Face palm - CPU without a heatsink

[Bluecube]

Got my hands on a Xeon e5620 and popped it into the motherboard. For some unfathomable reason (I wasn't drinking or on anything, really!) I then turned on the computer without adding a heatsink. The PC booted up was working fine. So I did it twice more... Once I was happy the CPU was working, I turned everything off and then noticed the lack of heatsink. Cue face palm. The PC was on for a total of perhaps five minutes. The big question is - do you think I've damaged the CPU in any way?

[peterb]

Unlikely. CPU's do generate a lot of heat quickly, but the more modern ones will shut themselves down if they overheat - or at least throttle back. So if you weren't doing anything intensive, and it still boots OK (with the heatsink!!!!) then you are probably OK.

[csgohan4]

was you in need of a cooker?

[MrRockliffe]

I've done a similar thing. Even ran a stress test to make sure it was working (when I first got my H80i I forgot to plug it in so no fans or pumps). Temps shot up to 99 degrees and I shut it off straight away. Forgot to plug in the molex connector!

[scaryjim]

The IHS on that thing must dissipate a ridiculous amount of heat, or your room must've been ridiculously cold! I once made that mistake with an old Duron and it died pretty much instantly. Although I guess an IHS has a much greater thermal capacity than a tiny slice of silicon and while it's a pretty inefficient heatsink, it's still a heatsink of sorts.

If the CPU still boots and works properly with a HSF on it, you should be fine: if you'd done any actual damage it would've died while it was turned on. Although now you've got me wondering how much heat a modern IHS can handle .... could an undervolted, underclocked, low power CPU run without a heatsink at all....?

[Bonebreaker777]

could an undervolted, underclocked, low power CPU run without a heatsink at all....?

Underclock a Celeron to the lowest multiplier (16x I believe) and undervoltage to the lowest stable state and somehow I think it could manage in a well ventilated case. In idle would be couple of watts only which should be fine.

[RobbieRoy]

If the CPU still boots and works properly with a HSF on it, you should be fine: if you'd done any actual damage it would've died while it was turned on. Although now you've got me wondering how much heat a modern IHS can handle .... could an undervolted, underclocked, low power CPU run without a heatsink at all....?

Perhaps that's why the stock coolers are so paltry in comparison to the after market choices these days.

[watercooled]

Modern CPUs shouldn't self-destruct due to heat, not that I'd recommend testing it out. As others have said they should throttle right back once they hit a certain temperature and/or force a reset (thermtrip) as a failsafe before damage occurs.

[Bonebreaker777]

I am actually tempted to do it

has got a G1620 on lowest available multiplier and lowest power settings and temps stay 20-25 with lowest CPU cooler setting with a box cooler. As of right now.

If I happen to make a boo-boo,will people chip in for a new CPU?

[PurpleShift]

I almost did that once, luckily I realized before booting.

[MrComputerSaint]

If I happen to make a boo-boo,will people chip in for a new CPU?

Start a kick starter campaign

[GoNz0]

I did this on an intel i3 laptop a few weeks back. booted, restored the DMI and got most of the way into windows before it shut off. no IHS with it being a laptop and it lived to tell the tale.

an old duron would have cracked wide open...

[SUMMONER]

For dramatic effect, here is an old video demonstrating the ability of the Pentium 4 processor to regulate speed/temperature while playing Quake 3... and the "back then" Athlon/Durons' lack there of. Notice that the last AMD processor in the video actually could regulate its speed, it just was not able to react quickly enough to someone removing the heat sink outright.

[peterb]

And to be fair, removing a heat sink during normal operation is an unlikely scenario. In real life, the most likely failure is the fan, and the rate of temperature increase would be much slower.

[Bluecube]

I'm sure you were all waiting with bated breath... Well... It LIVES! It LIVES! Thank goodness!!

I've built an ESXi server to replace my HP Microserver. I'll post some pics of the tangled mess later on in a new thread. Wait till you see The Tank.

[Bonebreaker777]

http://jpegbay.com/gallery/003920224-.html#1

Nough said.

EDIT: The Celeron been on the lowest multiplier by force, in the BIOS only, for 5min. Surprisingly low temperatures (just slightly above the MoBo). I am pretty sure you could run in a ventilated case without a cooler, or with a super simple passive on full load. Once my case arrives, I can try to load a full Windows install on the setup, no coolers installed (but once FAN in the case plus the PSU).