How bad of an issue is GPU sagging and should we really spend on products like support struts?

[Vario]

my GTX1080 which had this one since 2017 hasn't shown any signs of sag.
as note its "EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 SC GAMING ACX 3.0"
Any sag issue likely be more like from the ones with massive coolers on them which likely be the high end cards like 4090. If i had one i would probably get a piece of wood cut it down to be probably half inch by half inch. get some rubber feet pads for each side to give support down to the bottom of my case. That is just me being little more paranoid on things like that and heat then most.

You can use legos, or cut a pencil down.

 

[Avro Arrow]

My personal concern isn't just with the card itself bending a bit (though that is also a concern), but more with all the weight these larger and heavier cards are putting on the PCI Express slot.

Apparently my current one (just under 1,600 grams) is maybe but half of what some of the very heavy ones are, and I'm still concerned to the point I wouldn't use it without support. Anything that extends the length of an ATX motherboard and then about a quarter more of that length beyond, and is three slots, that is the point where I'd not want to go without support.

Well, you don't have to worry too much about the weight because the steel I/O bracket is more than strong enough to hold the card in place enough that the slot won't get damaged. The sagging of cards is a much bigger threat to the cards themselves as it applies torsion to the end of the PCIe interface (aka the foot) which can cause cracking.

A long time ago, Powercolor made a card that was just completely over the top and insane called the PowerColor Devil 13 Dual Core R9 290X and it was an absolute beast of a card:

This thing had a TDP of 580W (just look at the 4 PCIe Supplementary Power Connectors) and weighed MORE THAN 2kg! The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming OC (which is what I assume your card is based on the pic you included) has a fully packaged weight of just under 1.8kg so your card isn't overly-heavy by modern standards. It's by no means a light card but when it comes to sag, length is actually more important than weight because the longer the card, the more leverage its weight has. My XFX Radeon RX 5700 XT THICC-III used to sag visibly at the end, but that card was insanely long at 315mm while weighing about 1.6kg. That sagging didn't cause any harm to any motherboard that held it nor did it damage or disfigure the card itself in any way. Your card is a bit heavier (~200g) but is also a bit shorter (1.5cm) so I really don't think that it will do any damage to the motherboard even if it does sag. Having said that, Gigabyte had a problem with cards cracking just above their feet so if anything, I would say to get some kind of support for your card's sake. I believe that your motherboard will be just fine.

 

[Princess Garnet]

I have the Sapphire Nitro RX 7800 XT, but yes it's just under 1,600 grams. Your right, the fear I have for the PCI Express slot is just part of it. I worry about the graphics card itself too. The stuff about the cards cracking near the connector is something I've seen.

All I know if based on the size and weight of this thing, and the fact that it includes a support bracket, it has me thinking it could use the extra support even if it's far from the heaviest one out there. I don't usually set predetermined time spans I'll use hardware for when I buy it, but I have been known to stick with some hardware for quite a while (a particular motherboard/CPU/RAM combination was used from late 2011 to mid 2020, and a previous graphics card was used for around seven years). So longevity is a big concern of mine.

 

[A Computer Guy]

You can use legos, or cut a pencil down.

Empty paper towel rolls work too.

 

[Vayra86]

Empty paper towel rolls work too.

Really? Paper deteriorates over time, and rolls are made of pretty porous stuff. Which will be swirling around in a case. I wouldnt opt for that tbh

 

[A Computer Guy]

Really? Paper deteriorates over time, and rolls are made of pretty porous stuff. Which will be swirling around in a case. I wouldnt opt for that tbh

Empty paper towel rolls. It's cardboard really. Remove the paper, cut to size, optionally paint it, no problem.

You can even buy them without paper.

If you have a lot of PC's with GPU's you can get them in bulk for cheap.

36 Pack Brown Cardboard Tubes for Crafts, DIY Crafting Paper Rolls for Classrooms and Art Projects (3 Assorted Sizes)​

 

[Vayra86]

Empty paper towel rolls. It's cardboard really. Remove the paper, cut to size, optionally paint it, no problem.

