I put together a dell Optiplex GX520 from parts obtained from dell and ebay. I have everything needed but didn't realize it didnt have a heatsink and fan shroud. I had to order it and it will take a few days. It does have a big fan in it. I have a Celeron D 3.33GHz Processor in it. Can I turn it on long enough to check out the bios without damaging anything until I get the heat sink? I just want to make sure it starts up at this point. I'll turn it off as soon I see something. Let me know if I will do damage. Thanks!

Don't do it!! The processor will have thermal protection, but there is no guarentee that it still won't fry. Without a HSF setup you may only get a few seconds before burnout.

Really? Only a few seconds? I woulda thought it would take longer than that to heat up
(Even if it is slightly longer still dont turn it on)

Well I read somewhere that an AMD chip would burn up quickly, but an Intel would just get severely hot and run for a bit very slowly.
I have to admit I plugged in the machine last night the way it was with no Heatsink or fan shroud, and it was already turned on, so I had to turn it off. It was only on for about 5 or 6 secs at best, and when I put my finger on the celeron d chip it was very hot to the touch that quickly. I wasnt sure if it would harm it for just a minute or so, so I thought I'd ask someone.

This was commonplace back in the days of K6s and pentium1s which could sometimes run for up to half an hour (under no load) without a heatsink (altouugh it was not recomended to run one that long with a heatsink). but with today's CPUs that can get up to 80C in a matter of seconds without a heatsink You should never start your system without a heatsink. Most moderm CPUs will automatically underclock to avoid frying but that's still is not a guarentee that you won't fry your CPU.

This is the stupidest thing iver never heard, just save your proc, and your fingers and buy a HSF.

I did buy one, but it was difficult to find. Ebay sellers didnt have any and even Dell parts was sold out so I had to order a compatable HSF from a different model that works according to Dell support. It just wont be here for a few days still. I was just a bit impatient to get it up and running! But I will continue to wait for it to come.

Thanks for all feedback.

Oh my friend had a dell mobo, and there mobo's are proprietary, which means like noother PSU's, HSF's will work with them, unless modified. Good, it works now.

only if you like a dead CPU.

I think this thread has gone far enough gentlemen.

Thread closed.