so my cpu is coming back after rma test, what are my chances?

I had problems, and could not locate the source. I leaned towards motherboard but with 30day deadlines looming I RMAed mobo, cpu, and mem.

anyway, excalibur tested the CPU and says it runs the expected speeds perfectly fine. so, my question, with my original problems, is it possible to hurt the CPU's potential speeds but maintain complete stability at stock speeds?

or is the CPU as good as it was before I touched it. and continue on like its brand new again.

Your processor is guaranteed by Advanced Micro Devices to run at its rated speed, given that its operating environment is not altered from specification by changing from reference cooling, a properly-constructed socket, ..., overclocking.

Question: Was this a "retail" or "OEM" package?

Your CPU should be good as before you touched it.

not sure. but it was overclocked, or underclocked...

I did the L12 mod before I should have. it was stable like that, but later it lost its stability, fsb kept dropping, till finally it wouldnt run at 133fsb and then the video card died. rma'd it, got it back, and the OS wouldnt load. wouldnt reinstall. computer wouldnt work. the whole time I couldnt get it stable. at one point though I did get 185x15mult. this is what scares me, it went 3 passes in memtest at this without error. temps remained under 43 the whole time. I shouldnt have attempted that, but Im afraid that hurt something.

Did you get the CPU with a heatsink in the same box, with AMD printed all over it?

If the processor was operated beyond its specified speeds, then your warranty is void and you should not attempt to return the processor to AMD.

185x15 = 2775 (!!!!!!!!)

If it's a T-bred, it is burnt. If it's a Barton (desktop), then I'd bet good money it's burnt. If it's a Barton (mobile), I'd say it's burnt. If it's a 64 of any kind, I'd say it's burnt.

no heatsink. it was watercooled, and the thermaltake sensor said 43degrees, idle was around 33. no burn marks on the CPU. and the guy at excalibur said it was running 2400+ speeds without a problem. I just wonder if 2400 is its limit now, or if I can still hope to overclock it like mad.

I would look at the motherboard or your power supply for problem. How high did you raise the vcore while overlocking?

I beleive I hit 1.85 at one point, but for that 185x15 it was only like 1.6. most of the time it was under 1.7 just took it up occasionally to try and get it stable, never happened.