Slightly damaged motherboard - what to do?

[gijeff85]

I'm building my first computer and made a rookie mistake - overtightened the screws mounting my aftermarket CPU cooler to the motherboard. I definitely scraped up some of the plastic, but I don't know if it got into the copper underneath. My question is this - should I just go with it and hope it didn't go very deep, or should I pull it apart and see what damage I caused? If I pull it apart, could I possibly cause more damage with more friction? If there is some damage underneath, what are my options?

I'd upload a pic but I can't seem to figure out how to do it on here... at the bottom it says I may no post attachments.. I can email anyone a pic if they'd like to see it.

Thanks for the help.

 

[zaydq]

See if it will post. Without a picture it would be difficult to determine if you've done any damage that will cause an issue. I've scraped a bit of silicone in the past but the system always booted fine and ran for many years.

 

[flimsy]

give it a try. may not be an issue.

 

[Rakehellion]

Remove the screws and don't overtighten next time. The areas around the screws are designed to be weight-bearing so you should be fine.

If I pull it apart, could I possibly cause more damage with more friction?

You have to pull it apart eventually, don't you?

 

[VirtualLarry]

don't they come with plastic washers to prevent board damage? Sure that you don't have any parts left over?

 

[gijeff85]

Thanks all.

Unfortunately not, VirtualLarry. Just double checked to make sure.

 

[gijeff85]

On the bright side, it powered up to BIOS. On the down side, I'm having issues with windows and the hard drives I salvaged from my older rig. If anyone wants to take a look at this thread and see if you have any suggestions, I'd really appreciate it. http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=35751796#post35751796

Thanks!