PCI-Express Video Card stuck, can't undo plastic latch!

[quadomatic]

I was trying to remove my X850 Pro from my PC because the fan needs to be cleaned out/replaced, but I can't seem to get it out! The part of the card that has the pin contacts has come off fine, but the plastic hook-ish part at the end is stuck in the slot. I read that the small plastic piece at the end of the PCI-Express slot that holds the card there is supposed to have a lever or something (white plastic piece in my pics), but I can't seem to figure it out. Here are pictures of the current situation (I have the card propped up on stuff so that it doesn't fall/break/clusterf***)

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/1721/img1587zv8.jpg

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/6793/img1588ps4.jpg

Can someone instruct me on how to take it out? My video card is an ATI Radeon X850 Pro and my mobo is an ECS 945GCT-M/1333 mATX.

Thanks, and please hurry!

 

[thilanliyan]

Try pulling the white plastic piece backwards (towards the front of your case) then pulling the card out. You try wiggling it out?

 

[angry hampster]

break the damn thing off. I hate those levers.

 

[quadomatic]

Originally posted by: thilan29
Try pulling the white plastic piece backwards (towards the front of your case) then pulling the card out. You try wiggling it out?

I tried wiggling and it doesn't seem to work. I tried pulling the piece to the right and down, but not backwards. I'll give that a shot.

I'd love to rip the darn thing off...I doubt it would effect functionality since it just holds a piece of plastic, but I don't think that would be a good idea.

 

[Hauk]

Yea that latch looks like it needs to go forward, towards the front of the case. If you can't reach or get it with a fingertip, be careful as hell and push on the back of the white latch to move it forward. It may help to insert card back in slot all the way first.

 

[quadomatic]

Originally posted by: SteelSix
Yea that latch looks like it needs to go forward, towards the front of the case. If you can't reach or get it with a fingertip, be careful as hell and push on the back of the white latch to move it forward. It may help to insert card back in slot all the way first.

By towards the front of the case, do you mean towards the front, as in towards myself as I'm pulling, or towards the cd and hard drives?

 

[Hauk]

CD and hard drives. It's locked itself around the lip of the PCB. Moving latch towards hard drives/CD will expose the lip.

 

[quadomatic]

I can't seem to pull it forward towards the front of the case. The plastic piece seems to be fully deep at the actual orange connector, and becomes more like a dip at the end of the white plastic piece. I can't figure out what to do...!

 

[Hauk]

Pretty sure it has to go forward. Try inserting the card all the way back in, and use a small flat tip screwdriver to push it forward. Don't slip...

 

[Skunkwourk]

This board?

http://img.generation-nt.com/p...s/0300000000077792.jpg

The white part doesn't even looks the same. I would just take a small screw driver and try to pry off the white part or try to force that piece foward towards the front of your case.

EDIT. Also the fact that your card isn't sitting in the slot correctly might be preventing you from moving the white piece forward. Like Steelsix said, reseat the card then try pushing it foward.

 

[quadomatic]

Originally posted by: SteelSix
Pretty sure it has to go forward. Try inserting the card all the way back in, and use a small flat tip screwdriver to push it forward. Don't slip...

I can't really get it back in all the way...My case is kinda bad. I can get it almost back in, where the pins are all aligned it be put back in, but I can't push it back in...at least not the way it is right now...this sucks.

I'll try getting it back in again...

 

[Hauk]

Yea an ECS board was my guess too. Of all the PCI-E lock designs, that one sucks the most..

 

[quadomatic]

Any advice on reseating the card. I can get the metal shield of the card seated onto the inside of the case, and push the card in, but as I put it back, it appears that the card gets stuck. Not sure why. Any ideas? My case is pretty f'ing bad...

 

[SOSTrooper]

I suggest you to take the motherboard out rather than working in the case. You can leave your CPU fan and memory intact, just the entire motherboard out of the case.

 

[quadomatic]

I looked at my old Biostar motherboard's pci express slot. It's very different from the one on my new ECS mobo. That one required precious little force to remove. You just have to push on it and it unclips. I wish I understood how this one works....

Does anyone here have an ECS motherboard and knows how to remove your video card? The mechanism is probably the same.

 

[Puffnstuff]

That latch looks like you need to lift underneath the end closes to the drive bays and pull it up towards you and the rear of your case. The only place it can pivot is on the end of your pci-e slot so that would be the only way to move it. I hate those levers and I've broken a couple of them off on purpose.

 

[Nathelion]

I have a s939 ECS mobo. The lock is a bit tricky on mine too, but basically what people have been saying is correct. The white lever needs to be pushed sort of like a ram-slot lever, towards the mobo and towards the front of the case at the same time (on mine, at least). If your card is not properly seated, then that would cause you trouble.
I'd go with the recommendation to take the mobo out. Once you get it out of the case away from all the cable clutter and with plenty of space and good light, you should be able to figure it out.

 

[quadomatic]

Originally posted by: Nathelion
I have a s939 ECS mobo. The lock is a bit tricky on mine too, but basically what people have been saying is correct. The white lever needs to be pushed sort of like a ram-slot lever, towards the mobo and towards the front of the case at the same time (on mine, at least). If your card is not properly seated, then that would cause you trouble.
I'd go with the recommendation to take the mobo out. Once you get it out of the case away from all the cable clutter and with plenty of space and good light, you should be able to figure it out.

How much force did you need to apply to ubdo the latch?

The latch on my biostar s754 mobo is VERY easy to undo. It barely requires any force, and it seems to be almost exactly like a ram slot. It is also much smaller than the latch on my current mobo.

Do you have a picture of your s939 ecs mobo? The pics of socket 939 ecs mobos don't appear to have a latch anything like mine...Mine wraps around the plastic piece. The other ones are like my biostar's latch and like a ram latch.

From the picture I put up...it looks like my latch is supposed to just slide to the front of the case, or its supposed to life upwards...it just looks like the plastic latch is rounded at the end closest to the orange pci-e slot.

 

[BassBomb]

take out that cd spindle and the usb thing first so you can get at it from underneath LOL

 

[quadomatic]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
take out that cd spindle and the usb thing first so you can get at it from underneath LOL

i thought that was a given...so not too helpful

 

[Hauk]

I hope you manage to get the card out without breaking anything. It's frustrating for sure.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Yes don't break anything. I can see healthy amounts of card dust all over it already in your picture.

 

[Narse]

That latch needs to slide towrds the harddrives and front of the case. If you cannot get your card back in you most likely have it in a bind.

 

[quadomatic]

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
Yes don't break anything. I can see healthy amounts of card dust all over it already in your picture.

Yeah, the reason I need to take it out is because it gets really dusty really fast for some reason, and that makes the fan stop working. It needs to be taken out so I can clean the fan, but I might actually just order an Accelero S1 and replace the fan so I won't have to deal with this anymore.

 

[Skunkwourk]

Originally posted by: quadomatic

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
Yes don't break anything. I can see healthy amounts of card dust all over it already in your picture.

Yeah, the reason I need to take it out is because it gets really dusty really fast for some reason, and that makes the fan stop working. It needs to be taken out so I can clean the fan, but I might actually just order an Accelero S1 and replace the fan so I won't have to deal with this anymore.

get the ECS 8800GT with the Accelero S1, maybe it'll be easier to take out of your ECS mb the next time you want to clean your computer lol.