Bent ryzen 3700X pins day after purchase

Steelbom

Senior member
Sep 1, 2009
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So... got my Ryzen 3700X on Thursday. Installed with stock cooler. On Friday my AM4 adapter arrives for my Noctua. After work, my plan was to swap the stock cooler with the Noctua.

I unlatch one side of the cooler, and try to get the other side. Can't unhook it. So I try to tilt it slightly, but it won't budge. I check everything again, and then try to tilt it again but with a little bit more force (not a lot) and it pops off, but the hook is still on that one side.

I wiggle it around, try to tilt it some more. Then I notice something's stuck to the bottom of the cooler, which I realise dreadfully is the CPU. So I set it down gently, removed GPU to make more room, put a lot of force to get the latch off because it wouldn't budge.

Finally get the cooler out. I try to pull the CPU off the cooler, but it won't budge. I wiggle/slide it off the edge of the cooler. Since there's heaps of (stock) thermal paste on it, the side pins get a tiny amount of it on them.

Then I notice 4-5 slightly bent pins. 3 hours later I've straightened them with a razor blade, cleaned off most of the thermal paste.

It booted in and I used it for hours, everything's working. Except this morning I turned it on and it didn't boot, CPU error LED was active on the mobo. Did a reset and it all booted up normally.

I'm unbelievably mad that the CPU popped out of motherboard. I've replaced my Noctua NH D15 on my old Intel at least 6-7 times, and it has never once pried the CPU out of its socket. Why is there not some huge warning on AMD CPUs that they can pop out of the socket? Or could the motherboard socket have been faulty? (It was clamped down properly). I would have gone about this whole process completely differently had I known.

If the motherboard is showing an error for the CPU, what's most likely the cause? I straightened all the pins meticulously. There is still a tiny bit of thermal paste on the base of the pcb around the pin, but not on the top. I just couldn't get it off.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
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Thunder 57

Platinum Member
Aug 19, 2007
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Not really, sorry. Hopefully it ends up working out in the end. With all of those pins you have to be extra careful. You tried twisting it off the cooler? That generally works.

This is one reason why I think AM5 will be LGA.
 

ItsAlive

Golden Member
Oct 7, 2005
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This is unfortunate. Sorry that happened to you, I also have had difficulty changing heat sinks on PGA type processors. In the future, I would say to run the system for awhile and let it heat up so it will soften the heat sink paste before you remove it, just be careful not to burn yourself while disassembling. As far as the cpu error code, its hard to say what could be the cause, but the silver type (stock type) thermal paste is conductive, so if it is touching two pins, it could cause a short. Hopefully, this isn't the case and the cpu isn't irreparably damaged. I would say try using the edge of a credit card with an alcohol wipe if the thermal paste is on the base of the cpu between the pins. Let us know how it turns out.
 
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Steelbom

Senior member
Sep 1, 2009
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Not really, sorry. Hopefully it ends up working out in the end. With all of those pins you have to be extra careful. You tried twisting it off the cooler? That generally works.

This is one reason why I think AM5 will be LGA.
Isn't AMD's responsibility to make consumers aware that the CPU may pop out of the socket with removal of their cooler?
This is unfortunate. Sorry that happened to you, I also have had difficulty changing heat sinks on PGA type processors. In the future, I would say to run the system for awhile and let it heat up so it will soften the heat sink paste before you remove it, just be careful not to burn yourself while disassembling. As far as the cpu error code, its hard to say what could be the cause, but the silver type (stock type) thermal paste is conductive, so if it is touching two pins, it could cause a short. Hopefully, this isn't the case and the cpu isn't irreparably damaged. I would say try using the edge of a credit card with an alcohol wipe if the thermal paste is on the base of the cpu between the pins. Let us know how it turns out.
Coincidentally, the system was actually running (couple of benchmarks, light gaming) prior to replacing the cooler. I was actually concerned that replacing it while it was warm would be problematic.

It's CONDUCTIVE???!??! Gotta be friggin' kidding me.

Should I take it back out and clean it? There's no contact between pins, but there is a tiny amount on single pins at the base.

What can a short do to the CPU/rest of system?
 

Thunder 57

Platinum Member
Aug 19, 2007
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Isn't AMD's responsibility to make consumers aware that the CPU may pop out of the socket with removal of their cooler?

Coincidentally, the system was actually running (couple of benchmarks, light gaming) prior to replacing the cooler. I was actually concerned that replacing it while it was warm would be problematic.

It's CONDUCTIVE???!??! Gotta be friggin' kidding me.

Should I take it back out and clean it? There's no contact between pins, but there is a tiny amount on single pins at the base.

What can a short do to the CPU/rest of system?

