I left the cover off a tower PC and walked away while it installed linux (yes, bad idea). The cover had the cpu fan mounted on it but the CPU also had a fan strapped on it. I don’t know if the CPU-mounted fan was running or if the machine was entirely dependent on the cover-mounted fan directly above the cpu.
Someone junked this PC (asus p5b) simply because it’s old (2007). Seems like a high-end gaming machine designed for overclocking. Strangely, when I returned to the machine to find it powered off, I felt the heatsink and it did not feel warm at all. Power supply is apparently fine because a green LED on the motherboard is lit. When I press the power-on button the HDD LED flashes for a split second but nothing happens.
I thought if CPUs get too hot there is a protection mechanism to force a power off. Was that the case in 2007? The manual mentions this:
CPU TM function [Enabled] Allows you to enable or disable the CPU internal thermal control function. In TM mode, the CPU power consumption is reduced. Configuration options: [Disabled] [Enabled]
Would that setting cause a protective shutdown? I don’t know how that was set.
Turn off the PC and PSU switched off, unplug the PC and click the power button a few times. Clear the CMOS battery. Keep it removed while you fully unseat the fan mount and CPU. Repaste and remount them and put a new CMOS battery in, if it’s from 2007 it’s likely on its last legs even it had been changed in 2014.
Clearing the CMOS will set the BIOS back to default, and reseating the fan and CPU will ensure any potential issue there has been cleared. It also gives you a chance to see if anything is burned