Bent AMD CPU prongs

[Michelle83]

Okay.. I'm going to make this as brief as possible. I've had a ton of problems with my computer for the past week. I thought it was because of the high humidity and heat out here in California. I was having issues with my monitor going black. Thought it was a video card problem, (GeForce 9400GT 1g) but the temperature on that wasn't going any higher than 56c. I was told that card can withstand up to 90c. After re-pasting that, I was still having problems. Reformatted my computer (Sigh), took me a full day to get everything back together, and was still having problems. This time it actually shut off on me and reset. Called EVGA, Called Ibuypower (Which is where I bought my PC), called Gigabyte about my motherboard, NO HELP what so ever.

So, after getting my computer up and running, I was still having problems with the monitor going black. Used another monitor, still having the same problem. So then I realize.. hey, check your cpu. So, I take off the processor. Mind you, I have never removed a CPU before. But because of lack of help from anyone, I decided to do it myself. I removed the metal clips, And started moving the cpu back and forth to remove it. I didn't know that I had to actually remove the fan and heat sink, and leave the actual CPU in the motherboard. Anyway, Once I removed the CPU, I thought to myself.. Oh hell, that's not right. I took the processor off, put thermal paste on, and tried to put it back in. Only problem, it won't go back in gently like it's supposed to. Some of the prongs are bent. I've tried my best fixing them. Using methods of a credit card that I've heard to use and tweezer to fix a few badly bent prongs. The prongs are set the best I can, I move the bar up, put the CPU in, put the bar down to lock it in, but the CPU isn't set in. Is this the way it should be, and is only set in properly once the heat sink and fan is put back on? Or am I better off getting a new CPU? The prongs aren't bent THAT bad. Some are just not centered as well as they should be. Sorry for the long post. But I'm at my wits end trying to get this thing back up and running.

Thanks.

Athlon 64 X2 3800+
3G of Ram
Gigabyte Ga-m55sli-s4 1.0
Windows XP

 

[red1776]

Hi Michelle,
assuming you have the pins straightened correctly, you have to line up the gold arrow in one of the corners of the CPU, PCB (the green substrate the CPU is on) with the embossed arrows on the CPU socket.(AMD's only) It will drop in then. If not , the pins are not straight yet. Get a eyeglass repair kit screw driver, and a magnifying glass and take your time (thats about all the advice I can give) take your time and look at them from several angles to make sure they align down the rows of pins.
hope that helps

 

[Michelle83]

So it basically sounds like to me, that I need a lot of patience to put these prongs back to where they need to be. So it's not broken enough to get a new one, just need to bend them back into place? I really appreciate the advice. I've been dealing with all of these issues for about a week now and it was literally driving me insane to try and diagnose the problem. Now that I know it was the CPU, I wish that was the first thing I checked.

 

[dustin_ds3000]

You should get a mechanical pencil and take all the graphite out, then you can use the tiny hole at the end to fix the pins.

 

[Michelle83]

Good news! I had a family member bend the prongs back to the correct place, and he succesfully got the CPU to go back in. Thanks for the great advice. I'm glad I can be stress free now.

 

[crunchie]

I have also used a credit card to slide between the rows of pins to make sure they are parallel .