Please Help... I think i broke my motherboard.. Can i know for sure???

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NewToATI

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Jan 8, 2007
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I was installing a LGA775 HSF, and one of the clips wasn't locking in (ie. i could pull it out v. easily), so at first i inspected it and it seemed fine, then i pressed really hard to try and get it in and it didn't work, and i had a bruise on my hand from pressing so hard on the edge of the fan, it finally went in after i pushed on the little metal leg that the clip is on, i thought it would be ok, but upon trying to install windows, the computer crashes randomly and freezes, the mouse occasionally stops working and there are other random screens of death that i haven't seen before. Have i screwed up my motherboard is there a way to be sure?

I realise now that i should have pressed on the black plastic clip and not on the actual fan's edge, ironically i thought i was pressing too hard on the clip. Is there a way to be sure that i should ditch a brand new 300 dollar motherboard, and buy a new one? <<<--- My main question. The motherboard in question is a Asus p5n32 SLI PLUS Rev2

The following few passages are of me venting my frustration, but feel free to read on if you like, you might find it entertaining (i even thought of an alternate way to mount the cpu fan and motherboard)...

I'm sure i'm gonna get a lot of flak for this but hey, i feel real bad already, so please you can't make me feel too much more stupid. i've installed two LGA775 cpus before and my god they are annoying, you have to twist, push and twist-back each clip (freaking annoying). Your screwdriver digs into the plastic, and sometimes when you twist back the whole plastic thing starts twisting and creaking if you haven't pressed down far enough, then the fun part: if you haven't got it in right; the screw driver that's now embedded in the plastic pulls out the clip, and you have to begin the process again, you shouldn't have to even use that much force to push in the clip.

What was wrong with the old p4 HSF? there was a large bracket, and all you had to do was line up and push, no need to put huge stresses on the motherboard, whoever designed this new LGA775 has obviously no knowledge of robust mechanical design; make things so that stupid ppl like me can't screw it up!!!

I firstly don't even think we should have such huge heatsinks supported by nothing more than the motherboard, esp. if you are moving your comp around a bit; acceleration/forces anyone? I maybe stupid for screwing up like this but a little thought in design saves a lot of headaches for everyone else, i mean a large chunk of metal supported by a precise delicate 7 layer pcb? Can't they find any other more stress resistant structures to mount on? i had a thought: why not make the holes on the motherboard a little bigger, and mount the fan to the backplate that the motherboard sits on, that would certainly prevent (the not so smart) ppl like me from destroying a perfectly good 300 dollar motherboard.

Also, why not have some kind of structure between the motherboard and the backplate that prevents bending, like a plastic honeycomb? Nine little risers seems unnecessarily precarious, and a rather stupid way to hold you precious 300 dollars of sweetness in mid air, i mean come on ... they can't mould a bit of plastic and attach it to the motherboard, make life easy for everyone? These risers are also a pain when it comes to replacing the motherboard, are you unscrewing the screw or the riser (it's a mystery). Why not have clips for everything? have a motherboard that slides and clips into place, no?

Is this an impossible utopia that i dream of, are pc building companies everywhere shuddering at the thought? Oh no we can build more pcs more quickly; that means we can't charge as much on labour. We should make pcs really annoying to assemble so ppl come to us when they end up destroying precious hardware. Quick let's tell intel before they release their next chip, help them design a really frustrating HSF mount.

I guess you can't expect every design aspect of something to be good, i'm sure it's not that expensive to get a decent design that is idiot proof. I guess i got a little too excited, cause i had been thru several delays in obtaining this hardware, i just wanted to get it up and running, and now this...
I feel FAAAANTASTIC!!!
 
I just have one thing to say, what the hell were you doing with a screwdriver. Socket 775 HSF's are not that hard to install just make sure the plastic pins are rotated the right direction and push in, the only one which should take any effort is the last one. I agree it's not the best design but it's not nearly as bad as you made it. In the future when you feel that you are using too much force on your delicate and expensive electronics, you are, stop and rethink the situation.

are you unscrewing the screw or the riser (it's a mystery).

Your risers should be tightened with a bit of force, I'm sure there is an exact torque rating but I'm not sure what it is. Your motherboard screws should be just tight, very little force, so you don't damage the motherboard and when you unscrew you are unscrewing your motherboard not the risers.
 
