# GPU HSF too heavy... sagging GPU! [SOLVED]



## fusseli (Aug 21, 2017)

I just noticed this on my asus gtx970 Strix with DCUII cooler.  I guess they really don't care about longevity and detail oriented design these days?  How long under stress until some traces break and the card fails?

I'm looking into a support bracket now.


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## rtwjunkie (Aug 21, 2017)

An aftermarket backplate would help immensely.  A number can usually be found on eBay by custom makers.  

That said, using a clear zip tie attached to something above it, or something like a drinking straw cut to length below it to support it are both cheaper but effective solutions.


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## OneMoar (Aug 21, 2017)

LEGo, action figures,11 ton crane, your sisters vibrator,dog-toy
basicly just jam something under-there


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## xkm1948 (Aug 21, 2017)




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## Totally (Aug 21, 2017)

Can you get a larger image? That doesn't quite look like it's entirely due sagging to me, are the pci slots aligned properly with the case? Looking at it seems like where the card mounts to the case is not aligned and above the pci slot on the mb.

Edit: gdi,

Edit #2: I'm going to have to change my opinon, just played around my strix card and the back plate it comes with very sturdy, I'm now positive that is flex we're looking at and not sagging.


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## rtwjunkie (Aug 21, 2017)

Totally said:


> where the card *mouse* to the case is not aligned and above the pci slot on the mb.


 Hehehe....good old autocorrect!


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 21, 2017)

Looks like the mobo alignment with the case is off


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## fusseli (Aug 21, 2017)

Everything's aligned perfectly, the card is clearly sagging.  There's about 1cm of droop in the front left corner that's relieved by lifting.  

The DCUII cooler is clearly too heavy and this design is lacking an adequate backplate   I'll see what I can find to support it.

Here's a bigger pic.  Zoom in and see the flex.  The pcie slot it's in lines up perfectley with the edge of the pci slot in the case.


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## Toothless (Aug 21, 2017)

I've always built my rigs with it on its side and made sure the screws were pretty tight. The only time I had really bad sag was when i used only one screw.


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## Totally (Aug 21, 2017)

fusseli said:


> Everything's aligned perfectly, the card is clearly sagging.  There's about 1cm of droop in the front left corner that's relieved by lifting.
> 
> The DCUII cooler is clearly too heavy and this design is lacking an adequate backplate   I'll see what I can find to support it.
> 
> Here's a bigger pic.  Zoom in and see the flex.  The pcie slot it's in lines up perfectley with the edge of the pci slot in the case.



Thanks for the bigger image but it's difficult to claim the sag is purely due to the weight of the cooler as the sound card you have installed on the bottom slot is flexing a bit also.


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## fusseli (Aug 22, 2017)

Totally said:


> Thanks for the bigger image but it's difficult to claim the sag is purely due to the weight of the cooler as the sound card you have installed on the bottom slot is flexing a bit also.



Nah, the usb3.0 plug below the end of the soundcard is pushing upward on it slightly otherwise it's true with the mobo and case.  I could care less about the tiny, cheap soundcard.  Its only purpose is for legal DTS Connect.  The difference between the soundcard and gpu is the huge sag being experienced by the gpu.

You guys claiming it's not sag are hilarious


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## cdawall (Aug 22, 2017)

Those 970 strix cards all do that. They are pretty damn terrible for PCB sag. That being said if it works who cares?


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## Kanan (Aug 22, 2017)

Wow that's some sag . Did you move or transport the PC a lot, or did it stand around mostly? I'm curious if that has to do with increased gravity or not.


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## fusseli (Aug 22, 2017)

It's never moved.  The card is a couple years old by now, I would have noticed it sooner but this has been over time.

To be honest I think it's pretty stupid of a design choice.  The dcu strix cooler is good, but that kind of stress on a multilayer, hot pcb is no good in the long term.  Proof these $300 cards are disposable and not meant to last.


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## Kanan (Aug 22, 2017)

Yeah I'm kinda disappointed of the cooler, or Asus as well. These are premium products supposed to be of high quality.  At least my DCU II 780 Ti didn't sag for almost 3 years, but it was a 700$ product as well.


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 22, 2017)

Go find a gpu bolster or make 1, then once you replace that card buy a card with plate, i would also suggest loosening the mobo screws and ensure the gpu and board line up properly in the case, then tighten them down


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## Jetster (Aug 22, 2017)

This is a common sense fix. Just prop it up or lay the case on its side


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## fusseli (Aug 22, 2017)

More pics for the flat-earthers



 





Jetster said:


> This is a common sense fix. Just prop it up or lay the case on its side



Yeah the fix is no issue, I just wanted to point out the problem to the community


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## Jetster (Aug 22, 2017)

That's painful to watch. Fix it


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## cdawall (Aug 22, 2017)

fusseli said:


> Yeah the fix is no issue, I just wanted to point out the problem to the community



Its a known issue that card has been out what 3 years now?


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## Jetster (Aug 22, 2017)

Its not the card that's gonna fail its the board


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## thesmokingman (Aug 22, 2017)

That's some gangsta lean you got going on there.


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## RejZoR (Aug 22, 2017)

Holy sweet baby jesus, how in hell that even happened? I've never seen any graphic card being this bent just from its own weight. Something isn't right here...


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## Kanan (Aug 22, 2017)

fusseli said:


> More pics for the flat-earthers
> 
> View attachment 91292 View attachment 91293


That soundcard looks ultra evil, going up instead of down. 


thesmokingman said:


> That's some gangsta lean you got going on there.


 I'm so loling right now.


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## cdawall (Aug 22, 2017)

RejZoR said:


> Holy sweet baby jesus, how in hell that even happened? I've never seen any graphic card being this bent just from its own weight. Something isn't right here...



This is normal for that card. Shit design with no backplate


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## Kanan (Aug 22, 2017)

cdawall said:


> This is normal for that card. Shit design with no backplate


But it has a backplate. It just doesn't seem to help.  The build quality of this one is sub level.


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## cdawall (Aug 22, 2017)

Kanan said:


> But it has a backplate. It just doesn't seem to help.  The build quality of this one is sub level.



I have had three of these that isn't a backplate. More of a black sheet of paper there for looks


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## Kanan (Aug 22, 2017)

I know it's almost useless in this case but it's called a "backplate" nonetheless. 

Edit: do they sag like this as well?


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## uuuaaaaaa (Aug 22, 2017)

@fusseli Allow me to suggest something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Emperors-Ma...038150&hash=item3f8323747c:g:giMAAOSwEupZfV9k

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-Side-Blown-Graphics-Card-Mount-Cooling-Fan-Bracket-For-North-South-Bridge/291888748885?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

Something like this will elegantly solve your issues,
Best regards


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## silentbogo (Aug 22, 2017)

Well, it does seem to have a misformed backplate in addition to crazy sag... Are you missing some screws there, bud?
Check it, and if all screws are in place - tighten the damn thing. It looks like it's in pain.
In regards to sag - wooden block, legos, hang it by the PCIe power cable(did it on my old card).


