How To Straighten Bent Pins on a CPU

So you’ve somehow managed to bend the pins on your CPU, don’t freak out! There are few things you can do to try to fix this.

Yes, in my early days of tinkering and building my own PCs I did end up bending a pin or two. Hopefully, once you’ve done it you’ll learn to never do it again.

• The first thing you want to do is get a credit card, not to buy a new CPU of course, but to help you straighten out the pins on the chip. A gift card, drivers license or similar sized card may work as well.
• Make sure the card slides between the pins easily but still comes in contact with the pins. You don’t want it to be too thin or it won’t straighten out the pins.
• Slide the card through the rows of pins that are affected from both top to bottom and side to side. This will ensure that the pins are straightened from every side.
• Once your sure everything looks good, carefully attempt place the CPU into the socket. Don’t force it into place or you will likely bend more pins! If you have any trouble, take out the CPU and re-align your pins.
• If the pins are are in really bad shape you can use an empty mechanical pencil tip to place over the pin and stand it upright.

That’s all you should need to do!

*It’s important to note that after several attempts the pins can break and no one wants that, so make sure you do your best to align them in the first few attempts.