Dead CPU?
Hi all,
I've been in the IT field for 10 years now. I've assembled hundreds of computers and taken as many apart, and I come to you now, hat in hand, seeking your wisdom.
I purchased a new rig at Christmas time, with a ryzen 3600 CPU. I decided to cheap out and go with the stock cooler since I don't tend to push my system that hard. I should mention that all my computers and virtually all the computers I've worked on in the past we're Intel rigs.
Fast forward to today, I was unhappy with the job the stock cooler was doing, so I bought a replacement. When I unscrewed the stock heatsink it was reluctant to come out. I thought the screws were reluctant to come out of the backplate, but when the heatsink came free, it came with CPU stuck firmly to the bottom. Securing arm still fastened on the motherboard.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and it took me a good 40 minutes of gentle cajoling to separate the sink from the chip. I couldn't see any obvious damage to the pins, but upon reinstalling everything my PC refuses to even spin its fans.
My question is this. How likely is my CPU toast? And how likely is it that a new chip would fail to work due to motherboard damage?
Thank you for taking the time to help me in my time of grief. I should have known better than to tool around with my main PC during the work from home period we're in.