Accidentally scratched my motherboard while installing the GPU.

Zyntale · November 20, 2022

Hello everyone, it is my first time ever building a computer and it has been quite a ride to be honest. There’s been a lot of scary moments

Unfortunately I haven’t yet received the PSU to be able to power on the whole thing, however, I took notice the motherboard got scratched as I installed the GPU.

Naturally, I am afraid I may have caused serious damage, but I’d like to get an opinion from the more experienced people out here.

https://i.imgur.com/WZe8pKI.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bbKvHKk.jpg

RONOTHAN## · November 20, 2022

It's probably fine, though the worst case scenario is that the rear audio ports will stop working. That's not too big a deal, external sound devices aren't that expensive for the "good enough" ones (though the good ones can get pricy pretty quickly), and a lot of gaming headsets use a USB connection anyway. The scratch is distinctly in the audio section of the motherboard, so it's the only portion of the board that has the chance of being affected.

spat55 · November 20, 2022

What @RONOTHAN##said and while I'm not an expert I'd say that you won't have to worry about shorts with that so shouldn't have any risk to other hardware, it'll either work or it won't.

Applefreak · November 20, 2022

2 hours ago, Zyntale said:

Hello everyone, it is my first time ever building a computer and it has been quite a ride to be honest. There’s been a lot of scary moments

Unfortunately I haven’t yet received the PSU to be able to power on the whole thing, however, I took notice the motherboard got scratched as I installed the GPU.

Naturally, I am afraid I may have caused serious damage, but I’d like to get an opinion from the more experienced people out here.

https://i.imgur.com/WZe8pKI.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bbKvHKk.jpg

Probably fine. Take some electrical tape and seal the scratched off area to prevent accidental contact due to dust or loose cabling. You could also paint over it but that would void the warranty. Tape can be easily removed.

Blue4130 · November 20, 2022

6 hours ago, Applefreak said:

Probably fine. Take some electrical tape and seal the scratched off area to prevent accidental contact due to dust or loose cabling. You could also paint over it but that would void the warranty. Tape can be easily removed.

Surely the scratch would void the warranty also