So my dell laptop's CPU just died (error lights) and the crapstatic tech support told me they cant do shit 'cause the warranty expired a MONTH ago ¬_¬ Now I'm looking for a new CPU but since this lappy is getting old (C2D) is not like I want to invest a ton of money on it, nor I want to sell it for a dime and then pay near a thousand for a brand-new one. I can get a replacement CPU on eBay for around $60, problem is they're all "slightly used" and the new retail ones are almost half the price of a new lappy. So, is it safe to buy these used chips? whats the probability of getting a burned, unstable or overclocked-to-hell unit that wont work?
Usually, yes. Just check feedback, etc. and look for an auction with detailed pictures, ask if theres a warranty on bent pins (in case you receive it with bent pins). Be extra sure to make sure you get the right CPU your laptop will support, so get at least the same model or below.
How sure are you it's your CPU or CPU only that busted on your laptop? May be you are investing 60 bucks for a good CPU while more or something else is broken in your laptop.
Well it did go as in the book: OS suddenly freezes, restart the whole thing, freeze again, then restart and not even BIOS screen: just light code for CPU failure I'm going to try and borrow a compatible CPU to see if the whole thing boots up anyway, but then if it doesnt and it turns out the board is fried or something like that then I'm screwed since at that point even a used (but working) laptop would be a better option than fixing this one.
So did anyone actually buy a used CPU off eBay? BTW, when they put SLAMD in the listing, they mean the benchmark right? or is it something else?
Yeah, I've bought some in the past, not for laptops but for past generation (Pentium 4,etc), no issues.
I have never seen a dead cpu , never EVER. Most likely it's the motherboard or the capacitors around the cpu socket.
I bought a cheap Athlon XP 3200+ back in 2008 from eBay when I killed my 2200+ by running it without a heatsink lol. That processor still works fine today and hasn't given me any problems (in fact, it's in the PC I'm using to type this message on now lol). So yes, eBay can be an excellent and reliable source for processors, but as others have mentioned, make sure to buy from a reputable seller with a good feeback record.
I've bought several processors from ebay as replacements/spares for testing boards. @ Assembler: I've seen plenty of processors die, I would say 1:25 I work on. Usually it's due to a smokers house causing an excess buildup of shit, not sure if it's heat related or short related as smoker residue gets everywhere including under the cpu, and modern processors have thermal protection circuits.
I've never seen a CPU die/not work unless you bent the pins or you ran without cooling (went up in smoke). In the Intel chips, your usually safe from thermal issues because they will automaticly throttle down if they detect excess heat. AMD chips on the other hand will happily burn themselves to the ground like crispy bacon. I guess it's little things like that which makes AMD a bit cheaper to buy, but provided your not a dope when handling hardware, it shouldn't make a difference.
I ve got a couple of processors I wouldnt mind selling actually. Do people really buy old CPUs nowadays? I mean the need for legacy stuff is usually on the professional front and modern hardware is so cheap and powerful these days..
You apparently never had to deal with a P4 Northwood that died of Sudden Northwood Death Syndrome (SNDS) or Electormigration.
Man I forgot to update: NEWS FLASH: the CPU is A-OK, I took it out, tested it on another laptop and ran PCMark and other, no prob at all. Send it to some guys to ran a few tests on the motherboard and see if they can fix it. If they do its gonna cost me next to nothing, but if they cant a new one will be as much as one of those fancy quad mobile C2Ds, meaning I'm going to gut this lappy and get a new one. And anything but a dell...or Hp
