I wouldn't install this AT ALL and get your money back.

That's expected in some cases, such as buying a premodded 771 Xeon to put in a 775.

I wouldn't worry about the sticker, obviously it has been there a long time. There are no pins to damage on that cpu, it has pads, the pins would be in the socket. I don't see any damaged pads. Try it, if it works, great, if not, eBay refund.

 

[USAFRet]

i bought this processor online

Where, specifically?

What CPU is this supposed to be?

 

[lordmogul]

Yeah, looks like a LGA771 to LGA775 modded Xeon. Got one of those myself but instead of drilling the notches on the CPU I cut the knobs in the socket.
There seems to be nothing wrong with it, the little sticker in the bottom is there to "rotate" the pins and make it detectable in LGA775 and the sticker in the middle shouldn't affect anything. It only sits over some of the caps and resistors, which aren't connected into the socket anyway.

 

[USAFRet]

Damage?

 

[SamirD]

That's expected in some cases, such as buying a premodded 771 Xeon to put in a 775.

I wouldn't worry about the sticker, obviously it has been there a long time. There are no pins to damage on that cpu, it has pads, the pins would be in the socket. I don't see any damaged pads. Try it, if it works, great, if not, eBay refund.

Yes, but these typically need to be used in conjunction with a 'tape mod' or 'sticker mod', which might be what that sticker is if it moved.

I wouldn't power on that cpu without removing the tape as it could be conductive and I wouldn't power on the cpu except in its factory orientation. Not worth risking the damage on an older system that's not easily replaceable anymore due to the scarcity of parts.

 

[SamirD]

Yeah, looks like a LGA771 to LGA775 modded Xeon. Got one of those myself but instead of drilling the notches on the CPU I cut the knobs in the socket.
There seems to be nothing wrong with it, the little sticker in the bottom is there to "rotate" the pins and make it detectable in LGA775 and the sticker in the middle shouldn't affect anything. It only sits over some of the caps and resistors, which aren't connected into the socket anyway.

There's almost no need to do this anymore unless one is going for overclock records, and even so, just OC a q9650 or lga775 xeon (yes, they existed the 3xxx series) and be done with it that way.

 

[Remeca]

Yes, but these typically need to be used in conjunction with a 'tape mod' or 'sticker mod', which might be what that sticker is if it moved.

I wouldn't power on that cpu without removing the tape as it could be conductive and I wouldn't power on the cpu except in its factory orientation. Not worth risking the damage on an older system that's not easily replaceable anymore due to the scarcity of parts.

If you buy a modded cpu for the purpose of installing it in a socket for which it wasn't designed, it seems odd to point out that it doesn't look like a new or normal cpu. If that is indeed what OP bought, they can either install it, and it works, great, they got what they paid for, or install it and it doesn't work, in which case they get eBay refund, or they don't install the modded cpu they bought because it looks modded. Honestly, OP should skip the Xeon, and do a q6600 tape mod (very easy), or buy a q9550 (much cheaper than a q9650, better or equivalent performance than any Xeon that will fit for about the same price.)

 

[SamirD]

If you buy a modded cpu for the purpose of installing it in a socket for which it wasn't designed, it seems odd to point out that it doesn't look like a new or normal cpu. If that is indeed what OP bought, they can either install it, and it works, great, they got what they paid for, or install it and it doesn't work, in which case they get eBay refund, or they don't install the modded cpu they bought because it looks modded. Honestly, OP should skip the Xeon, and do a q6600 tape mod (very easy), or buy a q9550 (much cheaper than a q9650, better or equivalent performance than any Xeon that will fit for about the same price.)

A lot of shady sellers out there so who knows what snake oil they peddled on the OP. I won't mess with a modded cpu or one that looks like that because I don't want to risk my system going poof. Then that ebay refund will not be very helpful.

I agree that the q6600, q9550 or even the q6700, q9400 and others are a much safer way to go.

 

[Remeca]

A lot of shady sellers out there so who knows what snake oil they peddled on the OP. I won't mess with a modded cpu or one that looks like that because I don't want to risk my system going poof. Then that ebay refund will not be very helpful.

I agree that the q6600, q9550 or even the q6700, q9400 and others are a much safer way to go.

The sticker looks plastic, and nothing to worry about. Part of inventory management at some point in its life or something. The disturbed pads are part of the pre775 mod in addition to the precut notches.

