Mac Pro Replacement for broken PCI X 2.0

[Xer0dIn]

I wanted to get everyone's opinion and also to see if anyone had this happen to them. I have a early '08 mac pro that was BTO with an 8800 GT. I had to move the computer for the first time since I've had it (got it about two months after released.) I heard something 'rattling' around inside and opened up the side of the case to see what it was. I thought it may have been a loose screw but it turns out it was the "lock" on the PCI Express 2.0 port that was broken off. I haven't messed with anything inside the mac pro except adding second HDD. I've been building machines a long time and new what this part looked like. I looked at the other PCI slots and all looked fine, no damage. So I removed the 8800 GT to take a look and sure enough the plastic end that helps secure the card was broke off.

Anyways, my question is has anyone had anything wrong with there mac pro like this? I have apple care, will apple replace the motherboard? There is no way I can prove that I didn't brake it. Also, I guess it's not that big of a deal if they won't, it's just plastic and in no way effects the performance of the machine. It just bothers me knowing that something is wrong with such an expensive piece of equipment.

 

[jjahshik32]

I wanted to get everyone's opinion and also to see if anyone had this happen to them. I have a early '08 mac pro that was BTO with an 8800 GT. I had to move the computer for the first time since I've had it (got it about two months after released.) I heard something 'rattling' around inside and opened up the side of the case to see what it was. I thought it may have been a loose screw but it turns out it was the "lock" on the PCI Express 2.0 port that was broken off. I haven't messed with anything inside the mac pro except adding second HDD. I've been building machines a long time and new what this part looked like. I looked at the other PCI slots and all looked fine, no damage. So I removed the 8800 GT to take a look and sure enough the plastic end that helps secure the card was broke off.

Anyways, my question is has anyone had anything wrong with there mac pro like this? I have apple care, will apple replace the motherboard? There is no way I can prove that I didn't brake it. Also, I guess it's not that big of a deal if they won't, it's just plastic and in no way effects the performance of the machine. It just bothers me knowing that something is wrong with such an expensive piece of equipment.

Are you talking about the far left tab that holds the left side of the pci-e gpu card??

When I installed my gpu on my mac pro I accidentally snapped off that left tab on the slot.. but its pretty much not really needed since when you plug in the gpu it goes in pretty deep and the right side where the metal piece is securely holds the card in place without it even budging. So your ok.

 

[Xer0dIn]

Are you talking about the far left tab that holds the left side of the pci-e gpu card??

When I installed my gpu on my mac pro I accidentally snapped off that left tab on the slot.. but its pretty much not really needed since when you plug in the gpu it goes in pretty deep and the right side where the metal piece is securely holds the card in place without it even budging. So your ok.

Yes, that is it. But it was broken not by me, must have been from the factory. I haven't put in another card or taken out the one in there until I noticed what that piece of plastic was. Then I removed the 8800 gt.

 

[UltraNEO*]

Yes, that is it. But it was broken not by me, must have been from the factory. I haven't put in another card or taken out the one in there until I noticed what that piece of plastic was. Then I removed the 8800 gt.

OK. the bit of plastic isn't that important, the cards will still sit in the slot and function as normal. If you're having an experience where by the cards pop out, you can always place the video card in the slot above. I believe the bottom two slots are both the same speed "16X" (it's actually printed on the logic board in white, if you look), the only difference is the spacing.