Better get a bracket: GPU sagging really does ruin your graphics card
GPU sagging has become a big issue
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Graphics card sagging, while once a non-issue, has become a genuine threat to their lifespan, causing them to fail much sooner than normal. As cards become more powerful, they also become much larger and heavier in design, which means they tend to sag if not supported on both sides in the PC case.
As German computer repair technicianKrisFixexplains (and reported on byTom’s Hardware) when a graphics card sags as a result of this increased weight, “memory modules can lose connection with its associated solder points on the PCB.” There’s also the issue of thermal variance, caused by the daily use of the card under sag conditions.
According to KrisFix, This seems to be a major cause for why theNvidiaGeForce RTX 2080 Ti, considered one of thebest graphics cardsever (and still an excellent contender today), has been failing sooner than anticipated.
And since the 2080 Ti, graphics cards have only become heavier, which puts the RTX 3000-series and especially the brick-like 4000-series at an even higher risk for failure later on in its life.
What is being done about it?
It seems that manufacturers are finally becoming more aware of the issues surrounding graphics cards sag, and more are coming up with a simple way to combat it: using some kind of support beam to keep the card level on the unsupported side.
Some have those supports built-in the PC case likeCooler Master’s support bracket, while others like theManli Gallardo RTX 4090graphics card itself are equipped with two spirit levels. And as the concept becomes more widespread, we should be seeing more of them cropping up and eventually becoming a standard in both PC cases and graphics cards.
But what about the current users, the ones who already made their purchase years ago and could be facing imminent catastrophic GPU failure? You can have your PC modded by official or unofficial repair services to give it a bracket or level, but that could be quite expensive.
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Naturally, there are cheaper alternatives and guides on how to go about building them, everything from Lego blocks to hooking string around your GPU to stabilize it. So there is hope for you as long as too much damage hasn’t already been done to your beloved graphics card just yet. Otherwise, you might have to invest in a brand new one, like theRTX 4070that launched on April 13.
Named by the CTA as a CES 2023 Media Trailblazer, Allisa is a Computing Staff Writer who covers breaking news and rumors in the computing industry, as well as reviews, hands-on previews, featured articles, and the latest deals and trends. In her spare time you can find her chatting it up on her two podcasts, Megaten Marathon and Combo Chain, as well as playing any JRPGs she can get her hands on.
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