We're talking about a platform still widely used and available, with entire 775 systems regularly selling on local classifieds and eBay for less than $100.

I'm curious as to how this will turn out for the OP.

 

[SamirD]

We're talking about a platform still widely used and available, with entire 775 systems regularly selling on local classifieds and eBay for less than $100.

I'm curious as to how this will turn out for the OP.

It's not as readily available if you have a particular system that goes kaput and you want to replace it.

Back in the day these type of mods were necessary to squeeze out performance on a budget--but today almost any budget can afford top end without resorting to these tricks.

 

[lordmogul]

The big difference between the LGA771 Xeons and the fast LGA775 Core 2 Quads and Xeons is that the LGA771 chip can be found for about half the price.
Snacked myself a X5460 to tinker with for around 40€ while the cheapest Q9650 was around 75 and Q9550 around 60. The fastest chips for a platform always retain some cost, exactly because they're the fastest ones. Look at the prices for used 3770K, 4790K or 7700K, they cost more then they should for their performance, but are the fastest think to get when upgrading the entire platform is out of the question.

My guess is they're cheaper, exactly because they require some modification, but are equal or faster than the Core 2 Quad (The X5460 runs on 3.16 GHz for example, while the Q9650 sits at flat 3.0, and they're the same architecture, so even at stock the Xeon should be a tiny bit faster)

It's not something I would invest bit into as a daily system. For somebody who really likes the platform and wants to tinker with it, or somebody who wants to build a 2007-ish retro build it might be worth it.
At the same time a used 2nd/3rd/4th gen i5 build can be found for pretty much the same money as a fast LGA775 setup (thinking about 200-300 €/$/£ for CPU + Mobo + decent RAM), but are much faster, somewhere between 60-100% more, and offer newer technologies (USB 3, PCIe 3, DDR3, etc) there is no reason to go for a Core 2 setup unless you really want that specific platform.

 

[SamirD]

The big difference between the LGA771 Xeons and the fast LGA775 Core 2 Quads and Xeons is that the LGA771 chip can be found for about half the price.
Snacked myself a X5460 to tinker with for around 40€ while the cheapest Q9650 was around 75 and Q9550 around 60. The fastest chips for a platform always retain some cost, exactly because they're the fastest ones. Look at the prices for used 3770K, 4790K or 7700K, they cost more then they should for their performance, but are the fastest think to get when upgrading the entire platform is out of the question.

My guess is they're cheaper, exactly because they require some modification, but are equal or faster than the Core 2 Quad (The X5460 runs on 3.16 GHz for example, while the Q9650 sits at flat 3.0, and they're the same architecture, so even at stock the Xeon should be a tiny bit faster)

It's not something I would invest bit into as a daily system. For somebody who really likes the platform and wants to tinker with it, or somebody who wants to build a 2007-ish retro build it might be worth it.
At the same time a used 2nd/3rd/4th gen i5 build can be found for pretty much the same money as a fast LGA775 setup (thinking about 200-300 €/$/£ for CPU + Mobo + decent RAM), but are much faster, somewhere between 60-100% more, and offer newer technologies (USB 3, PCIe 3, DDR3, etc) there is no reason to go for a Core 2 setup unless you really want that specific platform.

On average the cost will be more for sure because they are plug and play--that's why there's a premium. The other reason the xeons are cheaper is that there were A LOT of servers made during this era that came with them. There were also lga775 xeons which were basically the exact same q9xxx processor under a xeon name--and they were plug and play. The top dog in this series, the x3380 was basically the same performance as the x5460 except with a lower tdp:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compar...Intel-Xeon-X3380/1297vs1493vs1299vs1050vs1286

There were some impressive 4 core lga771 cpus, but they ran quite hot and were easily beat by something in the next generation or two:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compar...-vs-Intel-Core2-Duo-E8600/1493vs771vs804vs957

If one is just running xp on an lga775, the e8600 has terrific single-thread performance that's plug and play and cheap. They are the snappiest of my older systems. But the ultimate performance for xp is just a platform away as the 2500k/2600k will have full drivers for xp as well as all the newer hardware like usb 3, ddr3, etc. and won't be matched by even the most overclocked and optimized lga775 machine.

So as you said, unless someone really needs to mess with modding a cpu/socket, there is no real need.