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## qubit (Aug 22, 2017)

rtwjunkie said:


> That said, using a clear zip tie attached to something above it, or something like a drinking straw cut to length below it to support it are both cheaper but effective solutions


I do like these jerry rigged solutions. 

The tie wrap sounds like the most secure one.


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 22, 2017)

eidairaman1 said:


> Looks like the mobo alignment with the case is off


exactly my thought after the bigger pics ...  the slot are heavily misaligned, no way a DCUII (Strix in that case ) is that heavy and i see literally no bend ...

i had two GTX 580Ti Matrix Platinum (who are heavier than that featherweight 970) and these weren't even sagging, well they had backplate, but so does that 970   (my 1070 Armor does not have a backplate   it has a front plate tho  )
nor did my GTX 980 Poseidon (and that hybrid air water cooler was also heavier than the 970 you have )



fusseli said:


> More pics for the flat-earthers
> 
> View attachment 91292 View attachment 91293


yep totally misaligned ... pfahahaha



Kanan said:


> Yeah I'm kinda disappointed of the cooler, or Asus as well. These are premium products supposed to be of high quality.  At least my DCU II 780 Ti didn't sag for almost 3 years, but it was a 700$ product as well.


pfahahaha ... errr actually the GPU of the OP is not sagging at all ... the front (front side of the case) is at level and it's the  bracket that is pushed up  (actually it make me wonder how that wasn't noticed during build .... because if it was sagging with an angle like that, the PCIeX slot would likely to be broken... and it seems clearly not.)



eidairaman1 said:


> Go find a gpu bolster or make 1, then once you replace that card buy a card with plate, i would also suggest loosening the mobo screws and ensure the gpu and board line up properly in the case, then tighten them down


that card already has a plate 



MrGenius said:


> "Too heavy"?
> 
> More like PEBKAC.


actually ... for once i agree on that abbreviation ...


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## Toothless (Aug 22, 2017)

Crooked board and saggy card. Sounds like there needs to be some downtime for that rig.


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 22, 2017)

Toothless said:


> Crooked board and saggy card. Sounds like there needs to be some downtime for that rig.


not even remotely saggy ... look the pics closer (specially the "proof" of sagging with a bubble level ... which show something else than a sagging ... unless the OP never saw a card sagging, it's not even possible to mistake it for it, the only card i had sagging in one of my rig was a 8800 Ultra with a Prolimatech MK-26 and no BP ... ) and the board seems fine .... because at that angle the slot would have been ripped off or seriously shifted (unlikely since it would mean the solder would have broke and the slot would not work anymore )

it's the case and mobo slot that are misaligned  you can clearly see the card being lifted up at the I/O bracket and being straight at the other end ... initial building error (not a mandatory user fault, probably a weird issue with the case of the mobo. )

if it was sagging like on that pics 



the shift in yellow would not be like that and continue the slight sagging (nothing to worry the back is almost normal ) on the back, tho the OP definitely have an issue ... but not the one he thinks ... (weight)


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## DRDNA (Aug 22, 2017)

if that rig came to me to get fixed; The first thing I would do is mount what appears to be a crooked mounted mobo to a straight mounted mobo and then I would go from there. Now this opinion is from the pics and thats that.


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 22, 2017)

DRDNA said:


> if that rig came to me to get fixed; The first thing I would do is mount what appears to be a crooked mounted mobo to a straight mounted mobo and then I would go from there. Now this opinion is from the pics and thats that.


yep it's likely that the mobo has been mounted shifted ... either from the beginning or had slowly shifted over time (unless it's the case that is totally weird, i.e.: the PCIeX slots alignement/space )

rofl re inspecting that one ... just think the card is really not in the right slots ... the mobo does not  seems crooked


need to put the bracket in the blue spot instead of the red (simply changing top-down down-with the one under)

(i wonder if he did notice that his soundcard is ... "sagging in reverse" ...  )

it seems doing so .... will correct the issue (well at last, now i know Asus is not to blame  )


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## blobster21 (Aug 22, 2017)

ouch. That's the first card i see with such a bad case of scoliosis. Worse than me actually, that's to say !


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## niko084 (Aug 22, 2017)

What would be really easy there would be to pull the pci-e power cable up next to your 24pin cable and zip tie them together giving a bit of lift from your power plug.
Of course there are a dozen other ways to resolve this, it's common and generally doesn't cause an issue.

--- on second look you may want to verify it's properly installed...


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## cdawall (Aug 22, 2017)

Kanan said:


> I know it's almost useless in this case but it's called a "backplate" nonetheless.
> 
> Edit: do they sag like this as well?



Yes you can't even run them in sli


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## Robert B (Aug 22, 2017)

The motherboard is not fixed on at least two standoffs...the motherboard is not aligned properly as someone pointed before.


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 22, 2017)

Robert B said:


> The motherboard is not fixed on at least two standoffs...the motherboard is not aligned properly as someone pointed before.


actually .... i prefer my version ... since the soundcard is mostly fine ... 
and the I/O panel seems to be fine also.

but yep missing screw is never good .... either for a mobo or for a human being

i just noticed but between the GPU and soundcard you have 2 PCIeX slot free and 3 case slot free ... it does not add properly  actually i really think my solution should be investigated by the OP (if he didn't already do it and refuse to give a feedback on the thread since it's a rather "dumb" problem in the end  )


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## OneMoar (Aug 22, 2017)

the whole motherboard is cockeyed


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 22, 2017)

so yep .... the bracket is not in the correct position .... there is more free slot on the case than PCIeX slot, tho the motherboard shift, induced by an incorrect initial installation, is the culprit


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## Solaris17 (Aug 22, 2017)




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## Papahyooie (Aug 22, 2017)

Oh my lord, you're all frikken blind apparently. The graphics card is sagging... there is no misaligned motherboard, there is no extra slot on the case. Those are all artifacts created by the perspective. If you look at the entire picture rather than drawing lines on it (which is ridiculous in the first place, because the picture is tilted and therefore won't line up anyway) you'll see that there is a "slot" behind the card's cooler, (probably populated by a PCIE 1x, if anything at all) that makes the number of openings on the case match up. Furthermore, this proves that the card is sagging, because it's covering up that slot. The "backplate" starts to bend as soon as it comes out of the mount at the back of the case. From there, you can see that it sags down until the point at which the most weight is (eg, the center of the cooler) and then levels out again. The leveling out is due to the fact that nothing is pulling down on the back of the card, but rather the middle. Since nothing is holding up the back of the card, it remains straight. Whereas if there was something underneath the back of the card, you'd see it actually bend back upward. 

You guys are making the mistake of looking at individual pieces of the picture, and comparing them to the border. This creates optical illusions because of the forced perspective. The picture is taken at an angle. It's skewed from side to side, top to bottom, AND front to back in 3D space. 

