CPU - What parts of the CPU make electronic contact?

Vulture78 · October 3, 2022

Long story short, i thought I got a great deal on old Xeon CPUs on eBay. The sellers put QA stickers on the underside. I was hoping they would just peel off, but they are not going to peel off easily. I am going to need to use some q-tips and rubbing alcohol to get them all off.

I know the stickers are not covering the cpu where the pins would be... Does anyone know if the middle makes some kind of electronic contact as well? How thorough do I need to be to get the sticker residue off?

Dedayog · October 3, 2022

Look at your socket on the motherboard, nothing is in the middle to make contact. The stickers shouldn't effect anything at all.

Thomas4 · October 3, 2022

No the stickers won't cause a problem. But if you are interested, the glue can de removed by the application of denatured alcohol applied to the sticker.

A few drops applied with a cotton bud in a light coating is usually all that is needed to remove the sticker itself with another application required to completely remove the remaining adhesive.

If the sticker is vinyl, carefully either poke holes in the sticker or by using either a hobby knife or a razor blade, again CAREFULLY as not to scratch the item the sticker is attached to, the same steps apply.

In either case, wait a moment or two before trying to remove the sticker as this gives the time necessary to soften the adhesive and these steps can be repeated multiple times.