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Incredibly lucky while installing CPU

rancod
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Just wanted to share an almost horror story...

I believe I was just incredibly lucky while installing my new CPU (3900x). I had installed it in my MB and put the whole thing in the case and next was installing my AIO (Deepcool Captain 240 Pro). I put some Noctua thermal paste on the CPU and screwed the water block on the CPU. Then I wanted to take the water block off, to check the amount of thermal paste. And that's when the horror struck...

I unscrewed the water block and tried to pull it off, but it was still stuck. So I unscrewed more, until I was 200% certain that the screws were completely out off the bracket, but the water block was still completely stuck. I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to pull harder, and it finally loosened and came off. But, to my horror, it had in fact NOT loosened! I had pulled the CPU straight out of the (locked!) socket. And the water block is still completely stuck to it.

I managed to detach the water block from the CPU by sliding it off. And after inspecting the CPU, all pins seemed to be intact, so I did the only thing I could do and installed it again. After completing my build I have to admit that my pulse was quite high when I tried to boot. And to my joy it booted and posted just fine, with all 4 RAM sticks detected!

I have yet to install windows and try using the computer, but I think I dodged a bullet here and the CPU (and socket) survived. :)

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https://linustechtips.com/topic/1153320-incredibly-lucky-while-installing-cpu/
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Yeah...

I've built quite a few computers in my time, but this has never happened to me before... Never had a cooler be that stuck to a CPU either. Don't know if it's an artifact of the thermal paste, the water block or both. But it sure was scary when it happened...

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Same thing happened to me a few weeks ago with R5 1600 and a stock cooler. The only difference is that I did it intentionally because cooler simply refused to come off no matter what I did. CPU and motherboard still work absolutely fine.

Main system: Ryzen 7 7800X3D / Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus / G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO 32GB 6000Mhz / Zotac RTX 5090 SOLID OC/ x2 WD_BLACK NS770 2TBs/ Corsair HX1000i/ NZXT H5 Flow

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Just now, PopsicleHustler said:

Same thing happened to me a few weeks ago with R5 1600 and a stock cooler. The only difference is that I did it intentionally because cooler simply refused to come off no matter what I did. CPU and motherboard still work absolutely fine.

Great to hear.. Makes me feel a lot better, and makes me a lot more confident that it will still work great when I start using it for real :)

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11 minutes ago, rancod said:

Yeah...

I've built quite a few computers in my time, but this has never happened to me before... Never had a cooler be that stuck to a CPU either. Don't know if it's an artifact of the thermal paste, the water block or both. But it sure was scary when it happened...

Old thermal paste will sometimes make the cpu stick to the cooler.

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3 minutes ago, rancod said:

Yeah...

I've built quite a few computers in my time, but this has never happened to me before... Never had a cooler be that stuck to a CPU either. Don't know if it's an artifact of the thermal paste, the water block or both. But it sure was scary when it happened...

The only times it's happened to me was when I was removing a HSF or waterblock after years of use and the thermal paste was dry enough to act as a adhesive.  The stuff AMD used on their Athlon 64 coolers would turn into cement after a few months.  Thankfully they always let go before damaging or ripping off any pins.

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Just now, johnny5c said:

The only times it's happened to me was when I was removing a HSF or waterblock after years of use and the thermal paste was dry enough to act as a adhesive.  The stuff AMD used on their Athlon 64 coolers would turn into cement after a few months.  Thankfully they always let go before damaging or ripping off any pins.

Right. Solder is pretty strong.

 

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1 minute ago, B Bergen said:

Old thermal paste will sometimes make the cpu stick to the cooler.

 

1 minute ago, johnny5c said:

The only times it's happened to me was when I was removing a HSF or waterblock after years of use and the thermal paste was dry enough to act as a adhesive.  The stuff AMD used on their Athlon 64 coolers would turn into cement after a few months.  Thankfully they always let go before damaging or ripping off any pins.

I was using brand new Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste, but it would seem it can be used as a glue as well ;)

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