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Question Accidentally widened screwholes next to processer by mistake while installing cooler

O

onizukaeikichi

Junior Member
Hi everyone, I made a mistake (first time replacing a processor) while installing processor's stock cooler by screwing in the 2 holes slightly off the mark. Due to that, the left screwholes are widen slightly to the right.
I am using:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 6C/12T Unlocked 4.4GHz AM4 65W
Motherboard: MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK AM4 ATX Motherboard

I managed to find myself a torchlight to get pictures of both screwholes.
https://imgur.com/a/yCEhk8E
Both looks to be within the circle drawn around the screwhole (which I assume is the safe zone?). Would like to hear what you thin

As of now, the PC & fans can turn on, GPU & CPU test results are as follow:
Heaven UNIGINE 8859
CPU-Z benchmark 4842 (Multi-Thread (12T))

Here's the hwmonitor stats after about 2 hours of playing apex legends
https://imgur.com/a/fwTc583

Does anyone know if the widen hole isnt a concern and are there any sort of test I can do to check?
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks in advance.
 
Yes, it should be a concern, but if the system boots, you should be golden. Just so you know, it won't be covered under your warranty, so if it boots, be happy and leave it alone!
 
I'm confused. You mounted the stock cooler to the stock backplate. Are you saying you think you partially stripped the mounting plate? 😵
 
SRSLY, if it boots, it's probably OK, but to do that requires quite a bit of man-handling, I think.

At first, I was like, "Is that a 12th-gen Intel board that also has LGA1200 mounting holes"? But nope, good old AM4 stock heatsink, with screws and backplate. 🙂

Edit: I know those stock heatsinks can be a PITA. Using a screwdriver, try to get each of the four screw-posts "locked in" (started, so they won't pop out on you, but not screwed in fully) to the base-plate, and then take turns catty-corner (alternate corners) screwing in the four corners, GRADUALLY, until all four screw-posts are fully seated.

If the base-plate, or heatsink screws are actually stripped, somehow, dispose of / recycle them.
 
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Thanks everyone.
Muadib said:
Yes, it should be a concern, but if the system boots, you should be golden. Just so you know, it won't be covered under your warranty, so if it boots, be happy and leave it alone!
Click to expand...
Yeap I wont be touching it anymore!

DAPUNISHER said:
I'm confused. You mounted the stock cooler to the stock backplate. Are you saying you think you partially stripped the mounting plate? 😵
Click to expand...
VirtualLarry said:
SRSLY, if it boots, it's probably OK, but to do that requires quite a bit of man-handling, I think.

At first, I was like, "Is that a 12th-gen Intel board that also has LGA1200 mounting holes"? But nope, good old AM4 stock heatsink, with screws and backplate. 🙂

Edit: I know those stock heatsinks can be a PITA. Using a screwdriver, try to get each of the four screw-posts "locked in" (started, so they won't pop out on you, but not screwed in fully) to the base-plate, and then take turns catty-corner (alternate corners) screwing in the four corners, GRADUALLY, until all four screw-posts are fully seated.

If the base-plate, or heatsink screws are actually stripped, somehow, dispose of / recycle them.
Click to expand...

Its more like I was inexperienced and the backplate which has the stand offs werent placed right so the stock cooler screws didnt get in position properly.

ch33zw1z said:
Only a concern is it causes problems on the circuit traces nearby.
Click to expand...
If it causes problem to nearby tracers then wouldnt it not even boot up? Is there a delay effect?

I was also concerned if I have to dismantle things again and replace the mobo. All fine with the warranty, its my fault anyways.
I have been gathering replies everywhere and it seems like people were more concerned if the cpu is cooled properly rather about the mobo. I guess if the mobo boots up, its fine 🙂 Please let me know if I should watch out for certain things going forward.
 
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Update to this question:
I called MSI and they told me the mounting holes have a lot of 'tolerance' and the ones I showed didnt affect any circuits. The 'enlarged' hole looks too natural/manufactured and its by design to accommodate different type of cooler mounts. All in all, nothing to worry about. Absolute relief! 🙂
 
Yeah.... like the others have said, as long as it boots and runs OK, no worries. And it's very unlikely that this would affect the machine in the long-term, unless you start moving it around a lot (which may create supplementary stress in the PCB, due to the weight of the cooler).

And it's nice that you shared an official response from MSI, the information could help others as well.

Enjoy the new rig!
 
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