Graphics Card Stuck In PCIe 3.0 Slot

[Mystic Mungis]

So a month or so ago I got a Sapphire R9 270X Toxic, great card and had no problems with it. A couple of days ago I went to strip my PC and clean it, however when I got to the graphics card I noticed that I couldn't push down the lock on the slot. I could pull the front half (well more like a quarter because the card is so big) out of the slot but could not push the lock down at the back no matter how hard I tried, I tried to push it down with a screwdriver and got it about half way open before it just pinged back up. I didn't want to try any harder and have the screwdriver split it and crack the mobo.

 

 I have it in the PCIe 3.0 slot, the one with the lock that's kinda more like a DIMM slot's as opposed to the tab.

 

 

I'm not sure if it's the size of the graphics card/shroud that's causing it, to stick, I tried to get my camera down to have a look but it's too low for me to be able to see. This is the opposite side though, as you can see the head of the lock is pretty marked with the force I was putting on the screwdriver.

 

 

So does anyone have any advice? I know with the tab type locks you can just snap them but I can't really do that with this and would rather not break the slot as the PCIe 2.0 slot would cause the card to cover 4 of my SATA sockets :(

 

Ohh also the reason I want to take it out and not just leave it be is that after getting it half out and putting it back in I've been experiencing quite a few graphical glitches such as flickering while playing games and occasionally random squares that look like QR codes will appear, especially when using Chrome, so I wanted to take it out so that I could make sure I've not bent anything and re-seat it. I did upgrade to Catalyst 14.4 straight after putting it back in though so not sure if it's maybe being caused by it. 

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

Take a screwdriver and press the button down.

[gohpep]

I had this problem. I just unlocked everything, and pressed all the buttons and pulled really hard. :/

[Mystic Mungis]

Take a screwdriver and press the button down.

I tried that but I put so much pressure on it that the screwdriver went about half way through it :(

 

I had this problem. I just unlocked everything, and pressed all the buttons and pulled really hard. :/

Yeah if nothing else works then I think it'll just come to that, might try it with the screwdriver and something below it in case it slides off so it doesn't damage the mobo. I'm guessing that you managed to not damage anything in the process?

 

EDIT: Okay I bit the bullet and tried pulling it, I didn't think it was going to come out but then with a really horrible snapping sound it came free! I frantically checked everything over and couldn't find anything wrong, I crossed my fingers, put it back in and... it's cured the problems I was having :)! Thank you!

[FiB3R]

Looking at other images of that board, it seems like the lever is missing, or it's a different mechanism.

 

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

i dont think ive used a retention clip like that one before, but ive certainly had issues myself removing video cards.

 

i wonder if you could have pressed down gently on the video card just to give the clip a little bit of give and perhaps loosen it

[Mystic Mungis]

Looking at other images of that board, it seems like the lever is missing, or it's a different mechanism.

 

 

Weird! Mine looks pretty much the same as that but without the curved ends. When I got it out there I tried taking the card back out a couple of times and it worked okay so hopefully it's just a different revision or something. 

 

i dont think ive used a retention clip like that one before, but ive certainly had issues myself removing video cards.

 

i wonder if you could have pressed down gently on the video card just to give the clip a little bit of give and perhaps loosen it

 

Yeah I tried that, used to have to do it all the time with my old mobo, but no matter how much I pushed, pulled and wiggled the clips would not move until I eventually just pulled it hard and they snapped back. Hope it doesn't happen again though, it was terrifying! 

[Crisp]

Doesn't 3.0 lock in place like RAM slots do. You'll have to put pressure with your finger on the lock while lifting at the same time with the other hand outwards from the bracket end due to its size. Should pop right out.

[Mystic Mungis]

Doesn't 3.0 lock in place like RAM slots do. You'll have to put pressure with your finger on the lock while lifting at the same time with the other hand outwards from the bracket end due to its size. Should pop right out.

That's basically what I ended up doing, the sound made me rather worried but maybe I mistakenly did it correctly :P!

[gohpep]

I tried that but I put so much pressure on it that the screwdriver went about half way through it :(

Yeah if nothing else works then I think it'll just come to that, might try it with the screwdriver and something below it in case it slides off so it doesn't damage the mobo. I'm guessing that you managed to not damage anything in the process?

EDIT: Okay I bit the bullet and tried pulling it, I didn't think it was going to come out but then with a really horrible snapping sound it came free! I frantically checked everything over and couldn't find anything wrong, I crossed my fingers, put it back in and... it's cured the problems I was having :)! Thank you!

I'm glad it worked! :) and yeah, my graphics card still worked after I pulled it out, too