Broken am3+ socket -- info?

[Uniballer]

A coworker of mine showed me his brand new ASUS Sabretooth 990FX with a damaged AM3+ socket. He and his friend were building a new system and decided to pull off the stock CPU cooler without twisting it loose. The CPU popped right out of the socket due to the strong grip of the latest AMD thermal compound. They bent a bunch of pins on the FX-8350, and damaged the socket so the cam end is lifted and the lever no longer moves the top of the socket back and forth. That is almost $400 worth of new hardware trashed by a pair of morons in 2 seconds (I extrapolate that to almost 3/4 million dollars per hour if they had the opportunity).

So I told him I would try to find out about repairing the socket. I'm not sure yet if any socket parts are actually broken or if they are only dislocated. I have a dead motherboard with a good socket that could perhaps be a parts source, but I know I don't have the equipment or experience to remove the bad socket from his board and solder the good socket in place without damaging something. Anybody know of any info on these sockets that might help? Thanks.

[gg1978]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

some sockets are through hole, but most are surface mount today.. It'll be a difficult process either way.. It'll probably take a hot air rework station to get the old socket off. It might be possible to "pop" the socket back together again if the plastic parts aren't broken off.

[cheapie]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

...and that's why you're supposed to warm it up before removing the cooler if you're using a thermal pad. I'm not sure how they managed to break it though, I've had that happen with sockets 939 and AM2 a lot, and I never broke anything. Maybe AM3+ has a tighter grip?

(and yes, AM3+ is SMD)

[Uniballer]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

Yeah, at this point I am only really considering trying to pop plastic parts back in, or replace plastic parts sourced from the dead board's socket. The socket is surface mount, and there are surface mount components on the back of the board, so that would probably get way too hairy for me to attempt (after all, it's not my board). The only hot air tool I have ATM is a heat gun, and how the hell would you even align the part, let alone solder it back into place...

Was hoping maybe someone could point me to a datasheet and assembly drawing for the socket, but I realize it might not be publicly available.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

Sounds like it may just be the top socket cover getting popped off.

If it was LGA 775, you would be dead meat!

[luke10050]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

Sounds like it may just be the top socket cover getting popped off.

If it was LGA 775, you would be dead meat!

whats so bad about 775? just curious as i still run about half a dozen 775 boards

and also, if its new could you RMA it? im not a fan of abusing RMA channels but it might work out.
Only after you've tried everything but taking to the socket with a heat gun

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

whats so bad about 775? just curious as i still run about half a dozen 775 boards

and also, if its new could you RMA it? im not a fan of abusing RMA channels but it might work out.
Only after you've tried everything but taking to the socket with a heat gun

They are a bastard to fix if a pin gets messed up.

[Mrx3750]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

The socket might be fixable.

The CPU is toast.

[cheapie]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

whats so bad about 775? just curious as i still run about half a dozen 775 boards

Nothing about 775 in particular, but LGA sockets are generally more fragile than PGA (AM2/2+/3/3+, Socket 939, etc.) LGA tends to break the socket instead of the CPU, which makes sense in the Intel world, where the board is usually cheaper than the CPU. PGA tends to break the CPU and leave the board OK, which makes sense in the AMD world, where the CPU is usually cheaper than the board.

[Agent24]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

The socket might be fixable.

The CPU is toast.

If they only bent the pins you might be able to straighten them. I've done it before but not on AM3+

[momaka]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

The socket might be fixable.

The CPU is fine.

Just fixed that for you

To fix the socket, you will probably need to pop its top cover off. Be careful not to pry too hard since it is a BGA socket after all. And also not to scratch the board.

As for the CPU - I've fixed 2 broken pins on a AMD S939 CPU before, so your CPU is highly unlikely to be toast.
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...5&postcount=54

[severach]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

The sliding top of the socket isn't hard to replace. The trouble is getting an AM3+ socket top of the right brand. I'd try real hard to warranty it.

[kc8adu]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

i have gotten real good at fixing bent amd pins and so has my business partner.
it can most likely be salvaged.
the socket?
just who here has a scrap am3+ to try with?
buying the right socket in a single qty will be the trick.

[Topcat]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

^
My secret is a razor blade. I've gotten a few AM2 and 939 CPU's with every pin bent over. Took some time, but some finesse with a razor blade got them perfect again. In all my years, I've never tried changing a socket.

[Uniballer]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

Thanks for the razor blade tip, Topcat. That's a great idea.

[momaka]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

+1 for the razor blade tip.

Old credit card also works.
Then "fine tune" any pins with a mechanical pencil (with the graphite removed).

[Uniballer]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

The board got RMA'ed. I offered to try to realign the CPU pins. I am almost done with the razor blade method, but there are two pins that are curved near the middle of the pin. So far I have been unable to straighten these pins. I 'm planning to try the suggestion of using a 1/2mm mechanical pencil nose over the pin. Any opinions on this or other ideas? Thanks.

[Uniballer]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

I forgot to mention that I tried to swap the AM3+ socket top from a dead board, but I didn't manage to remove it in one piece, even with the practice of removing the bad top from the damaged socket.

[Uniballer]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

A few more tweaks and the CPU slid into the socket on the new board, and the system is working. Thanks to all for the ideas.

[momaka]

Re: Broken am3+ socket -- info?

Nice!
See, fixing CPU pins is EASY.