Thunderbird 1.33Ghz chip FRIED. What happened?

[Guest]

So, yesterday, I get my new Thunderbird 1.33 Ghz processor, and I'm all excited, and I fit it in my brand new Microstar M7T Turbo motherboard, and I fit my chrome orb cooler on top of it, turn on the system and...

There's this horrible burning smell. The LED's on the motherboard show the system advancing to the BIOS checking phase, and then it stops. I unplug it.

Mind you I haven't messed with any of the defaults anywhere.

I took the cooler off, checked the bottom to make sure I hadn't left a sticker or something on it that was burning and making the smell--no, it's all good, thermal compound is in place. So I put everything back together and try again.

The smell comes back, and this time the motherboard LED's don't get past their initial state (the same thing it does with no CPU installed).

So I take the CPU out, and there's a little scorch mark at the top around metal piece that the fan contacts. Underneath, there's a dime-sized scorch mark that burned a hole through the "warranty void if removed" sticker.

What the hell happened?

I'm guessing faulty CPU... is there anything else it could be? I don't have another socket A processor I can use as a guinea pig, so there's no way to test the motherboard--could a faulty motherboard do that?

I've assembled a lot of computers before and never seen anything like this. Any comments/thoughts/possible explanations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-Dan

 

[AmdMELTDOWN]

did you get your RMA# from the bastards who made that faulty part?(and I'm not talking about the reseller! ;-)) get a full refund and have them pay for shipping.

this is outrageous! we need to get the ftc on their ass asap!



"Amd cpu...Gone in 2 secs flat, it truly is a fast chip!"

 

[Guest]

So you're saying it's definitely a faulty CPU... That's what I was thinking, too, I just wanted to hear that from some other people so I could really put my foot down with the retailer in demanding a new part.

I was talking to the tech support people from MSI, and they were saying that a working AMD chip is capable of burning itself out in a matter of seconds if it doesn't have a fan properly attached to it. Is that true??

I had a fan properly attached to mine, in any case... and there's melted heat transfer compound burned onto the CPU to prove it...

It's an ugly smell, frying CPU...

 

[jerry557]

Were the jumpers all correct? If the jumpers were too high it will fry in less than a second. Was the heat sink on properly? Was it touching any part other than the CPU?

I'm not sure if Microstar has a default for the jumpers or what the default is; it may have been too high. That is my guess or the heatsink wasn't on properly. I don't think it is like ASUS where you can just plug everything in.

 

[Guest]

The K7T Turbo doesn't have jumpers to control the CPU clock speed--it all happens in BIOS, and I never made it that far.

The only two jumpers on the MB are on for FSB clock speed (set to 133) and one to clear the CMOS.

And I'm pretty sure the fan was on correctly... it was clipped firmly in place, looked to be touching everything it was supposed to be touching, and after the CPU fried there was a hole melted in the thermal compound where the CPU die burned through it. So, looks like they were in contact like they were supposed to be.

-Dan

 

[Kelledin]

Hmmm an infamous Orb...

You didn't happen to use a copper spacer with it, did you?

If you did, I don't see how the Orb could contact the CPU at all. The base of an Orb (a SuperOrb, at least) has a raised ring that would rest against a copper spacer, keeping the HSF surface about 1/32" off the CPU core. That could be why the CPU torched...T-birds run great if they're cooled right, but they only last a few seconds if they're not.

Plus, if you don't have the copper spacer, you're likely to crush your CPU--Intel or AMD--putting an Orb on.

The Orbs don't even cool that well either.

In a word, Orbs suck.

Kelledin
<A HREF="http://kelledin.tripod.com/scovsms.jpg" target="_new">http://kelledin.tripod.com/scovsms.jpg</A>

 

[hmg57]

Not sure but I think the Chrome Orb is not suited for 1.33 GHz Athlon. BTW, don't listen to what AMDMeltdown is saying, he hates AMD and tries to fool any user of their product.

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair...<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by hmg57 on 04/10/01 02:44 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[AmdMELTDOWN]

wha? don't listen to me, what is he supposed to do eat the fried cpu? are you gonna buy him a new one?, if not then stfu!



"Amd cpu...Gone in 2 secs flat, it truly is a fast chip!"

 

[Guest]

Orbs suck? The reviews I'd seen on them were pretty positive.
http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/cooling/chrome_orb/3.htmf

And they do have a circular depression on the bottom, but I thought that was necessary to avoid crushing the CPU.
http://www.hwdaily.com/reviews/orb/orb-3.shtml

After all, they are specifically designed for thunderbirds:
http://www.thermaltake.com/du0462.htm
And it seems like they wouldn't sell well if every time someone tried to use one to cool a thunderbird the thunderbird met an instant and firey demise...

I've never seen any mention anywhere of copper spacers.

What fan do you recommend?

 

[Guest]

Do you mean it's only rated for lower-powered thunderbirds?

If so, what fan do you recommend?

 

[Kelledin]

If you don't mind noise, a SwifTech MC462 is best. It's expensive though, and it's hard to get your hands on. It also doesn't fit most motherboards. The SwifTech MC370 might be a viable alternative to this one.

Second would be a NoiseControl Silverado fan. Cools almost as well as a SwifTech, with less noise than even the low-power crummy fans included with some CPUs. Also expensive and hard to get.

If none of the above will do, I'd recommend a GlobalWin FOP32. The FOP32 cools somewhat better than a SuperOrb and fits pretty much any mobo in existence. You also don't risk crushing the core quite as much putting it on.

