[SOLVED] Tested MOBO without a CPU cooler

[IdanHalpern]

I booted up my MOBO with just the CPU, ram & NVME attached to it, just to make sure that the MOBO functions before I build the whole PC.

Stupidly, I did not attach a heatsink or a thermal paste, and a few seconds later I started to hear a weird sustained tsss noise coming from the upper part of the MOBO, like someone is making fried potatoes.

I want to believe that it was just a coil whine noise and not a frying CPU noise, as there is no sign for frying. No smoke nor a bad smell in the air, and I have also successfully booted up the MOBO again afterwards. Each boot lasted for approximately only 10-15 seconds but the system may have booted into Windows' lock screen. There is no evidence for black socket pins, or a black CPU. Not even smoke or a smoking smell.

I shall note that I have an I7-9700K, so it has to anyways throttle down before frying up, am I right?
Is it safe to say that my CPU is probably fine and not fried?

Thank you .

 

[USAFRet]

and I have also successfully booted up the MOBO again afterwards. Each boot lasted for approximately only 10-15 seconds but

Stop doing this until you get an actual cooler on there.

Nothing is "safe" until proven working.

 

[IdanHalpern]

Stop doing this until you get an actual cooler on there.

Nothing is "safe" until proven working.

Of course I stopped! Immediately. But is it fine to build up the rest of the machine and try it out? What is the possiblity that I fried the CPU?

 

[USAFRet]

Of course I stopped! Immediately. But is it fine to build up the rest of the machine and try it out? What is the possiblity that I fried the CPU?

Possibility of fail is somewhere between 0.001% and 100%.

 

[IdanHalpern]

Possibility of fail is somewhere between 0.001% and 100%.

That is quite helpful :<.

 

[USAFRet]

That is quite helpful :<.

There is no way to predict for this particular chip and your actions.

 

[Karadjgne]

Chances of frying a cpu are slim. They have built in thermal limits that'll shut the pc down when exceeded.

That said, doing what you did calls for the use of several expletives and a face-palm with maximum force. It's akin to building a motor and starting it without any oil, just to see if it runs.

Build the pc, Then test it. Don't bother testing in the middle of the build. It's pointless and possibly dangerous or damaging to other parts.

 

[drewthebrave]

Chances of frying a cpu are slim. They have built in thermal limits that'll shut the pc down when exceeded.

That said, doing what you did calls for the use of several expletives and a face-palm with maximum force. It's akin to building a motor and starting it without any oil, just to see if it runs.

Build the pc, Then test it. Don't bother testing in the middle of the build. It's pointless and possibly dangerous or damaging to other parts.

This. Even the most basic CPU cooler that comes bundled with budget CPUs will be far safer than booting with no heat-sink at all. Hopefully your system is fine, but you won't know for sure until you can complete the build and test it out.

 

[alceryes]

...and don't start running victory laps until you fully test the CPU. You definitely could've damaged it.

Installing an OS puts a light load on the CPU so that's the first test. Then maybe a few benches with CPU-Z to see if it is behaving as it should. If it survives that then go through a Cinebench r15. <---- Of course, all of this needs to be done with a proper CPU cooler attached, using good thermal paste.

 

[crazyal]

Probably some DC-DC converter inductor whine you wouldn't normally hear due to the CPU cooling fan noise covering it up.