Can a broken motherboard damage a CPU?

[wakjah]

Hi,

I have a spare Asus motherboard lying around that I bought a while ago that isn't being used. I bought it to go in a PC with a second-hand CPU which may have been broken when I tried it with the motherboard - I had tried it with another mobo that I had but it didn't work at all with that so I got the new mobo, and it didn't work with that either. By "it didn't work", I mean there were no error beeps, and nothing displayed on the screen. Since it worked with neither mobo, I assume the CPU is broken.

My question is, is it possible that the Asus motherboard (which was brand new at the time) was damaged by the broken CPU? Further to that, if I put a known working CPU in this motherboard, and the motherboard is broken, will it damage the working CPU?

I want to put this board in the PC that I'm currently using, because it's better than the board that's in there at the moment, but I don't want to risk damaging the working CPU.

Thanks

 

[Bigfellla]

The answer to all your questions is MAYBE, but unlikely. You would have to be unlucky. Static probably killed it just as likely. I wouldn't stress, but it is impossible to be sure *from here*.

Ps, dont forget you will need a new OS probably as well.