GPU HSF too heavy... sagging GPU! [SOLVED]

[phanbuey]

the card looks like its screwed into the wrong PCI bracket...

 

[GreiverBlade]

also as long as the OP is not back on the thread (which will probably not happen since he clearly showed that his mind was set on what was the issue) it's no use to debate ...

ok for all the sagg-sayer .... you're right (comfy?)

the card looks like its screwed into the wrong PCI bracket...

most probably .... welcome in the It'sScrewedInTheWrongBracket-sayer club ...

off.

 

[Toothless]

I just noticed that soundcard.. not straight.

 

[GreiverBlade]

I just noticed that soundcard.. not straight.

yep .... bending up ... a clue that the mobo is misaligned ... tho it's a X1 in a X16

 

[phanbuey]

also as long as the OP is not back on the thread (which will probably not happen since he clearly showed that his mind was set on what was the issue) it's no use to debate ...

ok for all the sagg-sayer .... you're right (comfy?)


most probably .... welcome in the It'sScrewedInTheWrongBracket-sayer club ...

off.

 

[Papahyooie]

I've provided a second picture here to illustrate:

The green line shows the top of the case slot. The pink shows the top of the PCIE slot (with which we can deduce the top of the actual PCB and not the PCB/Backplate)

Since the green line is higher than the pink line, that means that there is some distance between where the PCIE is plugged in, and top of the card as a whole, which is the top of the backplate. If you have a graphics card with a backplate, look closely at it and you'll see this is true. The graphics card extends ABOVE the PCIE plug. That's why you're all thinking the card is mounted into the wrong bracket. It isn't. The card is not bent upwards at the back of the case, this is simply an illusion created by the sagging.

As for the 2 slots/3 slots issue, greiverblade you're not getting what I'm saying. The card is a two slot card yes. So the card is supposed to be covering two slots. It is however, covering a THIRD slot due to the sagging. See white line. There is either empty space there, or a pcie X1 slot that accounts for the "extra" slot. This is again an illusion caused by the sagging of the card, not misalignment of the motherboard.

As for the sound card, I say again... it's because the sound card is ACTUALLY bent upwards because of a USB header plug that's underneath it. The OP already addressed that. It isn't a clue to a crooked motherboard at all.

Besides all that... how in the world would a motherboard get mounted crookedly? You would have to physically drill more holes in the board for that to work....

And before anybody says anything, I do realize that using these lines is counter-productive, as I've already said, because the case is not aligned with them. I'm simply using @GreiverBlade 's method, with a little bit of logic applied.

EDIT: Here's another to illustrate the mystery of the missing expansion slot.... If it's easier, start from the bottom (The one which we can CLEARLY see which bracket matches up to which slot because we can see the sound card plugged in) .... and count up.

specifically if the left side is higher than the center and the right side lower ... it's not sagging : sagging goes by left aligned with center and back droping down from center ....

I think this is the crux of the issue... what you've said here is simply incorrect. If the weight is concentrated at the center of the card, then the card will droop at the center, not from the right. If the weight was at the back of the card, then yes, it would probably be even at the center, and droop towards the rear, but that is not the case here. It droops in the center because that's where the weight is. Therefore, it is perfectly logical that the center would be lower than the left.

 

[jboydgolfer]

i cant get over how bitched up that build is. thats a nice case too

heres what a modest build in that Phanteks case SHOULD look like. my OCD is killing me looking at those pic's btw, im pretty sure this gtx970 is heavier than the one OP has(ref is 2.3lbs). regardless, they must not be great quality, ive seen other threads with this card doing the same thing.

 

[GreiverBlade]

i cant get over how bitched up that build is. thats a nice case too

heres what a modest build in that Phanteks case SHOULD look like. my OCD is killing me looking at those pic's btw, im pretty sure this gtx970 is heavier than the one OP has(ref is 2.3lbs). regardless, they must not be great quality, ive seen other threads with this card doing the same thing.

well yes ... there is definitely something wrong with the installation of the OP and not with the weight of the card itself ... that card would not sag installed in my rig ... or in yours, even after some time after initial installation ....

his card : 1.04326kg my card is 832 g my previously mentioned GTX 580 Matrix Platinum : 1.8kg (the one that did not sag ... even in SLI none of them showed any sag ... granted they are 3 slot bracket 2.6 slot cooler)

 

[Papahyooie]

I give up... carry on in ignorance.

 

[rtwjunkie]

i cant get over how bitched up that build is. thats a nice case too

heres what a modest build in that Phanteks case SHOULD look like. my OCD is killing me looking at those pic's btw, im pretty sure this gtx970 is heavier than the one OP has(ref is 2.3lbs). regardless, they must not be great quality, ive seen other threads with this card doing the same thing.

The reference model, even though heavier will hardly ever sag. Reason: the metal reference shroud attached closely to the pcb is stronger support than all but the most heavy duty backplates.

 

[hckngrtfakt]

I give up... carry on in ignorance.

Regardless of what some may say, your lines are actually correct.
After some perspective manipulation one can clearly see the motherboard is not even held on the right place.
How OP managed to keep that sound card somehow in place is beyond rationale, much less the video card.

 

[phanbuey]

yep... lots of card bending going on...

PCI yoga.

 

[jboydgolfer]

The reference model, even though heavier will hardly ever sag. Reason: the metal reference shroud attached closely to the pcb is stronger support than all but the most heavy duty backplates.

that, and it has a high quality back plate too. the Nvidia ref 970 was build like a f@cking tank

also, how in the F@ck did the sound card manage to get banana bent upwards

i swear to god all i hear in my mind while looking at that PC is.....btw, im not poking fun @ you OP, i just deal with everything with stupid humor, so please dont take this as offensive.

 

[GreiverBlade]

okay i give up, but i still see no sagging but rather a sloppy installation that lead to a unnatural diagonal positioning of the graphic card ....

i've never seen a card with a sagging looking like that, strongly because it's does not look remotely like that on these i saw since the PCIeX connector give some rigidity to the card up to center and the sagging affect mostly the "free" part which is center till end right (seen on the previously mentioned 8800 Ultra with a Prolimatech MK-26) oh well it's OP's fault ... for not taking pictures right

otherwise my GTX 980 Poseidon would have suffered the same syndrome, which it did not, and it was quite heavier ... (not ~160gr more like the ratio from my 1070 to his 970 ) same goes for the GTX 580 Matrix Platinum obviously (tho that one might had a better build quality ... )

also, how in the F@ck did the sound card manage to get banana bent upwards

USB connection (probably front panel) .... tho i write that because i did read that as explanation ... i tried to manage that with one soundcard (and i have 2 USB2.0 connector under it ...) and still not got a slight bend ...

I give up... carry on in ignorance.

not ignorance .... different opinion and issues .... until the OP is back with an answer (which will not happen) we can't tell which one is really right .... after all the picture make it all foggy .... you see something i see something else .... who's right? (nope without explicit proof and answer from the OP you can't tell "i am 100% sure" )

i will retract my point of view once the OP will clarify the situation.....

as my initial sample show, usually sagging goes slightly middle of the card to the extreme right, while the extreme left usually stay straight or bend in the opposite way

but it seems none of them can take a good aligned picture

let's hope the OP's X16 slot is not looking like that ....

 

[Jetster]

Regardless of what some may say, your lines are actually correct.
After some perspective manipulation one can clearly see the motherboard is not even held on the right place.
How OP managed to keep that sound card somehow in place is beyond rationale, much less the video card.

You can't rely on a picture because of the focal length. Unless its 43mm crop sensor (natural image angle) it will bend the objects.

 

[Kanan]

Yes you can't even run them in sli

Wow, too much sag I guess

I just noticed that soundcard.. not straight.

Man you're so fast.

well yes ... there is definitely something wrong with the installation of the OP and not with the weight of the card itself ... that card would not sag installed in my rig ... or in yours, even after some time after initial installation ....

his card : 1.04326kg my card is 832 g my previously mentioned GTX 580 Matrix Platinum : 1.8kg (the one that did not sag ... even in SLI none of them showed any sag ... granted they are 3 slot bracket 2.6 slot cooler)

You get that wrong, just because you never saw a bad engineered (Asus) GPU, doesn't mean there is none. Your GTX 580 Matrix Platinum (lol at the name) is much more premium and much more premium built as well, it's simple why it's better and never sagged at all. Same goes for my soon-ex 780 TI DCU II, it has proper metal at all sides and a proper backplate, not some stupid ultra thin shit going on like @cdawall already pointed out @ that GTX 970 Strixx.

okay i give up, but i still see no sagging but rather a sloppy installation that lead to a unnatural diagonal positioning of the graphic card ....

i've never seen a card with a sagging looking like that, strongly because it's does not look remotely like that on these i saw since the PCIeX connector give some rigidity to the card up to center and the sagging affect mostly the "free" part which is center till end right (seen on the previously mentioned 8800 Ultra with a Prolimatech MK-26) oh well it's OP's fault ... for not taking pictures right

otherwise my GTX 980 Poseidon would have suffered the same syndrome, which it did not, and it was quite heavier ... (not ~160gr more like the ratio from my 1070 to his 970 ) same goes for the GTX 580 Matrix Platinum obviously (tho that one might had a better build quality ... )


USB connection (probably front panel) .... tho i write that because i did read that as explanation ... i tried to manage that with one soundcard (and i have 2 USB2.0 connector under it ...) and still not got a slight bend ...


not ignorance .... different opinion and issues .... until the OP is back with an answer (which will not happen) we can't tell which one is really right .... after all the picture make it all foggy .... you see something i see something else .... who's right? (nope without explicit proof and answer from the OP you can't tell "i am 100% sure" )

i will retract my point of view once the OP will clarify the situation.....

as my initial sample show, usually sagging goes slightly middle of the card to the extreme right, while the extreme left usually stay straight or bend in the opposite way
View attachment 91334
but it seems none of them can take a good aligned picture

let's hope the OP's X16 slot is not looking like that ....
View attachment 91335

First of all lol @ that X16 slot, it hurts my eyes.

Your definition of sagging just seems to be somewhat different, but it's still sagging all the same.

IMO, the card is properly sagging all the way from the I/O bracket down, and it's clearly visible too. Those who don't see it, my speculation is, don't actually want to see it and go on to have their fantasy about it being the mainboard or different things, but the graphics card is actually poorly engineered, it's a clear thing once you realize that and actually see the sagging, I mean it's not that hard to see unless you don't want to or have strange definition about sagging.

At least, the sound card isn't ultra evil anymore, now after realizing it's just pushed up by a USB header. That was the funniest part about it actually, at least for me. It was going against gravity.

 

[HTC]

Could it be that the board is not in the proper place, thus miss aligning the case's slot holes with the board's slots? That, or the case itself is defective in the sense that it's slot holes don't align with the board's slots. Both these situations could explain the crookedness of the cards.

@ OP: do you have the board's I/O shield in place? Is the board secured to the case (most or all of the screws)?

 

[THE_EGG]

There might be something off with the OP's build but regardless, the GPU sag is there. I built a rig for a friend a couple of years ago and had installed an Asus 970 Strix like what the OP has. When I installed it I noticed it had extreme sag - it was the worst I have ever seen. It looked like it had been sagging over a number of years despite only just installing it - as cdawall said, there would be no way of using a second card next to it for SLI. Ended up using some hard liquid cooling tube to support it and some tape to secure it. As others have suggested, perhaps look at ensuring your mobo is installed correctly with all of the screws and remount your GTX 970 Strix and support it with something.

 

[fusseli]

I'm back, I have a job and a life to attend to besides mind this computer forum thread all day. LOL all of the attention here is GREAT!

1) There's nothing wrong or incorrect about the board or gpu install. The Strix Z270H board is about 1/2" narrower than standard ATX, so all three on the far right edge have no standoff mount on this Phanteks case (or my old Lian Li, I checked it too) thus only 6 of the 9 usual screw holes line up. Not a big deal, IMO, and not worth my time to drill and tap three holes. On an "ATX" mobo that isn't true ATX dimensions, those three screw holes are really just decorations. Thanks, Asus!

This is actually an interesting point, because I had at one point considered upgrading to a Noctua D15 over my Phanteks TC12 hsf. Considering the 6/9 mobo screws, and the pig's weight of the DCU II strix, maybe that extra weight on the mobo isn't the best idea! It's not germane, but I do have a line on a used Corsair H110i GT that I might pick up.

2) The suggestion that the gpu is mounted in the wrong pci slot on the case is absolutely ridiculous. Next.

3) Soundcard, I could give two shits about. Some caps on the end of the board are touching the usb3.0 header below it, pushing upward slightly. Sorry for the confusion. My remissness is revealed

@fusseli Allow me to suggest something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Emperors-Ma...038150&hash=item3f8323747c:g:giMAAOSwEupZfV9k

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-Side-Blown-Graphics-Card-Mount-Cooling-Fan-Bracket-For-North-South-Bridge/291888748885?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

Something like this will elegantly solve your issues,
Best regards

Thanks for the suggestions, I also saw this CM solution http://www.ebay.com/itm/COOLER-MAST...988893&hash=item46533b77e1:g:WzAAAOSwIgNXsxJ1

Pricey for what it is, but $15 is a fart in the wind compared to the cost of the rig

Oh my lord, you're all frikken blind apparently. The graphics card is sagging... there is no misaligned motherboard, there is no extra slot on the case. Those are all artifacts created by the perspective. If you look at the entire picture rather than drawing lines on it (which is ridiculous in the first place, because the picture is tilted and therefore won't line up anyway) you'll see that there is a "slot" behind the card's cooler, (probably populated by a PCIE 1x, if anything at all) that makes the number of openings on the case match up. Furthermore, this proves that the card is sagging, because it's covering up that slot. The "backplate" starts to bend as soon as it comes out of the mount at the back of the case. From there, you can see that it sags down until the point at which the most weight is (eg, the center of the cooler) and then levels out again. The leveling out is due to the fact that nothing is pulling down on the back of the card, but rather the middle. Since nothing is holding up the back of the card, it remains straight. Whereas if there was something underneath the back of the card, you'd see it actually bend back upward.

You guys are making the mistake of looking at individual pieces of the picture, and comparing them to the border. This creates optical illusions because of the forced perspective. The picture is taken at an angle. It's skewed from side to side, top to bottom, AND front to back in 3D space.

The card is sagging people... There is no conspiracy here...

Thank you, my friend, the only sane post here.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

If its sagging it isnt miraculously going to straighten up no matter what you do. Try and prevent further sagging and live with it.

 

[GreiverBlade]

You get that wrong, just because you never saw a bad engineered (Asus) GPU, doesn't mean there is none. Your GTX 580 Matrix Platinum (lol at the name) is much more premium and much more premium built as well, it's simple why it's better and never sagged at all. Same goes for my soon-ex 780 TI DCU II, it has proper metal at all sides and a proper backplate, not some stupid ultra thin shit going on like @cdawall already pointed out @ that GTX 970 Strixx.

oh i saw a lot of sagging .... (and not only GPUs unfortunately ... ) did you read about a 8800 Ultra with a Prolimatech MK-26 and no backplate or strenghtening at all? that one did sag .....

typical sagging, you have a fixed point (the bracket) that will not be able to move up or down, and a downward curve from center to right corner (in length or width)
¨

his card, clearly show a diagonal in relation to the center (and nope, not only on one pix due to a parallax effect) with the extreme left being higher than the center and the extreme right being lower which could also be induced by the sloppy assembly

If its sagging it isnt miraculously going to straighten up no matter what you do. Try and prevent further sagging and live with it.

and if it's not.... well he will just bend the card upward from center to right and make a U shape instead of putting the rest of his rig in order and potentially correct the issue...

1) There's nothing wrong or incorrect about the board or gpu install. The Strix Z270H board is about 1/2" narrower than standard ATX, so all three on the far right edge have no standoff mount on this Phanteks case (or my old Lian Li, I checked it too) thus only 6 of the 9 usual screw holes line up. Not a big deal, IMO, and not worth my time to drill and tap three holes. On an "ATX" mobo that isn't true ATX dimensions, those three screw holes are really just decorations. Thanks, Asus!

This is actually an interesting point, because I had at one point considered upgrading to a Noctua D15 over my Phanteks TC12 hsf. Considering the 6/9 mobo screws, and the pig's weight of the DCU II strix, maybe that extra weight on the mobo isn't the best idea! It's not germane, but I do have a line on a used Corsair H110i GT that I might pick up.

2) The suggestion that the gpu is mounted in the wrong pci slot on the case is absolutely ridiculous. Next.

3) Soundcard, I could give two shits about. Some caps on the end of the board are touching the usb3.0 header below it, pushing upward slightly. Sorry for the confusion. My remissness is revealed

1) okay ....

2) probably

3) i see ....

still

Thank you, my friend, the only sane post here.

actually .... nope ... he could have wrote all of his post in a different manner (and you too ... you just imply any other are insane .... thanks a lot )

ok i retract my previous post you're right it's sagging (what? you thought i wouldn't admit i was wrong? .... if it was the other way around ... i hope the other one would have done the same... )

I'm back, I have a job and a life to attend to besides mind this computer forum thread all day. LOL all of the attention here is GREAT!

so do i ... i also have a job and a life ... so what?

well then next time directly get a GPU jig ...

 

[rtwjunkie]

Thank you, my friend, the only sane post here

Did you miss the very first response to you?

 

[GreiverBlade]

Did you miss the very first response to you?

nah .... he just wanted someone to put down all the flat-earther first ....

the only sane thing to do would've been :

next time directly get a GPU jig ...

and not that whole mess of a thread

 

[cdawall]

Did you miss the very first response to you?

Half a dozen people all said that card sags like crazy.

 

[GreiverBlade]

Half a dozen people all said that card sags like crazy.

the point is not sagging or not (specially with non aligned pictures and lot of confusion .... if you can't trust your sight you seek other issues and solutions)... it's the reaction of some user when you check if nothing else is wrong


but remember: he has a life and he's not always on the forum, like us, so it took 3 pages to clarify

nonetheless .... the title is wrong ... that 970 is not even heavy ... (yep nitpicking)
well now i really hope the jig will solve the issue , off the thread now