VOGONS


First post, by Mondodimotori

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This relates to the tread about checking Cedal Mill CPU in 775 mobos with AGP slot.
The other day I finally received an ASUS P5P800 SE from a big Ebay reseller, listed as "excellent conditions - refurbished", but packaged very poorly, with the socket cover that detached from it during shipping and, to my surprise, a single bent pin and thermal paste in the socket.

I alredy got refunded, but the seller didn't even try to process it for repairs (considering they offer like 3 years of warranty) and it's ghosting me in the replies so...
Until the usual shop I use for repair opens, do you thing I could try and fix this socket myself at home? The rest of the MOBO appears in good conditions, despite the poor packaging. What's your experience with similarly mangled sockets?

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Reply 1 of 8, by SScorpio

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From pin 1 can you could over the column and rows of pins that are concerns? I big number of the pins are ground. So it's possible it will work without issue.

Reply 2 of 8, by Mondodimotori

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SScorpio wrote on Today, 15:51:

From pin 1 can you could over the column and rows of pins that are concerns? I big number of the pins are ground. So it's possible it will work without issue.

The first picture shows where the bent pin is located. It's on the inside, the first row from the center of the socket. I could move it back into position with a toothpick, but it's harder than moving pins on a CPU directly (I use to line them up with a pocker card)

But my main concern is those two sploch of thermal paste... I triend with compressed air but they are pretty sticky and won't move a millimiter.

Reply 3 of 8, by Repo Man11

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I would think that electrical contact cleaner would remove the thermal paste with no issues, that's what I would try first.

A lot of times when you first start out on a project you think, This is never going to be finished. But then it is, and you think, Wow, it wasn't even worth it. - Jack Handey

Reply 4 of 8, by Shponglefan

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If you have a magnifier of some sort, you can use fine-tipped tweezers to pick out the thermal paste and adjust the bent pin.

I had an LGA775 socket that had thermal paste in the socket and it was easy enough to pick out with tweezers. I would try that before using any cleaning fluid, since fluids will dissolve the paste and cause it to run elsewhere.

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Reply 5 of 8, by SScorpio

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Mondodimotori wrote on Today, 16:22:
SScorpio wrote on Today, 15:51:

From pin 1 can you could over the column and rows of pins that are concerns? I big number of the pins are ground. So it's possible it will work without issue.

The first picture shows where the bent pin is located. It's on the inside, the first row from the center of the socket. I could move it back into position with a toothpick, but it's harder than moving pins on a CPU directly (I use to line them up with a pocker card)

But my main concern is those two sploch of thermal paste... I triend with compressed air but they are pretty sticky and won't move a millimiter.

The picture is low resolution and the bracket is closed. There isn't a way to get a good count from it.

It looks like it might be on the inside edge, but its very difficult to make out.

Reply 6 of 8, by Mondodimotori

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Repo Man11 wrote on Today, 16:48:

I would think that electrical contact cleaner would remove the thermal paste with no issues, that's what I would try first.

Shponglefan wrote on Today, 17:07:

If you have a magnifier of some sort, you can use fine-tipped tweezers to pick out the thermal paste and adjust the bent pin.

I had an LGA775 socket that had thermal paste in the socket and it was easy enough to pick out with tweezers. I would try that before using any cleaning fluid, since fluids will dissolve the paste and cause it to run elsewhere.

SScorpio wrote on Today, 17:51:

The picture is low resolution and the bracket is closed. There isn't a way to get a good count from it.

It looks like it might be on the inside edge, but its very difficult to make out.

Here's a better pic. The pin is bent towards the pin on top of it, i can see it IRL

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Reply 7 of 8, by SScorpio

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It's possible I'm orienting things wrong in my head, but I think that AE-11 which is a VCC so it's a power pad.

Get a long sewing needle and very carefully try bending it back into position. But really you should be fine. Just also carefully try scraping out the thermal paste with the same pin.

https://www.gadget-manual.com/pinout-cpu/

Reply 8 of 8, by Mondodimotori

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SScorpio wrote on Today, 19:25:

It's possible I'm orienting things wrong in my head, but I think that AE-11 which is a VCC so it's a power pad.

Get a long sewing needle and very carefully try bending it back into position. But really you should be fine. Just also carefully try scraping out the thermal paste with the same pin.

https://www.gadget-manual.com/pinout-cpu/

Call me a dragon or something... Because I did it. A small pin head from an old sewing kit was all I needed to move the paste away to the center of the socket, then shaking the board upside down to get it out for good. In the end just a steady hand, flashed light on top of it, and very little force, I was able to bend the pin back into position. And... IT LIVES.

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Now waiting on those couple of cedar mills so that I can test them out in my 775 AGP boards (that's a BIOS revision I don't know tough... not appearing on the ASUS website for this board.)