Well, it's not normal even for retro motherboards. But if it works it works. Important thing is if it's still working when screwed down in a case. It will then flex a bit back. It's not ideal of course but I had motherboards more bent like that. Be careful when trying to straightening it btw as some traces can break if doing it to abruptly (not really needed in this case).

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-02-18, 12:10:

Well, it's not normal even for retro motherboards. But if it works it works. Important thing is if it's still working when screwed down in a case. It will then flex a bit back. It's not ideal of course but I had motherboards more bent like that. Be careful when trying to straightening it btw as some traces can break if doing it to abruptly (not really needed in this case).

Oh ok ok, so it is something that's bound to happen in certain scenarios, not ideal but possible.
For now I screwed it on my test bench, but it's still in horizontal position, not vertical. I'm also not very keen in trying to straightening it, since it does work, and I could just break it. I just hope it won't be a problem when I install a bigger cooler for the planned 4770k I wanna put in there.

Thanks for the insight, unfortunately (for whatever reason) I struggled in searching the web (either the duck or google) for suggestions about bent used MOBOs.

With used boards, especially Intel ones where the stock style push-pin or aftermarket push-pin coolers are used, you can get a huge bulge in the board after a certain amount of time.

And yet, Intel insists on continuing to use them.

Some boards are also thinner than what I would calla acceptable and warping is way more likely to happen.

Warping like what your board is, does seem sort of weird though, bit I guess an especially heavy cooler could cause that.

cyclone3d wrote on 2026-02-18, 14:33:

With used boards, especially Intel ones where the stock style push-pin or aftermarket push-pin coolers are used, you can get a h […]
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With used boards, especially Intel ones where the stock style push-pin or aftermarket push-pin coolers are used, you can get a huge bulge in the board after a certain amount of time.

And yet, Intel insists on continuing to use them.

Some boards are also thinner than what I would calla acceptable and warping is way more likely to happen.

Warping like what your board is, does seem sort of weird though, bit I guess an especially heavy cooler could cause that.

I know, right? That's why I'm going around asking about it, because it feels kinda too much. But even in other places I've been told that, while not common or normal, it can happen without ruining the board itself.
I didn't pay a lot for it (50€), and when looking at normal pricings for other upper end Z87 boards, I still feel it wasn't that much.
But I sure question the "excellent condition" in the listing.

Most likely it was mounted such that it "sagged" over time ... you want to look for any stress indications (discolored stripe on PCB, incipient cracking on components or solder joints etc. which might suggest it was more "forcefully" bent.

Also... make sure when you screw it in a case, you go slowly ... Get it just enough for the screws to hold, leave it a day, a few more turns, leave a day ...
until it all the way. This isn't going to magically make it flat again, but it will let things adjust slowly a bit at a time to the new position.

DaveDDS wrote on 2026-02-18, 15:31:

Most likely it was mounted such that it "sagged" over time ... you want to look for any stress indications (discolored stripe on PCB, incipient cracking on components or solder joints etc. which might suggest it was more "forcefully" bent.

Also... make sure when you screw it in a case, you go slowly ... Get it just enough for the screws to hold, leave it a day, a few more turns, leave a day ...
until it all the way. This isn't going to magically make it flat again, but it will let things adjust slowly a bit at a time to the new position.

I didn't notice any signs of stress.
About screwing it in the case... I alredy mounted it on a horizontal test bench. I never tight any screws in a PC build, I just turn them without any pressure until I encounter the first sign of resistance.
After installing it it booted and I've used it for more than an hour.

This evening I'll unmount it and do a more indeep inspections for signs of stress, then test it again and decide what to do about the declared "excellent conditions" in the listing. Thanks to you too for the insight!

TBH I've seen a bunch of bent boards over time. It feels a little wrong but it's never been a strong indicator for functionality on the board being broken.

I have a motherboard that bent because the stands at the bottom of the case in which it was mounted were slightly lower than those at the top. The difference was very small, measurable with a gauge. But it was enough to bend it permanently. It is a motherboard from 2010, which was dismantled a few months ago while still working. And it is an E-ATX board. What others have mentioned about the original Intel heat sinks, in the early days of Pentium 4 775, was incredible how the motherboards bent after a while in the CPU socket area. In the case of M-ATX motherboards, it was even worse, because it affected the entire motherboard, as seems to be the case with your motherboard, even though it is not M-ATX.

Beerfloat wrote on 2026-02-18, 15:51:

TBH I've seen a bunch of bent boards over time. It feels a little wrong but it's never been a strong indicator for functionality on the board being broken.

That absolutely, this board works fine for now, with a i5 4570 and GTX 560ti. I don't think it'll have more problems with a 4770k and a 900 or 10 seires GPU.

Hoping wrote on 2026-02-18, 16:03:

I have a motherboard that bent because the stands at the bottom of the case in which it was mounted were slightly lower than those at the top. The difference was very small, measurable with a gauge. But it was enough to bend it permanently. It is a motherboard from 2010, which was dismantled a few months ago while still working. And it is an E-ATX board. What others have mentioned about the original Intel heat sinks, in the early days of Pentium 4 775, was incredible how the motherboards bent after a while in the CPU socket area. In the case of M-ATX motherboards, it was even worse, because it affected the entire motherboard, as seems to be the case with your motherboard, even though it is not M-ATX.

Unfortunately I don't know if it was caused by the original Intel heatsink (which I'm currently using). The seller told me that he got this board as a backup for a similar one he owned, and when he got it (used) it was alredy bent, and the previous seller basically told him what he told me.

