Installed CPU The Wrong Way, Then Attempted Boot...

So I have no idea how this happened. I feel like an idiot, but I installed my 4690k the wrong way. It somehow fit. And I heard a *snap* as I tightened down the CPU cooler, but I ignored it and booted it up.

When I hit the power button, the system would turn on for a brief second and the fans would stutter (on/off) in short bursts twice and then turn completely off. Blank screen, of course.

I removed everything, realized I inserted the CPU the wrong way. Immediately, I thought I just fried BOTH my CPU and motherboard. So, I re-install the CPU the correct way and boot it up.

And everything was perfectly fine. I even ran stress tests and got no errors. I played some games and everything runs smoothly.

My question is, have I damaged anything? Do I run a risk of damaging my components by having them in this motherboard? I just got a GTX 970 and I am afraid I have damaged the motherboard and in turn, damage my card slowly over time. Should I just buy a new motherboard?

The board was a ASRock Z87E-ITX.

If everything is working you got lucky and everything should be fine.

Now if you want piece of mind you could go out and buy another mainboard/CPU, but do you want to spend that extra money?

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong here. But I think the worse thing that could happen for anyone that does this, is possibly them bending the pins where the cpu goes?
If it works just fine, then you probably didn't cause any damage. I'm sure you would know if you did, because something would have happened by now. :P

If you are really worried I suppose you could check and see if anything is bent. But if it's working just fine, just try and get over that feeling. I do understand how you feel though.

If everything works fine dont worry. If you did cause some damage your PC would most likely sitting in a corner right now waiting for a new board and CPU.

Your lucky because intel boards are different since the pins are in the socket. the cpu itself only has the contacts which its pressure from the bracket to make connection. If it was an AMD cpu where the pins are on the cpu itself you would have busted most of the pins once you applied pressure.

The snap is a little worrying, but I think your CPU will likely be fine. I would run prime95 for a few hours and just see things are going fine, if there are no errors and the volts are fine then I think you will be alright.

Yeah, I was thinking I'd have to get a new motherboard. I have the 4770k back in it now. My friend is buying the 4770k from me and I'm picking up a 4790k.

I also broke the PCI-express clip, but I glued it back on with super glue. That's two things bad happening to this board. Lol. I will try to get over the bad feelings. I just want to be confident that everything is good.

How do I check if the volts are fine?

You're so lucky. If you bought that mobo from Microcenter and it's still under 2 - 3 yrs. warranty return it for a new one.
I'm curious how those pins didn't get bend..?

there is no way you actually installed the cpu in the wrong way , meaning that it actually fitted in properly. if you managed somehow to get it in place the wrong way then it wouldnt work when you put it in the right way because connections would be broken. if you dont see any physical damage on it from locking it in while it wasnt seated properly then you should be fine. I doubt you caused any damage to your motherboard.

@PinkiePirate why on god's green earth are you swapping 4770K to 4690K? if anything that's downgrade by the time of small editing while gaining only 3-5% boost in gaming

i honestly call bullshit on this... unless there is serious damage to the CPU or mounting bracket. there are little indentations on either side of the CPU that fit into nubs on the mounting bracket on the mobo... so there is just no way to mount a CPU "the wrong direction". even if you did, it wouldnt fit down into the bracket, and then when you applied pressure it would snap the CPU or the bracket.

see the nubs? your scenario is not possible without damage.

Yep, worst case scenario is pretty much bent pins, which means a new motherboard or incredible tweezer skill.

Placing it the wrong way should be impossible though, but you are practically guaranteed to bend pins if you install it without the CPU cover.

there are zero pins on intel CPUs. there are also zero pins on intel mobos. the CPU and mobo have contacts that touch each other when you clamp down the mounting bracket.

AMD, probably because their CPUs are total shit, has not caught up with the present and still has pins....

There certainly are pins on 4xxx motherboards and older. I've personally killed an Asrock z87 Extreme6 by bending it's pins.

I was gonna say the same.

Actually Intel mobos do have pins and AMD mobos don't have any pins. I clearly remember a buddy of mine that bent some pins on his Z87-Pro.Now everytime I install Intel CPU, I make sure I am extra careful.

@cyloninside said:

i honestly call bullshit on this... unless there is serious damage to the CPU or mounting bracket. there are little indentations on either side of the CPU that fit into nubs on the mounting bracket on the mobo... so there is just no way to mount a CPU "the wrong direction". even if you did, it wouldnt fit down into the bracket, and then when you applied pressure it would snap the CPU or the bracket.

see the nubs? your scenario is not possible without damage.

Maybe the CPU didn't sit all the way in. I know that I tightened the water block down until the screws wouldn't go any further. I didn't force it, just until I felt resistance. I heard a snap on the final turn. When I removed the CPU the notches were indeed on the wrong side and I saw tiny nicks on the PCB where the notches on the socket were.

If it works it's fine. I mean I replaced the bios chip on my motherboard and put it in the wrong way...

Computer lived that thankfully. Although bios chips aren't keyed, not sure how you managed to do that.

If it works, it's fine.

im glad its working. intel cpus are built like tanks. take your time next time you install pc parts to make sure they are all in place.

I wouldn't worry about it at all. If there was something seriously wrong, it would have popped up right away. If there is ever a problem down the road, just replace it. No sense in worrying. Enjoy it.

Me too.

I've done this myself and I'll say you CANNOT fit a chipset wrong way. I did this and it bent my pins and had to get a new one. You can consider yourself lucky if your computer runs fine. It will never go in the other way and there is 99.99% chance of you bending the pins.