Could my CPU be damaged?

-1

This afternoon, I used the tuneup test from the catalyst vision engine control center. It started and my fan was gaining speed, getting to 5000 RPM before my PC instantly shut down.

Wondering what just happened, I restarted my PC, but this time, after the boot, the CPU fan was still going crazy at about 3500 RPM. I managed to log in to Windows, checked, but the tuneup and the CPU overclocking are disabled. Then, I noticed there is something weird going on with my CPU.

If I startup Skype or Chrome, the processor instantly turns to 100% load .. even typing in a textbox goes with the speed of a turtle... while before the abrupt shutdown, my processor wouldn't even come near 60% load while running multiple programs.

I'm using the AMD FX 6200 octa-core 3.8 GHz.

jamey

Posted 2013-06-18T16:06:55.223

Reputation: 11

if I startup skype or chrome the processor instantly turns to 100% load - software problem. If you really want to check your CPU you can run Prime95, but what you describe is most certainly a software problem. – Breakthrough – 2013-06-18T19:56:24.127

3Did you give it time to cool down (1/2 hour) before restarting? – Fiasco Labs – 2013-06-18T21:10:24.757

Answers

Sounds damaged to me. To add to to Darth Android's answer, it may be worth reseating your processor (although, I doubt it will help). Also if you can manage to get back into Windows, give CPU-Z a gander to see the clock speed and see if the multiplier changes.

On a side note, I reset the BIOS config as a last ditch effort on an Atholon XP processor I seemingly bricked from overclocking (too much voltage). To my surprise, everything came back up as normal. I was back to playing Unreal Tournament in no time.

Chad Harrison

Posted 2013-06-18T16:06:55.223

Reputation: 5 759

Yeah, ive reset my bios settings , problem still persist, weird thing is that its still giving speeds of 3800 MHz – None – 2013-06-18T19:55:43.620

@jamey if you register your account with the same email address that you entered when you first asked your question, you will be able to respond to comments and edit your original post. Please only use answers to provide a solution to the question - use comments and edits to make clarifications. – nhinkle – 2013-06-18T20:14:48.503

There's a chance you damaged your CPU, though most CPUs these days have over-temp protections which kill the system's power before damage occurs, as you found out.

I would check the BIOS settings first - My motherboards reset the configuration to a failsafe if the system is overclocked and fails to boot, or if it hits the temperature cutoff.

Make sure the fan control is set to auto, and not fixed at 3500RPM or MAX
Make sure that the CPU stepping control is enabled and not locked to the minimum.

To save power, modern CPUs "step down" when they aren't under full utilization - a 3.4Ghz processor will clock down to 800Mhz for example. However, it's possible to lock the processor into this lower-step in the BIOS.

If Task Manager shows the processor running at it's proper frequency and you can't find any relevant settings in the configuration, then you might indeed have damaged your CPU.

Darth Android

Posted 2013-06-18T16:06:55.223

Reputation: 35 133