So i think i broke my motherboard! replacement?

[carling220]

Hi, I currently have a 2500k and a 770 windforce sat on an asus p8z68-v lx. Basically I stupidly put too much thermal paste on (beginners mistake), and whilst cleaning it up somehow managed to bend some of the connectors that sit under the processor chip. I am guessing the board is screwed, and attempting to use it might nacker the chip?

Assuming that's true, should I just replace the board directly with the same?Where can I find one and what price would I expect to pay? I haven't seen many online with a quick google search. I think scan said discontinued? I don't know if this board is good or not.

If not, which one is suitable to fit my 2500k to? Unless I just replace both, get a newer CPU and board together ready for my new GPU in a couple months! Don't think the 2500k is that outdated though is it?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[MongGrel]

Might be repairable.

You can straighten bent processor pins with a Mechanical pencil, if you're careful, use a magnifying glass and depends on the damage maybe.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

MongGrel is basically right about this.

I used to have great eyesight. I still have the "Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary" in my library, which came with a Bausch&Lomb magnifier, and there was a time when I could read the entries in decent light without the magnifier. No . . . freakin' . . . more.

You need a bright light and a good magnifier. the mechanical pencil idea will work. But you need to take time to familiarize yourself with how the spring-pins come out of the little holes and lie down in the socket-frame diagonally. You can usually tease a slightly bent spring-pin back into place. there is a raised, vertical nipple on the end of those springs which is supposed to fit a dimple in one of the gold contact pads of the processor.

In my case last fall, I had personally damaged a used Sabertooth Z77 mobo I had bought, and the pin was rather severely crushed down into a crevice. I was able to tease it out and straighten it, but perfectionism got the best of me, I started pulling on the nipple to get it "perfect" and it broke off.

In that case, it is possible to repair by yanking a spare socket-1155 spring/pin from another dead motherboard. There was a Russian You-Tube video which showed how it's done: you have to tin the pin with solder, put it in place and then touch the soldering iron to it just enough for a permanent bond. Not easy, and requires a steady hand and good eyesight. I passed to board to another member -- it was just too much for me.

With that experience, I picked up a spare P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3 motherboard at www.ascendtech.com . That was around October, and they had a few of them for about $85 each.

I would look at the socket carefully, and get an idea of how many pins are either damaged and out of place. See if you can manage to reseat them. After that, a refurbished board from a corporate-IT-asset handler like Ascendtech is a good bet, or you can shop Flea-Bay for a used board.

There may also be some decent brand-new boards still available at resellers. Look at the Asus Z77-A and an AsRock Z77 Extreme. Make sure, if you buy either a used or a new board to look at the socket carefully with a magnifier. I also had ordered the AsRock Z77 and had to return it under the Egg's 30-day policy for damaged pins.

Now that you've had this experience, you will learn as I have: Never touch those spring-pins with fingers, don't drop anything on them like the corner of a CPU that slipped in your hand (my own accident). If you want to clean them, use a very, very soft sable brush or spray on electronics contact cleaner, then give the pins a blow-dry with canned air. and THEN -- re-examine the socket to make sure all the pins are in place.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'd checked with Ascendtech here and there since I bought my Pro/Gen3 board from them. Recently, I had found no Socket-1155 boards from ASUS with the Z chipsets.

You could be in luck:

http://www.ascendtech.us/asus-p8z68-v-lga1155-z68-ddr3-hdmi-dvi_i_mbasup8z68vwtio.aspx

Poke around there some more and see if there aren't some other Z68 or Z77 boards available. I wouldn't be so picky for it being an ASUS board. Just give it a look-see.

 

[LTC8K6]

Hi, I currently have a 2500k and a 770 windforce sat on an asus p8z68-v lx. Basically I stupidly put too much thermal paste on (beginners mistake), and whilst cleaning it up somehow managed to bend some of the connectors that sit under the processor chip. I am guessing the board is screwed, and attempting to use it might nacker the chip?

Assuming that's true, should I just replace the board directly with the same?Where can I find one and what price would I expect to pay? I haven't seen many online with a quick google search. I think scan said discontinued? I don't know if this board is good or not.

