Question Is this a sign of a bad CPU?

[MrFabulous]

I have a 7 year old Socket AM3+ PC that I plan on giving to my son to enjoy. However the computer stopped turning on. I replaced the PSU with a new one and it still wouldn't turn on. Base motherboard would turn on though. I then checked the motherboard with each part until just the CPU was left. Once reinserted the PC refused to turn on. I then pulled out an old Socket AM3 CPU and tried it with that to see the PC starting up. Am I right then to assume it's just the a problem with a bad CPU?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Full specs?

 

[MrFabulous]

Full specs?

MSI 970 Gaming
AMD FX-8320 Black Series
32 Gigs of DDR3 Corsair Vengeance
MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT

 

[Misgar]

If the replacement CPU works, then it looks like the FX-8320 has died.

Was it overclocked at any time? After 5 or 6 years of manual overvolting, it might have succumbed to electromigration.

There are numerous second hand FX-8320s on eBay for under $50.

 

[MrFabulous]

If the replacement CPU works, then it looks like the FX-8320 has died.

Was it overclocked at any time? After 5 or 6 years of manual overvolting, it might have succumbed to electromigration.

There are numerous second hand FX-8320s on eBay for under $50.

No I think it died from overheating. When I was cleaning everything I noticed that I had put way too much thermal paste on the unit. I had put so much paste that when the cooler was taken off it looked like a mound of dried thermal paste. It even was in the socket itself. I know better now but younger me thought he knew better.