submitted 2 weeks ago by sudo@programming.dev to c/buildapc@lemmy.world

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I recently swapped motherboards between two builds. One went well but the other is being very finicky with detecting the CPU. Right now its laying on its side like a beached whale with the left side panel open. The heatsink is simply sitting on the CPU, no mounts, no fans. Sometimes I can strap the heatsink down, stand up the box, and close the case, but never with the fans on. Its like that's too much weight and some connection is broken. Is anyone familiar with this problem?

I had this issue previously with a different motherboard and fixed it by using a stock heatsink. But this is a fairly simple CoolerMaster 212. Its not massive. I feel like its a problem with the board or the socket.

More details: when uninstalled the old motherboard in this build, it had the same CM212 heatsink in it. When I removed that heatsink the CPU (Ryzen 5700) came out with it to my horror. Neither that CPU or that motherboard are in this build though. But that CPU was supposed it be. It did have bent pins and I did try to install it before discovering the bent pins. After straightening them the CPU still didn't work so i switched to an old Ryzen 1600, which is currently being finicky. Maybe I damaged the motherboard socket?

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[-] theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

Overtightening heatsink?

[-] sudo@programming.dev 3 points 2 weeks ago

Its like that but way too sensitive. I've deliberately been gentle and it will still fail especially if I set it upright with fans on the heatsink.

[-] frongt@lemmy.zip 4 points 2 weeks ago

Can you take some pictures? You probably bent something in the socket, or broke a trace. When it flexes just right, it makes the connection.

[-] sudo@programming.dev 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I think the overtightened heatsink theory is correct. I got it for an LGA1155 motherboard and it needed an adaptor for AM4 which has no safety springs so you can just keep tightening it with no indication of what's too tight.

There's also some sort of dirt on the center left edge that I cleaned out after taking this. I just used isopropyl and a softened (used) toothbrush. After doing that I got a channel of memory back. There's three sticks in the pic because I was trying to determine which channel was bad.

Update: Wow cleaning that bit of gunk really made a difference. I'm back to using the original Ryzen 5700. Really weird that it wasn't an issue in the old build.

this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2025

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