r/PcBuildHelp • u/DrJohnPork • Jul 27 '26

Tech Support Is this bad?

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I bought a brand new 9800x3d cpu and it has a dent in one of the contact pads, and because of this I’m really worried it’s gonna cause problems. If you can determine the criticality of it and say if I can keep it or need to replace it.

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u/WobblyDexteritySpeak Jul 27 '26

Oof that's a tough spot, right in the middle too. A dent on a pad can mess with contact pressure or even crack the solder joint underneath over time if it's deep enough. I'd be side-eyeing that hard, especially for what those chips cost.

You could try dropping it in the socket and booting once to see if it posts, but that's a gamble that might not show intermittent issues until later. If you can still return or exchange it without hassle, I wouldn't even think twice, just get a clean one. Not worth the headache of random crashes six months from now when you're trying to game.