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Bent Pins on a 486 DX2 66

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First post, by tegrady

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I am looking to buy an Intel 486 DX2 66mhz CPU on eBay.

I found one, but some of the pins are a little bent.

Can these pins be successfully bent back, or should I just skip this CPU?

Here is the seller's picture.

Thanks!

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Reply 2 of 23, by brostenen

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During my time of PC system builder between 2003 and 2006, I used a box cutter knife to straighten out SocketA and Socket-478 CPU pins. By placing the blade on the backside of the CPU, right up to the pins, one entire row. Then lifting the pins up again. However pins on A and 478 CPU's are thinner than Socket3 CPU's. Just be carefull and stop lifting, once the blade are aligned with the pins that are not bent. Just take your time.

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Reply 6 of 23, by Windows9566

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i had 2 pentium 90 CPUs that had many bent pins, i used a socket from a broken k6 motherboard for test fitting when bending the pins back to shape, i tested them in my Intel TE430VX from a Gateway P5-133 after fixing the pins and they both worked fine.

R5 5600X, 32 GB RAM, RTX 3060 TI, Win11
P3 600, 256 MB RAM, nVidia Riva TNT2 M64, SB Vibra 16S, Win98
PMMX 200, 128 MB RAM, S3 Virge DX, Yamaha YMF719, Win95
486DX2 66, 32 MB RAM, Trident TGUI9440, ESS ES688F, DOS

Reply 7 of 23, by SW-SSG

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A mechanical pencil after taking the lead out works very well for Socket 3/4 chips, but often the newer sockets put the pins too close together to make this realistic.

Windows9566 wrote:

i had 2 pentium 90 CPUs ...

Dude, your signature is ridiculous... this is literally how it looks on my display (with the browser window maximized):

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Reply 8 of 23, by probnot

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SW-SSG wrote:
A mechanical pencil after taking the lead out works very well for Socket 3/4 chips, but often the newer sockets put the pins too […]
Show full quote

A mechanical pencil after taking the lead out works very well for Socket 3/4 chips, but often the newer sockets put the pins too close together to make this realistic.

Windows9566 wrote:

i had 2 pentium 90 CPUs ...

Dude, your signature is ridiculous... this is literally how it looks on my display (with the browser window maximized):

lolsig.png

Took me a bit to realize it wasn't part of the post.

Reply 9 of 23, by bbhaag

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Besides the mechanical pencil trick I've also used a credit card to straighten bent pins. Google "credit card to straighten bent pins" to see examples of how to properly do it.

I also agree that Windows9566 sig is to large.

Reply 10 of 23, by Windows9566

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SW-SSG wrote:
A mechanical pencil after taking the lead out works very well for Socket 3/4 chips, but often the newer sockets put the pins too […]
Show full quote

A mechanical pencil after taking the lead out works very well for Socket 3/4 chips, but often the newer sockets put the pins too close together to make this realistic.

Windows9566 wrote:

i had 2 pentium 90 CPUs ...

Dude, your signature is ridiculous... this is literally how it looks on my display (with the browser window maximized):

lolsig.png

the net surfer bios logo was on a Intel TC430HX, i thought it looked cool so i took a pic of it.

R5 5600X, 32 GB RAM, RTX 3060 TI, Win11
P3 600, 256 MB RAM, nVidia Riva TNT2 M64, SB Vibra 16S, Win98
PMMX 200, 128 MB RAM, S3 Virge DX, Yamaha YMF719, Win95
486DX2 66, 32 MB RAM, Trident TGUI9440, ESS ES688F, DOS

Reply 12 of 23, by Ozzuneoj

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The absolute best thing I've found for straightening CPU pins is this Pentel GraphGear 500 0.5mm drafting pencil:
https://www.amazon.com/Pentel-GraphGear-Autom … &tag=mozilla-20

61eez4xLYXL._SX425_.jpg

I bought one last year for this specific purpose and it works beautifully. The .5mm tip fits perfectly on most CPU pins from the 90s. The long slender tip actually prevents the pencil from bumping into (and bending) nearby pins. To make it even more convenient, the end with the tip actually unscrews, so if you want something a little smaller, you can just unscrew it and use that. I use the pencil for writing notes and labeling things, so it also works great for its intended purpose. 😀

As a side note, when dealing with bent pin\jumper headers on boards I've found that the little red tubes that come on compressed air cans work very well. They are the right size to fit between pins most of the time, rigid enough to bend them easily but soft enough to prevent me from cracking the pin housing with too much pressure.

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.

Reply 13 of 23, by LunarG

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Okay, so enough people have already answered this, but still: I've come across CPU's where half the pins were practically flattened against the CPU base. But with some time, patience, the blade from a Stanley knife and a good pair of pliers and a tweezer, I managed to get them all straight enough that it went straight into the socket. That was a socket 7 CPU though, with more pins in a more annoying pattern, so a few bent pins is nothing to worry about.

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DOS6.22 : Intel DX4, 64MB RAM, 1.6GB HDD, Diamond Stealth64 DRAM, GUS 1MB, SB16.

Reply 14 of 23, by Ozzuneoj

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One thing worth mentioning...

If you ever come across an Evergreen or other similar CPU upgrade device with bent pins, be extremely careful, and don't get your hopes up. The pins are HORRIBLY fragile. I tried straightening the pins on one last year, right before buying the pencil mentioned earlier and I had a couple pins snap right off with minimal pressure. I think they're made out of aluminum... or maybe dried Play-Doh, I'm not sure.

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.

Reply 15 of 23, by PTherapist

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I've had pins break very easily on several Intel 486 SX CPUs. On the other hand, my AMD 486 CPUs (a DX-40 & a DX 100) which both had bent pins were a breeze to set right. Probably just coincidence, but interesting nonetheless.

Reply 17 of 23, by MCGA

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Ozzuneoj wrote:
The absolute best thing I've found for straightening CPU pins is this Pentel GraphGear 500 0.5mm drafting pencil: https://www.am […]
Show full quote

The absolute best thing I've found for straightening CPU pins is this Pentel GraphGear 500 0.5mm drafting pencil:
https://www.amazon.com/Pentel-GraphGear-Autom … &tag=mozilla-20

I bought one last year for this specific purpose and it works beautifully. The .5mm tip fits perfectly on most CPU pins from the 90s. The long slender tip actually prevents the pencil from bumping into (and bending) nearby pins. To make it even more convenient, the end with the tip actually unscrews, so if you want something a little smaller, you can just unscrew it and use that. I use the pencil for writing notes and labeling things, so it also works great for its intended purpose. 😀

As a side note, when dealing with bent pin\jumper headers on boards I've found that the little red tubes that come on compressed air cans work very well. They are the right size to fit between pins most of the time, rigid enough to bend them easily but soft enough to prevent me from cracking the pin housing with too much pressure.

These are a great ideas! Freak, I wish I had known about this last year, when I bent some of the pins on my P60. It took me a long time to get them straight again.

Reply 18 of 23, by appiah4

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The CPU in OP's photo has more straight pins than the most straight 486 CPU I came across, and I managed to straighten up and fix every single one of them. Go buy it.

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Reply 19 of 23, by Intel486dx33

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I use a computer back slot cover to get the pins lined up and tweezers if they are really bent.

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