Bent Pins?

I have a new Gigabyte mobo bought from Newegg that won't post. Are the pins bent? If so, will Newegg charge me when they get it back, or exchange it for a new one? (They gave me an RMA that has now expired after 7 days -- dragged my feet during holiday season and will have to beg for a new one.)

I appreciate any advice you can give me.

Thanks in advance, everyone. And have a Happy New Year!

Looks like bent pins to me. Was it like that out of the box, or did you try to install the processor?

I don't think it matters if it was before or after, they won't accept returns for bent pins. At Canada Computers they pull it out of the box and check at the time of purchase just for that reason. You could take a magnifying glass and pointed tweezers and see if you can fix it your self.

Yeah those pins are really jacked. They aren't going to accept the return. Best bet is to see if someone can fix it for you or just sell it on ebay as broken as someone will buy and fix it, then get another.

I've fixed bent pins before but some of those look like they'll snap even if you try to bend them back.

I've never bent pins before myself, just fixed other's motherboards. How does it even happen?

Can ask Gigabyte about direct RMA and explain that NewEgg wont return mobos with bent pins, maybe they will help you under warranty.

Outside of either paying to have Gigabyte repair or getting under warranty, next time purchase from Amazon.

If you're really adventurous and up for some tiny work in a tight space...search around...someone posted a how to fix bent pins thread here somewhere. You'll need to have a socket you can cannibalize for spare pins, though.

Not sure what Giga's rate is but Asus charges a flat rate of $150 to replace the socket. I've only had it done to an old REX...it'd need to be something pretty special to warrant the repair cost.

Any chance this is covered under Giga's warranty? edit: +1 to sobe's 'ask gigabyte'!

Thanks, guys, you are great! Unfortunately for me, the news isn't. I can check their warranty directly.

How did it happen? Well, nobody likes to believe it's due to his ineptitude, yet that's the probable answer. I thought I knew how to pop on an i7, though, since those notches are pretty easy to see on both the i7 and the socket.

I notice though that Foxconn has supplied a black socket plug that seems to jut out in all the wrong places. I don't know if that's the right part for the 1150, but that's how it shipped.

Also, the Gigabyte mobo itself lacked a metal back plate, meaning that I had nothing to screw the CPU fan into. Is that normal? I had to pirate an old mobo for that plate, and even so, I really had to exert pressure to screw in the CPU fan. Like the screws weren't quite long enough to do it comfortably.

Guess it sounds like I need to choose the most me-favorable possibility and contact Gigabyte directly. The thing is brand new.

Good luck in what you decide to do, because that socket is truly busted up bad, a couple of pins you could repair. But that would take nearly a miracle right now.

AJ.

If I were in your position I would contact NewEgg first, then Gigabyte, then purchase a replacement with 2 Day Amazon Prime shipping.

Why?
1) Contacting NewEgg should be your first RMA stopz regardless if I already know they wont accept, there is always a possibility you could get a rep that is sympathetic with your situation.

2) Next stop is Gigabyte, as a lot of boards come with bent pins from factory the person you talk to may understand your situation and get you set up with an RMA.

3) This is more or less if you can't get an RMA or the RMA is not cross shipping and you may be a month or so without a board. This will ensure you have a working setup, then when your RMA'd board arrives you can sell it as Brand New In Box (obviously open it to inspect the socket to be sure no pins are bent).

Followup question: with either Newegg or Gigabyte, the important thing is the person who actually looks at the board, right? Not the person who answers the phone. So all that the person I speak with has to know is that the computer does not post, correct? I don't anticipate too much trouble getting the RMA issued to me; the problem is getting a new motherboard after they look at this one.

The person who looks at the board and sees the bent pins, whether at Gigabyte or Newegg, will be the person making the decision whether or not to issue a new motherboard. So I guess my plan would be to get an RMA any way I can and submit the board with a note that the pins were bent as received from the factory.

As to a usable computer, we've dredged up old stock around here -- including a laptop from 2007. That old Sony VGN-FZ180E actually has HDMI and a blu-ray writer, and, as a special bonus, runs on Vista. I'm racing to the future!

mnty said:

I notice though that Foxconn has supplied a black socket plug that seems to jut out in all the wrong places. I don't know if that's the right part for the 1150, but that's how it shipped.

Also, the Gigabyte mobo itself lacked a metal back plate, meaning that I had nothing to screw the CPU fan into. Is that normal? I had to pirate an old mobo for that plate, and even so, I really had to exert pressure to screw in the CPU fan. Like the screws weren't quite long enough to do it comfortably.

Click to expand...

The socket cover should fit almost perfectly with just a tab coming out the bottom so that you could lift it up. Perhaps give us a pic, cause that doesn't sound right if it's not uniform. Should look similar to this. I believe it's a little different for 1150, but mostly the same.

There shouldn't be a metal back plate other than the part that holds the socket there. The holes themselves are meant to accept the stock pushpin heatsink. In order for your heatsink to screw into something, you should have had a backplate that comes with your heatsink. Usually backplates stop their threads at some point so that you can't over tighten the heatsink. Sounds like you probably used the wrong backplate and just forced it to work. I still don't see how this could bend pins, but definitely look into this.

It looks to me like the CPU was placed in the mobo wrong and a heatsink or waterblock was tightened down on top of it.

DumpALump said:

Yeah those pins are really jacked. They aren't going to accept the return. Best bet is to see if someone can fix it for you or just sell it on ebay as broken as someone will buy and fix it, then get another.

I've fixed bent pins before but some of those look like they'll snap even if you try to bend them back.

I've never bent pins before myself, just fixed other's motherboards. How does it even happen?

Click to expand...

Yeah got that right.

And Dump needs a 10 year sticker it looks, someone fix the man up

Nice propeller head pic, ha!