[SOLVED] Bent Intel Socket Pins

[srtudas]

Installed a Corsair H100i Platinum on Tuesday evening, turns out it is a lot easier to bend pins over tightening a liquid cooler heat sink versus a CM Hyper 212. Turned on the computer and wouldn't post with RAM sticks in slots A1 and A2. RAM sticks worked perfectly before so that issue is ruled out. When I can boot into Windows with only 16GB, the computer runs poorly and my framerate in video games is almost cut in half. Did some research to find bent socket pins was most likely the verdict. So I pulled out the CPU and noticed some very, very slightly bent pins, so using a steak knife I very gently attempted to straighten them (the picture below is the result). Which didn't fix my issue. At this point, I ordered a replacement board to be delivered today. Could I get a second opinion on this that CPU socket pins even bent this slightly cause this much havoc? Specs posted below picture. Thanks.

Specs:
Intel i7-8700
ASUS Prime Z370-A
Corsair CX850M

 

[Barty1884]

I don't see any obvious damage there, so any bent pints must only be very slight.

Yes, bent pins (depending on what they correspond to) can be extremely problematic - but typically, straightening them out should eradicate any problems.

 

[RememberThe5th]

I see 1 pin slightly bent still, which seems like some sort of voltage? (not sure)
7th row from bottom

 

[srtudas]

I see 1 pin slightly bent still, which seems like some sort of voltage? (not sure)
7th row from bottom

That is the one that I straightened ever so slightly. I was also wondering if it was a voltage problem but didn't investigate much. I run SLI 1070s so I will try removing one or removing the Commander Pro. I will have to do some research before I go changing RAM voltage in the BIOS. I would think 850W would be enough power for my setup but I suppose with two 1070s, I could be pushing it with all the other RGB accessories I have through the commander pro.

 

[srtudas]

I don't see any obvious damage there, so any bent pints must only be very slight.

Yes, bent pins (depending on what they correspond to) can be extremely problematic - but typically, straightening them out should eradicate any problems.

Agreed, I am just surprised because most cases of bent pins have the pins bending opposite directions or completely smashed down and are still able to be fixed. This is why I'm thinking voltage could be the culprit but I would expect to at the least be able to enter the BIOS even if I was over voltage.

 

[srtudas]

Bumped DRAM voltage up to 1.35v from 1.20v and no difference. The new board just arrived and at this point, it's either take the entire computer apart to install the new one or keep looking for other causes. I used a wattage calculator and the max used was 540W so my 850W PSU that is ~3 years old should be just fine. Any other suggestions are welcome.

 

[srtudas]

New motherboard fixed the problem so apparently a bent pin, no matter how much, will cause issues. I also failed to mention, while installing the liquid cooler initially, I scratched the motherboard. You can see it in the top right corner of the picture above. I didn't think it went deep enough to cause issues, but the failed memory slots could have been a result of a bent pin and a small scratch... Moral of the story, nothing in a computer needs to be THAT tight. Just tight enough so it doesn't move freely.