The card is sagging people... There is no conspiracy here...


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## Toothless (Aug 22, 2017)

Papahyooie said:


> Oh my lord, you're all frikken blind apparently. The graphics card is sagging... there is no misaligned motherboard, there is no extra slot on the case. Those are all artifacts created by the perspective. If you look at the entire picture rather than drawing lines on it (which is ridiculous in the first place, because the picture is tilted and therefore won't line up anyway) you'll see that there is a "slot" behind the card's cooler, (probably populated by a PCIE 1x, if anything at all) that makes the number of openings on the case match up. Furthermore, this proves that the card is sagging, because it's covering up that slot. The "backplate" starts to bend as soon as it comes out of the mount at the back of the case. From there, you can see that it sags down until the point at which the most weight is (eg, the center of the cooler) and then levels out again. The leveling out is due to the fact that nothing is pulling down on the back of the card, but rather the middle. Since nothing is holding up the back of the card, it remains straight. Whereas if there was something underneath the back of the card, you'd see it actually bend back upward.
> 
> You guys are making the mistake of looking at individual pieces of the picture, and comparing them to the border. This creates optical illusions because of the forced perspective. The picture is taken at an angle. It's skewed from side to side, top to bottom, AND front to back in 3D space.
> 
> The card is sagging people... There is no conspiracy here...


Thanks for the wall of text but just about everyone has said the obvious GPU sag already. Also the board does look a tad off but we probably need a straight picture for that.


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 22, 2017)

Papahyooie said:


> Oh my lord, you're all frikken blind apparently. The graphics card is sagging... there is no misaligned motherboard, there is no extra slot on the case. Those are all artifacts created by the perspective. If you look at the entire picture rather than drawing lines on it (which is ridiculous in the first place, because the picture is tilted and therefore won't line up anyway) you'll see that there is a "slot" behind the card's cooler, (probably populated by a PCIE 1x, if anything at all) that makes the number of openings on the case match up. Furthermore, this proves that the card is sagging, because it's covering up that slot. The "backplate" starts to bend as soon as it comes out of the mount at the back of the case. From there, you can see that it sags down until the point at which the most weight is (eg, the center of the cooler) and then levels out again. The leveling out is due to the fact that nothing is pulling down on the back of the card, but rather the middle. Since nothing is holding up the back of the card, it remains straight. Whereas if there was something underneath the back of the card, you'd see it actually bend back upward.
> 
> You guys are making the mistake of looking at individual pieces of the picture, and comparing them to the border. This creates optical illusions because of the forced perspective. The picture is taken at an angle. It's skewed from side to side, top to bottom, AND front to back in 3D space.
> 
> The card is sagging people... There is no conspiracy here...


nope ... you got all wrong ... look at the clues and revise your judgement
and look at the pics where i did the red cross .... it's not perspective .... 3 freaking slot on the case for 2 slot on the mobo .... i did the test live on my second rig and i arrive at the same effect ... missing some screw and miss-aligning the bracket ....
it's obvious the fault lies elsewhere than a typical sagging ...



Toothless said:


> Thanks for the wall of text but just about everyone has said the obvious GPU sag already. Also the board does look a tad off but we probably need a straight picture for that.


actually not everybody ...

and inspecting logically the pics ... you see no sagging at all but the bracket being too high and lifting the card ... this is not sagging

specifically if the left side is higher than the center and the right side lower ... it's not sagging : sagging goes by left aligned with center and back droping down from center ....


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## Papahyooie (Aug 22, 2017)

Toothless said:


> Thanks for the wall of text but just about everyone has said the obvious GPU sag already. Also the board does look a tad off but we probably need a straight picture for that.


There is an entire page worth of posts here saying that the GPU isn't sagging, and that it's the motherboard being mounted incorrectly, or the card is bent upwards at the front as opposed to downwards at the back. I'm referring to them. I realize that GPU sag has been mentioned. That isn't my intent. I'm addressing the posts mentioned. 

The motherboard looks crooked because of an optical illusion created by the sagging graphics card above, and the sound card below that is pushed up at the back (because of a USB header underneath, as I believe it was said by the OP earlier.) Sure, he should put some screws in the holes that don't have any, but the mobo is not crooked.



GreiverBlade said:


> nope ... you got all wrong ... look at the clues and revise your judgement
> and look at the pics where i did the red cross .... it's not perspective .... 3 freaking slot on the case for 2 slot on the mobo .... i did the test live on my second rig and i arrive at the same effect ... missing some screw and miss-aligning the bracket ....
> it's obvious the fault lies elsewhere than a typical sagging ...
> 
> ...




@Toothless see what I mean?

@GreiverBlade 
I already addressed both points, if you'll read what I said. There are not two slots on the mobo matched to three on the back of the case... There are three spaces, but one is being obscured by the card. They match up just fine, you're just seeing the optical illusion.

As for your red cross, it's a faulty tool, because the picture's perspective, the case is not in line with the borders of the picture.


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 22, 2017)

Papahyooie said:


> There is an entire page worth of posts here saying that the GPU isn't sagging, and that it's the motherboard being mounted incorrectly, or the card is bent upwards at the front as opposed to downwards at the back. I'm referring to them. I realize that GPU sag has been mentioned. That isn't my intent. I'm addressing the posts mentioned.
> 
> The motherboard looks crooked because of an optical illusion created by the sagging graphics card above, and the sound card below that is pushed up at the back (because of a USB header underneath, as I believe it was said by the OP earlier.) Sure, he should put some screws in the holes that don't have any, but the mobo is not crooked.


do not say the OP is right when he isn't ... otherwise he will probably fail to see the real issue ....

actually the mobo might really be crooked (since the soundcard have the same issue but in reverse) ... it's the fixation of the GPU bracket that is offset to the upper holes.



Papahyooie said:


> @GreiverBlade
> I already addressed both points, if you'll read what I said. There are not two slots on the mobo matched to three on the back of the case... There are three spaces, but one is being obscured by the card. They match up just fine, you're just seeing the optical illusion.
> 
> As for your red cross, it's a faulty tool, because the picture's perspective, the case is not in line with the borders of the picture.


re read carefully then ... because i did read your post ... and still not retracting my observation and yep i know what are perspective error ...


GreiverBlade said:


> i did the test live on my second rig and i arrive at the same effect ... missing some screw and miss-aligning the bracket ....




sagging : bending downward from center

being in a diagonal from edge to edge : show something else even a highly distorted perspective can't do that without extreme shot angle


AND FOR "THERE IS A SLOT HIDDEN" OBVIOUSLY YES! SINCE THE STRIX COOLER IS A 2.5 SLOT .... still 3 slot open for 2 slot free ... actually a CPU bracket cover 2 slot .... the one aligned to the PCB and the one under .... and if the slot is hidden by the cooler ... the lower half of the bracket should cover his slot .... and not the one above.... technically it's not the case here ...


