Skylake CPU caution

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 FarmerVin wrote:

I had this issue with an Asus Maximus Impact VII itx and a Corsair Hydro Series H100i v2.  Board wouldn't post so I went through everything and found a few bent contacts on the socket. 
I have an ASRock replacement arriving today and I'm very nervous about installing this cooler again. I hope my CPU isn't damaged... It doesn't look warped. 

I'll post a picture of the socket. The way the contacts are damaged doesn't look like an over tightening issue, but this is the first time I've ever  experienced something like this.

I  feel like I must be at fault. It's a $230.00 lesson...so far, but I don't feel like I've learned anything from it.

The Corsair AIO CLC CPU coolers, which I have used in the past, all use a generally identical mounting system for the pump/water block that attaches to the CPU socket. There are four mother board standoffs that only allow so much pressure to be put on the CPU. Once the four "arms" on the water block contact the top of the standoffs, continuing to tighten the four thumb screws does not cause any more pressure on the CPU.

I've broken the threaded part of the standoffs when I tightened them to much, and had to get replacements. I even created my own standoffs with screws and spacers that allowed more pressure to be put on the CPU. I never bent any pins in the socket doing this (but anyone doing something similar must know they are responsible for anything that happens when you don't use the standard parts.)

If the CPU substrate (the green part that looks like a printed circuit board) was bent, you could see it. If you put the CPU on a flat surface, with the bottom of the CPU on that surface, you could see the edges of the substrate not touching the flat surface.

Every time I get a new mother board, the first thing I do is inspect the pins in the CPU socket. Put the mother board in an area where nothing can fall onto it. Have a good light source so you can see the pins easily. Carefully open the the CPU socket. Use a flashlight but don't drop it! Since the pins are so small, it is easier to notice a difference in the appearance of the pattern of the pins than trying to look at each pin. Move the flashlight around to illuminate the pins in different ways.

The CPU fits in the socket only one way, be sure you know the orientation when you put the CPU in the socket.

When you tighten down the water block on any AIO or custom water cooling system, always do the following. This is only for mounting Intel processors:

Be certain the backplate for the water block is mounted correctly on the back of the mother board. The Corsair backplates have two notches that must be aligned with two of the screws holding the CPU socket's backplate in place. Otherwise the cooler's backplate will not be flat and pressing evenly on the bottom of the board.
The Corsair backplates have four spacers that press on the bottom of the mother board, and have a small "crown" that must be located in the holes in the mother board. When the four Corsair standoffs are screwed into the backplate from the top of the board, the backplate should not be very loose once the standoffs contact the mother board. A little bit loose is Ok, and you can add washers under the Corsair spacers to eliminate any looseness of the Corsair backplate.
When you attach the four thumbscrews that press the waterblock onto the CPU, tighten them down in an X pattern. Meaning start, for example, at the lower left thumbscrew, then do the upper right thumbscrew, than lower right and finally upper left. Repeat this pattern, turning the thumbscrews about the same number of turns each time.
Once the thumbscrews no longer turn easily, just firm them up a little bit tighter, and you're done. I like to put a thin washer on each of the four threaded studs of the standoffs, so the pressure from the thumbscrews is more evenly distributed on the arms of the water block.
IMO, the Corsair AIO CPU cooler mounting system is not of the type that can easily damage the pins in the CPU socket. I've used many of them and never bent the pins in the CPU socket.