Yes, they can be tricky. That is why it is important to read directions, take your time and be careful. But, I think that for every person who breaks, bends, or otherwise mutilate's a motherboard install, there are a 1000 who do it without any problems what so ever.
Don't know what to tell you, save take it all apart, make sure it's all put together correctly without any damage to the CPU or socket. If you don't have the HS on correctly, your CPU may be overheating.
Try running the install with only stick of RAM.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, but i did say i was venting (don't take too seriously).

The riser doesn't require much force. I know this considering that anything more than a little means that the delicate thread in the backplate goes and your riser starts spinning, so i used much lighter force on all the others, the case was rather tight so pressing on the clips by hand was rather tricky, so i used a screwdriver instead, also notice that the clip does have a little slot in it for ... your screw driver. (preemptive strike: No i didn't have anything else in the case before the CPU and mobo) Now i did look this up. (i'm not that stupid) For ways to do it without pressing so hard, i saw some ppl mounting the HSF outside the case, then mounting the mobo into the case, my problem: i didn't want to risk my motherboard falling off a table edge. Flat surfaces won't do since the clips just press on the the surface and don't actually go through. Someone else on the web said that you just hold it in the air and press each little pin through which i thought was a bit dodgy since the majority of the others i saw were mounting the HSF with the mobo in the case.

I'm pretty sure it's not the ram cause it's Ballistix ram, and also everything else just slid in quite easily, I know that the cpu is not overheating cause the temp in the bios is like 35 degC. I just wish there was an easier way to do this. I'm just gonna get a new motherboard, and v carefully install it. Thanks for the replies though guys. And yes i am that 1/1000 unlucky guy.
 
NTA: Here's a post on installing stuff: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/194385-31-part-assembly#t1184072
Unfortunatel y, Intel's 4-pin design is very easy to not-quite-fully install -- I agree with you on its poor design! There are many guides/suggestions out there that are just based on how installation has always been done, without taking into account the "special" :ouch: features of the LGA775 Intel hsf mounting system.
Here are some key tips for the future (and hopefully others can learn before doing):
1) Do NOT use a screwdriver or other tool to install the hsf. At most, the slots are there to *turn* (not push/pull) the pins for *removal only*.
2) DO install the CPU and hsf *before* you install the MB in the case. That way you can support the back of the MB with e.g. your other hand when pushing the pins, and visually verify that the pins are all the way through.
3) BEFORE pressing the pins, make sure they are all *turned in the direction OPPOSITE the arrow on top*. The arrow shows the direction to turn for quick-release, not installation.
4) Push the pins straight down without turning until they lock. Use an "X" pattern order: start with one, do the one opposite, then pick another and do the one opposite to it.
 
Modern 4-layer motherboards are extremely difficult to damage unless you actually gouge the traces with a screwdriver. There is a very simple test for a crack, press on the relevant area of the board with your finger and see if that causes an error or reboot.
 
Hey guys I'm not sure what's wrong, cause i tried taking out and putting back the ram, and memtest only yielded one error, i had run memtest before and it came up with huge amount of errors, i think i may have installed the ram improperly before, is one error still bad? I'm really not sure what is going on, could it be some kind of interference, the case is pretty tight, and there are cables going everywhere. I'm really puzzled on this one guys, i'm pretty sure i didn't damage the motherboard, but is there a way to be sure? I think the reason for the bruise on my hand was simply high stress from pressing on the very edge of the fan, i didn't actually apply that much force. The error came up on the second pass, memtest has already been through 3 passes. Is this normal? to get the occasional error?
 





To answer your question, no it isn't normal to get errors. Check to make sure your RAM is running at it's rated speed and voltage and run again. Your RAM might be bad, which speed Ballistix do you have? and how much? Ballistix is rated at 2.2v at it's rated speed, default voltage for DDR2 is 1.8v so that might be your problem.
 
It seems to be running good now, so i'm just gonna go with it, computers shomomputers, it's the games that we really love. I tried increasing the voltage and strange behaviour ensued. It's PC6400 ram (800Mhz), and yes ur right it is 2.2v ram, but yeh my computer's strange behaviour seems to disagree with the 2.2V rating.

Btw. FSB 1700??? are you serious? that means like 2975Mhz ??? that's impressive, v impressive.
 




Still working on getting it completely stable, I've had it as high as 1900FSB and ran benchmarks but got a lot of crashes (shitty L2 stepping) not too bad for a $170 CPU.
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Good luck with your system, I think you still have a problem though.
 
V nice.

I'll think about OCing soon, i haven't had any hardware related crashing at all now so yeh i don't know. Electronics have mood swings i guess.
 
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