Cpu installation myth or reality

[shagrathdex666]

hello out there,recently i have read many motherboard manuals and there is something i don't quite understand ..

why most motherboard makers (gigabyte,asus,msi,dfi)
suggest only a limited number of cpu pulls ( mount and pull ,install and uninstall )

i've seen that after 20 cpu swaps (wich would never become real i guess 20 is a lot )
is the maximum pulls you could made to that motherboard,
and after that the motherboard will become useless (only in the cpu socket)
at least for intels,haven't find out anything about amd limited cpu swaps ..
what happens after installation number 21 ?

thanks for your attention and hope you can solve this mistery!

 

[badge]

Can you supply a link to what you are referring to with 'limited CPU Pulls". Inserting or removing a CPU from the socket would have nothing to do with a limitation placed on the number of times one could place the CPU into the socket and then remove it as you are suggesting.

 

[masterjaw]

I agree as the above. I haven't heard anything like that before. Might as well provide the link to where you've read that.

 

[shagrathdex666]

ok, i've read it some time ago on the msi website im currently looking for that page !

 

[megamanx00]

I think they are just taking into account possible wear, particularly on the mechanical parts to lock in the CPU. On AMD CPUs, there is also wear on the plastic heat sink mount to consider.

 

[bgd73]

the reality is quite simple.

plastic fails before metal, bad pcbs attack the plastic even faster.
the heat, the hertz, and outside breezes carrying who knows what for miicroscopic airbornes can speed this up too. even a styrong household cleaner vapor could be very wrong for your computer

the only errors I have encountered are with time, not pulls,
plastics get brittle.

that is all there is to the myth and reality.

 

[vmardegan]

Almost there.

This "magic number 20" came when the CPU manufacturers (Intel/AMD) developed new processors without the pins beneath.

Since they had to increase the amount of electrical contacts at the same time that they decreased the size of the chip, having more pins became a major problem. Hence the CPU producers put all the burden upon the motherboard companies by having them working on a "pin-less" system. That was kind of the birth of the ZIF sockets (Zero Insertion Force).

However, producing a socket with that high density of electrical contacts is no small feat. The tolerances are really tight and they cannot work with conductive materials otherwise it will interfere with the whole system, hence thermoplastics or thermosets came into the scene.

Now, in order to make the thing to work, they had to use a lock mechanism that applies a considerate pressure on the chip in order to prevent it to move (in addition to the coolers and other stuff that are attached on top).

When you put the tight tolerances, high pressure in a small area, thermoplastics materials, high precision AND the thermal effect (do not forget that CPUs runs on 50+ Celcius on average) you will eventually have and phenomenon known as "creep" that will make the socket to become "loose" over time.

Removing and Installing the CPU several times will only make things to get worse and increase the wear&tear of such delicate component.

Now, how the CPU manufacturers came with the "magic number 20" is beyond my knowledge to be quite honest. They must have done several studies comparing wear&tear with the expected life cycle of the computer and 20 was their specification to the motherboard manufacturers to guarantee that the board will last enough to meet the life cycle of the computer (assuming a normal/regular use).

Just keep in mind that it does not mean that at the 21st assembly operation will make the socket defective. It may well last 100 operations, or maybe 50, or heck even only 20 operations. My point is that the warranty covers only 20. After that, you're on your own...

 

[shagrathdex666]

aha! yeah ok,now i found a witness comment right here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-motherboard-guide,2546-5.html

under intel lga 775:

ntel's first “pinless socket” for desktop processors, its LGA 775 originally addressed the issue of high-speed Pentium 4 processors drawing too much power by increasing the number of connections. Intel credits the design for eliminating the lead-based solder formerly used for attaching socket pins. Unfortunately, flexible contacts within the socket can be very fragile and repeated rebuilds have left many testers with dead boards.

the myth has been revealed, thank you all for your answers!

 

[shagrathdex666]

Best answer selected by shagrathdex666.