Motherboard CPU-socket with bent pins: I've tried to repair, will it work?

[Bobbi]

Hello together,

I'm a bit sad and I need some help of you guys... :( A few weeks ago, I bought a used Asus P10S-I motherboard to save some money (student...). When unboxing the device yesterday in the evening, I saw that some CPU-pins were bent. At this place, thanks to the seller...

I've tried my best to fix that in a work of more than two hours. Do you think this will work for the CPU? Or should I buy a new board to protect the CPU? :( It was a lot of microscopic work...

Thanks a lot for your help!

With best regards!
Bobbi

 

[Pitfrr]

Hello,

I had a similar situation with my supermicro X9 board... but only with one pin and it was much less than what you have.
I could bend it back and since it's working quite nicely.
What you could do is check out on the pinout of the connector and based on the processor you're gonna use, maybe, with a bit of luck, those pins are not used. :-O

In your case I don't know if I would try it out...
Or maybe buy a (second hand) Celeron and try it before putting a more expensive CPU. It will be still cheaper than buying a new motherboard..... if it works!

And also you might want to limit your tryouts to avoid too much stress on the pins (when inserting the CPU).

Good luck!

 

[Bobbi]

Well, I have to remark that all those pictures show exactly the same pins, but with different viewing directions. The rest of the socket is still fine.

Actually I don't know what to do. The processor for testing should be compatible with the board as well... I "only" paid 90,- EUR for the board, so the damage is not drastic. But as a student it is annoying nevertheless...

 

[Pitfrr]

They are all in one location but you still have something like 4 pins that look a bit worrying.
If I take your picture:

If the upper left corner (in your circle in red) is at the coordinate 1;1 (x;y).
Then I find pins 3;5, 3;6 a bit off, you might get them back like the rest?
And pin 1;3 seems "weak" (like don't touch it anymore it might break)...

So again, I'd check the pinout of the socket for your CPU and evaluate the "danger".

I can understand that it's annoying when you get that for 90€!
What is the CPU you have, and how much did you spent for it?
I mean by that: you paid 90€ for the motherboard, you could get a 40€ CPU (Celeron G3900) and you could try it. If it works out, you can have a running system quite cheap.
If it's not working, well... then you lost 130€! which sucks anyway!

Of course if you already have a CPU and you paid like 200€ for it, I think I'd get a new motherboard! (and I think I would definitely try with a G3900 a G4400 and if it works I'd have a nice test and backup system!).

 

[ChriZ]

Well, can't say "go for it", but have tried it in the past and the CPU was not harmed.
I couldn't fix the bent pins, no matter how hard I tried and had to get a new motherboard.
The CPU remained intact, though...

Can't you contact the seller and get a refund?

 

[wblock]

If you fix the bent pins, it might work. Even without fixing them, it might work. But if it has reliability problems then, there will be no way to tell if they are due to that socket. (And they could be, many of the processor pins are duplicates, like for ground connections, but that does not mean they are not required electrically.)

If the fixed pins are not quite right, trying to use it could damage the motherboard or CPU, either physically or electrically.

There are businesses who replace damaged sockets, although it is only practical for expensive motherboards.

If you bought this as working, the seller is responsible.

 

[MatthewSteinhoff]

Roll the dice and give it a try. In my experience, it'll be a pass-fail situation; it'll either work or it won't work. I can't imagine a situation where it would become unstable.

The chances of frying your chip are very low. I've seen a bunch if incorrectly installed chips and haven't seen one get fried.

Cheers,
Matt