Broken CPU pin - Anyone used www.motherboardrepair.com recently?

Has anyone used www.motherboardrepair.com recently? I read a few great reviews here, and then I came across some nasty reviews on Google (all reviews seem to be about a year old), and he obviously does not respond to e-mail. I even called his house, but it sounded like his mom answered , and he was not home? Does anyone know of any other CPU Pin Repair shops, or is this guy cool as of late? I know how one bad transaction can damage One's online reputation, so I'm willing to give this guy a chance if he is still doing descent work, and someone can vouge for his integrity.

The rest of my post is rambling, so read on if you want details on my Broken Pin issue, or skip this part...

I just upgraded to a used P4 3.2E socket 478 w/a missing pin, and I want to get this broken pin soldered back on. The processor boots, and seems to run OK, but my MoBo died after 3 days of use with this CPU. I believe the missing pin is a "voltage pin", so I'm assuming the remaining "Voltage Pins" might have to make up for this missing pin, causing more resistance inside the chip, therefore causing Vcore droop and extra heat. I'm thinking this may also affect the Power Mosfets on the MoBo somehow (maybe one Mosfet is working harder now due to the missing pin?). This 3.2E also seemed to run a good deal hotter than my 2.8E (like 15*C hotter + only running about ~ 470MHz faster, from 3.31Ghz on the 2.8E to 3.78GHz on the 3.2E).

My Vcore was drooping by ~ 0.15v on a P4C800E-Dlx, and then random lock-ups started in Windows on day 3, and then no P.O.S.T. at all . I put my old 2.8E back in, but still no POST, also swapped Power Supplies, RAM, PCI and AGP cards, HD's and CD/DVD drives and reset the CMOS - still no POST. I RMA'ed the MoBo to Asus, and I should have it back by next week.

If the CPU is working/booting, am I just being paranoid? I don't want to kill my MoBo again if this IS an issue, yet I also don't want to chance breaking the CPU by getting it "fixed" (it is a good CPU! D0 stepping, baby! ). ExtremeOverclockr ran this same chip @ 4.1GHz w/o issues even with the missing pin, and I appeared to be stable for 2 days @ 3.78GHz running Sandra and a Windows-based RAM tester until my problems started. Could the missing pin have caused my MoBo's death, or do you think my MoBo was "about to fry" anyway, and the extra juice the 3.2E was drawing pushed my MoBo over the edge? BTW - I'll be heatsinking my Power Mosfets with this replacement board, and running an XP-120 CPU sink, 4x 120mm fans plus the 92mm and 80mm fans on the P.S.

Any suggestions? Am I worrying about nothing, or could this pin be an issue with my MoBo? My P4 is all boxed up, and ready to ship out. I actually went to the Post Office today intending to ship it off to Motherboardrepair.com, but I forgot it was a Holiday . I think this might have been some kind of "sign"... Wha-do-ya-think - should I take my chances, and send it to "www.motherboardrepair.com", or use the P4 "as-is" and see if I fry my replacement MoBo with it?

I'll wait until Wednesday, and I think I'll take my chances with Motherboardrepair.com... (Fingers Crossed )

Thanks a million for any input

Relentless bump. I'd really love to get some input before Wednesday, so time is an issue. If anyone has had any experience with www.motherboardrepair.com lately, please share your experiences...

Rock On

OK. Last bump - I promise. I really want some feedback before tomorrow, but I know beggars can't be choosers. I will probably try to call him again tomorrow morning. I'm just looking for any reason to be skeptical with my P4 in his hands.

I'll post my results if I decide to take the risk.

Thanks for your time

Well, I was able to speak to him on the phone this morning. He said he could turnaround my CPU the same day he recieves it since it only had 1 broken pin. I went ahead and shipped to him via USPS Priority mail, so hopefully I will get it back sometime next week (along with my RMA'ed MoBo from Asus ).

Fingers crossed. I'll post back with my results for anyone else who might need his services down the road. My first impressions were pleasant FWIW.

Don't bother with repairs. Get some 5amp (might be 15amp i forget now) fuse wire, put it in the socket of the missing pin, cut it so its flat with the socket, then put the cpu in ontop, ive got 5 broken pins on my dothan *asus adapter* works fine as it did before the pins broke.

The CPU is already on the way to him, but thanks for your input. It was only $30 (his fee went up), so I'll just have so skip my bottle of Vodka this week. No biggie! My MoBo is also at Asus for repair, so it not like I was in a hurry to slap something together. It's funny how I didn't get any responses until AFTER I shipped out the CPU .

Oh well... Hopefully 4GHz will be in my sights very very soon

O.T. Hey - I was a Maiden fan back in the 80's! I saw them on the "Somewhere In Time/ Somewhere On Tour" tour when they passed through Houston. Nikko is the man! I love his foot work (I'm a drummer). I still jam them once in a while. I'm not familiar with the "Janick Gers" era of Maiden, he must have came later?

Yeh, he came a little later. Listen to the Rock n Rio double CD, and you will hear some of his mastery . Even better and check out the DVD. I'd love to get a box set of Iron Maiden, with all the albums but they cost so much . I saw them live a few years ago in Donington here in the UK, missed my chance this year though .