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## 95Viper (Aug 22, 2017)

View attachment 91293

To me, from this picture (which is at an angle), that looks like the backplate is twisted... and, the PCB is sagging.

Just to add, the space between the PCB and the backplate seem to coverge towards the end of the card... could be just the picture angle.


If the card looks good and is not damaged in any manner... just support it with some form of hanger or from the bottom with some form of pillar.


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## phanbuey (Aug 22, 2017)

the card looks like its screwed into the wrong PCI bracket...


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 22, 2017)

also as long as the OP is not back on the thread (which will probably not happen since he clearly showed that his mind was set on what was the issue) it's no use to debate ...

ok for all the sagg-sayer .... you're right (comfy?)



phanbuey said:


> the card looks like its screwed into the wrong PCI bracket...


most probably .... welcome in the It'sScrewedInTheWrongBracket-sayer club ... 

off.


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## Toothless (Aug 22, 2017)

I just noticed that soundcard.. not straight.


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 22, 2017)

Toothless said:


> I just noticed that soundcard.. not straight.


yep .... bending up ... a clue that the mobo is misaligned ... tho it's a X1 in a X16


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## phanbuey (Aug 22, 2017)

GreiverBlade said:


> also as long as the OP is not back on the thread (which will probably not happen since he clearly showed that his mind was set on what was the issue) it's no use to debate ...
> 
> ok for all the sagg-sayer .... you're right (comfy?)
> 
> ...


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## Papahyooie (Aug 22, 2017)

I've provided a second picture here to illustrate:

The green line shows the top of the case slot. The pink shows the top of the PCIE slot (with which we can deduce the top of the actual PCB and not the PCB/Backplate)

Since the green line is higher than the pink line, that means that there is some distance between where the PCIE is plugged in, and top of the card as a whole, which is the top of the backplate. If you have a graphics card with a backplate, look closely at it and you'll see this is true. The graphics card extends ABOVE the PCIE plug. That's why you're all thinking the card is mounted into the wrong bracket. It isn't. The card is not bent upwards at the back of the case, this is simply an illusion created by the sagging.

As for the 2 slots/3 slots issue, greiverblade you're not getting what I'm saying. The card is a two slot card yes. So the card is supposed to be covering two slots. It is however, covering a THIRD slot due to the sagging. See white line. There is either empty space there, or a pcie X1 slot that accounts for the "extra" slot. This is again an illusion caused by the sagging of the card, not misalignment of the motherboard.

As for the sound card, I say again... it's because the sound card is ACTUALLY bent upwards because of a USB header plug that's underneath it. The OP already addressed that. It isn't a clue to a crooked motherboard at all.

Besides all that... how in the world would a motherboard get mounted crookedly? You would have to physically drill more holes in the board for that to work....

And before anybody says anything, I do realize that using these lines is counter-productive, as I've already said, because the case is not aligned with them. I'm simply using @GreiverBlade 's method, with a little bit of logic applied.







EDIT: Here's another to illustrate the mystery of the missing expansion slot.... If it's easier, start from the bottom (The one which we can CLEARLY see which bracket matches up to which slot because we can see the sound card plugged in) .... and count up.










GreiverBlade said:


> specifically if the left side is higher than the center and the right side lower ... it's not sagging : sagging goes by left aligned with center and back droping down from center ....



I think this is the crux of the issue... what you've said here is simply incorrect. If the weight is concentrated at the center of the card, then the card will droop at the center, not from the right. If the weight was at the back of the card, then yes, it would probably be even at the center, and droop towards the rear, but that is not the case here. It droops in the center because that's where the weight is. Therefore, it is perfectly logical that the center would be lower than the left.


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## jboydgolfer (Aug 22, 2017)

i cant get over how bitched up that build is. thats a nice case too 
*
heres what a modest build in that Phanteks case SHOULD look like. my OCD is killing me looking at those pic's  btw, im pretty sure this gtx970 is heavier than the one OP has(ref is 2.3lbs). regardless, they must not be great quality, ive seen other threads with this card doing the same thing.*


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## GreiverBlade (Aug 22, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> i cant get over how bitched up that build is. thats a nice case too
> *
> heres what a modest build in that Phanteks case SHOULD look like. my OCD is killing me looking at those pic's  btw, im pretty sure this gtx970 is heavier than the one OP has(ref is 2.3lbs). regardless, they must not be great quality, ive seen other threads with this card doing the same thing.*


well yes ... there is definitely something wrong with the installation of the OP and not with the weight of the card itself ... that card would not sag installed in my rig ... or in yours, even after some time after initial installation ....

his card : 1.04326kg my card is 832 g my previously mentioned GTX 580 Matrix Platinum : 1.8kg (the one that did not sag ... even in SLI none of them showed any sag ... granted they are 3 slot bracket 2.6 slot cooler)


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## Papahyooie (Aug 22, 2017)

I give up... carry on in ignorance.


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## rtwjunkie (Aug 22, 2017)

jboydgolfer said:


> i cant get over how bitched up that build is. thats a nice case too
> *
> heres what a modest build in that Phanteks case SHOULD look like. my OCD is killing me looking at those pic's  btw, im pretty sure this gtx970 is heavier than the one OP has(ref is 2.3lbs). regardless, they must not be great quality, ive seen other threads with this card doing the same thing.*


The reference model, even though heavier will hardly ever sag. Reason: the metal reference shroud attached closely to the pcb is stronger support than all but the most heavy duty backplates.


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## hckngrtfakt (Aug 22, 2017)

Papahyooie said:


> I give up... carry on in ignorance.


Regardless of what some may say, your lines are actually correct.
After some perspective manipulation one can clearly see the motherboard is not even held on the right place.
How OP managed to keep that sound card somehow in place is beyond rationale, much less the video card.


----------



## phanbuey (Aug 23, 2017)

yep... lots of card bending going on...

PCI yoga.


----------



## jboydgolfer (Aug 23, 2017)

rtwjunkie said:


> The reference model, even though heavier will hardly ever sag. Reason: the metal reference shroud attached closely to the pcb is stronger support than all but the most heavy duty backplates.



that, and it has a high quality back plate too. the Nvidia ref 970 was build like a f@cking tank

also, how in the F@ck did the sound card manage to get banana bent upwards 

_i swear to god all i hear in my mind while looking at that PC is.....btw, im not poking fun @ you* OP, i just deal with everything with stupid humor, so please dont take this as offensive.*_


----------



## GreiverBlade (Aug 23, 2017)

okay i give up, but i still see no sagging but rather a sloppy installation that lead to a unnatural diagonal positioning of the graphic card ....

i've never seen a card with a sagging looking like that, strongly because it's does not look remotely like that on these i saw since the PCIeX connector give some rigidity to the card up to center and the sagging affect mostly the "free" part which is center till end right (seen on the previously mentioned 8800 Ultra with a Prolimatech MK-26) oh well it's OP's fault ... for not taking pictures right 

otherwise my GTX 980 Poseidon would have suffered the same syndrome, which it did not, and it was quite heavier ... (not ~160gr more like the ratio from my 1070 to his 970 ) same goes for the GTX 580 Matrix Platinum obviously (tho that one might had a better build quality ...  )



jboydgolfer said:


> also, how in the F@ck did the sound card manage to get banana bent upwards


USB connection (probably front panel) .... tho i write that because i did read that as explanation ... i tried to manage that with one soundcard (and i have 2 USB2.0 connector under it ...) and still not got a slight bend ...



