could this have damaged my cpu?

[Langlest]

i just decided to get a new case, cpu cooler, ram and psu for my system and when i was taking my pc apart i noticed that the stock cooler for my e8600 was hanging on by just 3 of the clips one of the corners was off the processor and the metal was a bit darker in that area too

i never had a problem with it and it seems to be working fine, im getting a temp of around 25c idle and 34c under full load with the new cooler

im just a bit worried about damage that may have been caused by the old one hanging off the way it was

 

[Randomface74]

if it works, don't question it

 

[Tiamat21]

If there are no actual working parts around the damaged area, then there will be no damage done to the mobo.
Just like bending the metal on the mother board around the edges (as rumour has it, but I beg to differ)

 

[Owenb]

The heat spreader probably saved you. You probably have shortened it's lifespan though...

 

[Langlest]

thanks for the replies, i guess i was lucky good thing the new fan bolts on, i dont think ill trust those clip on coolers ever again after this

 

[Corasik]

Intel CPU's since pentium 3 have had a temperature probe, with a hard shutdown (on P3 and P4 the shutdown temp was 120C). Anyway, current Intel and AMD CPU's will all shutdown before they are damaged in the vast majority of cases, and throttle back to a lower speed when they are slightly over the desired running temperatures.

Chances of even reducing the CPU's lifespan are slim unless you are feeding the cpu with silly voltages, combined with major overclocking.

 

[Langlest]

thats good to know thanks

 

[SfnX]

ive come accross this issue before. it isnt really a problem unless 2 clips on one side are off completely.
as long as the heatsink is connected to the cpu it should be fine and dandy.

 

[daelo]

Intel CPU's since pentium 3 have had a temperature probe, with a hard shutdown (on P3 and P4 the shutdown temp was 120C). Anyway, current Intel and AMD CPU's will all shutdown before they are damaged in the vast majority of cases, and throttle back to a lower speed when they are slightly over the desired running temperatures.

This, fear not, I myself have had this problem with my e4500, not clipped on heatsink properly, computer shut down, wondered why, saw it wasn't connected properly, reconnected, all be well.

 

[Justintime]

If it has not shut down at any point then likely Tjunction was never met, so the thermal status was ok. Would not worry about it. Would like to shoot whomever came up with this design. We've got about 300 pcs using LGA sockets and say 2/10 times i open one for a service (have done about 100 last yr i guess) the sink popped a pin on at least one side. Some are dating back to early LGA PIV but many are core 2 E4500 machines.

 

[SirCanealot]

I remember reading back in the P4 days that a P4 will still work even if the heatsink dropped off of it while it was running (it will just underclock itself).
I remember the Atholns at the time had technology like that, but it didn't really react fast enough to save the processor in a case like the heat sink falling off (where as apparently the P4 did).

I can assume things would be even better than that now...?