Exercise caution when building your own PC! Recently, overseas user u/foxyovo shared their painful experience of a failed PC build on social media.
He purchased a Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X motherboard from a friend for 90 euros (approximately 673 RMB). He waited a month for the case to arrive before starting the assembly. The build took two hours, during which he was even scolded by his parents for not studying.
Unexpectedly, smoke billowed from the case the moment power was applied after assembly, instantly ruining both the processor and the motherboard.
The hardware setup consisted of an Intel i5-13400F paired with a Z690 motherboard. While the financial loss wasn't catastrophic, it resulted from a basic mistake that could have been entirely avoided.
After troubleshooting, it was discovered that the CPU was not properly aligned during installation. The contacts on the LGA socket were not aligned with the contact pads on the bottom of the processor, causing a direct short circuit upon powering on, which burned out both the processor and the motherboard. As seen in the photos, there are obvious burn marks on the lower-left edge of the Z690 CPU socket and on the processor itself.
Due to the extremely fine pitch of the LGA interface contacts, pressing down the retention lever without properly seating the CPU can lead to bent pins at best, or hardware damage from short circuits upon powering on, as happened in this case.
The correct procedure is to align the CPU with the anti-misalignment notch in the socket, ensure all four corners are fully seated, and then lower the retention lever. No external force should be applied during this process. If you feel resistance, it means the positioning is incorrect; never force it down.
