[SOLVED] Physical removal of PCB extension

[Flippy669]

Due to a broken power supply, I'm currently also trying to swap cases from an older Alienware pc. However, due to the layout of the included motherboard, the graphics card won't fit into the PCIe slot the way it would on a typical motherboard (it looks like there is an x1 slot directly to the left of the x16 slot).

I'm not sure if there's a proper name for the part, but it doesn't look like there is anything on this extension, and I wasn't able to find anything showing otherwise. Would it render the card unusable if I were to cut or file off a couple millimeters of the small extension to the left of the PCI connections? Or is there perhaps another solution that could work until I decide to upgrade the motherboard?

If more information would help, the original computer was an Alienware x51 R3, and the graphics card is a PNY GTX 970.

 

[4745454b]

It's part of the locking mechanism. Filing down or removing can loosen how tight it sits in the slot and can lead to problem. You still have the back clip and the screw holding it in place, but it is there for a reason. Odd that there is a board out there with this issue. That's bad planning.