May my Athlon 1.1 gHz R.I.P.

[RamzaBeoulve]

I just got back from the local computer store, with a bag that contained some Arctic Silver II and a copper CPU shim. I pull into the driveway, enter my house and go to my computer room. I power my PC down and begin to think "finally, my CPU can run cooler..." I take the heatsink off, put the AS II and shim on, place the heatsink back on and finish everything up. I'm very excited when I push the power button and hear the fans start turning. I wait for the beep... no beep. I think that this is nothing a CMOS flash won't fix. I flash the CMOS and then power the thing on. Still no beep. I then wonder what's going on, so I reset the machine 3 times waiting for the beep each time... still no beep. I open the case up again, remove the hs/fan combo and look at the CPU... everything looks fine, but in reality, I missed something. I close everything up and power it up again... STILL NO BEEP! I then open the case up again, and look at the CPU. I then notice that one of the caps on one of the bridges is missing! I call the place that supplies me with all my parts, and they tell me that my CPU has been K.I.A. May it's core and bridges go to CPU heaven and stay there in peace.

Anyway, what CPU should I get to replace it? I can get a good deal on an Athlon 1.33 gHz with a 266 mHZ FSB... but I don't really have money right now

Poor Athlon

 

[McCarthy]

"Anyway, what CPU should I get to replace it?"
Go to the house of whoever told you to get one of those ridiculous shims and take their CPU. I'm only half kidding here.

Look close, if that shim was cut so it knocked the capacitor off the ceramic packaging then go back to the store and raise holy hell till they present you with a working 1.1 Not kidding at all about this.

Any other damage to the chip? Can you tell if it got physically knocked off or popped off because of a dead electrical short?

--Mc

 

[gunf1ghter]

Agreed... shims are yet another "power toy" that is sold to a bunch of people who don't need the f!cking thing. The overwhelming majority of people who buy CPU shims do not need them. They buy them because they read about them on a website or some other nerd told them (falsely) that it would help them overclock, etc.

 

[mrchaotica]

Speaking of shims, what does one need them for? I have heard that they are supposed to keep your heatsink from crushing your core, but from reading this thread I get the impression that they are bad. I am about to get an Athlon XP and hopefully an Alpha PAL8045. Do I need shims?
Thanks for your help.

-mrchaotica

 

[igowerf]

No. You don't need shims.
I remember they sounded like a good idea when Socket A Tbirds first came out but they're useless now.

 

[Maggotry]

I wouldn't say shims are "bad", just un-necessary. I guess they could be bad in the hands of an idiot, but that's true of most things in the world. Shims are supposed to help keep the HS from rocking around during install and help prevent cracking/crushing the exposed core. They were introduced with that in mind and also with the dim hope that they would help convey heat and thus help you reach higher overclocks.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Shims are a tool like any other.

You don't hammer nails with a crescent wrench, and you don't turn bolts with a pair of scissors. Shims can be very valuable in some cases...like mounting hard to secure HS's or waterblocks that you have to screw-down blind. It's much harder to crush a die when the pressure is spread over the whole socket as you crank down on a fastening bolt. For everyone else using larger, more stable heatsinks it's about worthless. Anyone who says it helps in cooling is full of crap IMO.

I'm also surprised that you managed to break off a surface mounted resistor. That takes skill my friend. One of the great advantages to SMD's besides cost and size is rugged durability in the face of physical abuse.