If you read my last blog, you will know I've changed some hardware in my main computer due to hardware problems with my old motherboard.

I expected it to be the CPU that failed on me since I de-lidded it. However that was not case, I managed to bend 3 pins down in the CPU socket. This is on a 1155 socket, CPU is 3570K. That the CPU was still working was something I hoped for when it was the red RAM light that didn't turn off. Removed most of the RAM and tested with a single stick in 2 of the 4 RAM slots. No go. After trying to bend the pins back and testing more with the RAM slots, I learned the RAM slot 3 and 4 worked. Good, but not great. This allows me to use the computer, but I'm stuck with single channel memory.

Today I tried again to fix it. While trying to bend them back, I managed to break one of them, bend one correctly, and the last one seemed to have gone back into its small hole. Still two RAM slots not working. I cut a piece of electrical wire I had laying around. I knew it wasn't one thick wire, many small ones. Took out a couple of them and tried to use them as replacement for the broken, and hiding pins. It worked. How well I don't know. But I can boot into bios again with 4 RAM sticks inserted and it will run at 1600MHz again.

Put everything into place in my old Obsidian 550D case and tried once more. Still working :D Though probably jinx it with posting this blog here. Anyway I will order a 240-250GB SSD and try to install an OS again and see if it will run. If, and a big if I guess, everything works fine, I'll overclock it again. I de-lidded it because I wanted to push it further than 4.5GHz as a day to day OC. I've had it at 4.7 during benchmarks when it was winter and I had it really cold in my room. However too hot to work in normal room temperature.

Sadly I got no pictures of the "fix" and damaged socket itself. Only this I took once it booted into bios with all RAM sticks inserted... Oh and the red light is because of a missing HDD/SSD.