If not, which one is suitable to fit my 2500k to? Unless I just replace both, get a newer CPU and board together ready for my new GPU in a couple months! Don't think the 2500k is that outdated though is it?

Any advice appreciated.

I did the same thing the other day with an LGA1150.

I thought the socket was a goner.

However, when I tried to fix it, the connectors seemed to just pop back into place the moment I touched them.

I used a very fine dental pick.

The contacts weren't actually bent out of place. They had just been dislocated, and popped right back into place.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Intel_Socket_1155.jpeg

I had actually just rotated a couple of the contacts out of their normal position, apparently.

 

[carling220]

thanks for the replies. Will trying to repair and using the motherboard potentially damage my CPU if not done right? Or will it either work or not work?

If theres potential to damage my 2500k, and the motherboards are cheap enough, I might just buy another and save the risk!

I don't know anything about motherboards, what is good etc. My P8Z68-V LX, i can't find this one as I said. It says in the manual I need a 1155 socket for second gen CoreI processors, with intel Z68 express chipset.

Are all boards matching this equal? there seems to be a lot of other factors like internet speeds, USB etc etc. Can I not just get one exactly equal to, or slightly better than my current board? Would this cost me over £100?

Cheers! Also going to order a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Cooler at the same time to overclock my CPU when the board gets here!

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

If you have thermal paste in the socket(pins) use some 90% alcohol then blow out the socket well, use a magnifying glass to make sure no paste is on any pins. If there is use a Q tip with alcohol, lightly brush over the pins or soak the socket and flip over when done.
Only you know if you should try it, I have bought used boards with TIM in and on the pins and they worked. I do it all the time though.

 

[carling220]

It's not the paste now. The pins some are bent and mishaped. I wondered if badly repairing can damage a CPU.

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

if there badly bent and touching each other yes it can

 

[carling220]

They are pretty bad yeah. Just need to order a motherboard then ASAP, difficult though, reading the internet now. Any recommendations that are equal to or better than my old one for decent price would be appreciated.

Thanks for the link bonzai duck, but it's hard to tell which one I need!

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Motherboards-/1244/i.html?_from=R40&_sop=15&_nkw=Asus+P8P67
the P8P67 deluxe and EVO are the best................

 

[BonzaiDuck]

They are pretty bad yeah. Just need to order a motherboard then ASAP, difficult though, reading the internet now. Any recommendations that are equal to or better than my old one for decent price would be appreciated.

Thanks for the link bonzai duck, but it's hard to tell which one I need!

The P8Z68-V board I linked should be very close to the one you have. For a 2500K, any P67 (as Philly noted), Z68 or Z77 board would work fine -- the latter two being preferable because they make it possible to use the Intel 3000 integrated graphics.

I'd be willing to bet that the board I linked and your own have the same phase-power design. There really shouldn't be much difference, and the Ascendtech operation refurbishes all the boards that come into their hands. They SAY that for ~$10, they'll test the board for you before shipping. I'm willing to bet the test them anyway.

Your concern about damage to the CPU makes even me a bit uncomfortable, and Philly may remember the trouble I went through last year with my 2700K. The damaged pin on the Sabertooth Z77 board, while not making contact with any other pin, was integral to memory or the IMC for supplying voltage. There were several such pins, and before I really discovered the problem, I couldn't get the board to configure RAM as more than DDR3 1066. It didn't SEEM as though there was damage: the 2700K clocked to 4.7 Ghz with Hyper-Threading enabled at a voltage you'd expect to be reasonable. Hasn't missed a lick since. But I'd rather not think about it.

Some spring-pins for a given socket are either "dead" and unused, "reserved" and unused, or just "common ground." You can find the pinout diagram for your processor in the Intel documentation on their web-site -- the diagram is color-coded and marked for these various voltages, purposes and so forth. For the same processor, I had a concern about some missing gold plate on one of the contact pads, but it was confirmed to be "common ground." To identify a particular socket pin in the diagram, you have to think with a "backwards" orientation since the pin layout will be a mirror image of the processor contact pads. You know -- "right is left, and left is right." You'd first locate the corner for "A1" -- identified with the little gold triangle on the processor.

