Processors

[Kabla]

So we took the fan blower/cooler off to replace and the ryzen 5 came off with it (strong thermal paste). Ultimately the Ryzen 5 CPU processor was removed without the secure lever being lifted. Have we ruined the CPU and the motherboard?

[elstaci]

As long as there are no bent or broken pins on the processors, which is usually the most common type of damage to the processor, it should be fine.

Check the motherboard CPU Socket and make sure none of the pin holes are damaged and the locking mechanism still locks the processor in after you removed the stuck CPU Cooler.

If the processor has bent pins than you can very carefully unbend them back.

It there are broken pins or you break a pin while unbending them then there is not much you can do except install the processor and see if it works correctly or not.

By the way, Bent or broken pins on a AMD Processor automatically voids the AMD Warranty.

[flatlineskillz]

As someone who is likely going to be replacing a processor in the near future what is the best way to avoid this from happening? Last time I swapped a processor the thermal paste was stuck on good and tight and the processor was almost damaged falling on the floor from popping off. 

[elstaci]

best way is to heat the processor up before trying to remove the CPU Cooler.

There are several YouTube videos and articles you can look up that shows you various ways of removing a stuck CPU Cooler. Most involves heating the Processor and heat sink of the CPU Cooler and twisting.