So I damaged my desktop earlier this morning after attempting to try and clean out the heat sink.
The internals of my desktop is just caked in dust because it barely ever gets cleaned, and it's not from a lack of trying, but simply because of how difficult it is to actually get into the nook and crannies that I eventually just gave up... so I guess it is from a lack of trying harder.
...but it's almost impossible to access the inner part of the heatsink without removing the entire piece out from the PC because the fan blades are blocking it, I have tried to use compress air to blow the dust out, but it wouldn't really get everything out because of the cockblocking by the blades.
Well, today, I decided to try harder and looked up online how to remove the heatsink from the desktop so I can give it a good clean. From the videos that I watched, it looked quite easy, just gotta do some unlatching, disconnect 2 wires, and the whole thing would come right off with a bit of wiggling.
I proceed to switch off my desktop, unplug the power outlet, and did all that. I actually had a really bad feeling that I could fuck it up, but proceeded to do it anyway because YOLO. There was some resistance at the start because of the latch was really hard to unlatch, but it did eventually came off...
... and something that wasn't suppose to come off came off with it, that black square with a smaller gold square in the center of the motherboard, that part is not suppose to be empty, that part is where the processer is suppose to sit and where it is suppose to stay when I remove the heatsink.
... here is is, at the back of the heatsink, the pins are crooked and it is completely stuck on the heatsink like it had been fucking cemented on.
When you install a processor onto the motherboard, it's a very gentle process, you have to make sure the pins are all straight, and then you gently prop in onto the motherboard and lock it in, but when you have the fucking heatsink just mounted on top of it, that is impossible. The heatsink doesn't just plop right on top, I need to angle it here and there to ensure the latches are in place, and when I do that, what ends up happening is it forces all the pins on the processor to bend with it.
The photo above was taken after it had been freshly removed, after attempting to stick re-install the processor and then failing to successfully latch the heatsink onto the motherboard, the pins of the processor got bend even more.
I did eventually latch the heatsink successfully back onto the motherboard eventually, but when I tried to turn on the PC, it didn't boot up at all because the processor has been damaged. The next thing I could think of was to simply drop Dreamcore an email and ask them for a quote to replace and repair the desktop, and if possible, also do some specs upgrade, since it's a Sunday, they won't reply to me until tomorrow the earliest.
Since I had time to think about the issue, I decided why not get a new processor and replace it on my own, Dreamcore would probably charge me an arm and a leg for the repair and they will definitely do a crazy mark up the price of the Processor, or at least that's what Reddit claims, so I actually headed over to Sim Lim around 4pm to and managed to find a new CPU Processor, double checked with the seller if it's compatible with my motherboard, and it's definitely an upgrade from the current damaged one, it came with the Heatsink/Fan, I didn't realize they would come as a set but it did. I asked the Salesperson if he could help me remove the damaged processor from my current heatsink, but sadly their store isn't equipped with the necessary tools to do that.
Total Damage - $195
When I reached home, I tried to install the processor on my own and it didn't go well, things were falling apart left and right, eventually I managed to install the processor and the new heatsink onto the motherboard, but because I needed a USB Drive to update the motherboard, which I do not have, I can't really do anything more until I get my hands on the USB Drive that I have in the office.
I am not sure if I damaged anything during the dismantling because I disconnected the GPU, the WiFi card and a bunch of other shit that I have no idea does what, accidentally drop parts onto one another, it was a mess, the parts have all been reconnected since.
If this works, that's fantastic and might give me the confidence to also potentially upgrade the graphics card.
If it fails and Dreamcore does charge me an arm and a leg for the repair cost, I may just end up getting a new laptop and just give up owning a desktop. The whole point of a desktop is so I can upgrade it, but if attempts to upgrade it end up costing a lot of money, then there is just no point buying another desktop, just for me to change the entire system again 4 years later. A laptop also takes up a lot less space on my table.
Or I may just stick to my Aftershock laptop and get the upcoming PS5 Pro for my gaming needs, would also be a great way to make use of my Prism+ monitor.
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