Damaged core i3 from ebay.

S

Shadohh

Gawd
Joined
Mar 13, 2012
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818
Hey guys, I picked up a core i3 3210 from ebay for a syslog server and it showed up with capacitors missing. I did tempt fate and tried it in my motherboard and the damn thing works. I installed windows 10. I stressed it with intelburntest. I ran the intel diagnostics tool. It never crashed or showed any issues with voltage or heat.

As this computer will be running 24/7 at my house I worry about it being a fire hazard.

Looking for opinions on if it is safe and/or return. The seller never said it had damage; just that it was working.

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A fire hazard because of a couple of missing capacitors on the CPU?
 
If you don't send it back for being not as described, I'd at least demand a partial refund.

All of those capacitors are for decoupling, so while the CPU may work fine now, it may have trouble down the line.
 
it should be fine but unless you got a REALLY good deal it might not be worth keeping.
 
GiGaBiTe said:
If you don't send it back for being not as described, I'd at least demand a partial refund.

All of those capacitors are for decoupling, so while the CPU may work fine now, it may have trouble down the line.
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It be kinda cool if you could do an explanation of "decoupling" and why we need that. Maybe even in Layman's terms:)
 
primetime said:
It be kinda cool if you could do an explanation of "decoupling" and why we need that. Maybe even in Layman's terms:)
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Decoupling capacitors serve several different purposes depending on how they're implemented in a circuit.

The most common uses for a decoupling capacitor is to "decouple" RF, ripple or extraneous noises from a circuit to a lower impedance area (ie. ground.) This serves two purposes, the first being that it prevents undesired operation of the circuit from stray signals and second, it protects the circuit from damage if the stray signal exceeds the tolerance of the circuit. Decoupling capacitors can also serve as tiny local power reservoirs in the case that the power supply isn't compensating quickly enough to load changes, thus preventing the circuit starving for energy and malfunctioning.

While some circuits can run without decoupling capacitors, you risk damage to the circuit for the reasons above. The pads of the ripped off capacitors can also act as an RF antenna and actually inject noise into the circuit, especially if it's close to a switching source like power regulators.
 
Thanks for the responses.

I ended up sending it back and the seller even paid return shipping.

I ordered a 3220T that is 35w and had pictures front and back.
 
Shadohh said:
I ended up sending it back and the seller even paid return shipping.
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That's exactly what the seller has to do. If they don't pay for return shipping for a faulty item, open a case with eBay. There is no way this happened in shipping, but it's possible the seller missed it.
 
Quix said:
That's exactly what the seller has to do. If they don't pay for return shipping for a faulty item, open a case with eBay. There is no way this happened in shipping, but it's possible the seller missed it.
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Yep, I am just glad I didnt get hassled.

I am impatiently waiting for the refund now.
 
mikeblas said:
Noise characteristics don't change over time.
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Incorrect. If the CPU and other circuitry were in a constant static state then noise would never change, but this is not the case. Switching and load demands change noise characteristics constantly, have you ever seen what variable switching noise looks like on an oscilloscope?

And this doesn't even account for RF from external sources.
 
Someone should make a youtube video....pull off a capacitor and runs some tests. Pull off another....and etc....till it stops working or they are all off.
 
GiGaBiTe said:
Incorrect. If the CPU and other circuitry were in a constant static state then noise would never change, but this is not the case. Switching and load demands change noise characteristics constantly, have you ever seen what variable switching noise looks like on an oscilloscope?

And this doesn't even account for RF from external sources.
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I mean with age. The implication was that it's fine now, but "down the line", with age, it wouldn't work.

Did you take an oscillograph of this part with the three missing decoupling capacitors and compare it to an older part, with no decoupling capacitors missing?
 
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