I use several different gauge needles, also have a ton of picks. Of course a jewelers optic works great, the key is not to over work the pins. moving them to many times will result in them snapping off, the pins if not bent badly will want to go back to the form they were. IF you notice frustration or anything simply walk away n come back when you feel better.
Good luck let us know!
You have more confidence and persistence than I have. As I was saying (somewhere), I put a soldering magnifier on the board I'm RMA'ing with a strong light. I could finally SEE that there is one pin, longer than the rest, out of place. I couldn't tell for sure if it was in the appropriate hole or just got jammed in where it doesn't belong due to some screwup with whatever automated process they use to make those boards -- like a sewing needle that misses the mark in some . . garment district sweat-shop.
I tried teasing the pin a bit with my knife blade, but even if I'd wanted to sweat over it, I couldn't see well enough to be confident I'd make any progress. So --yeah -- a jeweler's ocular. But who would think to keep one of those in their PC-repair toolkit?
I might have bought your mobo, but I came across something else. Almost too good to be true. I'll want to wait until I know I scored big-time, then I'll explain it all. It should all become apparent after the Saturday JFK anniversary.