Solaris17s:CPU pins broke? Fix it.

[Solaris17]

So today I had to build 2 AMD systems. I had 3 mobos 2xAM2 and 1x AM3 for one system I was doing a mobo swap so I could get ram voltage control. On the AM3 rig it was so I had a test bed for cooler reviews. That left me with a spare board. Now after I built and swapped the other systems. I relized I had an old 5200BE laying on a shelf in the PC room. I bought the CPU for like $15 because it had bent pins.

Thinking it was a deal I snagged it. However I got greedy with the credit card and tore 2 off in the process. With my luck they were not ground pins. The CPU was dead. That was over a year ago. However today with already so much on my plate. I decided you know What about a staple mod? The concept is simple. A staple fits into the pin holes on the CPU socket. Now gold is used mostly for its conductivity but it isnt a necessity. With that in mind aluminium should work fine. So the idea is to cut a staple so its pin length and improvise.

To start I found some purple staples in the junk drawer in the kitchen. (Sorry iphone cam)



And of course our 5200BE





All together with our sweet socket.



So first. We have to find the broken pins. After you have found them we need to mark down their location by righting it down. I personally use row/spaces. You can do so however you want but I find this easier. The important thing is you must know were they are located so you can place the staple into the socket in the correct hole. Also REMEMBER that the socket is a mirror image. So your rows/spaces will be BACKWARDS.


Mine that I wrote on a receipt.

Now if you haven't already fix/check to make sure your CPU does not have bent pins. After that its time for measurement. I eyeballed it. However you must try to be as close as possible. Let me explain. If it is too short you will not get it out. Magnets aren't an option too many sensitive components. Shaking isnt an option the holes are to tight.

Now if it is too long the staple tip will bend. This can make it miss entirely or come in contact with other pins. Start by cutting the staple in half. After of course you have straightened it as much as possible. This is pretty safe since staples are universal they do not differ in size. Now that you have done this. Place the half next to a good pin on the CPU. Either measure or eyeball the point you will need to make the next cut. NOW this is a critical point.

Other than the above mentioned their is a factor some may not consider. So I will state it here. Pins on a CPU are not totally cylindrical. At the bottom they sort of bead out. I have drawn a crappy picture so you get the idea.



Now. When a pin breaks off it usually takes the base with it. Because of this you have the solder pad. Which means that you cannot cut the staple to exactly pin height. Cut it a HAIR longer so it makes contact with this pad. Or you will fall short. (Remember to check though. If the base is still their compensate with a slight height drop.)

After you have cut your staple pieces, carefully insert them into the pin holes with the socket UNLOCKED. Gently push until they wont go. If all goes well their should be a minuscule amount still sticking up. This is good. Now place your processor in the socket and put up a heatsink on it. I recommend using a OEM cooler so if it does not work and needs adjustment you don't need to go through a complicated rebuild process. If the CPU does not seat correctly the staple pieces are in the wrong place or too long.

After that is done plug it in and give it a go!

After rebuild.



Finally WOOHOO the 5200+BE lives!! New test bed what?



Q&A

Q: What tools do you recommend?

A: Wire-cutters and/or needle nose are a must. Needle nose will help you place the pieces of staple and cut them. scissors will also work in cutting a staple. Aluminium shards easy.

Q: What surface do you recommend?

A: Preferably sitting height. Like a table, bench, workstation etc. Any hard surface. Also high light. With no high lighting you will fail.

Q: It didn't work what do?

A: Either the processor really is dead or the staples aren't connecting correctly. Reseat/replace them.

Q: I tried this and I blew it up. What is your paypal address?

A: I'm not responsible. This is high risk and do it at you'r own risk. I don't owe you a dime.

Q: How hard is this really?

A: Pictures are worth as many words as questions. This is actually pretty easy. The key is to stay calm. These parts are incredibly small. If you have shaky hands try to calm down as much as possible. I also recommend doing this when you are alone or it is quiet. You will need to remember counts, placement, work in small areas. Just take it easy Don't rush. its been DOA for this long. Whats another 15min?

Q: How long did it take?

A: It took me 10min. I say the MAX that this mod should take depending on skill and broken pin amount/placement is 30min.

Q: Should I try this on my GF first?

A: Negative. This will not impress her and she will not be cool with your attempt at trying it on her first.

Enjoy!

[overclocker]

Sick!

[Mussels]

if you have a really fine soldering iron, its possible you could fix the pin to the socket too.

perhaps some kind of conductive epoxy, or dipping the staple into the melted solder and quickly pushing it into place?

[Yukikaze]

Amazing, amazing, amazing job.

[sneekypeet]

Hey Sol, if you want to replace the staple, I still have the spool of gold wire I used when rick sent me the dropped Opty165. IDK the staple is most likely sufficient, but I got a lot left on this spool

Nice work BTW, I for one know this isnt the easiest thing to do!

[burtram]

That is awesome! Reminds me of back in the day, using a staple to replace a pin in my old PS1 video adapter, only a lot cooler. lol.

[Fourstaff]

I was thinking about that idea actually, but you proved that it works! *Goes off to ebay to pick up chips with bent pins*

[Solaris17]

Originally Posted by Mussels

if you have a really fine soldering iron, its possible you could fix the pin to the socket too.

perhaps some kind of conductive epoxy, or dipping the staple into the melted solder and quickly pushing it into place?

Conductive epoxy etc could work. If you went out and bought and electrical grade tip/iron that would also work. the trick is to not put too much on the end of the staple. That way you dont go over the solder pad on the silicone.

