Video Card Link Width Problem

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omgzLAZERpewpew

n00b
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Nov 30, 2008
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Hey guys, I noticed that overtime my card seems to become unseated from the motherboard when my case is moved. But it only moves a little bit and the Link Width goes from 16x to 2x. It really bugs me that I have to open my case everytime I move my computer. Is there anything I can do about this? I don't know if it's the card but I could check my dad's 8800GTS and see if it does the same thing. It seems like the case is not allowing the whole card to fit in the slot because of the PCI plate on the back. So it goes in the slot kind of diagonally. Any ideas?

Thanks
 
On the end of the PCI-E slot there is a lock to hold the graphics card solidly in place.
Make sure the card is seated well enough for the lock to get hold of the card.
 
I've made sure by reseating it a couple times and it's the other end, near the dvi ports and plate that mounts the card that it seems to be not totally in the slot.
 
Perhaps your motherboard is mounted on the wrong size standoff pegs for the case.
ie they are too short so the motherboard sits too low.

If you havent got longer pegs, you can build the height by carefully putting a fibre/plastic washer or 2 under the motherboard on top of each peg.
 
Oh, maybe. I'll try looking into that and check back. Is there any real performance difference between x2 and x16?
 
Yes, x2 will impact the speed that textures etc are sent to your gfx card so you may suffer delays starting a game/level and stutters/reduced framerate during play in some games.
 
Yeah, sometimes it takes pushing it a just little harder than you would like to get it to click in to that lock. Sometimes the case, mobo, and cards don't exactly square up with one another. If Nenu's recommendation does not work, a trick that sometimes works when that happens is: with your case on it's side, loosen all of the mobo hold down screws. Just enough to let the mobo move around a little bit. Insert and tighten down your cards and then re-tighten the mobo screws.
 
I tried unscrewing the mobo, placing cards, and screwing again. It doesn't seem like it made a difference when you look but right now its running at 16x so I hope it stays that way. Pretty great idea either way, because I remember someone helping me mount the mobo by pushing it into the backplate where the usb and such are. So I think that maybe the mobo was too close to mount ok. But the card still looks diagonal. I just hope when I get home its still 16x
 
Nope. Came back home and it switched back to 2x. This is so frustrating. IDK what component it is that's doing it and virtually no way to check.
 
Just slightly pushed the card in. Not even a sound gets made like its locking into place, but it becomes x16 next reboot. It must be so slightly disconnected.
 
If the case is one you will be happy without, get another new case.
I havent heard of one that bad for years.
 
I might cry, It was at 16x. Then I moved my case into the desk. 4x. So I took it out of the desk and pushed it back in and now it's at 8x. What the freak?!
 
Just checking, do any other PCI or PCI-E cards have a problem fitting?
Its possible the mounting bracket for your graphics card hasnt been made to spec and is bent in the wrong place or is too long.
I've had the same thing happen a long time ago so I straightened the bracket and bent it again in a different place so it fitted properly.
 
So I took my memory and put it in single channel and now the card doesn't change, and I also noticed in cpu-z my ddr2 800 is only running at 770 and no matter what options I enable the DRAM frequency won't go higher. Maybe this is a memory problem after all? Since I put it in single channel I can literally shake the case and the card doesn't switch link width.
 
After trying both a 8800GTS and a 7300GS (both of which easily stay at PCI-Express x16) I've decided to return the card. I hope the replacement card will work correctly.
 
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