motherboard X79 Pin Damage Question

[ZEJ]

I recently purchased some hardware from a "friend" (you'll see why that's in quotes in a moment), I'll post everything I got after, but the topic of this post is the motherboard. 

 

After getting all of the components home I got to work. Included was an old h100 cooler, I had an h110i I wanted to use instead still in the box, so I set to work removing the h100. First thing I noticed was a ludicrous amount of thermal paste. I was pissed, but it wasn't anything an hour or two of delicate cleaning couldn't solve. I'm a little sketched that some of the compound got on the board in a spot I couldn't reach very well when I first removed the cooler (from a drip), however I think I got it up. After solving that crisis I was finally able to remove the CPU (just wanted to check on the socket), and of course, I found some bent/damaged pins, they seem almost ... burnt? I'll upload pictures. Basically, the guy I bought everything from says everything was working fine, and I know it's possible to have bent pins and the board still function, however I wanted to get y'alls opinion on this. I haven't actually tried to boot up the rig because the CPU I bought with it is a 4960x and I really didn't want to risk burning it out if by some chance the damage was done when my "friend" was transferring the components to the case he sold me (I should mention that the rig was originally in another case, the one he would've tested in, and I wanted his x9 case, so he moved the components into the case, but didn't hook everything up, so its possible he damaged it while moving it). 

 

Based on the pictures what do you guys think, buy a new board? Try to boot and see if it works (risking frying the chip)? 

 

To me it seems almost like the pins (especially the middle two pictures) were melted from heat / a bad overclock. The last picture seems like the same, but just to a lesser extent. 

 

I don't imagine getting the money back from this guy will be a clean process, it'd likely involve small claims court, and I don't know how that would really pan out since its computer components. 

 

The first picture shows a blurry shot of the socket, you can see some damage on the top and bottom of the image. I can get a better picture from this angle if someone needs it. 

The second and third image show different angles of the top bit of damage, 

The last image shows the bottom bit, this sortof looks like just the plastic melted, probably due to poor cooling / bad overclocking. The pins look a little warped but seems to maintain structure. 

 

For those curious, this is what I bought off of him. 

 

ASUS X79 Deluxe 

4960x (with h100 AiO that is pretty beat, I don't think it was on the original rig, he just through it in as a "bonus", I didn't really want it but hey, free cooler I guess)

Thermaltake x9

Dominator Platinum 64gb kit (8 x 8gb, matched kit)

AX1200i PSU

2TB WD Black

LG Bluray Burner 

 

I payed $1400 because he really needed some cash, thought I was doing him a favor, not likely to happen again, hah. 

 

[Bananasplit_00]

i would say test it, it looks like it should work fine. not that experienced with this kind of motherboard damage but it looks to me like it should work

[Alexcalibur]

I don't have too much personal experience burnt out CPUS. I once had a i5-4690k which I put into a mobo with dead pins. All that would happen is it would try to boot and then power down. I moved it to a new mobo and here I am now using it. Mileage may vary

[ZEJ]

I was intending to go for the best overclock I could get, would the damaged pins hinder that much if it did work? 

[SLAYR]

1 hour ago, ZEJ said:

I was intending to go for the best overclock I could get, would the damaged pins hinder that much if it did work? 

It could if they tansfer current to the cpu, but they could be ground/data pins and if they are data then the board is dead.

[ZEJ]

4 minutes ago, SLAYR said:

It could if they tansfer current to the cpu, but they could be ground/data pins and if they are data then the board is dead.

I think I'm just going to cut my losses and get a new board. I really want to get a strong overclock, and with an already damaged board I'd always be like on the edge, thing would freeze once because of software and I'd think the board is dead, lol. 

[SLAYR]

2 hours ago, ZEJ said:

I think I'm just going to cut my losses and get a new board. I really want to get a strong overclock, and with an already damaged board I'd always be like on the edge, thing would freeze once because of software and I'd think the board is dead, lol. 

X79 boards aren't cheap even used they would be about $250USD so seeing if the other board works first will save you some money.

[Method]

I know this isnt related to your question but, $1400 is way too much for that...I would think 800 at the most. For that amount of money, I would have just bought a new setup with x99.

 

In any case: A little hard to say by the pictures (though Im surprised you were even able to get that close) Though it looks like theres a single pin thats bent down a little too far. I've repaired pins like this a couple of times, with varying degrees of success. I would say try it, run some benchmarks. It will likely post but if that pin isn't making contact, youll probably crash. If so, take the cpu back out and very carefully with the smallest flathead you can find (something out of an iFixIt kit should work) and pry the pin upwards gently. Even if it's higher than all the others, that's fine. 

[ace_cheaply]

They definitely looked "scratched" from being worked on before.  Most likely he bent the pins, and the burnt look you are talking about is the reflection caused by all the scratches you put on it while trying to bend it back with a pin.   It probably still works, or could be made to work.