eBay i5 3470

[Taddeusz]

I've had a brand new MSI H61M-P31/W8 LGA 1155 board that someone gave me a couple years ago. Used Ivy Bridge CPU's are finally getting cheap enough so a couple weeks ago I ordered an i5 3470. Installed it and everything ran great for 5 days.

On the fifth day I was remoted in from work and installed a driver and then rebooted. It never came back. When I got home the fans were spinning but nothing on the screen. No amount of powering on would give me anything. Removing the single stick of DDR3 RAM I have access to resulted in a 3 short beep code. Trying a different power supply gave the same results.

This is the only LGA 1155 hardware I have access to and my access to DDR3 is quite limited. That's what I get for keeping Core 2 hardware around for so long.

So, doing some research it sounded like a bad motherboard to me. I ordered an MSI H67MA-E35 (B3), also off eBay. I probably should have picked a different brand but this was the best deal I could find. Switched things around. Not only does it still not work but now it gives a 4 short beep code.

According to my research the most likely cause aside from the motherboard itself is that the first bank of RAM is bad. However, I can't get it out of my head that it's a good possibility that the CPU is actually bad.

My brother is scrounging up some DDR3 he has. But at this point I'm only about 40-50% certain that will do anything.

Other than my pre-built Dell Latitude that I'm currently using this is really my first foray into DIY Intel Core systems. So, does anyone have any experience with this?

[SHS]

Taddeusz did try doing a full bios reset on the MSI H61M-P31 as 3 short beep ref to first 64 KB of system memory so that can be any thing that has memory on board even the CPU right down the chipset.

As for the MSI H67MA-E35 (B3) the 4 short ref to System timer failure - The system clock/timer IC has failed or there is a memory error in the first bank of memory.

That leave two possible a pair memory module or CPU
Posted the make and model of those memory module

[Taddeusz]

Yes, I've reset the BIOS on both boards. The 3 beep code was because I had physically removed the memory from the system. Since I hadn't gotten any kind of response from the H61 board I wanted to induce a known error so it was expected that I should get an error.

Yeah, I'm down to the RAM or CPU at this point. Since this is my first system with DDR3 I have one (1) 4GB stick on loan from a friend. I don't remember the exact model but the brand is Samsung.

I'll know more this evening when my brother brings over some memory he has.

Unfortunately, if it is a bad CPU it looks like I've lost $74 as the seller doesn't accept returns.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Yes, I've reset the BIOS on both boards. The 3 beep code was because I had physically removed the memory from the system. Since I hadn't gotten any kind of response from the H61 board I wanted to induce a known error so it was expected that I should get an error.

Yeah, I'm down to the RAM or CPU at this point. Since this is my first system with DDR3 I have one (1) 4GB stick on loan from a friend. I don't remember the exact model but the brand is Samsung.

I'll know more this evening when my brother brings over some memory he has.

Unfortunately, if it is a bad CPU it looks like I've lost $74 as the seller doesn't accept returns.

In the 8 years I repaired computers professionally, I think only once or twice I actually witnessed a random CPU failure. They are generally the best quality silicon you have in your system, so unless someone at some point in time overclocked it or it's over 10 years old, I would be a little suspicious. At the same time, sometimes the seller gets things second hand too and might not have any clue about its history. Still CPU failures without some human induced cause (overclocking, overvoltage, etc.) are very rare.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

In the 8 years I repaired computers professionally, I think only once or twice I actually witnessed a random CPU failure. They are generally the best quality silicon you have in your system, so unless someone at some point in time overclocked it or it's over 10 years old, I would be a little suspicious. At the same time, sometimes the seller gets things second hand too and might not have any clue about its history. Still CPU failures without some human induced cause (overclocking, overvoltage, etc.) are very rare.

Yeah, I've not every seen an actual bad CPU that wasn't human induced in some way. The ones I've seen have been physical abuse. Actually had one guy who tried to upgrade a soldered in CPU even with the sticker warning against removing the heat sink. Don't know how much force he was using but he took out a good chunk of the ceramic package of an Athlon or Duron CPU with the heat sink. Must have been some pretty good thermal glue they used to attach it.

[SHS]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Yeah, I've not every seen an actual bad CPU that wasn't human induced in some way. The ones I've seen have been physical abuse. Actually had one guy who tried to upgrade a soldered in CPU even with the sticker warning against removing the heat sink. Don't know how much force he was using but he took out a good chunk of the ceramic package of an Athlon or Duron CPU with the heat sink. Must have been some pretty good thermal glue they used to attach it.

If was close to me Taddeusz I be happy to loan you 1GB and 2GB of DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) for dbl checking

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by SHS

If was close to me Taddeusz I be happy to loan you 1GB and 2GB of DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) for dbl checking

Thanks for the offer. My brother is bringing a couple sticks over this evening. Hopefully it will clear things up.

I've decided that if it actually is the CPU that I'll probably end up ordering an i3 2100 just to get it back up and running. I can get one of those for about $25.