Saved a $500 motherboard with a trick I learned from a YouTube comment

Had a client bring in a Dell Precision T5810 that wouldn't post at all. Checked the usual stuff, reseated RAM, cleared CMOS, nothing worked. Then I remembered a comment about checking the CPU socket pins with a magnifying glass under bright light - sure enough, three pins were bent on the edge. Spent 20 minutes with a mechanical pencil tip straightening them out and the system booted right up. Has anyone else fixed a dead board with a simple pin straightening job?

2 comments

2 Comments

shah.ben10d ago

Ive done that with a mechanical pencil too, works surprisingly well for bent pins. Had a cheap Asus board that wouldnt recognize any RAM, turned out two pins were squished flat and I had to carefully lift them back up with a sewing needle.

diana8299d ago

oh man @shah.ben i had the same thing happen with an old gigabyte board. the pins were so mangled i thought it was toast. ended up using a mechanical pencil too but i actually used the empty tip part to kinda slide over each pin and gently push them back. worked way better than using a needle cause it kept them from bending back the wrong way. felt like a mini surgery haha