In all fairness, that can happen to Intel as well. It isn't uncommon for thermal paste to cause a CPU to stick to a heatsink. You just twist it off. I have a tube of Arctic Silver from forever ago that I still use as it tends to avoid that problem.
 

Steelbom

Senior member
Sep 1, 2009
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In all fairness, that can happen to Intel as well. It isn't uncommon for thermal paste to cause a CPU to stick to a heatsink. You just twist it off. I have a tube of Arctic Silver from forever ago that I still use as it tends to avoid that problem.
I've never personally experienced the issue with my Noctua NH D15 and my old Intel i5 6600K. It might be a little stuck, but not very much. But this paste on the AMD cooler was like glue.
 

UsandThem

Elite Member
May 4, 2000
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Isn't AMD's responsibility to make consumers aware that the CPU may pop out of the socket with removal of their cooler?

This is common in removing the cooler from really any chipset. I first encountered it building computers back in the late 90s.

You gotta heat the paste some, and then twist it back and forth a bit to break the "suction".
 

Steelbom

Senior member
Sep 1, 2009
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This is common in removing the cooler from really any chipset. I first encountered it building computers back in the late 90s.

You gotta heat the paste some, and then twist it back and forth a bit to break the "suction".
I see. I had just been using the CPU (ran some benchmarks, light gaming) so the paste was actually quite warm... but I did not twist.
 

ItsAlive

Golden Member
Oct 7, 2005
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Isn't AMD's responsibility to make consumers aware that the CPU may pop out of the socket with removal of their cooler?

Coincidentally, the system was actually running (couple of benchmarks, light gaming) prior to replacing the cooler. I was actually concerned that replacing it while it was warm would be problematic.

It's CONDUCTIVE???!??! Gotta be friggin' kidding me.

Should I take it back out and clean it? There's no contact between pins, but there is a tiny amount on single pins at the base.

What can a short do to the CPU/rest of system?
I would definitely try to clean it to see if that is the reason for the error. The 3000 series chips are new and it could be an incompatible RAM or motherboard BIOS giving the error. We'd need more information about your system to determine that.
 

ehume

Golden Member
Nov 6, 2009
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I was a reviewer, looking at heatsinks for years. All the TIMs I used were goo-ey, did not harden or become glue-like. I guess I was lucky. But the advice given by several people is worth following. Also, you should learn about the properties of various TIM's before picking one. My favorite was Gelid GC Extreme, but a lot of people more recently report good results with the two Grizzly pastes.
 
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Steelbom

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Sep 1, 2009
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I would definitely try to clean it to see if that is the reason for the error. The 3000 series chips are new and it could be an incompatible RAM or motherboard BIOS giving the error. We'd need more information about your system to determine that.
Yeah, I'm just concerned about opening it again lol. I didn't have any errors on the first day.
I was a reviewer, looking at heatsinks for years. All the TIMs I used were goo-ey, did not harden or become glue-like. I guess I was lucky. But the advice given by several people is worth following. Also, you should learn about the properties of various TIM's before picking one. My favorite was Gelid GC Extreme, but a lot of people more recently report good results with the two Grizzly pastes.
Unfortunately the stock, pre-installed TIM was used. I think if I had of removed the stock TIM and put my own Noctua one, it wouldn't have stuck like it did. I think AMD's TIM + the quantity of it is at fault here.
 

ClockHound

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Nov 27, 2007
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Unfortunately the stock, pre-installed TIM was used. I think if I had of removed the stock TIM and put my own Noctua one, it wouldn't have stuck like it did. I think AMD's TIM + the quantity of it is at fault here.

Sticky AMD pre-applied stock paste causing CPU damage = Justifiable RMA, imo. As a consumer rights attorney, feel you have a strong case. However, I only play a consumer rights attorney on the internet, but minor legal detail.
 

repoman0

Diamond Member
Jun 17, 2010
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Sucks that you had to waste time straightening pins, but I wouldn't worry about it OP. CPU will be fine
 

Abwx

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Apr 2, 2011
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What can a short do to the CPU/rest of system?

You can check the pins exact connection on a datasheet, the conduction of the thermal paste can be anywhere from trivial to source of errors, if the two contacted pins are either both +VDD or both GND this is of no importance but if one is a high impedance node (going to the RAM signals) and the other anything else this can cause random errors.

To remove pastes that are hardened best is to heat the tool (razor for instance...) since what matters is to have a clean cut, this way even if there s some paste left the cleaned cut is more than enough for proper insulation.
 

ehume

Golden Member
Nov 6, 2009
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Please, whatever happened to people taking responsiblity for their own actions? AMD sold you a cpu. They didn't agree to hold your hand along with it.
But a sticky TIM is a surprise. It's one thing to take responsibility for one's actions, but when a seller leads you into an ambush . . .
 

