Even defective processors are in demand on Ebay. At least among technicians who can use the pins for repair purposes. (Image source: Pixabay/jimgor33)
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Buying and receiving a new processor is usually a reason to be happy. After all, a new CPU potentially promises to speed up your computer and, depending on the resolution, deliver one or two more images per second in games.
But there is a market not only for new processors – also for used ones. And even defective CPUs find their buyers, as a look at Ebay shows.
Kilos of old and/or defective processors often wander over the virtual counter. But individual broken CPUs also change hands.
One of the customers is this Reddit user Neuralcarrot710. According to his own statements, he received four defective Ryzen processors. But when he tested them, he found that only one of them was actually broken and that the other three booted effortlessly.
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What exactly happened?
Neuralcarrot710 bought four Ryzen 5 5600s on eBay that were reported to be defective. He paid 70 US dollars for it – that's the equivalent of around 65 euros.
The Ryzen 5 5600 is a last-generation desktop processor. It is designed for the AM4 socket, offers six computing cores or twelve threads and clocks at a maximum of 4.4 GHz on one core.
Its standard power consumption is 65 watts, it supports DDR4 RAM and costs around 115 euros new. Used models with X
in the name change hands on Ebay for between 70 and 90 euros
In the GameStar test from 2023, the savings tip performs well even when compared with current high-end processors.
As Neuralcarrot710 writes, three of the four supposedly defective processors are doing their job happily. He underlines this in a second thread:
Link to Reddit content
Accordingly, the three processors successfully survived a stress test and gaming use. If that's true, the user has got a real bargain. Normally he would have had to pay around three to four times as much for the CPUs.
Why did he buy defective processors?
Neuralcarrot 710 says it is a repair technician, which can use the pins of the CPUs. According to him, ten of them already cost ten dollars. However, a Ryzen 5000 CPU houses 1,331 pins.
Actually found on Ebay.com Sellers offering ten CPU pins for AM4 processors for ten dollars. The statements from Neuralcarrot710 are therefore consistent.
On Ebay There are also repair offers for CPUs with bent or missing pins. It's quite possible that the Reddit user is one of these technicians.
What does he do with the processors now?
The Reddit user asks whether he should return the CPUs that were incorrectly declared defective. But his answers in the relevant thread show that he instead installs them in PCs and then wants to sell them.
It cannot be ruled out that his story is fictional. However, the information provided by the Reddit user (for example about the price of the CPU pins) is correct. Overall, we think the story is plausible.
In another case, a Reddit user claims to have had good luck buying a graphics card:
Incredible nonsense: How a wrong graphics card delivery ended up being a stroke of luck
how do you see it? Do you believe Neuralcarrot710's story? Are you perhaps such a resourceful hobbyist yourself that you can change or re-solder severely bent or even broken CPU pins? And have you had any experience with broken pins, both on processors and motherboards? Feel free to write it to us in the comments!