Graphics card won't sit snugly!

[John]

I've been building a system, but the graphics card (Geforce fx5900) won't
sit snugly in the agp slot because the metal strip (where the monitor plugs
in) is too long and hits the bottom of the ATX case causing the card to
barely make full contact with the agp slot and it's been giving me numerous
Windows crashes and nightmares when trying to start the computer (the system
starts to power up, nothing appears on the monitor and then the system
powers down for no reason) and it can take an hour of constant trying for
the system to power up correctly.

The Epox motherboard is correctly sitting in the case screwed down at the
correct height for everything else to be visible through the case and all
the other cards etc... sit perfectly.

Has anyone else had this issue or know how to correct it?

Cheers.

John

 

[Jon Danniken]

I've been building a system, but the graphics card (Geforce fx5900) won't
sit snugly in the agp slot because the metal strip (where the monitor plugs
in) is too long and hits the bottom of the ATX case causing the card to
barely make full contact with the agp slot and it's been giving me numerous
Windows crashes and nightmares when trying to start the computer (the system
starts to power up, nothing appears on the monitor and then the system
powers down for no reason) and it can take an hour of constant trying for
the system to power up correctly.

The Epox motherboard is correctly sitting in the case screwed down at the
correct height for everything else to be visible through the case and all
the other cards etc... sit perfectly.

Has anyone else had this issue or know how to correct it?

Unscrew the metal endpiece from the card and grind it down a smidge.

Jon

 

[Noozer]

I've been building a system, but the graphics card (Geforce fx5900) won't
sit snugly in the agp slot because the metal strip (where the monitor plugs
in) is too long and hits the bottom of the ATX case causing the card to
barely make full contact with the agp slot and it's been giving me numerous
Windows crashes and nightmares when trying to start the computer (the system
starts to power up, nothing appears on the monitor and then the system
powers down for no reason) and it can take an hour of constant trying for
the system to power up correctly.

No slot in the bottom of the case for the end of the card plate to slip
into?

....and anyone who powers on a PC with a half inserted card deserves what
they get.

 

[John]

Unscrew the metal endpiece from the card and grind it down a smidge.

Jon

Wouldn't it affect the resistance, voltage or whatever of the card by
tampering with the length of this metal bit?

 

[David Maynard]

Wouldn't it affect the resistance, voltage or whatever of the card by
tampering with the length of this metal bit?

No. It's nothing but a mounting plate.

But it sounds to me like you're not getting it in the right location as
there should be a 'slot' in the case bottom for the end of it to go into
(which holds it from being pushed backwards into the case when you plug the
monitor cable in, etc)

 

[Pen]

The plate is only a mount for the socket, serves no
active electrical function. Shorten it.

 

[kony]

No. It's nothing but a mounting plate.

But it sounds to me like you're not getting it in the right location as
there should be a 'slot' in the case bottom for the end of it to go into
(which holds it from being pushed backwards into the case when you plug the
monitor cable in, etc)

Exactly... most often the problem is that the end of the metal
bracket isn't straight (or the slot in the motherboard mounting
plate isn't staight) so removal of the card and slightly bending
that last 1cm of the metal bracket should suffice. By taking the
other side of case cover off it may be easier to see which way to
bend and/or guide it into that slot.

 

[Jon Danniken]

No. It's nothing but a mounting plate.

But it sounds to me like you're not getting it in the right location as
there should be a 'slot' in the case bottom for the end of it to go into
(which holds it from being pushed backwards into the case when you plug the
monitor cable in, etc)

Most cases I see nowadays don't have a clip anymore, as they pretty much just use the clearance between
the mainboard and the case to keep it from becoming bent inwards excessively. Depending on the
mainboard's mounting board, sometimes it is necessary to modify the plate (and all kinds of other things
when the specs are just a teensy bit out of whack).

It could very well be a clip issue; I just don't see them much anymore.

Jon

 

[David Maynard]

Most cases I see nowadays don't have a clip anymore, as they pretty much just use the clearance between
the mainboard and the case to keep it from becoming bent inwards excessively. Depending on the
mainboard's mounting board, sometimes it is necessary to modify the plate (and all kinds of other things
when the specs are just a teensy bit out of whack).

It could very well be a clip issue; I just don't see them much anymore.

Yes, I have plenty of cases that have no 'clips' too, however I said
"slot," not clip, but, regardless, I've never seen one where the mounting
plates bottomed out so that the card didn't fit in the slot.

