There is no denying that PC hardware is complicated at best. Especially when you are really not sure about the proper knowhow of the hardware.
In a situation like that, the best thing that you can do is make sure that you are fully aware of how the hardware works and whether or not there are any discrepancies in your knowledge.
If you are a PC gamer or just a PC enthusiast, then it is necessary to have the required information that can help you troubleshoot the PC should something go wrong.
Today, we are talking about the brain of the computer; the central processing unit, also known as the CPU, or simply the processor.
Without this component, it would be impossible for you to use your computer, let alone boot it.
CPU is the main part that sends several sets of instructions to the rest of the components so they can work on a tandem.
If the CPU fails, the computer would simply refuse to work. Sure, the other components might be fine, but they will not be able to work until the CPU is replaced.
With that in mind, there are certain signs of a CPU failure that you must know about; these signs can be random at best, and it is not necessary that all the signs must appear in order to tell the tale of a CPU failure.
In this article, we will be looking at all the possible signs of a CPU failure, this will help the readers troubleshoot their computers should there be a certain issue. So, with that out of the way, let’s not waste time and have a look, shall we?
The PC Starts and Turns Off Right Away
If you are turning on your PC, and as soon as it turns on, it shuts down again then it could be a symptom of a CPU failure. There are several reasons behind that, one of the reasons is the sudden temperature spike as soon as you turn on your PC.
That happens because the motherboards are equipped with temperature sensors, and as soon as they detect the temperature of the CPU is way too high.
System Bootup Issues
If you are trying to turn on the PC and it just fails to do so without any diagnostic code, or anything for that matters, the chances are that the CPU is dead.
However, it can also be related to other issues like the motherboard, or the power supply for that matters, or even your graphics card. In order to isolate the issue, simply open the side panel and see if the motherboard lights are powered on, and if they are, remove the graphics card and then try and powering on the computer.
If it still fails to do so, then at that point, you should RMA your CPU if it is still in warranty.
However, this is an extreme case, and would normally happen when the CPU is entirely dead.
The System Freezes
Another pretty common, albeit confusing issue that generates from a CPU failure is the system freezing over and over again for no reason whatsoever. You boot into Windows, enter your password and the system freezes until you restart it again.
There could be a lot of reasons behind this error, failing power supply, insufficient power delivery, as well as other issues that are both minor or major.
The best thing that one can do in a situation like that is isolating the issue until you actually find the one thing that is causing the problems.
Related Post: How to optimize Windows 10 for gaming, Best PSUs for gaming
Blue Screen of Death
Blue screen of death or BSOD used to be a lot more common than it is now. As a matter of fact, that scary looking blue screen has been replaced by a simpler blue screen in the more modern windows.
It is definitely one of the most confusing screens that you could encounter, mainly because at times, it is hard to tell what is wrong with the PC.
However, the most common error string that relates to the error being a hardware issue. If your processor is actually failing, you might get “System Abort” error.
Even this code is not entirely reflecting a CPU failure, but it does help narrow it down.
Overheating
This is perhaps one of the classic symptoms of CPU failure, and one of the easiest as well. For starters, if you are noticing that your CPU is overheating to the point of thermal throttling, there could be two reasons behind that; either your cooler is giving up, or your CPU.
Thankfully, coolers, especially air coolers are easier to diagnose since they do not have any moving parts aside from the fans; so if the fans are working just fine, it means that there is nothing wrong with the cooler itself.
However, liquid coolers are a bit hard to diagnose, and that is why most experts suggest that you keep a separate cooler in case you require troubleshooting.
With that out of the way, if the overheating still does not go away after the troubleshooting process, it surely means that there is something wrong with the CPU.
Conclusion
Despite all the technological advancement, CPU failure is not uncommon; it happens all the time, and there are a lot of reasons why it happens in the first place.
However, the good news is that CPUs are becoming more and more resilient as time passes by, which means that the modern day CPUs are a lot less susceptible to failures like this.
Still, if you are encountering such an issue, or you just want to remain up to date with the trend and understand how you can troubleshoot a failing CPU in the future, then this guide is surely for you and will help you hopefully resolve the issue that you are facing.