Need your opinion desperately

[Leo]

Last thursday I managed to burn my cpu. I was trying to unlock it using my new conductive pen (although it worked fine with pencil). I first chipped it installing it tilted on the socket. Needless to say it wouldn't post.
Then I removed the heatsink and sat the cpu properly. and after about 8 sec the fans or the hard disks reved up really fast and the smell of burnt started coming out. I tested my hard disks on another computer and they seem to work. I ordered another cpu and it's coming in tomorrow (tuesday).

Can anybody tell me what the chances are that i messed up my motherboard and all the PCI/AGP cards?

I keep hearing about people burning their cpu's but nothing on messing up the other components when that happens.
I'm Panicking please let me know your opinion.

[Fiz]

Where was the burning smell coming from? If it came from the cpu, then I would say that your mobo and cards are ok. The best thing to do is try out the cards in the comp you tested the hdd's in. I haven't seen anybody kill there cards and the like from chipping the cpu, so they are more than likely ok.

Fiz

[Leo]

the burning was from the cpu only and it condensed on the heatsink. nothing else was burning.

[William]

you should be fine, as long as your cpu was the only one with problems. Sorry to hear about the loss.

[Leo]

Thanks for your opinions they are defenitaly helping my morale.
In the meantime I decided to put use to the fried cpu by practicing the installment of the heatsink on and off, and applying the least amount of pressure.

I seem to have an issue though. I sanded the bottom of my taisol heatsink so that it wuld be perfectly smooth after chipping the last cpu. Now that I've been prcticing I noticed that the cracked cpu put a dent of about the same size as before even though it is sitting flat. Can you guys suggest any good techinique to install the heatsink. As of right now the only pressure that I put on the heatsink when installing it is throught the spring that clamps through the socket. Maybe I should hold it a little more.

Can you give me opinions?

Thanks again.

[kat]

i believe the best way to install a hsf is pull the mother board tray out of your case and lay it flat on a table , there just isnt enough room between the ps and chip ... and dont apply any pressure to the hs at all only to the spring mechanism i use a small pair of visegrips so nothing slips ;D

[jordan]

do yourself a favor- buy a cheap insurance policy ( one of those copper spacer shims) for about 10.00 and eliminate those worries altogether!

[proze]

i always get someone to help when installing hsfs. they push directly down on the hsf, keeping the pressure vertical on the core, and stabilizing the hsf so it doesn't rock. get someone with steady hands and some co-ordination for that. :) then i can concentrate on the clip. often clips need a screwdriver to ease the end over the tab, but be careful.. you can slip and scratch the mobo.

also, as kat says, never install a hsf when the mobo is inside the case. do it properly and give yourself some space to breathe. so many people are killing their processors this way, it really is worth it to take the effort to do it safely.

good luck with your second chip! :)