How to remove and pack a CPU
Most processors damaged before a sale are damaged coming out of the computer, not in the post: a chip ripped from its socket with the cooler, or pins bent by a loose bag. Ten careful minutes avoids both.
1. Get the cooler off
Thermal paste can glue the cooler to the chip, and on older AMD sockets pulling the cooler straight up can drag the processor out of its socket with the latch still closed, bending pins. So:
- Run the computer for ten minutes first, if it works, so the paste is warm and soft.
- Shut down, switch off the power supply and unplug it.
- Undo the cooler’s screws or clips, loosening opposite corners a few turns at a time.
- Twist the cooler gently side to side to break the paste’s grip, then lift it.
2. Lift the chip out
- Intel and AMD AM5: release the socket’s lever and lift the metal frame, then lift the chip straight up by its edges. Put the plastic socket cover back on the motherboard if you have it.
- AMD AM4 and older: raise the lever fully, then lift the chip straight up. Don’t touch or rest it on its pins.
3. Clean off the paste
Wipe the lid with a lint-free cloth or coffee filter and a little isopropyl alcohol, 90% or stronger, until it’s clean. Keep the alcohol and the cloth to the lid: on a pinned chip, cloth fibres snag the pins. A clean lid lets the buyer see the model printed on it.
4. Pack it
- Seat the chip in a plastic clamshell — the one it came in, or any CPU clamshell — so nothing touches the pins or pads.
- No clamshell? Use a small, rigid container with the chip lying flat and padded so it can’t shift. Never ship it loose in a bag, where pins and pads rub.
- Wrap the clamshell in bubble wrap and pad the box on every side.
- Leave the box, the cooler and brackets out — they don’t change the offer.
Selling to RebootSemi? Our free anti-static mailer has what you need, and the prepaid label covers insured shipping.
Server chips
Xeon and EPYC processors often sit in a plastic carrier frame that clips to the chip. Leave it on — it protects the pads and is how the chip goes back into a socket. Pack each chip in its own clamshell or tray. Sell server CPUs by model or by the part number on the chip.
Before it goes, make sure it runs — how to test a CPU.