Only just seen the thread I don't check the General CPU area much heh. Well atleast when you come to sell the CPU it wont have a missing pin . Good luck with the hardware.

Thanks, man! Rock out!!!

I've got a mobile AXP 2600+ that has about 10 pins that have fallen off from corrosion (condenstion from water chiller). I wonder if that wire trick will work?

It's one of those famed stepping mobile barton IQYHA 0351MPMW so it may be worth the effort.

Thanks for the tip.

Yeh should do. I'm not sure on the size of the holes on the a socket boards i havent had much experience with them. You may need thicker wire to make sure the wire is a snug fit in the socket.

I got my CPU back yesterday (very quick turnaround), and the "pin repair" looks good to me! I still haven't gotten my MoBo back from RMA, so I'm still waiting to see if this helps my Vcore Droop and my high temps. As it stands, www.motherboardrepair.com appears to be A-O.K. in my book. I'll post back with definitive results once I get my system back up (fingers crossed for 4GHz on air )

can you post a pic of his work ?

I can probably get to that. I've got a Hurricane knocking on my door (Houston, TX), so the next few days will be hectic for me. I'll see what I can do. My MoBo should come in on Wednesday, but I don't think I'll be re-building my PC for a few days. That is, if my House is still standing on Sunday

be careful man... maybe you should evac !!

GOOD LUCK !!

Take your time, dealing with stuff because of the hurricane I'm sure is much more important than giving OCforums members pics of the pin repair.

Anyway, I hope it still works, I have never heard of the fuse wire trick before, but it does sound logical and should be easy to do with any Pin Grid Array CPU. As long as the wire makes contact with the contacts inside the socket and your CPU you should be good to go. I am not quite sure how that would work for an LGA system though.

Also if anyone bends a pin, an easy way to bend it back could be to take the lead out of a .5 mm mechanical pencil, slip the tip of the pencil over the pin, and very very gently ease it back into place. It is easier said than done, but it may be a good alternative to just getting tweezers and going for it.

Yeah man, GL with 4ghz man. You should with some nice airflow w/ your new P4C800-E. That chip did 4.1ghz, 6 hours of Prime95 @ 1.48v, 24hours @ 4ghz @ 1.38-1.4v. GL hf with it man. Lets hope for that 4ghz mark.

Thanks dudes! Evacuating is looking more and more favorible, but I have large fish (pets to me) that are almost impossible to move easily, and they will likely die w/o a generator (someone has to refill the Gas Can) and some food . Dead fish, or my saftey? Tough call. We stuck it out when Alicia hit back in 1982-83, but that was only a weak Category 3 - so if a strong 4 or 5 is expected, I should probably hit the highway.

Our band's Jam Room is in Alvin TX (outside of Houston), and we practice on a 30-acre ranch in a portable building. It is packed to the brim with expensive Audio Gear, and of course my Drums. I seriously don't think this building will withstand more than a Category 1 storm. I'm heading out there after work tonight (1AM) to make the first of 2 truck-loads BY MYSELF . I'll be bringing the equipment back to my House in Southern Houston, but I'm not sure how much safer it will be there. At least we have insurance on my house! THe Jam Room has no kind of insurance. The equipment inside is worth 4x-5x as much as the building itself!

What a week

@md0Cer said:

Also if anyone bends a pin, an easy way to bend it back could be to take the lead out of a .5 mm mechanical pencil, slip the tip of the pencil over the pin, and very very gently ease it back into place. It is easier said than done, but it may be a good alternative to just getting tweezers and going for it.

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You can also use a credit card to straighten pins.


Randyman...: Good luck from me as well.

Randyman... said:

Thanks dudes! Evacuating is looking more and more favorible, but I have large fish (pets to me) that are almost impossible to move easily, and they will likely die w/o a generator (someone has to refill the Gas Can) and some food . Dead fish, or my saftey? Tough call. We stuck it out when Alicia hit back in 1982-83, but that was only a weak Category 3 - so if a strong 4 or 5 is expected, I should probably hit the highway.

Our band's Jam Room is in Alvin TX (outside of Houston), and we practice on a 30-acre ranch in a portable building. It is packed to the brim with expensive Audio Gear, and of course my Drums. I seriously don't think this building will withstand more than a Category 1 storm. I'm heading out there after work tonight (1AM) to make the first of 2 truck-loads BY MYSELF . I'll be bringing the equipment back to my House in Southern Houston, but I'm not sure how much safer it will be there. At least we have insurance on my house! THe Jam Room has no kind of insurance. The equipment inside is worth 4x-5x as much as the building itself!

What a week

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Sorry to hear that. Good luck! And also I would have to agree that although it may not be a favorable outcome, it is better that you get to safety first then worry about the fish. Dead you and dead fish = not the best outcome.

Gary does great work, he has been very occupied for sometime with his wife who is very ill and requires constant help and care which he is providing.
his hospital bills are probably out the roof and for him to even fix one anymore is pretty nice of him. when you owe more then you have and what you can earn its pretty disheartening im sure to know that your work is already gone before you make it.

i have been thinking of making an online collection for him and his wife as he has been great to many people with very fast repairs and turn around times.

get out of houston dude. take the cpu with you.