Three hours chasing a ghost PCIe slot failure

My gaming rig kept losing video signal randomly and I swapped RAM, GPU, even the power supply. Turned out the CPU cooler was tightened unevenly by 2 mm and barely touching the PCIe lane. Has anyone else had a loose cooler mess with expansion slots?

3 comments

3 Comments

grace_white1mo ago

Yeah, that tiny stuff always ends up being the killer.

ruby45018d ago

Did you check the standoffs too, or just the tension on the cooler screws?

piperb931mo ago

Wait, did you actually measure the cooler height difference or just guess at it? That's wild that such a tiny shift could mess with the whole PCIe lane, but honestly it makes sense when you think about how many things in life are like that. Like how a slightly crooked picture frame on the wall can make the whole room feel off, or how one loose screw in a chair makes it wobble even if everything else is tight. It's crazy how the smallest details in a build can cause the biggest headaches, especially when you've already swapped out the expensive parts. I've been there where I spent hours replacing stuff only to find out it was something dumb like a cable not seated right or a fan hitting a wire.