Heatsink fan connection fell right out

[Alex511]

So I've been working on upgrading a pretty average Lenovo pc I bought at the store a couple of years ago. I had allready installed a GTX 660 several months ago and it worked perfectly, however this was my first time installing a new CPU and heatsink fan.

Following all the instructions, I removed the old stock heatsink fan, took out the stock i3, fitted in my new i7 and then the big problem occured as I was putting in the new Intel heatsink fan provided with the new CPU. After several minutes or so of messing with the dumb pushpins and trying to fit them in, the actual metal bit underneath the motherboard(with the pin holes) that I was trying to ft the pins into detached from the motherboard and fell into the bottom of the pc case. Now there's just 4 gaping holes where I was trying to fit the heatsink fan in.

Since I have no way of getting to that connector bit that fell into the case without taking the whole motherboard off, would it even be worth my time? Even if I did get to that piece how would I reattach it to the motherboard?

So here's the main question that maybe someone could assist with:

While I can't physically attach the heatsink to the motherboard with this problem, If I still connect the heatsink wire cable to the motherboard(without putting in the pins), and lie my computer on it's side, will it still boot up normally? Do the pins actually have to be completely in for it to boot?
Anyway, if anyone could provide any assistance with this problem it would be greatly appreciated

 

[lfkfkfkffs]

If you have any type of loose metal behind your motherboard you always need to take the motherboard out. If you broke one of the mounting points for your heat sink you will be stuck either buying an aftermarket one, or buying something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100013 which will act like a strong glue for the heat sink, and no matter how much you move the thing around it won't move.

 

[Alex511]

Ok so I was able to take off the other cover behind the motherboard and get to the metal mounting bit. I then reattached it to the back of the board and I could then finish attaching the heatsink fan. Once I did all that and connected the cable, closed up the case, and booted the pc.

Then I got 4 short beeps, which I looked up to mean that something was wrong with what's attached to the motherboard. I assumed that maybe the new i7 wasnt being recognized and that maybe I needed to do something with the BIOS(this is my first time doing this).

So I decided to go back to all the old parts just to make sure everything was still working. I took out the new i7 and heatsink, and pit back in the old i3 and old heatsink. I then booted up the pc again, and this time there were no beeps, and everything started to turn on just like it always used to. Except, there was no display on the monitor, even though the monitor cables are tightly plugged in. What should be my next move?

 

[danny2000]

are you using the onboard video or a PCI-express video card?
If it has an onboard use that for now.

 

[lfkfkfkffs]

Did you use the right kind of i7? did you use the correct one for your motherboard socket?

 

[Alex511]

Answer to Danny: I was now able to get the display going by reseating the RAM and the graphics card thanks

Answer to lfkfkfkffs: Yeah, the socket is 1155 and I made sure through various different software before I purchased it.

Ok, thanks for your help so far guys I managed to get the old i3 setup working again with the display this time and I was able to boot completely. However, I do want to attempt putting in the i7 again. Since last time I managed to bust one of the plastic pushpins on the stock heatsink that came packaged with the i7, I was wondering if I could use the older, bulkier heatsink fan that I found when I first opened the case because it has screws instead of pushpins. Would it matter that I would be using it to cool an i7 rather than the i3 it has been cooling? Would it be powerful enough, or do all heatsink fans get the job done the same?

 

[lfkfkfkffs]

An i7 at stock speeds won't create that much heat, your old heatsink will be fine. If you want to later on you can buy an aftermarket heatsink when you have the money.

 

[Alex511]

Sounds good to me. Thanks man you were a big help