The LGA775 load plate is supposed to be bent?

Bent how? You might want to take a look at the many photos of the plate on the internet and in your MB manual for comparison.

My MB manual doesn't show the plate at the right angle, nor do any pictures on the Internet. Basically, the load plate is bent upwards on the end with the bit sticking out that the lever presses down on (other side of the hinged end). Because it curves upwards, you'd need to put quite a bit of force to push the lever down and lock it, and i'm afraid of putting too much pressure. Is this really necessary? At the moment, I'm leaving the plate loose but my computer isn't booting up so I'm starting to think that the pressure is obligatory for the PC to boot up.

What you are asking for is completly normal since the cpu chip doesn't have any pins to insert safely in a motherboard but holes that sit on pins and that needs more pressure to secure the cpu. Of course the first time it's surprising to see that a lot of pressure is needed and it's even more scary when it's the only cpu you have by the hand.

Thanks a lot... It's working now. I guess I am a little paranoid about damaging my CPU (especially when I've chipped off a bit of the metal cover over the die).