> Is it normal to require significant force to latch the socket closed?

	With the lever fully folded back, ideally, the processor should just drop right in, and the lever should close with no difficulty.  It goes without saying that the corners without pins should line up, so the chip is socketted in the right direction.  Check to make sure the lever is actually folded all the way back.  If the socket seems warped, though I can't imagine why it would get past the inspection and soldering-in phaze, if the chip doesn't just drop right in and lie flat, then you may have a bad socket/motherboard.  HTH,

			Michael