Uneven Pin Distribution and Coverage in AGP Slots on Old Motherboards

[the_ultra_code]

Hello Tom's Hardware members!

I have a question regarding the pins in the AGP slot on two of my old retro gaming PCs' motherboards. As stated in this VOGONS topic that I started a while ago ( https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=57633 ), I seem to be having connection problems between the graphics cards and the motherboard if I do not insert and secure the cards just the right way into their AGP slots. As shown in the pictures I linked in that topic, it is probably due to the pins inside the slot: while some of them seem to make full contact with the GPUs, some don't move much at all. Here are the images again for convenience:

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Therefore, my question is this: is there any way I can "fix" these pins so they behave more "normally"? If so, can someone provide a detailed guide in how to fix such pins?

Thanks!

 

[little_me]

yes and no, It is most likely a case of bent pins, that are already in quite tight space. Yes, in theory, you could bend pins back and have good connection yet again but.. it likely wont be easy due to space constraints.
AGP slot has pins in two rows on both sides, making it even more difficult.

so.. due to card bending/flopping/whatever, some of the pins have bent slightly and wont have good connection anymore.
In theory, if you had small hook, you could hook the loop of the pin and pull it slightly more out, rinse and repeat for affected pins.

I've not done such myself but... I can imagine it not being easy. Processor pins are way more simple due to fact that there is no plastic slot covering them up.

Edit: This is also most likely short term fix since each removal/insert of card will wear the pins out more.

 

[BFG-9000]

The AGP connector is rated for only 50 insertions. If you have exceeded this, then reliability is no longer guaranteed. It's not surprising that copper yields and work hardens much more easily than steel.

The "correct" repair is to unsolder the entire connector and replace it with a new one.

BTW Voodoo3 3000 was the hottest card I have ever used and I got burned by that passive heatsink many times. It only draws 11 watts, but everyone had complained about the insane nuclear furnace heat produced by the 5v Pentiums that used the same--and those came with larger heatsinks than that, with a fan.

 

[the_ultra_code]

Thanks guys for your responses!

Firstly, little_me: In regards to your hook method, with no card inserted into the AGP slot, would I want to pull the pins outwards away from the center of the slot or inwards towards the center of the slot in an attempt to fix the pins? Even if it is temporary, I don't plan to remove the card much at all, except for maintenance rarely. I would also assume I should be extremely careful, since I could permanently damage the pins, right? :/

Secondly, BFG-9000: Replace the entire slot? Yikes! I don't have the tools, the skill, nor the desire to permanently ruin the boards if I screw up. 🙁 Anywho, in the case of both these motherboards, I bought them used on eBay, with the P3 motherboard around summer 2017 and the P4 motherboard slightly afterwards, so I have no clue what the poor AGP slots have been through. Also, if you look at my Imgur album for the P3 build ( https://imgur.com/a/SAF0aVF ), you can see I took the appropriate cooling measures dealing with the Voodoo3 3000 in the build. I also have the card overclocked currently to 190 MHz with no problems (I got it once to 198, its max stable overclock, dialed it down to 196, but then I noticed some graphical issues recently, so, just to be safe, I scaled it further back to 190).

 

[little_me]

Towards the center of the slot. The issue is lack of contact and pulling it towards the center will increase the pressure said bulge on the pin gets against the contact plate on the card.

Again, since pins are quite tiny, if pin top pops out of the plastic, the slot is pretty much done for since smuggling it back to its place would be even more complicated and would most likely just bend/break the pin