For phase-power design, the P8Z68 model-line varied. One such board that came into my hands (say "cheese") had 8 phases; the -V Pro and -V Deluxe boards were 12-phase. The Sabertooth is generally a 10-phase board. The higher that number, the better the over-clocking potential.

You could be even luckier than for the offering at Ascendtech (if still there, but it's only been a couple days). Somebody on EBay may be selling either a Pro, Deluxe, or Pro/Gen3 board -- maybe a Z77 unit. But you'll have to analyze their sales pitch to assess the likelihood of everything being tip-top.

 

[carling220]

Hi, thanks for the reply. To be honest I don't want to buy second hand refurbished, I'd like a new board if possible. Would my other components, such as RAM, the power supply (650w), wifi etc all work perfectly with the other boards, or do I need to be careful with the RAM type for example? My wifi antennae connect in to some card that sits on the MOBO, would this fit any board? Sorry for the questions, never bought a motherboard before.

Any specific things I should consider with other components basically. Also I ordered a 1200 evo cooler, would this fit any board?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Hi, thanks for the reply. To be honest I don't want to buy second hand refurbished, I'd like a new board if possible. Would my other components, such as RAM, the power supply (650w), wifi etc all work perfectly with the other boards, or do I need to be careful with the RAM type for example? My wifi antennae connect in to some card that sits on the MOBO, would this fit any board? Sorry for the questions, never bought a motherboard before.

Any specific things I should consider with other components basically. Also I ordered a 1200 evo cooler, would this fit any board?

If you HAD the P8Z68-V LX, LE or whatever, all the other components should work in any P67, Z68 or Z77 board you can find.

First, let me say that the AscendTech outfit has been touted by friends retired from the electronics business -- one who repaired equipment on submarines for the Navy. They're very reliable. You could worry that a refurb board from "wherever" had been overclocked or abused; you could worry about the same thing from an EBay seller. But AscendTech has two storefronts. They acquire corporate IT assets, and turn them over to individuals through the second storefront. It's not likely that items from such sources would've been abused.

Sometimes, you'll find independent computer outfits selling on EBay, and even individuals who are just turning over RMA replacement boards. Any RMA replacement from ASUS is likely to have been thoroughly tested, and often would simply be a brand new board.

If you want "new" -- here's an AsRock board available at the Egg which seemed to get decent reviews, was a fairly good over-clocker:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...scription=Asrock+Z77+Extreme4&N=-1&isNodeId=1

Did I link this in an earlier post? Post-Medicare memory -- can't remember. But I'd ordered the same board, discovered it had socket pins out of place, and chose refund over replacement during the same cycle of difficulties that involved the Sabertooth Z77 board and my purchase at AscendTech.

The AsRock Z77 has a 12-phase-power design, so in that respect, better than what you have (or had if you simply want to chuck it). The reviews seem mildly promising: 1,200 reviewers means it was a fairly popular board. 68% total 4 and 5-egg reviews are "not bad" for a motherboard - I remarked about this "review phenomenon" in another thread recently at the top of the "General Hardware" forum queue.

I cannot say anything about AsRock tech-support and warranty service. They're a spin-off of ASUS, and I can only recount my own experiences with the parent company.

Also, you should have additional features on a Z77 board over a Z68; the board would be ready-to-go for an Ivy Bridge processor in addition to your Sandy Bridge, and with the IB there is a feature with a "strap" that runs the bCLK at higher speeds than 100 Mhz.

By the way. 1200 EVO is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle or part. I think you mean the 212 EVO?

Oh. One more point here. You say you have a Wi-Fi connector/controller. It could be proprietary to the ASUS board, but -- not likely, or I'd know about it for having a higher-tier P8Z68 of my own. It's likely an add-in PCI or PCI-E card. In which case -- I doubt there'd be a problem with that, either.

 

[carling220]

Thanks for the reply again. I was thinking to stick with asus. When I switched newegg to UK for that AsRock board it went to about £80.

Edit. Nvm i just found a Z97 board but they sockets different and google says it wont fit. Basically scan etc dont stock new 1155 socket boards! So I either get the AsRock one you recommended, or upgrade CPU! Maybe the ASRock one is the way forward. Not sure it has SLI capability though?

