61
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by onlooker@lemmy.ml to c/techsupport@lemmy.world

EDIT: We decided not to pursue further diagnosis, because we wouldn’t know what the hell we’re doing anyway, and decided to start the RMA process instead. It might not even be the reason why the PC won’t turn on, but I’m not comfortable with putting that CPU back into his PC again. Once we get a replacement, we’ll see what happens. If it’s still busted, we’ll just take it to a local shop. Thank you everyone for your for your suggestions and insight, they are very much appreciated.

My friend called me to take a look at his PC that wouldn’t turn on. Upon inspecting his CPU, I noticed a silver bump at the bottom. I’ve never seen this. Can anyone tell me what it is?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Betch@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Wait so it had been running fine since August?

[-] onlooker@lemmy.ml 5 points 8 months ago

Yeah, that's the weird part. We were playing online without issue just a few weeks ago. His PC only died sometime last week.

[-] Betch@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

That is sooo weird. Unless that thing shorted and heated up so much that it melted the solder, in this case I'm not sure there's any extra harm in putting it back in the socket. I usually wouldn't advise this but if it was gonna cause damage it's probably already done.

At this point I think there is a definite possibility that this solder blob has always been there and that we may be barking up the wrong tree.

[-] onlooker@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 months ago

Unless that thing shorted and heated up so much that it melted the solder, in this case I’m not sure there’s any extra harm in putting it back in the socket. I usually wouldn’t advise this but if it was gonna cause extra damage it’s probably already done.

Fair point. I'm probably not going to experiment too much. I was just curious about the silver blob, because I've never seen this before. If I can't find any obvious faults, I'll just advise my friend to take his PC to a repair shop or something.

[-] Betch@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

Alright, well if you want you can let me know what actually happens when you push the power button. Any beeps, lights, fan spins, clicking, demonic apparitions, just completely dead, etc.

Sometimes just reseating everything is the fix too.

[-] OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

demonic apparitions

I chortled.

[-] Betch@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

It's funny until you see faces in the blue smoke.

[-] OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago
[-] Betch@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Oh it definitely can be depending on your preferences.

[-] OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago
[-] Betch@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Hmm I had something different in mind. More along the lines of getting freaky with demons but hey inhaling the magic blue smoke is 100% valid too. I'm down.

[-] onlooker@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 months ago

That's very kind of you, thank you. I'm actually meeting with my friend again tomorrow. We'll try re-assembling everything and see what happens.

[-] Betch@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago
[-] onlooker@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 months ago

Unfortunately nothing changed even after reassembling the PC. We're just going to take it to a local PC shop since they have more tools on hand to diagnose the problem. Thanks for your help, though!

[-] Betch@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Yeah figures. As another user mentioned, this could very well be the issue that Gamers Nexus exposed a while back. That CPU might still be under warranty. Hopefully the PC shop will be able to sort this out for you.

[-] orbitz@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 months ago

With a bit there the cooler probably isn't making good contact with the CPU, but if that was the case I wouldn't expect it to just die if it was working before. Though the higher heat may have caused permanent issues too, hard to say.

I have an all in one CPU liquid cooler that had a bracket on incorrectly but it still worked fine until I played with overclocking so that's all I base this comment on.

this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2024
61 points (98.4% liked)

techsupport

2468 readers
13 users here now

The Lemmy community will help you with your tech problems and questions about anything here. Do not be shy, we will try to help you.

If something works or if you find a solution to your problem let us know it will be greatly apreciated.

Rules: instance rules + stay on topic

Partnered communities:

You Should Know

Reddit

Software gore

Recommendations

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS