Could I have broken my GPUs?

That Guy In The Shirt · Sep 30, 2015

So for the first time since buying my PC I had to package it up so that I could move it to college with me. The deal was that if I packaged it up my mom would carefully load it into the car and bring it up to me in a month. That time period is coming close to an end, so I should be reunited with my PC again, and I'm excited. But I have one concern, I think I might have broken my gpus. I have two gtx 970s in SLI, and I though that for the sake of my motherboard and the cards themselves it might be safe to remove them and package them separately so that there isn't as much stress on the motherboard. However, when I tried to remove them I forgot that there are locking mechanisms on the motherboard to prevent the gpus from slipping out of place. I pulled pretty hard on both of them until I realized this, even pulling them slightly out of the PCI slots. After I calmed down from the panic that I might have broken them I carefully undid the locking mechanism and retrieved them. From what I could tell the gpus and motherboard were still physically intact, and nothing looked out of place. But I was in such a rush that day I didn't get a chance to double check that my rig was still fine by putting everything back in place and booting it up. It's been weighing on me for a while, and I know it won't change anything, but can someone here give me some peace of mind about my situation? Is it likely that I damaged my PC with all that pulling, or are those parts as resilient as I hope they are? Any replies would be appreciated.

OneMoar · Sep 30, 2015

if you pull hard enough you can do one of two things
1. snap the retaining tab on the card or pci-e slot (no damage Iv been known to cut the dam things off anyway)
2. rip the pci-e slot from the motherboard
if its still working no harm no foul

rtwjunkie · Sep 30, 2015

The worst I did when I physically just could not get to the slot retaining clip with the card that I had at the time, was my pulling broke the retaining clip.

After that I had to make sure it was tightly screwed in the expansion slot.

That Guy In The Shirt · Sep 30, 2015

OneMoar said:
if you pull hard enough you can do one of two things
1. snap the retaining tab on the card or pci-e slot (no damage Iv been known to cut the dam things off anyway)
2. rip the pci-e slot from the motherboard
if its still working no harm no foul

Thanks man, I didn't break anything off or rip out any slots so hopefully I'll be alright, thanks for the help

rtwjunkie said:
The worst I did when I physically just could not get to the slot retaining clip with the card that I had at the time, was my pulling broke the retaining clip.

After that I had to make sure it was tightly screwed in the expansion slot.

Did it still work after that?

dorsetknob · Sep 30, 2015

Put cards back into pc
if your that worried borrow a Co2 ( halon now illegal ) fire extinguisher................ just in case !!!
Fire up the pc
If it works put the fire extinguisher back from where you borrowed it from

rtwjunkie · Sep 30, 2015

That Guy In The Shirt said:
Did it still work after that?

It sure did, just fine! It also made for much quicker GPU changeouts. I was worried too.

Really, we can all try to allay your fears, but really you're going to have to find out yourself. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Toothless · Sep 30, 2015

If anything there is someone selling 970's here...

That Guy In The Shirt · Sep 30, 2015

rtwjunkie said:
It sure did, just fine! It also made for much quicker GPU changeouts. I was worried too.

Really, we can all try to allay your fears, but really you're going to have to find out yourself. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Thanks man, I honestly kinda feel better about it now, since your situation sounded grimmer than mine and it turned out okay. I have a good feeling about this community (I just joined today).

dorsetknob · Sep 30, 2015

That Guy In The Shirt said:
(I just joined today).

Welcome to the community that is TPU

nolafotoknut · Sep 30, 2015

Welcome to the community!!

Frick · Sep 30, 2015

I had a board I had to hammer the cards into because it was so tight. Computer hardware is generally very resilient unless you a) knock critical components off, b) crack PCB's or c) shove electricity where it shouldn't be.

GorbazTheDragon · Sep 30, 2015

Toothless said:
If anything there is someone selling 970's here...

Someones hungry for things to fix...

Toothless · Sep 30, 2015

GorbazTheDragon said:
Someones hungry for things to fix...

Chainsaws fix things. So do hammers and axes and swords and tanks, all for those pesky GPUs.

GorbazTheDragon · Sep 30, 2015

ur scary

Bill_Bright · Sep 30, 2015

That Guy In The Shirt said:
my mom would carefully load it into the car and bring it up to me in a month. That time period is coming close to an end

Just make sure she lays the computer down on it's right side (as facing the computer front) so the top of the motherboard is facing up. This will ensure the heavy CPU cooler (cards too) is sitting flat on the motherboard and not "hanging" off of it as your mom flies over railroad tracks and bounces over potholes!

That Guy In The Shirt · Oct 1, 2015

Bill_Bright said:
Just make sure she lays the computer down on it's right side (as facing the computer front) so the top of the motherboard is facing up. This will ensure the heavy CPU cooler (cards too) is sitting flat on the motherboard and not "hanging" off of it as your mom flies over railroad tracks and bounces over potholes!

Yeah I made sure to mark the correct side with a sticky note before I left so that the motherboard would be facing up. Thanks for the advice!

RealNeil · Oct 1, 2015

Welcome to TPU!

It probably isn't damaged. Plug them in and it should work fine.

Bill_Bright · Oct 3, 2015

RealNeil said:
It probably isn't damaged. Plug them in and it should work fine.

Ummm, his mom has not delivered it yet.

RealNeil · Oct 3, 2015

Bill_Bright said:
Ummm, his mom has not delivered it yet.

As soon as possible,..........try them out. They'll p[robably work fine.

That Guy In The Shirt · Oct 4, 2015

RealNeil said:
As soon as possible,..........try them out. They'll p[robably work fine.

Well I'll find out tomorrow, my mom's bringing up my build then. I'll be sure to let you guys know

System Name	Mike
Processor	i5 4690k
Motherboard	Asus Z97-A
Cooling	Scythe Mugen 4
Memory	Crucial 8gb DDR3-1600
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 970 4GB Strix Video Cards (2-way SLI)
Storage	Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 2TB 7200RPM HDD, Crucial BX100 120GB SSD
Case	Fractal Design Define R5 (Titanium) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply	EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Keyboard	Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse

System Name	RPC MK2.5
Processor	Ryzen 5800x
Motherboard	Gigabyte Aorus Pro V2
Cooling	Enermax ETX-T50RGB
Memory	CL16 BL2K16G36C16U4RL 3600 1:1 micron e-die
Video Card(s)	GIGABYTE RTX 3070 Ti GAMING OC
Storage	ADATA SX8200PRO NVME 512GB, Intel 545s 500GBSSD, ADATA SU800 SSD, 3TB Spinner
Display(s)	LG Ultra Gear 32 1440p 165hz Dell 1440p 75hz
Case	Phanteks P300 /w 300A front panel conversion
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	SeaSonic Focus+ Platinum 750W
Mouse	Kone burst Pro
Keyboard	EVGA Z15
Software	Windows 11 +startisallback

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

System Name	Mike
Processor	i5 4690k
Motherboard	Asus Z97-A
Cooling	Scythe Mugen 4
Memory	Crucial 8gb DDR3-1600
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 970 4GB Strix Video Cards (2-way SLI)
Storage	Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 2TB 7200RPM HDD, Crucial BX100 120GB SSD
Case	Fractal Design Define R5 (Titanium) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply	EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Keyboard	Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

Could I have broken my GPUs?

That Guy In The Shirt

OneMoar

There is Always Moar

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

That Guy In The Shirt

dorsetknob

"YOUR RMA REQUEST IS CON-REFUSED"

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

Toothless

Tech, Games, and TPU!

That Guy In The Shirt

dorsetknob

"YOUR RMA REQUEST IS CON-REFUSED"

nolafotoknut

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

GorbazTheDragon

Toothless

Tech, Games, and TPU!

