[SOLVED] What's wrong with my CPU?

[titolopez]

I live in front of the sea in the Mexican Caribbean (Pensísnula de Yucatan). The environment is too humid and salty, which has caused several of my electronic equipment to stop working.

The most affected has been my desktop PC.

I just bought a new motherboard (Gigabyte Z390 UD) to replace the old one, which showed signs of rust in several places. I also bought a new tower (Cooler Master)

After installing all the components I proceeded to turn on the computer but it did not start. I looked at the "Status LEDs" and I saw the CPU LED lit (red light).

I have an Intel Core i7-9700K (LGA1151) processor.

Looking closely to that processor I see some stains on the pins and am concerned it could be corrosion or rust.

The photos can be seen at this link:

https://imgur.com/a/aYRVTqn

View: https://imgur.com/gallery/aYRVTqn


Any suggestion?

 

[Eximo]

Well, that is odd. Those pins are gold plated and shouldn't not be capable of rusting, try wiping that off with some alcohol.

The motherboard pins might be the source there if the surface gold was scraped off.

Check the motherboard pins for any signs of damage or misalignment.

 

[titolopez]

Well, that is odd. Those pins are gold plated and shouldn't not be capable of rusting, try wiping that off with some alcohol.

The motherboard pins might be the source there if the surface gold was scraped off.

Check the motherboard pins for any signs of damage or misalignment.

Thanks for your suggestion. Will try wiping it with alcohol.

The motherboard is brand new. Anyway, I will take a look.

 

[Eximo]

Pins are easily damaged, a slight misalignment when you put the retaining bracket down, to just dropping the CPU in with too much force.

 

[titolopez]

Pins are easily damaged, a slight misalignment when you put the retaining bracket down, to just dropping the CPU in with too much force.

Thanks for your comments. I have just taken a look at it, both with a magnifying glass and the macro lens of my phone, and everything looks right. No bended or out of position pins in the motherboard socket.

 

[Eximo]

You can try clearing the CMOS, maybe.

 

[titolopez]

You can try clearing the CMOS, maybe.

Thanks for your suggestion. I will try that, but remember that I am installing the CPU into the new motherboard from scartch. It's a brand new Mobo.

 

[Eximo]

Yes, CMOS reset is kind of a last resort. At some point the board was fired up and tested at the factory, then it should have been wiped. Possible they missed that step.

Doesn't look like the board has a dual BIOS, so that isn't an option either. Also possible it is just a dead board, it does happen.

There is a BIOS revision for the 1.0 version of that board that doesn't support the i7-9700k out of the box. You might need a 8th gen CPU to boot the board. If you can take it to a local PC shop they might be able to flash it for you. Check the box to see if they labeled the BIOS version it came with.

 

[titolopez]

- "Yes, CMOS reset is kind of a last resort. "

Will try resetting the CMOS.

- "Also possible it is just a dead board, it does happen."

The computer starts, goes off for a couple of seconds and restarts. No beeps. Can't get into BIOS.

The motherboard has a set of LEDs to show the status of CPU, memory, GPU and OS. While turned on, with fans working, I see a red LED indicating that "the corresponding device (CPU) is not working normally".

- "There is a BIOS revision for the 1.0 version of that board that doesn't support the i7-9700k out of the box. You might need a 8th gen CPU to boot the board. (...) Check the box to see if they labeled the BIOS version it came with."

There's an icon saying "SUPPORTS Intel CORE 9th Gen".

Yes, CMOS reset is kind of a last resort. At some point the board was fired up and tested at the factory, then it should have been wiped. Possible they missed that step.

Doesn't look like the board has a dual BIOS, so that isn't an option either. Also possible it is just a dead board, it does happen.

There is a BIOS revision for the 1.0 version of that board that doesn't support the i7-9700k out of the box. You might need a 8th gen CPU to boot the board. If you can take it to a local PC shop they might be able to flash it for you. Check the box to see if they labeled the BIOS version it came with.

 

[Bazzy 505]

LGA 1151 CPU pads are indeed gold plated, however H4 socket pins themselves are copper.
The staining on pads comes from old motherboard pins. In high humidity+high salinity environment pins will corrode and stain in this way.

Clean CPU pads with non abrasive wiping cloth doused in isopropanol

 

[titolopez]

LGA 1151 CPU pads are indeed gold plated, however H4 socket pins themselves are copper.
The staining on pads comes from old motherboard pins. In high humidity+high salinity environment pins will corrode and stain in this way.

Clean CPU pads with non abrasive wiping cloth doused in isopropanol

Thanks. I will try that.