What happens if the graphics card is not screwed with the case holes?

[Dann7]

Hello LTT forums.

I should have asked this as I was building my PC.

On February, as I was building my PC, I noticed that I couldn't align the GPU screw hole with the case holes. 

Not knowing what to do, I left it unscrewed.

Sometimes, on the back of the PC, the graphics card looks a bit tilted but so far I just survived by moving it up every few moments or so with my bare hand.

I feel like an idiot for both letting this happen and asking this just now. What are the consequences to this, and how can I fix it?

The graphics card is a single fan Gigabyte GTX 1050 TI, so it isn't as heavy and long.

Thanks in advance to any help.

 

[Tsuki]

it sags.   which can damage the pcie slot on the motherboar

[Princess Luna]

If the video card is heavy enough, this can happen.

[Dann7]

7 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

If the video card is heavy enough, this can happen.

 

26 minutes ago, Tsuki said:

it sags.   which can damage the pcie slot on the motherboar

Ouch. Any way to prevent this? As I have mentioned before, I couldn't screw the graphics card

[Bartholomew]

20 minutes ago, Dann7 said:

Hello LTT forums.

I should have asked this as I was building my PC.

On February, as I was building my PC, I noticed that I couldn't align the GPU screw hole with the case holes. 

Not knowing what to do, I left it unscrewed.

Sometimes, on the back of the PC, the graphics card looks a bit tilted but so far I just survived by moving it up every few moments or so with my bare hand.

I feel like an idiot for both letting this happen and asking this just now. What are the consequences to this, and how can I fix it?

The graphics card is a single fan Gigabyte GTX 1050 TI, so it isn't as heavy and long.

Thanks in advance to any help.

 

Thing is, temps in case will go up and down causing all things to expand and contract. Worst case: you forget about it and the wriggles in a bad way out of the slot (hyoothetically speaking).

 

Best bet would be to have a more experienced builder try to fixate it - chances are it fits just fine (i always need to "jiggle and wiggle plus exact amounts of fiddle" to get cards fixed. Youd exctually be surprised how much wiggleroom is there but if your insecure or inexperienced it better to have someone do it who knows what "bit of force/wiggle" is normal.

 

If your help also has trouble it might help to losen the mobo screws a bit, likely allowing just enough wiggle there to make the slots align more with the cases slot openings (dont forget to tighten the mobo again when done).

 

Needless to say, disconnect mains before attemoting anything as a stray screw bouncing or falling may end up anywhere.

[Bartholomew]

6 minutes ago, Dann7 said:

 

Ouch. Any way to prevent this? As I have mentioned before, I couldn't screw the graphics card

I forgot: biggest risk in unfixed pcie cards no matter how small is that sooner or later youll pull the videocable or bounce the wifi antenna (if wifi card for example) by accident and kadapoof, misalignment, shorts and the end of card or worse...

 

On the vidcard, if its dual slot and has 2 holes, us them both. Just using the upper one just makes a nice pivot point.for sag

[Tsuki]

3 hours ago, Dann7 said:

 

Ouch. Any way to prevent this? As I have mentioned before, I couldn't screw the graphics card

https://www.amazon.com/CloverTale-Aerospace-Upgraded-Version-Black/dp/B077LGLN4G

 

honestly just put something under it to hold it up. its not too bad

[fluxdeity]

Sometimes you can route the PCIe power connector through the top(if applicable) of the case and have it holding up the GPU.

[boggen]

issues that have came up over the years. 

• the I/O panel sometimes skews things out of whack.
  • i hate I/O panels. they can fit in so tight bloody tight at times, and just a little off and makes for heck plugging cables in. 
  • end up bending some of the "springs per say" that fit against some of the I/O's so i can fit motherboard in some times, due to amount of force i need to push motherboard into place so i can get screws in. 
• some times the "stand offs" for the motherboard skews things out of whack.
  • as much as screw in stand offs can be a pain to tighten and get snug. i will keep them over the plastic versions that snap into the motherboard, and then the plastic snap ins are a pain to remove from motherboard.
• some times case manufacturer mess things up on the screw alignments. 
  • have had the rear bracket panel tilted, like it was bent some how during assembly. 
  • have had rear bracket panel, like machine bending things went a bit to wide and out of tolerance range. 
  • have had the spacers between bracket holes "twist" on me. causing issues. 
• some times expansion cards / graphic card manufactures, the brackets on the cards are messed up.
  • have had the brackets on cards slightly off like machine cutting the screw notch / hole was off slightly. 
  • the little end that slips down of the bracket have had issues little to long or little to wide. 

==============

• when all else fails....
  • i have used "twisty tie" from tie up garbage bags. instead of a screw to hold card in place.
  • have bent bracket on expansion card to get things to fit. 
  • have trimmed bottom of bracket on expansion card to get things to fit. 
  • have used longer bolt with bent tip of bracket to get things going. 

===============

• though most times, unloosen screws on motherboard, and double checking stand offs are correct and screwed down,  and making sure I/O panel is fully in place resolves issues. 

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

10 hours ago, Princess Cadence said:

If the video card is heavy enough, this can happen.

ewww another msi bad quality!?

at least get a smaller screw to put through the holes as the bottom line, or lay the case flat

[Triventular]

it could rip out the pci-e slot if its a heavy enough card.. by not screwing the back in, even though its a relatively light card, you can still strain the pci-e slot if you put force on the back where the i/o is which is where you usually jam your cables.it could also mess up some of the contacts in the slot which can cause some problems in the future