What if you stuck some foam under the bend, just enough to straighten it even slightly, and then let heat do the rest of the work? It wouldn't straighten it completely but maybe the ports would become more aligned with the holes in time.

bartonxp wrote on 2026-02-18, 18:40:

What if you stuck some foam under the bend, just enough to straighten it even slightly, and then let heat do the rest of the work? It wouldn't straighten it completely but maybe the ports would become more aligned with the holes in time.

I've read it somewhere to do something similar, like putting non conductive material underneat to help straight out the MOBO but... What if I just bork it? For now it does work and, maybe, once installed vertically in a big case with a big cooler, it will shape back into form, even a little bit.

I saw these bends all the time with socket 775 and newer intel sockets when I was doing computer repairs as a living. It is why all the better heatsinks came with a metal or thick plastic spacer to go on other side of the board under the CPU. The stock coolers put such insane force on the CPU, some 3mm+ of bulge after several years is inevitability and sometimes it actually warps the board as seen in first post.

I have once tried to flatten out a board like that which used a BGA socket, and the board didn't work afterward. It wasn't actually flattening per se but using a fancy cooler with a spacer and once it was all mounted it did flatten the board fair bit... and made the board unbootable (it was a bad caps salvage from work so I wasn't overly sad or anything). So unless there's a through hole CPU socket and northbridge sufficiently far away I would not even try. The solder balls of a surface mounted socket or a BGA chip are not gonna be very happy contracting the other direction...

Tiido wrote on 2026-02-18, 20:39:

I saw these bends all the time with socket 775 and newer intel sockets when I was doing computer repairs as a living. It is why all the better heatsinks came with a metal or thick plastic spacer to go on other side of the board under the CPU. The stock coolers put such insane force on the CPU, some 3mm+ of bulge after several years is inevitability and sometimes it actually warps the board as seen in first post.

I have once tried to flatten out a board like that which used a BGA socket, and the board didn't work afterward. It wasn't actually flattening per se but using a fancy cooler with a spacer and once it was all mounted it did flatten the board fair bit... and made the board unbootable (it was a bad caps salvage from work so I wasn't overly sad or anything). So unless there's a through hole CPU socket and northbridge sufficiently far away I would not even try. The solder balls of a surface mounted socket or a BGA chip are not gonna be very happy contracting the other direction...

Yup, that's what I thougt. I'm not gonna try to straighten it back and just put a 4770k and a different cooler from the intel stock one. I hope this won't bork the board entirely. I spent 50 € on it, which isn't a lot for high end Z87 board on ebay (easily around 100€), but still... I would be disappointed.
Luckly I do have another 1150 board at hand, but it's an mATX H81, so not really the fit for a 4770k.

It's pretty common ever since CPU coolers started mounting to the PCB instead of the CPU socket. They warp boards. The clamping force is too high and/or the mounting plate underneath the board is not rigid enough to resist warpage. Don't try to bend it back, but do try to prevent it from getting worse.

Der8auer has a nice 4 year old video on this subject Will this Hefty Bend Kill the Motherboard?

It is normal. My Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 has Scythe Ninja 5 mounted on it and despite having a steel backplate it still bent by like 1mm. I have seen many bent AM2 steel backplates and even bought 4 new spare ones for this reason.

It could be prevented by applying less mounting pressure, but because of the way coolers are constructed there is no way to distribute pressure evently without fully tightening all screws.

I would replace the backplate with a straight one. Do not try to straighten the motherboard by force.

I wouldn't worry about the motherboard failing, just get a spare one. I have 3x Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3.

bakemono wrote on 2026-02-19, 16:32:

It's pretty common ever since CPU coolers started mounting to the PCB instead of the CPU socket. They warp boards. The clamping force is too high and/or the mounting plate underneath the board is not rigid enough to resist warpage. Don't try to bend it back, but do try to prevent it from getting worse.

Ok... So It's a good thing I alredy ordered a ThermalRight spirit phantom because, currently, I'm testing the MOBO with the stock Intel cooler. Better stop using that thing.

weedeewee wrote on 2026-02-19, 17:48:

Der8auer has a nice 4 year old video on this subject Will this Hefty Bend Kill the Motherboard?

Gonna watch it, thanks!

AlexZ wrote on 2026-02-19, 18:55:

It is normal. My Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 has Scythe Ninja 5 mounted on it and despite having a steel backplate it still bent by li […]
Show full quote

It is normal. My Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 has Scythe Ninja 5 mounted on it and despite having a steel backplate it still bent by like 1mm. I have seen many bent AM2 steel backplates and even bought 4 new spare ones for this reason.

It could be prevented by applying less mounting pressure, but because of the way coolers are constructed there is no way to distribute pressure evently without fully tightening all screws.

I would replace the backplate with a straight one. Do not try to straighten the motherboard by force.

I wouldn't worry about the motherboard failing, just get a spare one. I have 3x Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3.

Yeah... The seller told me he had three spares, all working, and was selling them. This one was the last of the lot he had. Unfortunately, MOBOs like these are pretty expensive on ebay. About the backplate... I don't think the new cooler will replace the existing backplate, just add it's own.
I won't try to bend it back by force, that sounded stupid even before your warnings.

WELP

Installed the cooler and... I dunnow, it almost feel like the bend remained the same, or it even increased by a few microns...
The PC still boots and runs fine.

I hope nothing wrong happens when I move it from my horizontal test bench to the final case, vertical.

Adding a backplate for a heatsink isn't going to straighten the board. The damage is done by that point (typically by a stock intel heatsink with the push pins). And bending it back is likely just to make things worse - flexing metal one way is bad, but flexing it back in the opposite direction is so much worse...