Removing the CPU while the power is on [closed]

You will cause a rift in the space time continuum.

Seriously... (Based on a normal desktop machine - not a server that has hot-swappable CPUs) It will most likely be one of the following:

• Your computer will simply turn off and no damage will be done to anything
• The computer will halt and be unresponsive but still be turned on.

Based on my past experience, I will go for the second. When the Pentium 3 came in two variations - the card (Slot 1) and the regular kind (Socket 370), I bought myself an upgrade from the 450 MHz to 1 GHz (or 950 MHz, I forget), and the converter was a bit dodgy - the slightest vibration would cause it to move and lose contact.

When this happened, all that would happen was that the screen would freeze and the computer would be unresponsive - but, surprisingly, no long term damage and a simple restart fixed it. I can not guarantee the same would happen to you, and I would highly recommend that you do not try it.

You probably won't be able to. Most computers will shut down when the temperature gets too high. In order to take the CPU out, you will have to remove the heatsink which will cause the temp to skyrocket and trigger the shutdown.

It is now very dangerous to remove CPU from any modern system. Modern CPUs have power draw in excess of 50W and they are operating at <1.5V, that gives some 30 amperes of current. This is already very dangerous. In addition, modern CPU requires active cooling, which is usually latched to the motherboard.

and then, if you have the luxury to remove the CPU together with the heatsink, what will most likely happen is that the high current will then have to flow through a very high contact resistance the moment you try to remove the CPU from e.g. the LGA or socket. this will result in sparking and frying the CPU.

and back then, when CPU uses really low power, unplugging the CPU did no damage except floating all control line (which may or may not wreck the system depends on what the controller lines are doing - most of the time the control line are active low, and therefore taking the CPU out of the question sometimes means activating all output -- i have tried once back then using 80c86 microcontroller.

The magic smoke will likely escape from the PC, rendering it inoperable.

I'd be very worried about sparks jumping the gap between the pins and the socket when you unplug it, and one way or the other you'd probably cause damage to the system.