Is anybody's video card.....bent?

[spathotan]

So yesterday I was cleaning out the inside of my pc, dust and what not, and I remove my 8800GT to blow it off with the canned air outside, when I noticed that the card is BENT. As in bowed. from the bracket to the power plug at the other end its bowed like a peice of wood thats been sitting outside in the raid for 2 months, even the interface plug is bent, I had to bend the card upwards in order to get it to straighten it back out so it would fit in the PCIe slot. The damn thing still works obviously, but im wondering if its losing performance as it appears the last 2-3 pins on the top of the port dont seem to be touching.

Has anybody else encountered this issue? Are these cards getting so hot today that its heating up the PCB to the point where its wanting to melt?

 

[marvelous211]

It does happen. Sometimes the case isn't straight and over time the cards bend.

Melting? I doubt that.

 

[godless]

i have a similar thing with my diamond hd 3870. i think that it's because of the length and weight ratio. i guess the pcb can't handle the weight and it slighty curves. it's not really an issue for me as far as performance or anything. as long as the temps stay in normal, that means that the cooler is adhering to the chipset properly and doesn't have any spaces between it and chipset( it means there is no gap and the curvature of card has no real effect on the card). at least in my opinion.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

I had a 1900xt with a "natural curve". Nothing to wprry about as long as everything connects. By the way, that 1900 came that way, so it was a real natural curve heheh

 

[spathotan]

I have a Thermaltake DuoOrb cooler on mine, have since I bought it and its sorta heavy. The card idles around 43c and has never gone over 53c. It also appears the PCI power cable is "dragging it down" some, so I might make some shims to prop it up.

 

[godless]

i doubt that the card is warping because of melting. i don't think that they are designed to melt and excpand like that. they are brittle after all, that means little elasticity in the material, hence it's not normal for it to bend unless a physical force is affecting it. again IMO

 

[spathotan]

Funny you say that jaydeejohn because I had a 1900XTX that was just like that. I guess im over reacting, just really has me worried though.

 

[fleakiller]

My diamond 3870x2 was the same way godless/jaydeejohn said it the best

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Just make sure the HSF shroud doesnt seperate too much, and you lose your cooling

 

[js1448]

PC boards will warp when the copper coverage on the various layers is not symmetrical with respect to the boards' centerline in the Z (thickness) dimension. This has to do with the difference in temperature coefficients of copper and the PCB material causing stresses in the PC board and in the components on it.
Uneven loading of componenets on both sides of the board is also capable of warping the board.
In hi-rel /professional boards this would be grounds for rejection of the entire batch.. guess this is not the case here.

 

[shadowthor]

the answer to topic question nope. Maybe, the cooler on the card is too heavy, or some sort of physical force on the card.

 

[Kari]

The glass transition temperature of a normal low-grade FR4 board is around 120-130C, meaning it will start to soften up at those temps...
I would think they would be using some higher grade stuff with higher Tg for graphics cards... and with those new ecofriendly lead-free solders and their higher reflow temperatures, higher Tg is more than desirable.

So I dont think the warping is happening because of excess heat, though it could be part of it when compined with mechanical stress from the heavy heatsink.

You could add some extra support for the card if it starts to look too scary ;P

 

[spathotan]

Im sure it has to do with having this very heavy cooler on it for so long, and unlike the stock 2 slot coolers, this one does not have its own bracket for the slot below, youll know what I mean if youve seen the DuoOrb.

I put a piece of plastic in there ontop of my harddrive to raise the card up at the power port so its completely straight now, maybe after a few weeks it will re-correct itself. My main concern is I plan on getting a 4870 at the end of the month and selling this 8800GT, and I dont want the buyer to think I sold him a lemon because its bent.

 

[nukemaster]

its ok i have many cards this way from the heatsink weight. Heat has nothing to do with it.

 

[terror112]

I want to see some screenshots xD

 

[SuicideSilence]

^Me too
!

 

[Flakes]

my 7800GTX did this aswell nothing to worry about. i like my 8800GTX cause it has a metal bar along one side of the pcb for support.

 

[nukemaster]

The 8800GTX's huge heatsink is support for most of the board its not like it(the heatsink) can bend

 

[SpinachEater]

Mine curves to the left....it is all natural.

 

[spathotan]

my 7800GTX did this aswell nothing to worry about. i like my 8800GTX cause it has a metal bar along one side of the pcb for support.

Ive only seen that support bar on XFX cards, ive had two of them with that on there, a 7600GS and a 8600GTX. Ive never seen it on any other card, unless its on all the 8800/9800GTX's.

 

[nukemaster]

No metal bar for BFG.

 

[Flakes]

Ive only seen that support bar on XFX cards, ive had two of them with that on there, a 7600GS and a 8600GTX. Ive never seen it on any other card, unless its on all the 8800/9800GTX's.

spec in sig btw does anyone know how to get the signature to display automatically?

 

[nukemaster]

spec in sig btw does anyone know how to get the signature to display automatically?

Manage my profile(Next to your avatar up top) -> Forum options(left side) -> Display signatures [YES]

 

[Flakes]

Manage my profile(Next to your avatar up top) -> Forum options(left side) -> Display signatures [YES]

yep thats already on 'yes', but i still have to tick the "Display your signature" box for my sig to display, must be a .co.uk forum bug they only just fixed the voting bug for us.