Friday, March 16, 2012

Be Not Afraid to Un-Bend Bent CPU Pins!

The main computer at the house just went under the knife. It got bumped from an Athlon 64x2 4200+ to a 5000+ I got for a song because it had a BUNCH of bent pins (dozens). Nobody wants a processor with bent pins!

Hold on there.

This is processor #3 that I've brought back from the trash heap by bending its pins straight again. It works, usually. I have also broken off a couple of pins, rendering the chips useless. But here I am rocking a 20% clock speed increase for basically $0 because I wasn't afraid to try.

It takes a while, especially for a 940 pin package. It is not easy, even using the proper (read: small tip) tweezers. It can be frustrating. But it may just be worth it. Go for it! The pins are already bent anyway, why not give CPU pin straightening a try?

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