Running PC with bent CPU socket pins: what are the consequences?

phoenix

phoenix

New member
Thanks to a number of bent pins in my CPU socket, I have been running my RAM in single channel mode for a good while now. Do any of you know whether running my machine this way will damage components, or otherwise lead to instability? How great is the difference in system performance running in single rather than dual channel mode, especially with respect to gaming?

In case it matters, my motherboard is an AsRock Z77 Extreme 4.

A friend of mine has advised me to look for a second-hand Z77 board as a back-up, but I would rather not have to incur
the additional cost of a Windows license [Linux is not yet a practical gaming environment for me. Performance (Vulkan may rectify this eventually) and availability of a Linux-native version of a given game are still dissuading me from making the switch.]

I don't ride on the bleeding edge of computer hardware, and have no reservations about lowering graphics settings [GTX 960 on an old 1080p LCD display, so I would prefer to keep what I have now for as long as I can, so I wouldn't be turning this into an excuse to pilfer my savings.

What do you think?

Thanks
 
phoenix said:
Thanks to a number of bent pins in my CPU socket, I have been running my RAM in single channel mode for a good while now. Do any of you know whether running my machine this way will damage components, or otherwise lead to instability? How great is the difference in system performance running in single rather than dual channel mode, especially with respect to gaming?

In case it matters, my motherboard is an AsRock Z77 Extreme 4.

A friend of mine has advised me to look for a second-hand Z77 board as a back-up, but I would rather not have to incur
the additional cost of a Windows license [Linux is not yet a practical gaming environment for me. Performance (Vulkan may rectify this eventually) and availability of a Linux-native version of a given game are still dissuading me from making the switch.]

I don't ride on the bleeding edge of computer hardware, and have no reservations about lowering graphics settings [GTX 960 on an old 1080p LCD display, so I would prefer to keep what I have now for as long as I can, so I wouldn't be turning this into an excuse to pilfer my savings.

What do you think?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Buy a new MB.
but I would rather not have to incur the additional cost of a Windows license
Click to expand...
You call MS, you tell them you bought a new MB, they'll ask for some confirmation details. Boom, no issues.
 
Well.....new second hand. Getting an H or Z97/170 opens up a whole new can of worms thanks to Intel and their sockets.
 
The alternative is a little bit of this

220px-Tweezers.jpg

and a whole heap of this

prayer-clipart-y4c9A7BTE.gif

Personally, I think you should just do what the fish said.
 
If it is a non K version, and the CPU looks in good condition then there really is not much that can and has gone wrong with the CPU. So buying second hand whilst applying common sense won't be a bad idea
 
PsychoFish said:
I have learnt not to ask questions as these are ZIF sockets and bending a pin requires some insertion force
Click to expand...

Just curious with amd cpu's its understandable as the pins are on the processor, but on LGA boards i have never been able to do that even after inserting and taking out cpu's numerous times (and that includes 771 xeon cpu's that were modified to work on 775 boards), thats why i just wanted to know.
 
Dohc-WP said:
Just curious with amd cpu's its understandable as the pins are on the processor, but on LGA boards i have never been able to do that even after inserting and taking out cpu's numerous times (and that includes 771 xeon cpu's that were modified to work on 775 boards), thats why i just wanted to know.
Click to expand...

Hey, we could go back to SECC CPUs like what we had with the PIII

800px-Slot_1.jpg
Intel_Pentium_III_733_MHz.jpg
 
Dohc-WP said:
how did u get it right to bend the pins on the mobo ?
Click to expand...

Sheer talent. I'm special. :-P

Seriously though, my guess is that it happened when I was wrestling with my CPU cooler.

SIngleChannelMemory.jpg

About the image noise....it's the best I was able to do with my 'phone. :o
 
phoenix said:
Sheer talent. I'm special. :-P

Seriously though, my guess is that it happened when I was wrestling with my CPU cooler.

View attachment 23839

About the image noise....it's the best I was able to do with my 'phone. :o
Click to expand...

My dad has a saying in Afrikaans which roughly translates to "If you use enough force you can even break off your finger in you ass hole"
If you are building a PC, and you have to wrestles with hardware and press it that hard... then something is bound to break.
 
:D

Wrestle may have been too strong a word. I was speculating that what MIGHT have happened is that the pins bent while I was attaching a stock Intel cooler [cue laughter and incredility] and don't always get all four of the pegs locked in position and turned the right way at the same time. [By now will already know that I'm not great with my hands.] I try to lift the cooler to test that it is securely attached to the motherboard, and it may happen that the cooler is a little loose.
 
I think I'm going to look for a replacement for this board. I have already put up an ad. on Carbonite. [I see that there are a couple of other people who have done so too, so I have competition. Now its a matter of waiting and watching.

Worst case scenario is to look at used H/Z 87 and 97 board, where I would obviously also have to replace my CPU.
 
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