Quote Originally Posted by mstp2009 View Post
Judging by the INSANE amount of thermal grease I see on the underside of the socket mounting clip, I think we know what your problem is.

You put too much thermal paste on there, and when the CPU was clamped down it oozed into the socket.

This is user error, and both Intel and ASUS are going to say sorry, no warranty.
Well, I don't expect ASUS to replace my mb, since I already voided the warranty by putting on the nb cooler. However, I'm crossing my fingers with Intel.

Yes, I guess I did put a bit of a glob of as5, but when I took the chip out of the socket, there was no paste on the bottom of it.

And like I mentioned, I got it to post and begin starting up, but it got too hot with my pump dead, not moving the water, so I had to shut it down. The CPU *may* be ok if I can clean off the oxidation properly.

I'll still be trying to rma it tho.

I'll update with progress as it comes.