[SOLVED] Need help diagnosing CPU issue - upgrading from i3 to i5 4th gen

[wolverine2k]

Hi All,

Hoping someone can help me out here. I'm pretty sure this is a dead CPU issue but looking for confirmation from people more experienced than me...

I have an old PC with the following components:

• Intel i3 4130
• Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H Motherboard Gen REV 1.1 Motherboard
• Cooler Master Masterliquid 120
• 16 GB PC12800U Hynix RAM (2x8)
• Palit NVIDIA GTX 960
• Antec High Current Gamer 620W PSU

This is my nephews computer that he gave me to give it a speed boost. I've already upgraded the RAM from 8GB to 16GB matching RAM and then added an SSD for the boot drive as he had just a standard SATA HDD in there.

I updated the Bios to F5 which is the latest version and had no issues and the PC was running very well. The last step was upgrading the CPU to reduce any bottleneck with the GPU. According to GPU bottleneck checkers online, the i5 4590 is the perfect CPU for this setup.

I bought a used i5 4590 CPU off of eBay and the seller sent it wrapped in folded paper with minimal protection and no anti-static bag. On his listing, he stated that he was in my City (London) but it turns out that he was shipping it internationally (from Poland) so it took over 2 weeks to get to me instead of the 2 days it should have taken as per the listing expected delivery date.

Issue

I put the i5 into the PC, added thermal paste etc and as soon as I hit the power button once plugged in, the fans spin and turns off straight away and then goes in an on/off loop. There are no beeps, not nothing. Just a loop of on/off and never getting any further.

Here are the steps I've tried

• Put the i3 back in - PC works fine.
• Tried removing everything and leaving just the i5 and same issue.
• Cleared the CMOS.
• Tested PSU at the 8 pin CPU plug with voltage tester and it reads >12V on each of the 4 pairs.
• Tried the i5 in another motherboard (Asus Q87T) and the CPU fan spins but nothing is displayed. That motherboard is in a mini PC so uses onboard graphics. Unfortunately this motherboard doesn't have a regular 4 pin speaker to be able to hear any error codes. Cleared the CMOS here too and this motherboard has latest BIOS.
• There is no thermal paste under the CPU or on the pins and no bent pins. The CPU also looks visually fine.

I don't have anything else to test the CPU in. I have built or upgraded dozens of PCs for friends and family in the past and this is the first time I've had this issue like this so am a noob at diagnosing.

The seller is adamant the CPU was working when he posted it. The only thing that's throwing me is the different ways the two motherboards act with the CPU.

Any comments would be appreciated

Thanks!

 

[anotherdrew]

@wolverine2k
Seems like your speculation that the CPU is faulty is spot on. Fails to boot in 2 different computers that work fine with other CPUs ... that's a pretty good test right there. It would be nice to have the beep codes, but I suspect the fan cycling vs fan staying on is due to the motherboard detecting a problem in the first instance and restarting vs the motherboard detecting a problem and freezing in the second. Would it be nice to do more testing ... sure ... but I doubt it changes the conclusion.

But finally, your eBay seller is in London, but his/her stuff ships out of Poland ... suspicious. Sorry if that is too cynical.

 

[wolverine2k]

@wolverine2k
Seems like your speculation that the CPU is faulty is spot on. Fails to boot in 2 different computers that work fine with other CPUs ... that's a pretty good test right there. It would be nice to have the beep codes, but I suspect the fan cycling vs fan staying on is due to the motherboard detecting a problem in the first instance and restarting vs the motherboard detecting a problem and freezing in the second. Would it be nice to do more testing ... sure ... but I doubt it changes the conclusion.

But finally, your eBay seller is in London, but his/her stuff ships out of Poland ... suspicious. Sorry if that is too cynical.

Thanks buddy - yeah I was surprised when he supplied tracking information after it hadn't arrived that it was coming from Poland when the listing location was London. I was already annoyed as I did a buy it now and paid more than what I would have got it for at auction prices because I wanted it quick so I could ship my nephews PC back to him.

I just tried the i3 4330 from the mini PC in the PC that I'm upgrading and that worked straight away.

Any idea if shipping it international with no protection could have damaged it?

 

[anotherdrew]

@wolverine2k
It seems unlikely that shipping would have damaged it. A crushing force enough to hurt it would have left marks on the packaging (you said wrapped in paper ... in a box or an envelope?). The other damaging event would be a static discharge, but paper is actually a decent insulator (we use to use phone lines with paper insulation ... cheap and works great unless it gets wet!).

 

[rickypicky5]

IMHO, definitely an issue with the new CPU. I would try to get a refund.

Do you know the motherboard and/or chipset the seller's 'working' PC had?

 

[wolverine2k]

IMHO, definitely an issue with the new CPU. I would try to get a refund.

Do you know the motherboard and/or chipset the seller's 'working' PC had?

No idea - he just said it was pulled from a working machine. I've probably bought at least a dozen CPUs off eBay before and this is the first time I've had one not work.

Here comes the fun part of trying to get a refund from a seller who's going to insist that I send it back to Poland!