 

[Jon Danniken]

Yes, I have plenty of cases that have no 'clips' too, however I said
"slot," not clip, but, regardless, I've never seen one where the mounting
plates bottomed out so that the card didn't fit in the slot.

My mistake there; what I called "clip" is most certainly best described as a "slot". My apologies for the
lack of precision in my choice of words.

Jon

 

[David Maynard]

My mistake there; what I called "clip" is most certainly best described as a "slot". My apologies for the
lack of precision in my choice of words.

Jon

No sweat.

 

[~misfit~]

Yes, I have plenty of cases that have no 'clips' too, however I said
"slot," not clip, but, regardless, I've never seen one where the
mounting plates bottomed out so that the card didn't fit in the slot.

I've seen them where the 'slot' is too narrow to get the tongue of the card
backplate in properly. I have one like that where a 3Com PCI NIC is sitting
up slightly in the PCI slot on the end. Still seems to work Ok though.

 

[David Maynard]

I've seen them where the 'slot' is too narrow to get the tongue of the card
backplate in properly. I have one like that where a 3Com PCI NIC is sitting
up slightly in the PCI slot on the end. Still seems to work Ok though.

You sure it's the 'slot'? Biggest problem I've seen like that is either the
motherboard sitting a little too high or the dern bracket cut/bent short,
or whatever the heck is wrong with it, and not letting the card go down all
the way. But it was obvious that the 'hang-up' wasn't the bottom because it
bends the bracket top on the case mounting edge when you push the card down.

 

[~misfit~]

You sure it's the 'slot'? Biggest problem I've seen like that is
either the motherboard sitting a little too high or the dern bracket
cut/bent short, or whatever the heck is wrong with it, and not
letting the card go down all the way. But it was obvious that the
'hang-up' wasn't the bottom because it bends the bracket top on the
case mounting edge when you push the card down.

Yeah, it's the 'slot' that the end of the metal plate goes into. It's an old
case. I have other cards that seat fine in it, it's just that the tongue on
the end of the NIC is about 2mm wider than on the other cards. I have the
retaining screw tightened (hoping it would force it in) and it has bowed the
metal part a bit.

I guess I could do a bit of a mod, cut the 'slot' (it's just a bit of the
back of the case, a couple of mm wide, that has two cuts a few mm apart and
the bit between the cuts pressed inwards to make a 'slot'. Hard to
describe). or cut the tongue. However, it works as-is.

 

[gothika]

My mistake there; what I called "clip" is most certainly best described as a "slot". My apologies for the
lack of precision in my choice of words.

Jon

Doesn't the card have nuts and bolts holding on the metal clip?
If so you loosen them up a bit and seat the card into the pci slot
while working the metal tab around to fit into the slot on the case.
Once it's firmly in and all is squared up you tighten the nuts/bolts
up and it should fit perfectly.(Removing all the cards on either side
in the pci bus will alllow you the room to do this.)

 

[David Maynard]

Yeah, it's the 'slot' that the end of the metal plate goes into. It's an old
case. I have other cards that seat fine in it, it's just that the tongue on
the end of the NIC is about 2mm wider than on the other cards. I have the
retaining screw tightened (hoping it would force it in) and it has bowed the
metal part a bit.

I guess I could do a bit of a mod, cut the 'slot' (it's just a bit of the
back of the case, a couple of mm wide, that has two cuts a few mm apart and
the bit between the cuts pressed inwards to make a 'slot'. Hard to
describe). or cut the tongue. However, it works as-is.

I guess they screwed up their bracket stamping form.

 

[~misfit~]

I guess they screwed up their bracket stamping form.

Yep. Sounds suspiciously like it.

 

[gothika]

Yep. Sounds suspiciously like it.

Don't mod your case slot. Just cut/grind down the metal slot ont he
pci card.
Use a dremel with a small grind wheel or similar.

 

[~misfit~]

Don't mod your case slot. Just cut/grind down the metal slot ont he
pci card.

Good advice thanks.

Use a dremel with a small grind wheel or similar.

Damn! Does everyone but me have a Dremel? They're so expensive....

 

[Grinder]

Good advice thanks.




Damn! Does everyone but me have a Dremel? They're so expensive....

Yes. We were thinking of getting you one for christmas, but I guess
that's shot now.