Gutted, killed my 3700x.

[Columbo]

Have bought a new CPU cooler so was removing the wraith cooler and the CPU came out with it and I didnt know it was stuck to the bottom of it. The stock thermal paste had basically formed a glue like bond and I must have twisted it slightly as I was pulling up the cooler and have now bent a shed load of pins....

Gutted....any advice other than get a new CPU

 

[Columbo]

Isn't there an arm to keep the CPU in the socket so this doesn't happen?

Yes there is and was in place. CPU still came out anyway with the arm locked.

I honestly dont get how so many people seem to be doing this recently, the setups been the same for 10 years or more and I thought everybody knew that you twist before you pull and that with enough force you can pull them out of the socket. If you do pull out of the socket fun is sure to be had.

Well its my first AMD chip since socket 754, had Intel ever since and they are the padded contacts. Honestly I didnt event consider that the chip would pull out with the cooler, I guess I've got too much trust in the arm lock that clearly did not work in this case. I also had to use a credit card to seperate the chip from the cooler the bond was well strong.

 

[Columbo]

Top down view please.

Recovery looks possible to me. How do you cope in high pressure situations?

Time to get some tweezers out and try to gently push them back.

Pretty good in high pressure situations.
I'm head of an eCommerce dept that has 3500 staff...high pressure is BAU for me.

Will get some tweezers out tonight.

 

[Columbo]

Oof, thanks for posting though (unlike your machine.... Sorry)

No problem. The main reason for posting was to highlight the risk to like minded people like myself who have a rush of blood or are not aware of the potential.
I'll attempt the straighten them today, I also have a 3800XT arriving today as well just in case and I could wait for the 5*** to appear in stock anywhere as I use this machine for work as well.

 

[Columbo]

Sorry guys...no its didnt survive, I didnt actually try until Saturday as I replaced it immediately with a 3800XT and waited for AMD to respond to a warranty request which was refused.
I used a mechanical pencil and everything was ok until the last 2 pins, both of which snapped off completely.

Thats the 2 most bent ones on the right hand side of the picture. I guess some soldering guru could retrieve it but I dont have the kit and its probably not worth the investment now.

 

[Columbo]

You still got it? Are the two snapped pins right at the edge?

One is, the other one is one pin in.

Just sell it on ebay, there are many people that can get that working again, the pins can even be purchased and soldered or using a dead cpus pins to replace the broken ones. Stick it on a bids on there and see what they offer, just explain it was working and the boo boo that happened and should get sold.

Good idea! I'll do that now.

 

[Columbo]

Did you try it to see if it worked without the 2 pins?

No I didnt, that would have meant removing my new 3800XT and the last time I tried to remove an AMD CPU it didnt end well. .

 

[Columbo]

Agreed. This post now has me worried about upgrading my 1700 to a 5900x when zen 4 comes out. Even if the 1700 isn't worth a lot by then.

Dont be worried just take the advice listed in here by people with much more experience with AMD chips than me.

- Warm the chip up before removal. Mine was cold and the thermal paste acted like glue essentially stick cooler and CPU together
- Twist the cooler slightly before pulling upwards. This should loosen the bond between the surfaces
- Pull the cooler straight upwards in one motion and don't lean it or tilt it.

These are the 3 basic tool tips I've taken away from this thread, it cost me £300 to learn them but sometimes you just have to accept it and move on.
Hopefully at the very least this and the many other threads on the topic helps people avoid being as useless as me.

In future I'll definitely be given the CPU a 10-15 minutes stress test before remove it.