You can even buy them without paper.
View attachment 328232


If you have a lot of PC's with GPU's you can get them in bulk for cheap.

36 Pack Brown Cardboard Tubes for Crafts, DIY Crafting Paper Rolls for Classrooms and Art Projects (3 Assorted Sizes)​

Put 2kg on top of that and you will likely dent the cardboard due to weight. Thats what I meant.

 

[arbiter]

Put 2kg on top of that and you will likely dent the cardboard due to weight. Thats what I meant.

could just go to a hardware store and get so a wood dowel for a couple $ and some rubber feet with adhesive on them to put on both ends so it doesn't slide easy. depending on your case could even put some black paint on it so it is mostly hidden.

 

[67Elco]

As cheap as they are now, just buy one that looks halfway decent at least... https://www.amazon.com/Support-Adju...cket&qid=1704453579&s=electronics&sr=1-4&th=1

 

[AusWolf]

How about buying a GPU that's properly built, and/or isn't too long and heavy? (now's the time to throw stones at me)

 

[Tatty_Two]

How about buying a GPU that's properly built, and/or isn't too long and heavy? (now's the time to throw stones at me)

Sorry couldn't resist ...................

 

[A Computer Guy]

Put 2kg on top of that and you will likely dent the cardboard due to weight. Thats what I meant.

You have the orient the tube vertically as shown on the image on left in order to take advantage of the load bearing capacity of the cylinder.

 

[Vayra86]

You have the orient the tube vertically as shown on the image on left in order to take advantage of the load bearing capacity of the cylinder.

View attachment 328346

Try it with a heavy gpu. It will dent. Cylinder or not. The glue holding it together wont hold either.

 

[67Elco]

Can't imagine with all the money tied up in some of these rigs someone unwilling to spring a few bucks for something nicer than a toilet paper tube...

 

[taka]

From 2 mech pencils

only need the rubber erasor part and a pice of tube
et voila...

This was the cheapest and easy to do for me

Not the best looking one but does the job.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

I have an oompah loompah holding mine up.

 

[Totally]

So I recently built a new pc and moved from a 3060ti to a 4070 and I started getting recommended videos on you tube with relations to GPU sagging and its been only about a month since I built this system and i'm worried about sagging, my gpu does not have much play to it but being my OCD self I keep staring at the GPU worried. Is this sagging and is sagging as bad as they say?

There a quite a lot of pcb repair videos with 4090s that have stress fractures running along the pc connector. One even had a guy who bought a lot 19 dead 4090s hoping to revive a few and turn a profit but unfortunately all 19 had the same stress fracture with internal damage.

It's just an aesthetic thing, it doesn't really matter. Strangely enough I have a card with a waterblock on it that's very heavy and it doesn't really sag at all.

The newer 3 slot coolers that usually come with a free video card attached weigh a lot more than water and some acrylic.

 

[A Computer Guy]

Can't imagine with all the money tied up in some of these rigs someone unwilling to spring a few bucks for something nicer than a toilet paper tube...

Paper towel tube. LOL Last thing you want is crap in your PC.

There a quite a lot of pcb repair videos with 4090s that have stress fractures running along the pc connector. One even had a guy who bought a lot 19 dead 4090s hoping to revive a few and turn a profit but unfortunately all 19 had the same stress fracture with internal damage.



The newer 3 slot coolers that usually come with a free video card attached weigh a lot more than water and some acrylic.

I suppose vertical GPU mounting is going to increase to avoid this issue.

 

[lordmogul]

Interesting that it's still an issue. I remember reviews of mounting brackets 15 years ago. Those 7900 GTX cards were absolutely massive.
Personally I'm just using string to tie them to the top of my case. (at the end corner opposed to the output bracket) Perfectly capable to keep the card from sagging.

I suppose vertical GPU mounting is going to increase to avoid this issue.

Looking at the issues with the 12-pin power cable and the width of modern cards, vertical mount will probably become more common just to not have the connector melt.

 

[67Elco]

The 12-pin connector issue and gpu sag have nothing to do with each other...or a vertical mount for that matter.