Xelloss on 13 December 2009
ESD (electrostatic discharge) can break a CPU and have it "look" perfectly fine (it just wont work correctly).
Your best hope is that the guy is just an idiot who thinks the CPU is broken but doesnt know how to configure the board correctly to get it to POST. Really no way you are going to be able to tell though, it is very possible for the CPU to be totally shot.
Sorry cant be more help, but the fact is in this case.... there is no way really to make an educated guess... you are betting mostly on the character\competance of the seller.