GorbazTheDragon

Bill_Bright

That Guy In The Shirt

RealNeil

Bill_Bright

RealNeil

That Guy In The Shirt

System Name	Veral
Processor	5950x
Motherboard	MSI MEG x570 Ace
Cooling	Corsair H150i RGB Elite
Memory	4x16GB G.Skill TridentZ
Video Card(s)	Powercolor 7900XTX Red Devil
Storage	Crucial P5 Plus 1TB, Samsung 980 1TB, Teamgroup MP34 4TB
Display(s)	Acer Nitro XZ342CK Pbmiiphx + 2x AOC 2425W
Case	Fractal Design Meshify Lite 2
Audio Device(s)	Blue Yeti + SteelSeries Arctis 5 / Samsung HW-T550
Power Supply	Corsair HX850
Mouse	Corsair Nightsword
Keyboard	Corsair K55
VR HMD	HP Reverb G2
Software	Windows 11 Professional
Benchmark Scores	PEBCAK

System Name	Frankenrig
Processor	i7-3770@3.70Ghz
Motherboard	ASRock Z77 Extreme6
Cooling	Xigmatex Dark Knight II cpu cooler, 5x140mm Fractal Design fans
Memory	4x4Gb Mushkin DDR3-1600
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX 970 100ME
Storage	1x120GB M500 SSD; 1x1TB WD Black; WD RE4 500GB; 1x150GB Velociraptor; 1x500GB Blue; 1x1TB WD Green (
Display(s)	HP 25xi IPS 25"
Case	White Fractal Desigh Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar D1 PCI
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Software	W8.1 64bit

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD	Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	Indis the Fair (cursed edition)
Processor	11900k 5.1/4.9 undervolted.
Motherboard	MSI Z590 Unify-X
Cooling	Heatkiller VI Pro, VPP755 V.3, XSPC TX360 slim radiator, 3xA12x25, 4x Arctic P14 case fans
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 2x16GB 4000 16-19-19 (b-die@3600 14-14-14 1.45v)
Video Card(s)	EVGA 2080 Super Hybrid (T30-120 fan)
Storage	970EVO 1TB, 660p 1TB, WD Blue 3D 1TB, Sandisk Ultra 3D 2TB
Display(s)	BenQ XL2546K, Dell P2417H
Case	FD Define 7
Audio Device(s)	DT770 Pro, Topping A50, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, Røde VXLR+, Modmic 5
Power Supply	Seasonic 860w Platinum
Mouse	Razer Viper Mini, Odin Infinity mousepad
Keyboard	GMMK Fullsize v2 (Boba U4Ts)
Software	Win10 x64/Win7 x64/Ubuntu

System Name	Brightworks Systems BWS-6 E-IV
Processor	Intel Core i5-6600 @ 3.9GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 Rev 1.0
Cooling	Quality case, 2 x Fractal Design 140mm fans, stock CPU HSF
Memory	32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 3000 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	EVGA GEForce GTX 1050Ti 4Gb GDDR5
Storage	Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD, Samsung 860 Evo 500GB SSD
Display(s)	Samsung S24E650BW LED x 2
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 550W G2 Gold
Mouse	Logitech M190
Keyboard	Microsoft Wireless Comfort 5050
Software	W10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	Home Brewed
Processor	i9-7900X and i7-8700K
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme & ASUS Prime Z-370 A
Cooling	Corsair 280mm AIO & Thermaltake Water 3.0
Memory	64GB DDR4-3000 GSKill RipJaws-V & 32GB DDR4-3466 GEIL Potenza
Video Card(s)	2X-GTX-1080 SLI & 2 GTX-1070Ti 8GB G1 Gaming in SLI
Storage	Both have 2TB HDDs for storage, 480GB SSDs for OS, and 240GB SSDs for Steam Games
Display(s)	ACER 28" B286HK 4K & Samsung 32" 1080P
Case	NZXT Source 540 & Rosewill Rise Chassis
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM1000 & Corsair RM850
Mouse	Generic
Keyboard	Razer Blackwidow Tournament & Corsair K90
Software	Win-10 Professional
Benchmark Scores	yes