Let's Go Blues

Okay I've started building my new behometh computer.. Last night I hung the motherboard, installed the ram, video card, and wireless card without a hitch. I've also got the DVD drive and HDDs in place.. But I'm having issues with the CPU.. I'm using an ASUS motherboard and the Phenom II AMD 940 cpu chip.. I've watched about a dozen videos on installing CPUs and in every one there are levers that lock the cpu in place.. Mine has a lever but it does absolutely nothing when I put it down in terms of keeping the CPU in the motherboard. On top of that there are 3 or 4 bent pins.. I've researched that issue and may be able to fix it, but I'm curious how to hold the CPU in place.. Whenever I put the computer upright the CPU tries to fall right out (I keep my hand under it).. I haven't installed the heatsink that came with it b/c I bought a separate bigger one (Tuniq).. Do I just rely on the heatsink to hold the CPU in place or something or do I need to do something else? The chip does appear to work perfectly with the slot on the mobo (the gaps in pins and pinholes are in the exact right places), and the chip does fall into the slot but it just doesn't stay in at all..

Currently I'm waiting on the powersupply and the cpu heatsink to be delivered (which is held up cause of the snow.. I should have had both yesterday).

Oh also to anyone who wants to know.. The GTX 295 graphics card is huuuuge. I figured when I dropped so much dough on a video card it was gonna be unlike any I've had in the past, but I didn't expect it to be this freakin big. It weighs a few pounds and stretches all the way to the HDD bays in the front of the case.

Any help is appreciated as I can't wait to get this machine workin.

The CPU prob. just sits in the slots. The heatshrink holds it in place. There should be some kind of lever or something that secures the heatshrink on top.

Well thats my guess without actually looking at it...

Okay so without having the heatsink on it, it falling out isn't a huge deal? There's only one lever and it doesn't really appear to do anything, though it's possible it does. It certainly doesn't hold the CPU in.

every PC i have ever put together you pull the lever up, insert the CPU, then put the lever back down in its locked position. the CPU should stay in without the heatsink.

there should be a diagram in the box your CPU came in.

as you lift and lower the lever you should seet the holes open and close. if it doesnt do this, call asus.

If the holes opened and closed then wouldn't that cut the pins?

i may have misspoken before, negronic is right.

Mellanby_equals_grit wrote:If the holes opened and closed then wouldn't that cut the pins?

no, the holes only close completely because nothing is in them.

Okay I think it's all fixed.

The two bent pins seemed to be preventing the chip from falling all the way in.. Once they were fixed and it finally snapped in the lever actually had resistance and now it's held in.

This is the first system I've ever built from ground up so I don't know all the ins and outs (like making sure you're pushing the CPU in from the right direction the first time and not bending the pins). I'll post again if I hit another snag.

Mellanby_equals_grit wrote:like making sure you're pushing the CPU in from the right direction the first time and not bending the pins

Sounds dumb, I know.. But my thought was that the lettering on it was supposed to face upwards.. I was wrong. Now I just need my power supply and cpu cooler and figure out what wires plug in where and I got me a computer.

I built a gaming computer from scratch about a year ago. Spent $2000 for all the parts and built a pretty good machine. I regret doing it now because A) PC gaming is dying and console gaming is the only thing developers want to spend money on B) No matter how powerful of a rig you build, most new PC games will lag due to horrible programming. Now don't get me wrong, some PC games kick ass but I'd rather pay 400 bucks for a PS3 than a 2000 bucks for a dying brand of gaming.

I haven't played a console game seriously in years and doubt I'll start anytime soon.

if you want to play a FPS or RPG, they are usually better on PC. if you want to play something like madden or NHL09, I agree that a console is usually better... especially if you want to play online. XBLive is great. that is one big factor in the PC gaming industry losing some steam. it used to be that the only way to get real online play was PC. not anymore...

Mellanby_equals_grit wrote:Okay I think it's all fixed.

The two bent pins seemed to be preventing the chip from falling all the way in.. Once they were fixed and it finally snapped in the lever actually had resistance and now it's held in.

This is the first system I've ever built from ground up so I don't know all the ins and outs (like making sure you're pushing the CPU in from the right direction the first time and not bending the pins). I'll post again if I hit another snag.

where did you buy that gear from? bent pins are always scary. if you notice anything wacky i'd consider returning it. most places like newegg are pretty good about returns done in the first week or so... even if their policy says no returns.

I got everything off newegg.. We'll see how it goes once I power it all up, but all the scenarios I read online said that as long as pins weren't broken off you're okay.. Not only were mine not broken off they straightened out completely.

negronic wrote:if you want to play a FPS or RPG, they are usually better on PC. if you want to play something like madden or NHL09, I agree that a console is usually better... especially if you want to play online. XBLive is great. that is one big factor in the PC gaming industry losing some steam. it used to be that the only way to get real online play was PC. not anymore...

Most likely I'ma use this for WoW, some FPS, maybe some GTA4 and some strategy games like CnC.. None of those are remotely better on console. I do play NHL 09 on my roommate's PS3 as that is the only genre I prefer on console.

Mellanby_equals_grit wrote:Most likely I'ma use this for WoW, some FPS, maybe some GTA4 and some strategy games like CnC.. None of those are remotely better on console. I do play NHL 09 on my roommate's PS3 as that is the only genre I prefer on console.

Great, here come more spam bots!

Mellanby_equals_grit wrote:

negronic wrote:if you want to play a FPS or RPG, they are usually better on PC. if you want to play something like madden or NHL09, I agree that a console is usually better... especially if you want to play online. XBLive is great. that is one big factor in the PC gaming industry losing some steam. it used to be that the only way to get real online play was PC. not anymore...

Most likely I'ma use this for WoW, some FPS, maybe some GTA4 and some strategy games like CnC.. None of those are remotely better on console. I do play NHL 09 on my roommate's PS3 as that is the only genre I prefer on console.

play a real mmo; SWG, ftw!

I doubt I'll ever build my own rig again with prices as low as they are.

All you have to do is buy a Dell with a few slots to slap in a nice video card and sound card if you REALLY want for about $600 and you can usually get a 20 or 22" LCD thrown in the deal too.


The bent pins thing is baaaad. Have you (melted) powered it on yet? I'd almost have sent the proc back immediately without trying to hit it with power if you bent those pins.

Prngr44 wrote:I doubt I'll ever build my own rig again with prices as low as they are.

All you have to do is buy a Dell with a few slots to slap in a nice video card and sound card if you REALLY want for about $600 and you can usually get a 20 or 22" LCD thrown in the deal too.


The bent pins thing is baaaad. Have you (melted) powered it on yet? I'd almost have sent the proc back immediately without trying to hit it with power if you bent those pins.

This is contrary to every google result of "bent cpu pins". We'll see.

edit: Also there's no way this card would ever fit in a Dell case.. At least not a $600 one.