Can the motherboard GPU slot get damaged from removing and putting GPU often?

[Victor Jones]

I had to remove and re seat my GPU about 5 times yesterday (don’t judge me I was testing stuff) and today I got RMA so I had to install a new one again. 
 

I’ll have to remove it again soon to put a CPU cooler. I’m not planning on removing it often after that but I’m just wondering if this can cause damage if done too often. Are there any ratings for how many times you can do it? 

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

4 minutes ago, Victor Jones said:

I’m just wondering if this can cause damage if done too often. Are there any ratings for how many times you can do it? 

Yes, it can cause damage over time. But to be more accurate, it's not from doing it too often, but from the cumulative number of times that it is done. That's just physics.

 

And I'm also interested to know if there is some kind of rating. I assume durability is taken into account when standardized connectors are decided on.

[Victor Jones]

5 minutes ago, Hairless Monkey Boy said:

Yes, it can cause damage over time. But to be more accurate, it's not from doing it too often, but from the cumulative number of times that it is done. That's just physics.

 

And I'm also interested to know if there is some kind of rating. I assume durability is taken into account when standardized connectors are decided on.

It can’t be a double digit number then. It wouldn’t make sense. I have the Z590M Gaming X and it seems pretty sturdy. I’d think the slot is also at least half decent. 

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

3 minutes ago, Victor Jones said:

It can’t be a double digit number then.

No, certainly not. If I had to guess, I would say the number is in the hundreds.

[mariushm]

The guaranteed insertion count for cpu sockets is as low as 20-50 

 

For pci-e slots, it's in the hundreds.... problem is the gold plating on the pins eventually rubs off as you insert and take out the cards and then the pins can oxidize or get dirty and at the same time pins can lose that elasticity and may no longer put enough contact pressure with the edge connector of the video card, so you get imperfect contacts. 

 

 

[Victor Jones]

18 minutes ago, mariushm said:

The guaranteed insertion count for cpu sockets is as low as 20-50 

 

For pci-e slots, it's in the hundreds.... problem is the gold plating on the pins eventually rubs off as you insert and take out the cards and then the pins can oxidize or get dirty and at the same time pins can lose that elasticity and may no longer put enough contact pressure with the edge connector of the video card, so you get imperfect contacts. 

 

 

I didn’t know the MB slot had gold pins. Or are you referring to the GPU gold pins?

[manikyath]

cardedge connectors are probably among the most reliable connectors used on the inside of a computer. the first supplier i found numbers on rates their connectors for a minimum of 50 cycles. so take that as a very safe minimum before wear may potentially end up being of concern.

[Victor Jones]

5 minutes ago, manikyath said:

cardedge connectors are probably among the most reliable connectors used on the inside of a computer. the first supplier i found numbers on rates their connectors for a minimum of 50 cycles. so take that as a very safe minimum before wear may potentially end up being of concern.

I mean I did yank my old GPU from my MB pretty hard that even the lever came off (I snapped it back into place) but since my new GPU works I haven’t done any damage 

  

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Victor Jones said:

I mean I did yank my old GPU from my MB pretty hard that even the lever came off (I snapped it back into place) but since my new GPU works I haven’t done any damage 

  

nothing will protect a product against user stupidity.

[Victor Jones]

9 minutes ago, manikyath said:

nothing will protect a product against user stupidity.

9 minutes ago, manikyath said:

nothing will protect a product against user stupidity.

ha-ha. 
 

if you want to educate yourself about my case read my other post about this.
 

I had thought I had released the lever but I hadn’t. Due to the tall heatsinks on my motherboard and the size of my card, it’s hard to release it as well as tell if it’s been released. 
 

If you’re planning on commenting more on my posts without any useful advice, please don’t post at all. 

[mariushm]

3 hours ago, Victor Jones said:

I didn’t know the MB slot had gold pins. Or are you referring to the GPU gold pins?

The pins in the slot are usually gold flash or gold plated. The edge connectors on video cards are usually gold plated ... but the amount of actual gold is very little, it's almost not worth melting the pins to get the gold. 

We're talking 30" u (0.76um) of gold plating.

 

See https://suddendocs.samtec.com/catalog_english/pcie-g4.pdf

 

Amphenol does gold flash, 0.38uf and 0.76um plating : https://cdn.amphenol-cs.com/media/wysiwyg/files/drawing/ccee0164x1140xxx.pdf

 

[jaslion]

6 hours ago, Hairless Monkey Boy said:

No, certainly not. If I had to guess, I would say the number is in the hundreds.

I have a x79 gigabyte ultra deluxe board that I've used for testing ddr4 and gpu's since 2017. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm at quadruple digits on it. Do keep in mind I am always somewhat gentle with it. The plastic clips have broken off from the ram slots and pcie covers long ago but still works fine.

[Victor Jones]

2 hours ago, mariushm said:

The pins in the slot are usually gold flash or gold plated. The edge connectors on video cards are usually gold plated ... but the amount of actual gold is very little, it's almost not worth melting the pins to get the gold. 

We're talking 30" u (0.76um) of gold plating.

 

See https://suddendocs.samtec.com/catalog_english/pcie-g4.pdf

 

Amphenol does gold flash, 0.38uf and 0.76um plating : https://cdn.amphenol-cs.com/media/wysiwyg/files/drawing/ccee0164x1140xxx.pdf

 

I see. Well I am fine for now. But I’ll be gentle and limit taking it out to a minimum 

[Victor Jones]

55 minutes ago, jaslion said:

I have a x79 gigabyte ultra deluxe board that I've used for testing ddr4 and gpu's since 2017. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm at quadruple digits on it. Do keep in mind I am always somewhat gentle with it. The plastic clips have broken off from the ram slots and pcie covers long ago but still works fine.

I try to be gentle too. But sometimes with big cards it’s hard to align everything so there is some rubbing that happens while you try to seat it.  That doesn’t seem abrasive though. 
 

The only non gentle thing I have done is yanking it out without realizing that lever isn’t released. But it’s still okay. 
 

thanks.