my CPU has a few pins on the surface mount processor that are soldered together, anyone else want to confirm theirs is the same?



also I checked DIYautotune's page and here is their CPU for reference:

 

highlighted processor pins

 

I remember this as well...and without the schematics it is hard to tell if it is intentional or not.

 

There are several intentionally bridged pins.

 

Which ones are intentional though?

As Reverant said, the lack of schematics for things like this are telling.

 

yes. they are all intentional.

 

Having removed and replaced one of those processors, I can vouch for there being deliberately bridged pins. They are actually bridged on the board--small traces between the pads. They just happen to be somewhere that solder sticks and wicks up to look like a mistake.

 

Yup. And the paste and components are applied very accurately by a robot.

You replaced the processor by hand? Dude you deserve an award for that...

 

it caught me off guard, especially when all the pictures on the internet appear different than mine

 

Desoldering wick works well for this. That's how I do SMD soldering.

 

Absolutely, I sometimes fix SMD things too. That's just a lot of little pins. I know it's possible; I think I just lack the patience.

 

desoldering wick sucked ***** to remove the whole thing at once. I tried that and also flooding each side with solder to conduct heat but it just made a mess.

I ended up using an exacto and cutting the pins on their vertical section and then desoldering the cut legs from the board with desoldering braid.

Other method would be to use one of the dedicated QFP desoldering dealies. Exacto was cheaper.

 

Yeah you don'y use the desoldering wick to desolder the mcu, you apply lots of solder to the newly installed chip then use the wick to get rid of the excess solder and any solder bridging betweens pins. I have a soldering/desoldering station that works well for SMDs but not if the pitch is less than 1/20". You need special **** for that and I'm not that rich.