I am strongly considering an upgrade or maybe a bundle. Something like this?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3xs-...hz-asus-z97-p-8gb-corsair-ddr3-be-quiet-pure-

Although on the ASRock board I suspect I could overclock my 2500k to over 4ghz, and would a newer CPU at similar speeds really deliver enough performance to justify £380 over a OC 2500k?

 

[Burpo]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3R&cm_re=z77_open_box-_-13-157-293R-_-Product

 

[carling220]

Not a UK website though, and the small print at the bottom says postage outside US and Canada can void warranty.

Why the hell aren't there lots of 1155 socket boards for sale? No Asus ones anywhere!

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

They have E bay in the UK and if you get one from a good seller you wont have to worry about USED or issue's. If your not Ebay savvy then buy new. Just trying to save you a few bucks............

 

[MongGrel]

Refurbished isn't always a bad thing, the ASUS P6T7 I bought over 6 years ago in the main here at half price has been kicking along great since then, with a X5680 these days.

Not relevant to your situation with that board of course, but just saying.

 

[carling220]

They have E bay in the UK and if you get one from a good seller you wont have to worry about USED or issue's. If your not Ebay savvy then buy new. Just trying to save you a few bucks............

Hi, appreciate the posts. I am trying to buy a new board, but there doesn't seem to be hardly any 1155 socket boards for sale. They all seem to be 1150, and hence won't fit my 2500k. Which is odd, unless they stopped production.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Hi, appreciate the posts. I am trying to buy a new board, but there doesn't seem to be hardly any 1155 socket boards for sale. They all seem to be 1150, and hence won't fit my 2500k. Which is odd, unless they stopped production.

You can obviously put two SLI/Crossfire cards in the AsRock board.

If you can find that board in UK for the right price, it's a good option.

Otherwise, you make your search on EBay, evaluate seller reviews, analyze the sales pitches carefully, prioritize purchases from independent shops which deal in either refurb or new stock.

Look at P8Z68-V/Pro/M MATX, ATX; look at Z77 boards with 10 or 12-phase-power if you can find them.

The right board should eventually appear for you, from the right seller at the right price and the right functionality and reliability.

I DONE BEEN THROUGH THIS, MAN!! You can DO it!

Otherwise, put the 2500K up for sale, buy yourself a 4690 or 4790K and Z97 motherboard -- hopefully re-using your RAM kit and most other parts.

 

[carling220]

OK. Well I stumbled across one actually in the UK, looks OK:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/610839185...167?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c52808ae7

Says there are two left, I think new. Little bit expensive at £160.

I would have to weigh up the cost, quickly, of a new CPU and board, versus just this board. I need to order a £30 212 cooler too, so for £190 everything should be OK, then I can overclock.

It seems a new CPU motherboard bundle can actually reach £3-400, depending on quality, so could cost me £150-200 more new. I guess it's question of, is a newer overclocked processor in a bundle at over 4ghz, going to offer enough benefits to justify the extra money over a clocked 2500K.

I'd think that for gaming, like such as GTA V, a OC 2500k and a newer OC I5 wouldn't be too much difference? This way I can save £150 and stick it in to a new GPU.

Thanks for the assistance, i'm new to everything other than GPU's, learning a lot here about PC's.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

OK. Well I stumbled across one actually in the UK, looks OK:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/610839185...167?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c52808ae7

Says there are two left, I think new. Little bit expensive at £160.

I would have to weigh up the cost, quickly, of a new CPU and board, versus just this board. I need to order a £30 212 cooler too, so for £190 everything should be OK, then I can overclock.

It seems a new CPU motherboard bundle can actually reach £3-400, depending on quality, so could cost me £150-200 more new. I guess it's question of, is a newer overclocked processor in a bundle at over 4ghz, going to offer enough benefits to justify the extra money over a clocked 2500K.

I'd think that for gaming, like such as GTA V, a OC 2500k and a newer OC I5 wouldn't be too much difference? This way I can save £150 and stick it in to a new GPU.

Thanks for the assistance, i'm new to everything other than GPU's, learning a lot here about PC's.

