So… while I was uninstalling my CPU cooler, I had no idea that the processor could come off with the cooler instead of staying in the socket.
Unaware that the CPU was stuck to the bottom of the cooler, I kept pulling, wondering why the cooler wasn’t coming out easily. Turns out, the CPU was still attached and was being dragged around, bumping against the case — and I didn’t realize it.
When I finally noticed, my heart dropped. I managed to pry the processor off the cooler… only to find a bunch of bent pins staring back at me.
Cue the panic.
I spent the next 12 hours carefully fixing the pins using a knife. In the process, I accidentally broke three pins because they were way too bent. At that point, I had completely lost hope.
Still, I decided to try. I (somehow) got the CPU back into the socket after a lot of careful pin adjustment. At first, it wouldn’t boot, and I was beyond devastated.
But then… I tried again — and it booted.
It’s working fine now (surprisingly), though I haven’t tested it properly yet since I’m still waiting on thermal paste. Once that arrives, I’ll see how it actually performs.
Wish me luck — and please, learn from my mistake 😅
11 Comments
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How the FUCK did it post with THREE MUSSING PINS??????????
How tf does this even happen. You’ve given me a new fear, my paste is pretty sticky & I gotta take the cooler off tn.
Usually PC motherboards have a harness for CPU slots to hold it down. What the heck
Been there.
Future tip. Run some CPU benchmarks before removal next time to heat the paste. Spin the cooler off when removing.
How is that even possible? Unless I’m misremembering basically all mobos have a frame that holds the CPU into the socket no?
This has just unlocked a new fear for me lol
Twist before you pull… Or better yet get the processor heated up first before shutting down… Then twist and pull.
Make sure you’ve got all of your PCIe lanes and they’re operating at the right speeds. I’ve seen this before where the CPU will still work but you lose lanes/speed.
This gives me nightmares more than hellraiser ever did
Something similar happened to me yesterday when I was changing my motherboard. My PC was shut down for a while before I tried to disassemble everything so the cooler was stuck on pretty tight. I didn’t know about the twist thing so I just pulled harder and the cpu just came right off the socket with the cooler. I also had my heart in mouth in that moment but saw that there were no bent pins. Decided that I would install it just like that in the new motherboard before realizing that it wouldn’t work because the cpu lever lock couldn’t come down with the cooler still attached 😂. Googled and did the twist thing finally to separate them.