Tonight I was working on a Compaq computer that I’m repairing for one of my parents’ friends. The motherboard was shot from a shipping mishap, so I was replacing the motherboard with a new one. Since nothing was wrong with the computer’s processor, I needed to move the processor from the old board to the new one. I figured this would be an easy job, since I’ve done these kinds of repairs before. Just like Gateway’s tech support issue two weeks ago, I was terribly wrong.
The processor which needed to be removed was a socket 478 Celeron. If you’ve ever worked with Intel’s socket 478 before, you’re probably familiar with the heatsink latching mechanism. If you haven’t, the latches are right on the top of the heatsink, next to the fan. Well, right from the start I ran into problems with it.
The latches were super-glued down. That was a major pain. I had to break out the exact-o-knife to remove the glue from the crevasses of the latch. After the super-glue was remove, I was finally apply to lift the latches to unhook the processor. As I tried to lift the heatsink from its socket, I immediately knew something else wasn’t right.
The heatsink wouldn’t come loose from the socket. A quick peek from the side of the motherboard revealed adhesive thermal paste was my next obstacle. After about five minutes of slowly twisting the heatsink while pulling, I was finally able to remove the heatsink. The inspection of the area where the heatsink was previously attached, revealed the mess Compaq had made. Not only was the thermal compound on the core of the processor, it was just about everywhere else in the general vicinity of the CPU. Luckily I was ditching the motherboard, so a cleanup was avoided.
Now with the processor in plain site, I thought the job was almost finished. Once again my perceptions failed me. After removing the processor from the ZIF socket, a glance at the underside of the process revealed a major problem. There were about ten pins bent straight down. While the processor might have been working without those pins, I felt I had to do something about them, even though they were like that before I received the computer. To remedy the bent pins, I used a safety pin to slowly lift the pins back to their normal position. This wasn’t hard, it just took time.
After the pins were back to their normal state, I was finally able to put the processor in the new motherboard. Unfortunately, I don’t know if the processor will work yet because I called it a night after getting the processor in the new motherboard. I’ll know tomorrow if my lengthy repair job was a success.
So, looking back on this experience reveals yet another crappy computer manufacture. I don’t know who was in charge of placing the processor in, but whoever it was apparently didn’t know much about computers. Any person who has ever built a computer will tell you, you don’t use a processor with bent pins, and the thermal paste only has to go on the CPU core. Spreading thermal paste all over the processor socket doesn’t do anything for cooling the processor other than creating a mess.
I hope this brief account of my experience has taught you something; don’t buy computers from bargain computer manufacturers. They’re cheap for a reason. You’d be much better off building a computer yourself or buying from a local PC shop that build their own machines.
9 Comments
How could the pins of the processor have been bent prior to you removing it? The processor would not even work without being connected completely. You probably bent the pins while removing the processor.
I have an HP laptop and a desktop. Both have been running strong for over a year and at least 4 years respectively. Just because you get one bad computer does not make the whole lot bad. I have had bad experiences with Dell but some say they are “the best”. But I do agree with you that if you know how, building your own computer is much more rewarding.
I know for sure I didn’t bend the pins. I do agree with you it’s quite odd, but I didn’t give you the whole story so there are some missing pieces.
I’m actually the second person attempting to fix this computer. Something was wrong with it prior to me receiving it, and the computer was mailed to a friend of the owner. The owner’s friend was trying to fix an issue which is unknown to me, and presumably resolved the issue. However, upon mailing the computer back over USPS the computer appeared to suffer a few drops and abuse, as when I got it the case was dented and the ports on the back of the motherboard were loose, breaking their connection. Which is why I’m replacing the motherboard.
I don’t know what that first person did, so possibly what I’m seeing may not be the work of a Compaq employee. The first person fixing the computer could have possibly removed the processor and screwed up.
Very true. I guess I’ve just recently had a lot of bad experiences with the major computer companies and kind of lost faith in them.
I have to agree with Wayland here, you most likely bent the pins on removal, as it would fail POST otherwise. As for fixing the pins, I found using a ballpoint pen is easiest tool. I’d use the small hole on the bottom and it fits nicely.
I am unfamiliar with that socket, 478, but whatever I have in my Asus is pretty easy to use. I just hate Athlon heat sinks, as the chips are so fragile, and the heat sink requires that manoeuvring of an expert on such an angle, it make things so much more difficult. Fortunately, I have tools, which help, but I would greatly like to see that changed.
I have no experience in HPs other than repairs on dinosaur Pavilions which still work…so from experience, any mass produced computer will have its problems, however, I believe Apple to be the most reliable only because drivers aren’t and issue and it’s UNIX soul.
Dell I seen lately to be causing way too many problems, even damaged when shipped!
Also, Ron, how do you make your stories continue so it doesn’t take up all of the front page (feel free to edit this out when you tell me)
Jonathan, I use the <!‐‐more‐‐> tag. Just put that in your post where you want it to break.
If anyone cares, the computer boots perfectly fine. There are no problems with my processor install.
excellent to hear!
I’m currently in the process of getting a new motherboard for my HP Pavilion, yeah it sux the power supply burnt out and took mobo with it. The only question I have is getting the heatsink off, how do I do it?
~~This is my first time messing with the mobo so trying to read up on as much as I can ~~
PLEASE RESPOND
If it’s a P4 there should be two levels on the top of the heatsink. Just pull them and you’ll feel a little bit of pressure release. After the levels are off, there are four tabs all around the heatsink. Using your finger, move the heatsink out of each of those tabs. After that, all you have to do is lift.
We just repaired a Compaq that has never been worked on before. The power supply was a 20 pin and the motherboard needed a 24 pin. Needless to say we had to replace the power supply, the motherboard and the proccesor.
Do you know if there is anyway to get a hold of the manufacturer and see if they will replace this.