How do you tell if your good chip has gone bad?

[killem1x1]

If you are getting erroneous activity from your system, how do you pin it down to the chip.
I'm fairly certain that my BIOS is fried, and am about to install a new mobo, but began wondering about my sweet 1.4 'bird. Are there any "classic" symptoms of a "bad" chip?

[Wa11y]

Yes there are. They tend to stay out real late, come home smelling of alcohol and cheap perfume, and refuse to tell you where they've been. Also, check for any tatoos or piercings.

[rugby]

They also don't work.....:)

[cookedcomp]

sever instabilities at lower than usual clock speeds and the need of higher voltage's

[Colin]

As high stressed as the AMD chips are, the odds point to your CPU if you are experiencing problems. If lowering your speed or increasing the voltage helps, it's probably the CPU.

Check your PSU voltages. A failing PSU can cause instability too.