Question Why does my *apparently* new CPU have faint lines on top of it/the IHS (squareish)?

[DutchMike]

I bought the 11900KF a while ago and when I took it out of the box yesterday I noticed the cover of the CPU has faint squareish lines on it?
Roughly looking like a square? Is it actually not new or was this just the after remains of it being tested in the factory? Makes me a bit wary.

Picture (not my CPU, it's just a CPU picture with the lines roughly drawn on them, they're visible but faint, the actual lines are a bit thinner but paint didn't allow thinner straight lines):

https://imgur.com/s3g3VfK

View: https://i.imgur.com/s3g3VfK.jpg

(And yes, thank you in case for suggesting the 12700/12900 but I won't go 12th gen, as it will require a different motherboard, which means a Z690 for voltage control,
which start at around 200-220 and 'decent' ones at 280 whilst I got my high-end Z590 motherboard at a super sale of just 89, and the CPU was on a slight sale as well,
PLUS I'd need a new cooler because my H110 it's not compatible with 1700 socket, which will then more than double my expenditures for a too little margin of performance difference)

 

[helpstar]

Don´t know without the actual picture, but should be free of any "lines" if it was new. Could be thermal paste and scratches from a previous assembly with a cooler on top

 

[DutchMike]

Don´t know without the actual picture, but should be free of any "lines" if it was new. Could be thermal paste and scratches from a previous assembly with a cooler on top

Yeah, I tried to make a picture with the phone but it is terribly hard to get it to be visible (with the naked eye it is very visible).
It almost looks exactly the same but the lines are just a bit thinner. But would this indicate it was used OR tested previously?

 

[MEMOFLEX]

I have never seen a new CPU come with any of the lines mentioned. Was this a binned CPU or just bought from a normal retailer?

The lines look like residue or marking from a previous cooler mount

 

[DutchMike]

I have never seen a new CPU come with any of the lines mentioned. Was this a binned CPU or just bought from a normal retailer?

The lines look like residue or marking from a previous cooler mount

Uhm I bought from a retailer (sold it as new), the seal seemed legit from the factory closed?
Is it possible it was tested or "binned" as you say? Or did a consumer had its hand on it ?

 

[MEMOFLEX]

If the seal on the box seemed legit then it could be factory markings but there is not any way to know. I have not seen a processor come this way before but I have not seen every processor.

Was this a major retailer or was it 3rd party seller on amazon or a local computer hardware shop?

 

[Eximo]

I expect they are just indentations from the tool used to press and heat the heatspreader and fuse it to the chip. Might have been out of calibration or something.

Also possible that the machine that made the heatspreader in the first place was in need of maintenance. Not actually sure how they get that surface finish. It would logically start with a casting of some sort, then machining, and the last step might be some sort of media blasting or sanding.