CPU motherboard locking mechanism question

[liquidblue69mce]

First post, so with that known… I am going through my 1st PC build and I got all I need. Got some help from a friend at school and all has gone well until… I got an AMD/motherboard combo, got it home, and got a little excited. I connected the CPU/cooling fan to the mother and then decided to remove it. I unlocked the fan clips that secure it to the MB. I was careful not to muscle the fan off, but “pop” the fan came off and so did the CPU.

The CPU pins were in the locked position and it still came out, the surface tension of the therm. interface is really high I guess, so I separated the CPU from the fan bottom face and cleaned off the therm. goop and I was able to inspect the pins on the CPU with a high power magnifying glass 25X (not touching them of course) and they all looked OK. I was also able to put the CPU back into place and lock it too.

Yes, the question is reviled: Did I damage the CPU by pulling it out while in the locked position on the motherboard? Do I have to complete the build to find out if there is actual damage? Or is this is one of those “oops” that happens from time to time?

[flanzig1]

If the CPU came out without broken pins, your probably OK. But, your still going to have to reassemle the computer to see if the CPU is ok. If you need to remove the HSU, do it after the computer has been on for a while so the thermal compound softens from the heat.

[glc]

You don't have to totally complete the build, as a matter of fact, it's always a good idea to do a quick "out of the case" test before mounting the motherboard into the case anyway.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=12753

Make sure you properly clean and reapply thermal material when remounting the HSF.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by liquidblue69mce

Did I damage the CPU by pulling it out while in the locked position on the motherboard?

Probably not.

Originally Posted by liquidblue69mce

Do I have to complete the build to find out if there is actual damage?

No, just do the "out of case" procedures that glc linked to.

Originally Posted by liquidblue69mce

Or is this is one of those “oops” that happens from time to time?

It happens.

Cricket

[CaptainMoustache]

one thing you might wanna do is get some thermal paste and re-aplly it. Since you haven't heated it up yet and the pad hasn't melted you should be fine but some people say that doing so may trap air in there and hinder heat transfer.

[liquidblue69mce]

The technique work! Everything’s OK, as I expected. I got my BIOS window on the monitor and ram, CPU were located. It took a while I had gone through some trouble shooting steps from the attached thread. I took a digital pic, but my transfer cord with at my g-friend’s house. I will post that later. I found pay dirt, a wealth of PC knowledge all in one place. I will be in touch in the near future, again my this 1st build.

-Hector