HP 9915A failed 8048

Hi, folks. I've a HP 9915A computer with an interesting problem. The motherboard utilizes a ceramic Intel D8048 chip. The problem is that this 8048 has a crack right across the top middle of it, and half of the top of the chip has begun to separate. Powering up the machine as-is unsurprisingly results in no activity. HOWEVER, if I push firmly on the cracked area with my finger the machine starts to operate normally. All appearances are that clamping down the separating piece of the chip re-establishes any broken wire connections within the chip. I've obtained a replacement P8048AH. My question is: do these chips simply swap like a CPU, or -- as I fear -- is the 8048 a pre-programmed piece? More simply put, is this a repairable problem? Or am I SOL? Any thoughts welcomed. - John Singleton