MSI K8N Neo2-- Calling Electronics Experts

[syntax53]

First of all, I am a dumbass for this and realize how stupid of an idea this was. However, I did it and am wondering what my options are now. I have already ordered a new mobo and will be calling MSI in 50 minutes when they open to see if there is anything they will do for me in good will. On to the catastrophe...

So I went to install my new K8N Neo2 and Athlon 64 3200 chip last night. Well I was upgrading from a P4 in which I had a Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu cooling fan. Knowing it was compatible with both P4's and AMD's I wanted to keep using that. So I lookup how it is supposed to be installed and I see they want you to put their plate on the back and then screw down some bolts from the top. I look at the MSI board and see that it (mine at least) already has a back plate on it. I tried just screwing the zalman bolts into MSI's backplate but the threads were different and it wasn't flush with the board anyway.

So i go to take the plate off and notice that it is glued/taped/stuck to the back. I don't notice any ciruits around (just a painted black board) so out comes the flathead screwdriver and I start prying. After about 10 minutes I finally get it off and.... dun dun dun... what do i see? copper. i wanted to cry, smash shit, and laugh all at the same time. I turn it over and realize i don't see any circuits on the top either. Then i realized the whole thing is just painted and i didn't have the light in my office turned up enough to see the grooves of the copper lines. I should have thought about the many, many, many factors that indicate that there would have been wires all over the place under there.

One thing that pisses me off about this (after the fact) is that I looked in the MSI user manual and they give you instructions for installing and taping that back plate onto the board. I wonder why the one I got from newegg already had it installed. That doesn't excuse my actions though. So now that I realize how stupid of an idea this was can someone look at these pictures and tell me if this is repairable, unrepairable, still in working order, how to test it, etc?

-syntax

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[lithium726]

i beleive they all had that already installed (mind did), and the way to get it off is to warm it up with a hairdryer first and then gently pry it off. anyway, whats done is done, and i would suggest calling MSI up and seeing what they can do, theyre normally pretty good about accepting RMA's, itll take up to a month to get your board back though.

just for hte record, ive had tons of problems with my neo2, and wouldnt recomend it... but there arent alot of options for AGP/939/nvidia, and i dont have exp with teh epox board, so i cant give any other suggestions

 

[syntax53]

i beleive they all had that already installed (mind did), and the way to get it off is to warm it up with a hairdryer first and then gently pry it off. anyway, whats done is done, and i would suggest calling MSI up and seeing what they can do, theyre normally pretty good about accepting RMA's, itll take up to a month to get your board back though.

just for hte record, ive had tons of problems with my neo2, and wouldnt recomend it... but there arent alot of options for AGP/939/nvidia, and i dont have exp with teh epox board, so i cant give any other suggestions

well most of the problems I read about were due to overclocking, which i don't plan on doing. so hopefully my components will work.