EDIT: We decided not to pursue further diagnosis, because we wouldn’t know what the hell we’re doing anyway, and decided to start the RMA process instead. It might not even be the reason why the PC won’t turn on, but I’m not comfortable with putting that CPU back into his PC again. Once we get a replacement, we’ll see what happens. If it’s still busted, we’ll just take it to a local shop. Thank you everyone for your for your suggestions and insight, they are very much appreciated.

My friend called me to take a look at his PC that wouldn’t turn on. Upon inspecting his CPU, I noticed a silver bump at the bottom. I’ve never seen this. Can anyone tell me what it is?

  • @[email protected]
    14•4 months ago

    Damn, I’ve never seen such an obvious defect on a CPU in my life. What the hell happened there lol. How can that pass testing and leave the factory?

      • @[email protected]
        7•4 months ago

        I mean unless your friend bought the CPU used and got scammed, or they were somehow soldering something above their CPU while building the PC I don’t see how else this could’ve happened outside the factory.

        It looks to me like maybe extra solder got squeezed out during the heatspreader or surface mount component soldering process.

        • @[email protected]OP
          1•4 months ago

          Nah, he doesn’t own a soldering iron. So, it’s safe to say that I shouldn’t put this back in the motherboard, yeah? It still does fit in the socket, but I’m worried it’ll cause more damage when we turn on the PC.