H T C

Senior member
Nov 7, 2018
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I've never personally experienced the issue with my Noctua NH D15 and my old Intel i5 6600K. It might be a little stuck, but not very much. But this paste on the AMD cooler was like glue.

This happened to me with my Ryzen 1600 when i attempted to change the stock cooler that had the paste that came with it: got stuck so much that when it finally came out, it had yanked the CPU right out of the socket: scared the crap out of me!

I had never had that happen to me with any CPU and i've had quite a few over the years. Was lucky and all pins seemed to be in order and the CPU worked just fine with the new cooler but, personally speaking, i'd recommend everyone to NOT use the paste that comes with the stock cooler unless you plan on never replacing the cooler: that paste is like glue.
 

Steelbom

Senior member
Sep 1, 2009
438
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Sticky AMD pre-applied stock paste causing CPU damage = Justifiable RMA, imo. As a consumer rights attorney, feel you have a strong case. However, I only play a consumer rights attorney on the internet, but minor legal detail.
I'm going to write to AMD and see what happens. Fingers crossed.
Sucks that you had to waste time straightening pins, but I wouldn't worry about it OP. CPU will be fine
Well... once the computer boots it's fine. But, every time I turn it on for the first time in the morning it fails to boot and on the motherboard the CPU error light comes on. After hitting the power/reset button for a while, it just boots up.

You can check the pins exact connection on a datasheet, the conduction of the thermal paste can be anywhere from trivial to source of errors, if the two contacted pins are either both +VDD or both GND this is of no importance but if one is a high impedance node (going to the RAM signals) and the other anything else this can cause random errors.

To remove pastes that are hardened best is to heat the tool (razor for instance...) since what matters is to have a clean cut, this way even if there s some paste left the cleaned cut is more than enough for proper insulation.
I don't think any two pins are connected, fortunately. There's just a little bit of paste at the base of one or two pins, and a tiny bit on the middle of a pin.

Is this a datasheet I'd find from AMD? I took photos of the pins, so I might check it out.

Please, whatever happened to people taking responsiblity for their own actions? AMD sold you a cpu. They didn't agree to hold your hand along with it.
I don't need hand holding, but I do expect that the CPU will remain in the motherboard's socket whilst removing the cooler. If the pre-applied paste they use is so thick and sticky that this can actually happen, then I believe it absolutely their responsibility to make it clear to the user/consumer via a clear warning.

Is it reasonable to expect me to find out about this the hard way when using their cooler for the first time? I don't think so.

Protip for the future: Dental floss can be used to help remove a "stuck" heatsink.
Good to know, thanks!
This happened to me with my Ryzen 1600 when i attempted to change the stock cooler that had the paste that came with it: got stuck so much that when it finally came out, it had yanked the CPU right out of the socket: scared the crap out of me!

I had never had that happen to me with any CPU and i've had quite a few over the years. Was lucky and all pins seemed to be in order and the CPU worked just fine with the new cooler but, personally speaking, i'd recommend everyone to NOT use the paste that comes with the stock cooler unless you plan on never replacing the cooler: that paste is like glue.
Yeah it's horrible. I'm kicking myself because if I had waited one day before installing the system, I'd have never used the stock cooler. Or at least, if I had of cleaned off their paste and put my own on I'm sure it would've been fine because I don't use super glue.

I just never expected that this could happen. I estimated about 15 minutes to swap the stock cooler with my Noctua, and it turned into a horrible 3 hours.
 

VirtualLarry

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Aug 25, 2001
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I had never had that happen to me with any CPU and i've had quite a few over the years. Was lucky and all pins seemed to be in order and the CPU worked just fine with the new cooler but, personally speaking, i'd recommend everyone to NOT use the paste that comes with the stock cooler unless you plan on never replacing the cooler: that paste is like glue.
TRUE!
 

richierich1212

Platinum Member
Jul 5, 2002
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I’d rather have fixable bent pins on CPU than motherboard. Bent pins in motherboards are a PIA.

Anyways, I hope AMD resolves your dilemma with a replacement.
 

Ranulf

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Jul 18, 2001
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But a sticky TIM is a surprise. It's one thing to take responsibility for one's actions, but when a seller leads you into an ambush . . .

Eh, they've been that way for years. The stuff does the job it needs to do and doesn't dry out in my experience. I had an almost as bad a time as the OP while pulling off a stock hsf on a phenom II, 3 years after I put it together. Forgot to warm it up before hand, on a cold system it took some twisting and force to get it off the cpu. No problems thankfully but it was a reminder that even just idling a cpu for 5-10 minutes can help.

Protip for the future: Dental floss can be used to help remove a "stuck" heatsink.

Damn good idea, thanks.