Papahyooie said:


> I give up... carry on in ignorance.


not ignorance .... different opinion and issues .... until the OP is back with an answer (which will not happen) we can't tell which one is really right .... after all the picture make it all foggy .... you see something i see something else .... who's right? (nope without explicit proof and answer from the OP you can't tell "i am 100% sure" )

i will retract my point of view once the OP will clarify the situation.....

as my initial sample show, usually sagging goes slightly middle of the card to the extreme right, while the extreme left usually stay straight or bend in the opposite way
 
but it seems none of them can take a good aligned picture 

let's hope the OP's X16 slot is not looking like that ....


----------



## Jetster (Aug 23, 2017)

hckngrtfakt said:


> Regardless of what some may say, your lines are actually correct.
> After some perspective manipulation one can clearly see the motherboard is not even held on the right place.
> How OP managed to keep that sound card somehow in place is beyond rationale, much less the video card.



You can't rely on a picture because of the focal length. Unless its 43mm crop sensor (natural image angle) it will bend the objects.


----------



## Kanan (Aug 23, 2017)

cdawall said:


> Yes you can't even run them in sli


Wow, too much sag I guess 


Toothless said:


> I just noticed that soundcard.. not straight.


Man you're so fast.


GreiverBlade said:


> well yes ... there is definitely something wrong with the installation of the OP and not with the weight of the card itself ... that card would not sag installed in my rig ... or in yours, even after some time after initial installation ....
> 
> his card : 1.04326kg my card is 832 g my previously mentioned GTX 580 Matrix Platinum : 1.8kg (the one that did not sag ... even in SLI none of them showed any sag ... granted they are 3 slot bracket 2.6 slot cooler)


You get that wrong, just because you never saw a bad engineered (Asus) GPU, doesn't mean there is none. Your GTX 580 Matrix Platinum (lol at the name) is much more premium and much more premium built as well, it's simple why it's better and never sagged at all. Same goes for my soon-ex 780 TI DCU II, it has proper metal at all sides and a proper backplate, not some stupid ultra thin shit going on like @cdawall already pointed out @ that GTX 970 Strixx. 


GreiverBlade said:


> okay i give up, but i still see no sagging but rather a sloppy installation that lead to a unnatural diagonal positioning of the graphic card ....
> 
> i've never seen a card with a sagging looking like that, strongly because it's does not look remotely like that on these i saw since the PCIeX connector give some rigidity to the card up to center and the sagging affect mostly the "free" part which is center till end right (seen on the previously mentioned 8800 Ultra with a Prolimatech MK-26) oh well it's OP's fault ... for not taking pictures right
> 
> ...


First of all lol @ that X16 slot, it hurts my eyes. 

Your definition of sagging just seems to be somewhat different, but it's still sagging all the same.

IMO, the card is properly sagging all the way from the I/O bracket down, and it's clearly visible too. Those who don't see it, my speculation is, don't actually want to see it and go on to have their fantasy about it being the mainboard or different things, but the graphics card is actually poorly engineered, it's a clear thing once you realize that and actually see the sagging, I mean it's not that hard to see unless you don't want to or have strange definition about sagging. 

At least, the sound card isn't ultra evil anymore, now after realizing it's just pushed up by a USB header.  That was the funniest part about it actually, at least for me. It was going _against_ gravity.


----------



## HTC (Aug 23, 2017)

Could it be that the board is not in the proper place, thus miss aligning the case's slot holes with the board's slots? That, or the case itself is defective in the sense that it's slot holes don't align with the board's slots. Both these situations could explain the crookedness of the cards.

@ OP: do you have the board's I/O shield in place? Is the board secured to the case (most or all of the screws)?


----------



## THE_EGG (Aug 23, 2017)

There might be something off with the OP's build but regardless, the GPU sag is there. I built a rig for a friend a couple of years ago and had installed an Asus 970 Strix like what the OP has. When I installed it I noticed it had extreme sag - it was the worst I have ever seen. It looked like it had been sagging over a number of years despite only just installing it - as cdawall said, there would be no way of using a second card next to it for SLI. Ended up using some hard liquid cooling tube to support it and some tape to secure it. As others have suggested, perhaps look at ensuring your mobo is installed correctly with all of the screws and remount your GTX 970 Strix and support it with something.


----------



## fusseli (Aug 23, 2017)

I'm back, I have a job and a life to attend to besides mind this computer forum thread all day.  LOL all of the attention here is GREAT!

1) There's nothing wrong or incorrect about the board or gpu install.  The Strix Z270H board is about 1/2" narrower than standard ATX, so all three on the far right edge have no standoff mount on this Phanteks case (or my old Lian Li, I checked it too) thus only 6 of the 9 usual screw holes line up.  Not a big deal, IMO, and not worth my time to drill and tap three holes.  On an "ATX" mobo that isn't true ATX dimensions, those three screw holes are really just decorations.  Thanks, Asus!

This is actually an interesting point, because I had at one point considered upgrading to a Noctua D15 over my Phanteks TC12 hsf.  Considering the 6/9 mobo screws, and the pig's weight of the DCU II strix, maybe that extra weight on the mobo isn't the best idea!  It's not germane, but I do have a line on a used Corsair H110i GT that I might pick up.

2) The suggestion that the gpu is mounted in the wrong pci slot on the case is absolutely ridiculous.  Next.

3) Soundcard, I could give two shits about.  Some caps on the end of the board are touching the usb3.0 header below it, pushing upward slightly.  Sorry for the confusion.  My remissness is revealed 



uuuaaaaaa said:


> @fusseli Allow me to suggest something like this:
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Emperors-Ma...038150&hash=item3f8323747c:g:giMAAOSwEupZfV9k
> 
> ...



