Loose CPU socket stopping POST?

Justin95

Honorable
Jun 24, 2013
13
0
10,510
Asus Rampage IV extreme with i7 3960x. System has been running fine for the past year, but had a few minor glitches here and there. I moved the entire system overseas and now it won't POST. hit the power button, fans spin up for 1s, then die down. Any subsequent presses yield nothing. Switching on/off the PSU would allow the fans to start up for one second again, then, subsequently, nothing. All the motherboard indicator lights are on. I've tried with 1/no sticks of RAM, no GPU, 2 different working PSUs, and even without a CPU heat sink. Nothing works. 2 days before shipping the board back to RMA i came across a curious thing; the board responded with spinning fans and a split second of POST sequence lights when i wiggled the locking bars of the CPU socket. After a few minutes of playing around with it, i could not get the system to function but it always responded when i squirmed the locking bars. Could the CPU socket have suffered damage/came loose during the shipping process? If so, how can i fix it?
 

wildfire707

Distinguished
Your system probably took a jolt during shipping.

You cannot fix the socket itself, but it is likely that the processor shifted and the socket is fine.

You should try seating the CPU again if you have some spare thermal compound. If you are not used to working on computers, you should find someone who can help you out with this or take it to a place that can work on it that has a good reputation.
 

Justin95

Honorable
Jun 24, 2013
13
0
10,510
I've reseated the CPU several times. I wiped off excess thermal paste and checked for any discoloring of the CPU/socket...nothing seems burned. I'm ready to RMA this board (this is not the first time its had this exact same issue, amongst other glitches), but i'd hate to work on an apple laptop for two weeks until the RMA comes back.
The board only responds to the lower socket bar. All i had to do was to touch it; as if i'm some magical conductor, and the board would come to life for a split second. POST lights would flash, PSU/heatsink fans would spin up...then it would stop. When i touched the locking bar again, it'll repeat. I'm less annoyed and more curious now. This is such a mystery.