Pardon my Yankee ignorance: what's the exchange-rate these days between the British pound and USD?

The P8Z77-V LK board has a six-phase power design, so it won't be a "stellar" overclocker, but you should be able to get up to at least 4.4Ghz while keeping the maximum "turbo" VCORE voltage below 1.37V. In fact, at 4.4, I'd think the necessary voltage would be closer to 1.3 to 1.33V for the 2500K. And my assessment is a guarded one: 4.5 and 4.6Ghz are quite likely without pushing the maximum VCORE beyond 1.37.

I picked up an ASUS Z77-A board last year -- now in my brother's system upstairs -- which has a 6-phase-power design like the -V LK. I dropped a 2700K into it, and it was stable to 4.7 Ghz with Hyper-threading enabled. That means that 4.8 was quite possible. The 2500K has no HT, and should probably OC as well as a 2600K without HT enabled.

You'll have to decide yourself about the trade-offs involved in all this. You get two Intel SATA-III ports and 4 Intel SATA-II ports. The rest of the specs you should know. All your components from the old board should just fit right in. There is a high probability that the board will be your only expense.

Most folks around here argue that the old Sandy K processors are still great for gaming, and have urged owners such as myself to just upgrade our old graphics cards (which I've done.) You could still squeeze several years out of such a system, and then relegate it to some other use if you distribute computers throughout your household as I do.

The RAM you have -- likely the other PCI/PCI-E cards, etc. should also fit a Z97 board with a Devils Canyon or Haswell "Refresh" processor, but I'd think your expenses are at least double as a baseline. But you could still get some money for the 2500K on EBAY-UK.

 

[carling220]

Not sure about the exchange rate.

I've decided to just order this one from ebay when I get home. £160 and then everything works again. I just need a £20 212 to overclock. I think 4.4 ghz or so should be good enough.

I feel for GTA 5 my 770 will restrict before a 4.4ghz processor does. I also think GTA 5 is bit of a rarity in it's CPU intensive nature. Majority of games now work perfectly well and with a new GPU should be spot on for a couple of years. I think CPU intensive games in general are rare.

This motherboard, the P8Z77-V LK, I just need to check it's not missing any other extra features versus my old board!

As you said, it seems to get a new board and haswell CPU will probably cost me double!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Not sure about the exchange rate.

I've decided to just order this one from ebay when I get home. £160 and then everything works again. I just need a £20 212 to overclock. I think 4.4 ghz or so should be good enough.

I feel for GTA 5 my 770 will restrict before a 4.4ghz processor does. I also think GTA 5 is bit of a rarity in it's CPU intensive nature. Majority of games now work perfectly well and with a new GPU should be spot on for a couple of years. I think CPU intensive games in general are rare.

This motherboard, the P8Z77-V LK, I just need to check it's not missing any other extra features versus my old board!

As you said, it seems to get a new board and haswell CPU will probably cost me double!

From prices you quote, at least for the cooler, the ratio is somewhere close to 1.0 -- up or down, either way, I guess.

Lissen, Bro! I'm pretty darn sure there will be more "features" -- if only subtle refinements -- on that board as compared to your Z68. You won't lose anything, I'm pretty sure. If so, you'll gain as much as lose. I've seen the BIOS for that very board. Better -- it would run an i5-3570K or i7-3770K -- out of the box, which would then make available the strap for the bCLK to run at (what I think) is 133Mhz.

We could all fritter away our precious ducats on incremental upgrades, no less for single-generation swap-ups in processors. But consider -- I made great purchase on a bundle at EBay last year, offered up from a SETI-@-Home enthusiast maybe 100 miles north of here in Palmdale. I only WANTED the motherboard! I damaged the socket pins myself! For the price, $300, I got the board, 16GB of XMS3 RAM, and a year-old 3570K -- never overclocked. I had to give up on the board, but the RAM was worth $200 retail, and the processor at least that much.

S*** happens. You never know. The RAM went into my 2700K rig here, and the 3570K plugged into my brother's rig upstairs. I had household upgrade plans, anyway. Win some, lose some. I was just hoping you'd get by on this for less than $100 USD or pound-equivalent.