Thanks for the suggestions, I also saw this CM solution http://www.ebay.com/itm/COOLER-MAST...988893&hash=item46533b77e1:g:WzAAAOSwIgNXsxJ1

Pricey for what it is, but $15 is a fart in the wind compared to the cost of the rig



Papahyooie said:


> Oh my lord, you're all frikken blind apparently. The graphics card is sagging... there is no misaligned motherboard, there is no extra slot on the case. Those are all artifacts created by the perspective. If you look at the entire picture rather than drawing lines on it (which is ridiculous in the first place, because the picture is tilted and therefore won't line up anyway) you'll see that there is a "slot" behind the card's cooler, (probably populated by a PCIE 1x, if anything at all) that makes the number of openings on the case match up. Furthermore, this proves that the card is sagging, because it's covering up that slot. The "backplate" starts to bend as soon as it comes out of the mount at the back of the case. From there, you can see that it sags down until the point at which the most weight is (eg, the center of the cooler) and then levels out again. The leveling out is due to the fact that nothing is pulling down on the back of the card, but rather the middle. Since nothing is holding up the back of the card, it remains straight. Whereas if there was something underneath the back of the card, you'd see it actually bend back upward.
> 
> You guys are making the mistake of looking at individual pieces of the picture, and comparing them to the border. This creates optical illusions because of the forced perspective. The picture is taken at an angle. It's skewed from side to side, top to bottom, AND front to back in 3D space.
> 
> The card is sagging people... There is no conspiracy here...



Thank you, my friend, the only sane post here.


----------



## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Aug 23, 2017)

If its sagging it isnt miraculously going to straighten up no matter what you do. Try and prevent further sagging and live with it.


----------



## GreiverBlade (Aug 23, 2017)

Kanan said:


> You get that wrong, just because you never saw a bad engineered (Asus) GPU, doesn't mean there is none. Your GTX 580 Matrix Platinum (lol at the name) is much more premium and much more premium built as well, it's simple why it's better and never sagged at all. Same goes for my soon-ex 780 TI DCU II, it has proper metal at all sides and a proper backplate, not some stupid ultra thin shit going on like @cdawall already pointed out @ that GTX 970 Strixx.


oh i saw a lot of sagging .... (and not only GPUs unfortunately ... ) did you read about a 8800 Ultra with a Prolimatech MK-26 and no backplate or strenghtening at all? that one did sag .....

typical sagging, you have a fixed point (the bracket) that will not be able to move up or down, and a downward curve from center to right corner (in length or width)
 ¨

his card, clearly show a diagonal in relation to the center (and nope, not only on one pix due to a parallax effect) with the extreme left being higher than the center and the extreme right being lower  which could also be induced by the sloppy assembly








CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> If its sagging it isnt miraculously going to straighten up no matter what you do. Try and prevent further sagging and live with it.


and if it's not.... well he will just bend the card upward from center to right and make a U shape instead of putting the rest of his rig in order and potentially correct the issue...




fusseli said:


> 1) There's nothing wrong or incorrect about the board or gpu install.  The Strix Z270H board is about 1/2" narrower than standard ATX, so all three on the far right edge have no standoff mount on this Phanteks case (or my old Lian Li, I checked it too) thus only 6 of the 9 usual screw holes line up.  Not a big deal, IMO, and not worth my time to drill and tap three holes.  On an "ATX" mobo that isn't true ATX dimensions, those three screw holes are really just decorations.  Thanks, Asus!
> 
> This is actually an interesting point, because I had at one point considered upgrading to a Noctua D15 over my Phanteks TC12 hsf.  Considering the 6/9 mobo screws, and the pig's weight of the DCU II strix, maybe that extra weight on the mobo isn't the best idea!  It's not germane, but I do have a line on a used Corsair H110i GT that I might pick up.
> 
> ...


1) okay ....

2) probably 

3) i see ....

still


fusseli said:


> Thank you, my friend, the only sane post here.


actually .... nope ... he could have wrote all of his post in a different manner (and you too ... you just imply any other are insane .... thanks a lot   )

_*ok i retract my previous post you're right it's sagging*_ (what? you thought i wouldn't admit i was wrong? .... if it was the other way around ... i hope the other one would have done the same... )



fusseli said:


> I'm back, I have a job and a life to attend to besides mind this computer forum thread all day. LOL all of the attention here is GREAT!


so do i ... i also have a job and a life ... so what? 

well then next time directly get a GPU jig  ...


----------



## rtwjunkie (Aug 23, 2017)

fusseli said:


> Thank you, my friend, the only sane post here


Did you miss the very first response to you?


----------



## GreiverBlade (Aug 23, 2017)

rtwjunkie said:


> Did you miss the very first response to you?


nah .... he just wanted someone to put down all the flat-earther first .... 

the only sane thing to do would've been :


GreiverBlade said:


> next time directly get a GPU jig  ...



and not that whole mess of a thread


----------



## cdawall (Aug 23, 2017)

rtwjunkie said:


> Did you miss the very first response to you?



Half a dozen people all said that card sags like crazy.


----------



## GreiverBlade (Aug 23, 2017)

cdawall said:


> Half a dozen people all said that card sags like crazy.


the point is not sagging or not (specially with non aligned pictures and lot of confusion .... if you can't trust your sight you seek other issues and solutions)... it's the reaction of some user when you check if nothing else is wrong 


but remember: he has a life and he's not always on the forum, like us, so it took 3 pages to clarify

nonetheless .... the title is wrong ... that 970 is not even heavy ...  (yep nitpicking)
well now i really hope the jig will solve the issue  , off the thread now


----------



## Papahyooie (Aug 23, 2017)




----------



## micropage7 (Aug 23, 2017)

just use chopstick, heavy cooler tend to give sagging effect. solid backplate could reduce it but not much


----------



## GreiverBlade (Aug 23, 2017)

Papahyooie said:


>


enough is enough ... i get it you didn't read the 3 previous post entirely  no need to go further, the OP just need to buy a GPU jig and he should have done it right at the start.

 i already recognised i was wrong ... no need for further explanation ... i wrote the post dynamically .... didn't bother to edit what was already done ... not worth it 

tho the back of the card (right) is not relatively straight and clearly dropping down (as seen on many example of sagging) the PCIeX slot give some rigidity and the weight center is comprised in it,  the pictures are not correctly taken, ok but the rig looks also sloppy (albeit being induced by some specificity that the OP's hardware has .... )

seriously a 4th page to that thread was unneeded.

edit: oh wow actually a jig placed at the extreme right, as many recommend to do, would only shape the PCB in a U...
better one of the long type that use a case slot and bracket than these makeshift pilar

btw a sorry excuse for a backplate is better than no backplate .... wait probably not, mine does not have a backplate and show no sag at all, damn that 970 Strix is really a P.O.S in term of build quality
i get it the OP wanted to point out the problem to the community (altho not really needed ) and already knew the solution to the problem ... still THAT card HSF, is not too heavy .... the title is what made me draw other assumption after seeing how bad the rig was in the pictures ....

he could have titled that "Asus GTX970 Strix, sagging issue" since it's a already known problem and not related to a "too heavy" issue. (tho it would have been picked up by some other forum-er than me that the issue could've been something else judging by the rig general outlook)



micropage7 said:


> just use chopstick, heavy cooler tend to give sagging effect. solid backplate could reduce it but not much


that card is not heavy, it's the build quality that is sh!t ...  a little above 1kg and sagging? then i wonder how 1.8kg managed to hold 1 yrs and a half without any sag. (ok the backplate was actually almost 3 time thicker, just like the front plate on my Armor that only weight ~800gr )

tho the solution is right (and the OP knows it since the start of the thread)


----------



## Papahyooie (Aug 23, 2017)

GreiverBlade said:


> enough is enough ... i get it you didn't read the 3 previous post entirely  no need to go further, the OP just need to buy a GPU jig and he should have done it right at the start.
> 
> i already recognised i was wrong ... no need for further explanation ... i wrote the post dynamically .... didn't bother to edit what was already done ... not worth it



I'm not trying to dog you... But here you are still accusing me of not reading. I just answered in response to your drawing that you put up AFTER you already admitted you were wrong. It's true, typical sagging happens the way you said in the drawings post. I was simply providing the reasons why it didn't happen the way it typically happens. It's all about the center of gravity. You're also still deflecting, and dogging the OP for what you perceive as a shoddy rig.

