Are my pins bent

I was trying to clean the cpu socket on my asus p6t7 ws supercomputer. I bent the pins in the socket a little bit. I bent the pins back as much as i could and got my pc to boot up fine for a while. Then i started noticing that my pc would reboot randomly. I got the board rma'd but Asus sent back the exact same board and the paper it came with said the board is functoinal. The socket still looks the same though.

My problem is thagt i want to test the board out but I have read that bent pins could cause serious damage to my cpu. Since i have a core i7 980x i definately do not want to take the risk if there is a chance that it will damage my cpu.

Here is a picture of the pins :



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the bent pins are on the bottom left

Try and perform a careful straightening of the pins in question.

In order to do this, you can try two different methods: both methods if you want to.

Method 1: Combing. This can be done by inserting a piece of rigid hard plastic that fits snugly between the rows of pins; first horizontally, then vertically. Repeat.

Method 2: Pin straightener. Try and find a piece about 2" long, of hypodermic tubing such that the pin is a snug (not tight) or slightly loose (about 0.002" clearance) in the hole of the tubing. Insert this tubing on the bent pin and the amount of bend will be clearly visible. Carefully straighten the pin by using the hypodermic needle tubing in the direction opposite the pin bend.

Precision watch-maker's flat pliers will also help.

Remember to wear an anti-static wrist band when you attempt this.

Good luck!

Keep us informed about your progress.

The 'combing' technique is a well-known high speed automation technique used widely in industry, especially the connector industry. Just look at the Parallel ATA connector header on the motherboard. These insert-molded (or stitched in some designs) pins are combed, bent 90-degrees, and then combed once more to ensure true position of the pins. Same process for any connector with several pins.