As for a copper spacer, it's a machined sheet of copper that sits on top of the CPU, underneath the heatsink. It has cutouts for the CPU core to fit through, as well as cutouts for various pads and surface-mount components (as on the T-bird). Its top surface is machined to be at almost exactly the same level as the top of the CPU core. Its purpose is to help keep the heatsink+fan from resting on the CPU core at an angle. In a lot of cases, it's rather unnecessary.

As for the thermal compound, you did right on that part. No tape, just the viscous greasy stuff that never dries

Kelledin
<A HREF="http://kelledin.tripod.com/scovsms.jpg" target="_new">http://kelledin.tripod.com/scovsms.jpg</A>

 

[hmg57]

AMDMeltdown, eatin' fried CPu gives you extra brain power. It's pretty useful. As for returning the CPU, he may have been scratched when seating the heatsink. The CPU did certainly not come with such an obvious flaw on it. Anyway, returning it on warranty still the best choice since my friend had fried his Tbird and that's what he did. Fortunately, he got refund. I wish you the same luck.

P.S. Sorry for the comment on your post, I admit I was wrong. I misunderstood your reply.

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair...<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by hmg57 on 04/10/01 04:23 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[AmdMELTDOWN]

well then, I guess he should return the pos heatsink and eat the cpu, would you like a bite?

lol@U hmg57, there's nothing wrong with the cpu! say 10x and maybe it will go away!


"Amd cpu...Gone in 2 secs flat, it truly is a fast chip!"

 

[jeffg007]

This post sounds like bs. Here is why.
1. GiantRabbit only has 5 Post total. Smells of fake nick.
2. AmdMeltdown first to post and makes it sound like some kind of ungodly thing.
3. GiantRabbit reply to AmdMeltdown "AMD chip is capable of burning itself out in a matter of seconds"
AmdMeltdown sig "Amd cpu...Gone in 2 secs flat, it truly is a fast chip!"
4. then you ask how does Giantrabbit know so much about the Microstar M7T Turbo motherboard? If you look at AmdMeltdown info his Occupation is an Amd systems integrator.

AmdMeltdown go troll somewhere else!

Jeff

"If your amd pc crashes, then you don't know how to build pc's"

 

[Grizely1]

Chrome Orb "cooler"? More like Crap Forb "super-insulator-pins-are-too-hard-and-crack-your-core" heatsink.

Bad choice. I would hate to tell you but you made a bad choice going with the Orb. NEVER NEVER use an orb heatsink, THEY SUCK.

-----------------

All your RAMBUS are belong to us!

 

[Grizely1]

LOL@U Meltdown for making an ass of yourself.

-----------------

All your RAMBUS are belong to us!

 

[Guest]

I've never used an Orb, but lots of people on this forum and others are in agreement that they don't live up to their reviews. Personally I put more trust in the experiences of real users than I do in reviewers. After all 4 out of 5 dentists seem to prefer an awful lot of toothbrushes. I'm not accusing all reviewers of being paid to write good reviews but I do think companies are careful about who they send free sample of their products.

The FOP32/38 and Swiftech products seem to be the most recommended by members of this forum.

 

[Guest]

I've heard this before. Although from what I've heard, the really awful orbs were an older model that did physical damage to the chip. This one didn't seem to crush the chip (I've seen pictures of chips damaged by the old models).

That's not to say I think it's a good fan--I don't really know much about it, except that I saw some decent reviews about it.

Anyway, some follow-up questions:
1. If the orb didn't crack the core itself, what could the problem be?
2. If the orb -did- crack the core, invisibly, would that cause the scorch marks on the top and bottom of the chip?
3. What fan -do- you recommend? Cost is no object but it's got to be quiet...

 

[Grizely1]

The fan I recommend is the Alpha PEP66t. I have had great experience with it.

If it cracked the core you would be able to see. the core wouldn't be perfectly square, it would be "chipped" off on a corner.

Not sure exactly what happened, but my bet it on that Orb.

-----------------

All your RAMBUS are belong to us!

 

[Guest]

DAMN. Stop the presses. I've been telling everybody there was no evidence of the core getting cracked. But now that I looked, veeery veeery closely, there's a teeny tiny irregularity in one corner of the core.

Is that the kind of damage you're talking about?

And if that was caused by the fan, would that be enough to cause the cpu to make scorch marks around itself??

 

[mjdunn]

I don't know what the fuss is all about I have a Tbird 1Ghz with a super orb that runs great and I take the heatsink off every once in awhile to look at the beast of a processor and put it back and still no problems. I don't think the orbs suck. Maybe if you overclock they are not that great but for a good cooler that doesn't make alot of noise it works great. I had the so great fop models They Suck! Frikin thing rattles and make the most awful noise. I could here them over my server SCSI Drives.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice, I will try to return it.

 

[Guest]

Hm. Well, I do have to say, on closer inspection, it looks like there is a teeny tiiiny chip out of one corner of the raised rectangular piece in the center of the CPU. And either it shipped that way or the fan did it to it... I'm going to try and convince the retailer of the former.

Anyway, maybe the orb doesn't do that to everybody, but I have to say it looks like it did it to me... I mean, it makes sense that the problem must be intermittenet--if every fan they sold did that, they'd get a pretty bad rep pretty fast...

 

[Kelledin]

Hmmm even if the chip in the core didn't render the CPU nonfunctional, it means the heatsink was probably resting at an angle. So it's no surprise the CPU cooked...

Kelledin
<A HREF="http://kelledin.tripod.com/scovsms.jpg" target="_new">http://kelledin.tripod.com/scovsms.jpg</A>

 

[Guest]

I see. So you're saying that the chip out of the CPU may not have fried it, but the chip means the heatsink wasn't on right. Hm... It sure looked like it was on right. My God these things are touchy.

Has anyone else ever actually seen a cpu that was thermally damaged? Do scorch marks usually show up or is that unusual?