PC Building

[red5]

Do NOT pull straight up on the heatsink or waterblock to remove it from your processor. Always carefully twist the heatsink or waterblock to break it loose. My son was rebuilding his PC and trashed his Ryzen 3600X because he pulled straight up and the processor was pulled out of the socket with the lock still engaged.  I just got done troubleshooting it and gave him my Ryzen 5600 to replace his 3600X.  (Now I have another processor to replace 😞 )

[Key-J]

Oh 100%

I just had this happen to me not too long ago:

My heat sink was practically welded to my cpu and I couldn't get it out any other way, ended up bending two pins on the 7 2700x. Luckily I was able to gently put them back and saved the CPU.

[red5]

I examined his cpu with a magnifying glass for quite a while, and I couldn't really see any pin damage. It fit into the socket on his new motherboard with no problem.  I'm kinda perplexed as to what is actually wrong with it.  I'll probably mess with it some more tonight, and if I can't get it to work it's going to become a paperweight LOL

[Key-J]

Oh, that is the worst! At least with the pins, I could see what was wrong clearly. It sucks when you know something is wrong but don't know what is wrong!

[Vynski]

That looks familiar!

[GreatnessRD]

Ahh, that sucks, guys! At least you were able to bend them back, @Key-J! And now you get an upgrade, @red5. Another useful tip is to warm up the CPU. Let your PC run a bit so that'll help as well. 

[Amber_AMD]

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that happened to your son's CPU. He's lucky you had an extra to help him out!

What a learning lesson for him, and now you got to share it as a nice reminder as to what can happen to the Red Team haha 🙂 

[jamesc359]

I learned this lesson eons ago. Luckily for me I didn't damage anything. In addition to the twist, I learned that it's best to run the PC for a bit before trying to remove a CPU. This warms up the thermal paste and helps it to release a little easier.

AMD isn't it about time that we get a retention bracket?

[Sam_AMD]

Great tip guys! Thank you

[johnnyenglish]

I've seen this happen sometimes, but you really need to pull it hard, but HARD for it to happen.

Just stress test the pc then twist the cooler a bit, should be easy now.

[red5]

On an hunch, I put the 3600X back into its original motherboard, and VOILA!!!   Fired right up.  But I could NOT get it to work in his new motherboard.  Weird... Oh well, one more gaming PC for the LAN setup after I get done modding the case and rebuilding it.

[Seansterp]

Yeah I learned that lesson the hard way like your son did back when building a PC a while ago. You definitely have to push down when you are about to remove the cooler and turn it left and right a quarter turn a couple times to make sure the paste is not going to rip your CPU out with it. Sorry to hear he had a bad time of it but there are small lessons that most PC build guides don't cover like changing parts out after you build a PC and that is a big one.

[Vynski]

Heck, I just did it when I upgraded from my 2700X about 2 weeks ago, and I've been doing this for over 35 years.  Like @red5  I did the visual inspection and didn't see any damage, so I am hoping it will fire up in the X470 board that I first had it on.

[eebiii]

LMAO @Vynski 

So true with just about anything. Makes me wonder if the label "Master" really means anything. I still make the dumbest mistakes at work. Luckily, I've been around long enough, I can correct those mistakes quick.

[Vynski]

Thanks a lot. lol

[Axxemann]

Been there, done that more than once.