Originally Posted by sneekypeet

Hey Sol, if you want to replace the staple, I still have the spool of gold wire I used when rick sent me the dropped Opty165. IDK the staple is most likely sufficient, but I got a lot left on this spool

Nice work BTW, I for one know this isnt the easiest thing to do!

thanks sure why not. Ill test both methods!!

Thanks for everyones comments!!!

[kid41212003]

Dude you need a new camera! NICE WORK!

[Nick259]

Damn I broke a few pins on a LGA775 mobo a year ago. If I had known about this...

[Solaris17]

Originally Posted by kid41212003

Dude you need a new camera! NICE WORK!

Sorry Iphone camera. I didnt feel like pulling out the review cam. Mostly because it was downstairs and i was mad lazy :P but thanks!

[JATownes]

This is pretty sweet. I have an old S939 laying around with a board and ram. Glad I didn't throw it away. (I never throw away old tech). Thanks, I will give this a go tonight.

[SystemViper]

nice work, love the idea of bringin back the dead,...

top notch job

[newtekie1]

Very nice, I wonder if it has any effect on the overclockability of the chip. Not that I would complain if it didn't overclock at all, after being brought back from the dead!

ZOMBIE 5000+BE FTW!!!!

[brandonwh64]

I loved those old BE x2 chips! i had a 5400+ BE and it was a beast! i still wished i would have kept it

[PVTCaboose1337]

Solaris, I have been replacing pins like you for a while on my CPUs. You have a clever method down! I have so many spare CPU's around I usually just steal pins from them, and use an extremely hot paper clip with a dab of solder at the end to attached the new pin to the CPU.

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by PVTCaboose1337

Solaris, I have been replacing pins like you for a while on my CPUs. You have a clever method down! I have so many spare CPU's around I usually just steal pins from them, and use an extremely hot paper clip with a dab of solder at the end to attached the new pin to the CPU.

we think alike, that sounds like a decent method.


how'd you remove pins from the sacrificial chips, without bending them?

[Fourstaff]

If you can provide good pictures, I would vote to sticky this.

[PVTCaboose1337]

Originally Posted by Mussels

we think alike, that sounds like a decent method.


how'd you remove pins from the sacrificial chips, without bending them?

The best way is to heat up the pins, and tug with pliers. Usually the shear off right below the silicon line... if you get what I mean, but they are always a tad long, so I just file them extremely slowly with a metal file. Never cut the pins. It makes the gold finish "speckle" and by that I mean crack, and it looks bad. To keep them intact you just PULL but after they are hot. How do you make them hot? Heatgun.

[Solaris17]

Thanks guys. I'll get better pics in the next day or so. I'v been really busy. I kind of wrote this on the fly haha. While it was all fresh.

[DaedalusHelios]

Originally Posted by Solaris17

Thanks guys. I'll get better pics in the next day or so. I'v been really busy. I kind of wrote this on the fly haha. While it was all fresh.

I don't know if you have yet but.... could you Prime95 it to check for errors for a few hours to see if there are any? For the sake of science please....

[Solaris17]

Originally Posted by DaedalusHelios

I don't know if you have yet but.... could you Prime95 it to check for errors for a few hours to see if there are any? For the sake of science please....

i have it was stable. I only ran it for a little over an hour. Then I needed to work on another system. Temps were normal.

[HookeyStreet]

Gotta luv ghetto mods

[mrigom]

can it be done on a p4 pga 478 too !!! i will try that as i have a p4 2.4ht proccy with a edge pin (definitely not a ground pin as it didnt power up due to improper mounting while mounting custom hsf with thermal paste eheheh my bad)broken coudnt fix it because i didnt get a brilliant idea like urs is there any risk of blowing up the whole cpu in smoke with the mobo as i have a working 845.....dont wanna risk that mobo too !!!

[Solaris17]

Originally Posted by Solaris17

Q&A

Q: What tools do you recommend?

A: Wire-cutters and/or needle nose are a must. Needle nose will help you place the pieces of staple and cut them. scissors will also work in cutting a staple. Aluminium shards easy.

Q: What surface do you recommend?

A: Preferably sitting height. Like a table, bench, workstation etc. Any hard surface. Also high light. With no high lighting you will fail.

Q: It didn't work what do?

A: Either the processor really is dead or the staples aren't connecting correctly. Reseat/replace them.

Q: I tried this and I blew it up. What is your paypal address?

A: I'm not responsible. This is high risk and do it at you'r own risk. I don't owe you a dime.

Q: How hard is this really?

A: Pictures are worth as many words as questions. This is actually pretty easy. The key is to stay calm. These parts are incredibly small. If you have shaky hands try to calm down as much as possible. I also recommend doing this when you are alone or it is quiet. You will need to remember counts, placement, work in small areas. Just take it easy Don't rush. its been DOA for this long. Whats another 15min?

Q: How long did it take?

A: It took me 10min. I say the MAX that this mod should take depending on skill and broken pin amount/placement is 30min.

Q: Should I try this on my GF first?

A: Negative. This will not impress her and she will not be cool with your attempt at trying it on her first.

Enjoy!

Originally Posted by mrigom

can it be done on a p4 pga 478 too !!! i will try that as i have a p4 2.4ht proccy with a edge pin (definitely not a ground pin as it didnt power up due to improper mounting while mounting custom hsf with thermal paste eheheh my bad)broken coudnt fix it because i didnt get a brilliant idea like urs is there any risk of blowing up the whole cpu in smoke with the mobo as i have a working 845.....dont wanna risk that mobo too !!!

yup. also if you read it near the pin diagram it says the dangers of crossing pins etc. Be carefull and you should be fine.