err , help

hi all, im pretty sure that my CPU has given up, when i boot up it runs for 4 seconds and switch's of.
i'v had a look inside the comp and noticed that one of the tags that hold the cooling fan onto the cpu had broken, im sure this has been like it from new as i found the tag in the bottom of the comp,
any way the spec is
AMD athlon 64*2 dual core 4600 + clock speed 2411 socket am2
motherboard asus m2n-sli deluxe version 1.xx
as this cpu is no longer avaliable what cpu can i replace it with or what would be a better cpu to use without going to mad and having to change lots of other stuff.

thanks in antissipation, go gentle on me please, comp numptus :stupid:

robert heywood

You can still get that CPU pretty freely (£50-£60), if that is indeed the problem. I'd bersonally buy a new cooler that utilises a clamp plate, where you have to remove the plastic cage that's broken & some good thermal paste also. The motherboard's thermal cutout 'should' have stopped the chip frying. Failing that, someone may have a cage they removed from their motherboard.

eBay.co.uk - am2 bracket, Desktop PC Components, TV Accessories, Computing items at low prices

just in case its the bracket thats broken

as above when the chip gets to a certain temp the bios shuts the pc down ( if active in bios) so chip may be ok