Question Did I damage my motherboard by dropping a GPU on it?

[Minutoh]

I was taking out my GPU, but it was kind of hard to get out. I had to push down on the tab with one hand while pulling out my GPU with the other. It came out with more force than I was expecting, so I ended up dropping it on the motherboard. It didn’t go very high up since my GPU’s a little bigger than my case; it ended up getting stuck when I pulled it up anyway. It was pretty much just above the PCIE slot. It fell on top of the heatsink of my ASUS TUF Gaming B650 Plus as well as the capacitors directly below the first PCIE slot.

Did I damage the motherboard? Everything looks undamaged, and I haven’t noticed any issues like crashing or not booting up, but is it possible I damaged something? I didn’t put in another GPU yet, so I don’t know if the GPU will work; I’m just using my 7600’s integrated GPU for now which is working just fine. How can I make sure everything’s working properly?

Is it possible I damaged the PCIE slot too? How can I tell if it’s okay before I get my new GPU which will take a while? It looks fine to me as well as the tab, but what should I be looking for to make sure it’s undamaged and all?

 

[Lafong]

It looks fine to me as well as the tab, but what should I be looking for to make sure it’s undamaged and all?

Anomalies.

Can you still operate normally doing your normal tasks over the medium to long term............ or not?

If you can, I'd assume it isn't damaged.

I'd wait for developments. They may or may not occur.

If you are panic stricken, you can of course replace as much hardware as necessary to relieve your anxiety.

You could use a hardware monitor of some type to see if anything is out of line, but you'd have to have some idea of what "normal" should be.

 

[Minutoh]

Anomalies.

Can you still operate normally doing your normal tasks over the medium to long term............ or not?

If you can, I'd assume it isn't damaged.

I'd wait for developments. They may or may not occur.

If you are panic stricken, you can of course replace as much hardware as necessary to relieve your anxiety.

You could use a hardware monitor of some type to see if anything is out of line, but you'd have to have some idea of what "normal" should be.

Over the past 4 days, I’ve been able to operate normally while doing normal tasks and also while running CPU benchmarks. It’s good to hear it’s probably good then. I’ll use some hardware monitors to compare my current performance to my performance before I did all this stuff.

im more worried about my PCIE slot though since I won’t be able to get a new GPU before my motherboard’s return period expires. I’m not sure if that’s operating normally then. Is there any way to check that without a GPU?

 

[DRagor]

Is there any way to check that without a GPU?

Just take a good flashlight and take a look at the slot. You would only be worried about physical damage and that should be quite easy to spot. Plus it could only happen if the card fall back directly into slot and that's unlikely. And also the card itself would be more likely to become damaged this way then the motherboard's slot.

 

[Minutoh]

Just take a good flashlight and take a look at the slot. You would only be worried about physical damage and that should be quite easy to spot. Plus it could only happen if the card fall back directly into slot and that's unlikely. And also the card itself would be more likely to become damaged this way then the motherboard's slot.

that makes sense. I’ll take a closer look at it and send pics, though it looks fine from a cursory glance. It definitely did not fall back directly into the slot though; it was hanging just above the slot, so I see what you’re saying. That should be good then. Thanks!

 

[DSzymborski]

It's certainly possible the PCIE slot is damaged. But there's no point in worrying about until you're able to test it. It's not a return situation if you're being ethical (and I'm not going to advocate for criminal return fraud even if that's rarely caught or punished).

 

[Minutoh]

It's certainly possible the PCIE slot is damaged. But there's no point in worrying about until you're able to test it. It's not a return situation if you're being ethical (and I'm not going to advocate for criminal return fraud even if that's rarely caught or punished).

That’s true. I won’t really know until I test it. And the return situation is definitely true too. Thanks!

 

[artk2219]

I was taking out my GPU, but it was kind of hard to get out. I had to push down on the tab with one hand while pulling out my GPU with the other. It came out with more force than I was expecting, so I ended up dropping it on the motherboard. It didn’t go very high up since my GPU’s a little bigger than my case; it ended up getting stuck when I pulled it up anyway. It was pretty much just above the PCIE slot. It fell on top of the heatsink of my ASUS TUF Gaming B650 Plus as well as the capacitors directly below the first PCIE slot.

Did I damage the motherboard? Everything looks undamaged, and I haven’t noticed any issues like crashing or not booting up, but is it possible I damaged something? I didn’t put in another GPU yet, so I don’t know if the GPU will work; I’m just using my 7600’s integrated GPU for now which is working just fine. How can I make sure everything’s working properly?

Is it possible I damaged the PCIE slot too? How can I tell if it’s okay before I get my new GPU which will take a while? It looks fine to me as well as the tab, but what should I be looking for to make sure it’s undamaged and all?

Other than the cpu socket motherboards are generally pretty tough, my bigger concern would be that you damaged the GPU. They're pretty heavy heavy and a relatively small drop can cause enough board flex to break connections or solder balls. I've seen 3 inch drops kill GPU's, hopefully that isnt the case. You can test the PCIE slot with a random video card if you have one laying around, or you can fild an old desktop to pull one from.

 

[Minutoh]

Other than the cpu socket motherboards are generally pretty tough, my bigger concern would be that you damaged the GPU. They're pretty heavy heavy and a relatively small drop can cause enough board flex to break connections or solder balls. I've seen 3 inch drops kill GPU's, hopefully that isnt the case. You can test the PCIE slot with a random video card if you have one laying around, or you can fild an old desktop to pull one from.

That makes sense. My GPU looks undamaged, but my PCIE slot actually does seem damaged. I linked to a video at the end of this post.

Just take a good flashlight and take a look at the slot. You would only be worried about physical damage and that should be quite easy to spot. Plus it could only happen if the card fall back directly into slot and that's unlikely. And also the card itself would be more likely to become damaged this way then the motherboard's slot.

I zoomed in on my PCIE slot and I saw this odd part although the GPU itself seems fine:

View: https://youtu.be/ZWOpeH8SHos


Is this normal? It seems kind of broken to me though maybe it’s just normal.

 

[DRagor]

Is this normal? It seems kind of broken to me though maybe it’s just normal.

Looks normal to me

 

[Minutoh]

Looks normal to me

I think this video is clearer:

View: https://youtu.be/DlJPgI9QEIQ


It does look like debris or plastic that melted and all, so that’s hopefully not an issue.

And this is a video of the entire PCIE slot:

View: https://youtu.be/1qiJ9J7XCgk


It seems that none of the pins are touching each other. Does that look okay?

 

[DRagor]

I think this video is clearer:

Shaky shaky lol
Anyway all that counts are pins, and all look fine there. If there is debris try using compressed air to remove it, maybe wooden toothpick if it's something heavier (don't use metal needle though).

 

[Minutoh]

Shaky shaky lol
Anyway all that counts are pins, and all look fine there. If there is debris try using compressed air to remove it, maybe wooden toothpick if it's something heavier (don't use metal needle though).

I used a brush to clean it, so hopefully the brush is safe to use. It came with this product. It has a ESD label on the brush, so I assumed that it's safe to use. Does it seem safe though? And yes that video is definitely still very shaky. I definitely need to imrpove my recording skills lol.