i have a very curious heat problem on my k6 2/400, and would like to know if any of you has any experience concerning that issue.

i think it all started when by some strange reason, the cpu cooler died, and since i used to keep my case closed, i didn't notice. thus, the cpu overheated (and it overheated a lot!! i live in a place where we get an ambient temperature of 44ºC in summer!!). it overheated so much, that when i removed the cooler to replace it, the plastic label on it was all black on the sides and rugged, as if it were burnt.
anyway, i replaced the cooler, and everything seemed to work perfectly... until winter. then the thing refused to start... everything ran apparently perfect, but the screen just remained blank... no POST, no nothing. but, i found out after a few sleepless nights, that if i disconnected the cooler, and left the cpu to pre-heat a little bit, it would start! then, i could plug the cooler back again to keep the thing from overheating.

i think that some tiny circuit track inside the cpu burnt when it overheated that time, and since then it needs to expand due to the heat to close the circuit, and if it is cold, it shrinks and opens the circuit, thus not letting any electricity flow through it.

what do you think about that? ever heard of something like that? if so, did you just replace the cpu?? could it possibly not be the cpu, but the motherboard???

thanks a lot in advance

Yep...That is strange...

I think I would start by testing with another CPU, if problems are still evident then consider motherboard. Overheating the CPU isn't likely to damage the board, but I would bet it is possible. If the heatsink got hot enough to deform the surface, sufficient heat to affect the board might be possible, I would expect CPU problems to be more likely.

Oh, and even though it's not a newer CPU, that range of AMD definitely requires a functioning heatsink and fan. I won't even think about running my 500 without them...