EDIT: and your suggestion for a name change is wrong too... The issue is literally that the HSF is too heavy for the card. (proven by the fact that it's drooping at the heaviest part of the HSF.) So no, he doesn't need to change the name. It's accurate. The fact that it weighs less than other cards is irrelevant, as other cards may have thicker PCB's better backplate, better overall rigidity for whatever reason. 

@OP, make sure when you get a support that it goes underneath the heaviest point of the card, otherwise you will end up with an ever more screwed up card because it will sag in the middle while the front and back stay high. Putting a support at the back will indeed be more likely to destroy the card. It would be better to have no support at all than a support at the back.


----------



## GreiverBlade (Aug 23, 2017)

actually .... the drawing where put before i admitted being wrong....  ... and i am not accusing you  (unless you mention one sarcasm post where i said i  "sagg-sayer: you are right"  )



GreiverBlade said:


> i wrote the post dynamically .... didn't bother to edit what was already done ... not worth it


yep ... the part is clearly below the diagram 

now i am finished with that thread .... and yep the OP has a shoddy rig but *as i wrote it's due to the hardware specificity* (mobo mainly and GPU build quality ) not saying "it's the OP's fault" either way, i am not not the only one to notice it, it's not deflecting nonetheless


----------



## Papahyooie (Aug 23, 2017)

GreiverBlade said:


> actually .... the drawing where put before i admitted being wrong....  ... and i am not accusing you  (unless you mention one sarcasm post where i said i  "sagg-sayer: you are right"  )
> 
> 
> yep ... the part is clearly below the diagram
> ...



It's in the same post. Therefore, either you hit the post button knowing that what you were saying was wrong, or you edited your admission into it later (didn't check if there was an edit or not, and don't really care either way.) Either way, you intentionally left your arguments there, making your admission disingenuous. 



GreiverBlade said:


> and i am not accusing you





GreiverBlade said:


> ... i get it you didn't read the 3 previous post entirely



I rest my case. 


Actually, I'm just seeing how far you'll go to get the last word in at this point.


----------



## lZKoce (Aug 23, 2017)

It's offtopic, but OP I gotta hand it to you.....4 pages with analysis, graphs and supported argument....90% of the threads never jump over 10-15 posts, occasionally a few spikes with 20 or so. Who knew this will go out of control 

On topic : slap a LEGO already.


----------



## sneekypeet (Aug 23, 2017)

Papahyooie said:


> Actually, I'm just seeing how far you'll go to get the last word in at this point.



Well allow me to get the last word then. Drop the personal back and forth! Public warning not just to you and @GreiverBlade but to everyone who wishes to continue posting in this thread.


----------



## P4-630 (Aug 23, 2017)

fusseli said:


> I just noticed this on my asus gtx970 Strix with DCUII cooler.  I guess they really don't care about longevity and detail oriented design these days?  How long under stress until some traces break and the card fails?
> 
> I'm looking into a support bracket now.
> 
> ...



How hard can it be to find something in your home that does the job?
Why even start a thread about this and why is it 4 pages long!!! LOL!!


----------



## Vario (Aug 23, 2017)

Thread of the year.

I like the Cardkeeper.  Thats what I use.  I have a few that I bought in a bundle from ebay, the one that fits best for me is the ck99-1224.  http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/cack.html


----------



## Kanan (Aug 23, 2017)

I don't know who said that, but the guy who said "is this really happening?", meaning the thread, got it right. After seeing how the OP reacted at all the help he got I have to say, if you're so smart, figure it out yourself next time, and don't say things like "you're the only sane person here", discrediting everyone else at the same time, it's totally off behaviour and I don't like it.


GreiverBlade said:


> the point is not sagging or not (specially with non aligned pictures and lot of confusion .... if you can't trust your sight you seek other issues and solutions)... it's the reaction of some user when you check if nothing else is wrong
> 
> 
> but remember: he has a life and he's not always on the forum, like us, so it took 3 pages to clarify
> ...


Like someone else already pointed out, the card is too heavily built for its quality and "heavyness" in general is also a relative thing, not a absolute thing, so you couldn't ever be right with what you said.  The card isn't good, whether its a Asus or not, doesn't even matter anymore. I think some people have problems accepting that Asus isn't perfect - but here you go: they aren't. My take on this GPU is: it's a typical budget built midrange GTX 970 and they didn't invest too much on quality because of the competitive pricing the card had. I don't remember a high end Asus card that ever had this issues, they were simply of higher quality I guess.


----------



## khemist (Aug 23, 2017)

Cut some rigid tubing to size.


----------



## fusseli (Aug 24, 2017)

Well, my temporary solution had a suction cup on one end and wasn't appropriate to photograph considering the places it's been, but sure, thanks for all of the suggestions.  

I burned an Andrew Jackson and went with the CM prop at the end of the hsf, works like a charm: 



 



micropage7 said:


> just use chopstick, heavy cooler tend to give sagging effect. solid backplate could reduce it but not much



Tempting, but I would prefer to not have a slight jarring or jolt dislodge the support.  Upgrading the back plate or structure isn't worth the brain power to process such a solution!



lZKoce said:


> It's offtopic, but OP I gotta hand it to you.....4 pages with analysis, graphs and supported argument....90% of the threads never jump over 10-15 posts, occasionally a few spikes with 20 or so. Who knew this will go out of control
> 
> On topic : slap a LEGO already.


----------



## Toothless (Aug 24, 2017)

I wonder if the GPU sagging was making the board go wonky due to the weight. I'd go with legos painted black that are secured in place.


----------



## Tsukiyomi91 (Aug 24, 2017)

never liked aftermarket air coolers that will bend the PCB... would go water-cooling from here onward. Slightly more expensive but no need to worry about bending or sagging.


----------



## fusseli (Aug 24, 2017)

Tsukiyomi91 said:


> never liked aftermarket air coolers that will bend the PCB... would go water-cooling from here onward. Slightly more expensive but no need to worry about bending or sagging.



Yeah, the weight concern on the mobo has me thinking AIO again, even though the high end air coolers are just as good they are much more weight hanging off the mobo.  And my awesome strix mobo only gets 6/9 screws because it's not true ATX width...


