[SOLVED] Graphics Card Heat Sink Overlaps With Mobo Thermal Diode

[nationalacrobat]

I have an MSI GT 710, which just barely fits installed into the slot because of the thermal diode on the motherboard. As you can see in the picture the heat sink (I believe that's what it is) overlaps a little over the thermal diode. Everything is working now, but is there a danger of long-term damage? The motherboard is an Intel DH61BF. I'm not sure if the two components are making contact.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I don't know what "thermal diode" you are referring to, because all I see are the two capacitors near the upper rear of the card, and the heatsink for the chipset, and none of them look like a problem. So long as the card is fully seated and the PCIe lock is engaged in the cutout at the end of the graphics card indicating it IS fully seated, and seated at the other end where it screws to the I/O panel, then it's fine. I don't see anything there that indicates a problem but the angle of the view doesn't afford a lot of information to tell that either so.......

If it is seated, and it is working, then there is very little chance that even some minor contact with a component, so long as it is not stopping it from being seated in the slot, is going to be any kind of problem.

 

[nationalacrobat]

My reading of the motherboard manual is that the large square silver component in the middle of the picture is a thermal diode. If that is not what it is, then I apologize, but whatever it is, there's a bit of the graphics card heat sink overhanging it, and possibly making contact with it. The overhang is in the top left part of the large square silver component.

 

[Darkbreeze]

The large square silver thing in the middle of the picture is the heatsink for the motherboard southbridge chipset. If there is light touching between the heatsink on the graphics card and that heatsink, so long as it is not stopping the card from being fully seated, it won't hurt anything. In fact, might even help the chipset dissipate a little more heat than it would have on it's own. Obviously you'd prefer there to NOT be contact between the two, but as long as it is not stopping the graphics card from fully seating in the PCI slot then forget about it. Not an issue. Not electrically or thermally.