How fragile are MOBO socket pins for Core i7

[JessieJ]

I'm embakring on first build - and stretching my budget to get the i7. My final decision is where to purchase my MOBO from and do I want to seat the chip myself. The guy at local store told me that his dept would seat the chip for me for $10.00 to make sure I didn't damage it ( Wasn't anything I was concerned about til he mentioned it )

Today - I pulled apart my old DELL PC - and took out the cpu and heatsink to see what I was getting myself into re: socket installation. It was easy to remove and install - and had no problem buffing out the old thermal paste and re-applying new stuff. Conclusion - this guy is blowing smoke and it's no big deal.

Then I came across this article from " PC Stats "

As you probably know by now, Intel processors have no pins at all. Instead they merely have the electrical contacts where the pins (which are now built into the socket on the motherboard) will touch. While the lack of pins makes Core i7 socket 1366 and socket 1156 these chips much less fragile, the bottom of the processor should not be touched, as the gold contacts can be damaged by the oils on your fingers......

As you can see, the array of pins which connect the processor to the motherboard are now attached to the socket and they are very fragile and easily bent. All socket 1366 motherboards feature the metal shim (load plate) pictured below, which serves the dual purpose of locking down the processor once it is installed and protecting the pins from harm when it is not.

It is extremely important that the processor be installed slowly, carefully and vertically into the socket, and removed the same way. Any careless handling will damage the pins, and may leave you with a useless motherboard.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2385

How fragile is a MOBO socket really - assuming one is careful in seating the chip? The Pentium 4 I just reset was a breeze and I'm embarking on this venture to Build Yourself to know my PC inside and out.

I would like to seat the chip myself - but if there's a legitimate reason why it would make sense to defer the risk to my local retailer for $10 bucks - I might do it. The local retailer wants to seat the heatsink too - which I'm not particularly wantign him to do. I'll phone tomorrow to see if it's a must that he do so - in the $10.00 offer.

Thanks

 

[Mousemonkey]

Save yourself ten bucks and DIY, unless you are a complete caveman it's pretty difficult to F.U.

 

[BadTrip]

if you are that concerned, whats $10?

 

[Kraynor]

It's a pretty foolproof system to be honest... Line up the notch on one corner with the notch on the socket, place it down (no force), and let the socket cover do the rest.

 

[B-Unit]

Yea, as stated in your quote, just be sure you set it straight down, and you should have no problems whatsoever.

 

[mr_tuel]

Don't forget to match the triangle on the chip with the triangle on the socket.

 

[jimmysmitty]

I was iffy on my first LGA775 build. But it is actually very very easy. I was suprised.

Its even easier than the old PGA478s because the pins don't get in the way and are not in your hand to bend.

Just look at the guides, match up the triangles and then bam. You are set.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Are the i7 heatsinks/fan still worthless like the 775 ones?

 

[JessieJ]

Are the i7 heatsinks/fan still worthless like the 775 ones?

From Everything I've read - pretty much.

I'm going to start out using cpu - at stock speeds I'm thinking it'll be ok. When I try to OC my first processor later on - I'll probably upgrade the heatsink.

 

[B-Unit]

Are the i7 heatsinks/fan still worthless like the 775 ones?

Yea, same crappy design, bigger footprint.