----------



## Papahyooie (Aug 24, 2017)

fusseli said:


> Well, my temporary solution had a suction cup on one end and wasn't appropriate to photograph considering the places it's been, but sure, thanks for all of the suggestions.
> 
> I burned an Andrew Jackson and went with the CM prop at the end of the hsf, works like a charm:
> 
> ...




Hey look! You found that missing PCI-E slot!


----------



## Vayra86 (Aug 24, 2017)

Holy shit man four pages of GPU sagging mysteries.

The one thing I'd like to add to this mystery is the obvious push on the far right side of the card, by the PCIE cabling going into the card. That cable makes a strong bend downwards and is nudged into the top end of the case cable management holes. This is pushing the GPU down as well. Add the shitty design (absolutely true here) and you've got a sag like nobody's business. Part of the fault does lie with installation though - the bend DOES start right from the I/O all the way through to the end. The weight, length and PCIE cabling does the rest.

I would love to see a reinstall of this GPU with three screws properly and tightly fastened with the GPU properly mounted in the screw holes there, along with the PCIE-cable going downwards underneath the card into the management hole. Might make a huge difference, the PCIE cable is stiff enough to hold some of the weight. I always look at that when I install GPUs, at least making sure that those cables don't pull or push on the card.


----------



## fusseli (Aug 25, 2017)

Vayra86 said:


> Holy shit man four pages of GPU sagging mysteries.
> 
> The one thing I'd like to add to this mystery is the obvious push on the far right side of the card, by the PCIE cabling going into the card. That cable makes a strong bend downwards and is nudged into the top end of the case cable management holes. This is pushing the GPU down as well. Add the shitty design (absolutely true here) and you've got a sag like nobody's business. Part of the fault does lie with installation though - the bend DOES start right from the I/O all the way through to the end. The weight, length and PCIE cabling does the rest.
> 
> I would love to see a reinstall of this GPU with three screws properly and tightly fastened with the GPU properly mounted in the screw holes there, along with the PCIE-cable going downwards underneath the card into the management hole. Might make a huge difference, the PCIE cable is stiff enough to hold some of the weight. I always look at that when I install GPUs, at least making sure that those cables don't pull or push on the card.



Thanks for the suggestion!  Ironically, someone along the way suggested to pull up on the power cable and affix with a zip tie to relieve some of the sag weight  no thanks, all the strain on the gpu board and soldered power pins wouldn't be an improvement.

I think I'm happy the way it is wither the CM jig supporting the weight on the end of the card.  The sag is essentially all relieved.  If I ever get a wild hair and am rearranging in there I might try going power from the bottom up.


----------



## Tsukiyomi91 (Aug 25, 2017)

Also, boards with reinforced PCIe slots isn't a permanent fix to heavy VGA cards that will sag in a few months time... which to me isn't going to help alleviate the problem.


----------



## fusseli (Sep 2, 2017)

Well as it turns out, the damage IS done.  A couple days after installing the lift jig to support and level the sagging gpu, I start getting an instant temp spike to 90C as soon as I launch a game    those gtx970 fans are LOUD, and I've never heard them before.  It usually only runs 70C, overclocked, on a hot day.

so there's clearly a worn pcb trace from the sag or the hsf isn't making contact or something.  I repositioned the gpu support and let out some of the lift so it's in a partial sag, and the problem went away.  Thank god!  I hope this card lasts a while longer....  what a waste of money


----------



## Toothless (Sep 2, 2017)

Probably should've tended to the issue a long time ago, and it also helps explain my issue with my 5870.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Sep 2, 2017)

Your mobo might of been damaged, I'd file a claim against asus for not providing a backplate or card bolster.


----------



## Tsukiyomi91 (Sep 2, 2017)

having a backplate does not help the sagging issues either, in all honesty. You'd just add more weight to the already heavy aftermarket air-cooled VGA card. Makes things even worst if your mainboard doesn't have those reinforced slots or those stainless steel plating to make the slots much more sturdier, but again, those sorts of features does not alleviate the sagging issues or make things better for heavy VGA card owners.


----------



## Vayra86 (Sep 2, 2017)

Backplates are dramatically overrated. You don't need them for cooling, you don't need them for sag. Its just epeen value and that is all. A decent shroud does not sag, it is that simple. I've had a Windforce 780ti for a couple of years, no backplate, *zero* sag, and that's a meaty, heavy card. MSI TwinFrozr? Zero sag. Asus designs? MANY of them have sag. DCUII coolers most notably.

Most backplates are so extremely thin too, and people go on saying they're great heatsinks. Total idiocy - there have been multiple designs WITH backplate in the recent years that did the exact opposite and trapped heat instead of transferring it

FWIW, I would definitely build evidence that this GTX 970 has damaged your board and the card itself due to sag and bad design. See what you can get out of it, I think there's a good chance you'll get treated well. Run a bench with sag and run one supporting the card and monitor the differences, send to Asus.


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## Tsukiyomi91 (Sep 2, 2017)

for me if I wanna stick to air, I'll buy the reference model as shroud coolers are not as heavy as aftermarket ones & pushes air much more effectively.


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## MrGenius (Sep 2, 2017)

I doubt anything is damaged. Try pushing upward on the HSF from the center, preferably directly under the GPU die/mounting points, instead of on the far end. Then you won't be torqueing on it causing it to lose contact with the GPU die(which simply tightening the mounting screws _*might*_ temporarily or permanently alleviate actually). Or find a way to lift the card itself up without pushing on the HSF at all. IMO you've chosen possibly the worst way to solve the problem. And you're wondering why it doesn't work. It was a bad idea to begin with...


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## fusseli (Sep 2, 2017)

The mobo is not damaged and everything looks solid.  Seems to be just the gpu.  I might try contacting Asus but I'm not expecting much.  This card isn't exactly new or under warranty.




MrGenius said:


> I doubt anything is damaged. Try pushing upward on the HSF from the center, preferably directly under the GPU die/mounting points, instead of on the far end. Then you won't be torqueing on it causing it to lose contact with the GPU die(which simply tightening the mounting screws _*might*_ temporarily or permanently alleviate actually). Or find a way to lift the card itself up without pushing on the HSF at all. IMO you've chosen possibly the worst way to solve the problem. And you're wondering why it doesn't work. It was a bad idea to begin with...



A genius might consider two big fans on the dcuii cooler that there isn't much space at all to lift from, which leaves either the heatpipe out the side or the end of the card the only places to support without contacting fan blades


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## khemist (Oct 10, 2017)

I picked up some GPU brackets with my last Bitspower order.


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## fusseli (Oct 11, 2017)

khemist said:


> I picked up some GPU brackets with my last Bitspower order.



Do you have a pic of them mounted?


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## jboydgolfer (Oct 11, 2017)

fusseli said:


> Do you have a pic of them mounted?


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