PNY RTX 5080 won’t fully seat into PCIe slot. Possible manufacturing issue?
Posted by Katsumic@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 59 comments
Received my PNY 5080 today (sweet!) but I can’t get it to fully seat into my motherboard. The locking mechanism won’t click / engage. I took the mobo out to rule out the case being an issue and same result - it has enough clearance over heatsinks by about 2mm. I finally noticed that the locking tab on the GPU looks like it wasn’t cut properly, just enough to not fit. Anyone ever experience this? I’ve never had trouble getting GPUs to click in the PCIe slot before.
I compared the shape of the tab to my previous cards, and the cut is different. I’m assuming it’s off just enough (maybe .5mm?) to cause the mechanism not to click / lock in.
Here’s a picture of my PNY 5080 and my 3080 for comparison: https://imgur.com/a/2GQrdYP
Has anyone ever experienced this? I contacted PNY but probably won’t hear from them until next week. I’m hoping they don’t tell me to just return it, since I doubt Best Buy has any stock for replacements.
eatsomepoms@reddit
Thanks for posting about this. I have the exact same issue, but I would’ve been trying for ages to seat the 5080 if I hadn’t come across the post. Hopefully PNY will help me out!
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
Glad my post helped, although sorry to hear you’re having this issue. I feel like I almost cracked my motherboard trying to push the card in before I noticed. PNY support was great in my case - I would contact them with pictures if you don’t mind waiting to get a replacement.
swimmingtoalcatraz@reddit
Having a similar issue as well. Curious to know how your experience goes with RMA.
Here is mine: https://imgur.com/a/uE1vfgE
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
It looks like you may have a miscut like mine. Is your card refusing to fully click into the slot as well?
swimmingtoalcatraz@reddit
Yes. I was concerned it was a space issue, but it looks like it should have clearance. I manually locked it on my first installation, had it running fine for most of the day, then black screened when bringing it out of sleep later that evening.
GPU works great, but it appears that it was not locked in, and got loose, causing it to disconnect. Currently trying to insert it still, but no luck so far. I knew my luck ran out when I was able to get a 5080 in my cart lol.
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
I understand your frustration! I haven't tried mine yet. To their credit, Bruce at PNY has been great to talk with via e-mail so far and even responded multiple times over the weekend. I received a prepaid label and I'll be sending it in to their Team. I'll let you know how it goes!
swimmingtoalcatraz@reddit
Great to hear you are having a good experience. They did provide a label for me, but in the email it noted the following,
“Shipping charges one way to PNY’s RMA facility are covered by the Consumer”
Didn’t luck out with the prepaid label sadly
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
I received two e-mails. One had the RMA paperwork, along with the quoted text about shipping charges being covered by the consumer. I then received a second e-mail a few minutes later with a prepaid UPS label. Hopefully they do the same for you.
swimmingtoalcatraz@reddit
Ah, just got the email, you’re spot on!
I’ve had some rough customer support experiences in recent times, similarly with expensive products that turned out to have manufacturer errors (Breville). Grateful for this smoother experience so far.
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
I received my replacement 5080 today and so far it’s working great. Clicked into the slot and games are running well so far. It sucks that our original cards had an issue, but PNY impressed me with how quick of a turnaround there was on my RMA. Hope you experience the same!
swimmingtoalcatraz@reddit
Thanks for the update, and glad to hear your new card is in good shape :)
They are running QA on a replacement card, so I think I should be seeing it semi-soon!
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
Happy Friday! Any luck with your replacement yet? Just curious. Mine has been great so far.
swimmingtoalcatraz@reddit
Still waiting for it in the mail. Think I should have it early next week, I’ll update on how it performs!
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
Glad that you got the label! Fingers crossed for both of us, then. I'm going to try and get mine dropped off to UPS today.
Top_Spot_3281@reddit
Can I ask what email you reached out to? Was it technical support with tsupport@pny.com or did you fill out a ticket with them? I have to reach out to them about the 5080 GPU fans, Thanks!
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
I filled out a ticket on their support page. I’m not sure if you can email directly or not.
Top_Spot_3281@reddit
Thank you!
Ruin_nX@reddit
My PNY 5080 I just got today has that exact white mark and I’m having a similar issue if not the same. If your mobo has a post code display was it stopping at f7?
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
I’m sorry, but I didn’t try to use the card. It fit into the PCIe slot 95% of the way and probably would have worked, but I was worried about the latch not clicking in at all. I’ve seen a couple of others have the same issue and their card works, it’s just not held in by the latch.
I used PNYs support page to submit a ticket and included some pictures of the PCB tab. Their support has been very helpful and prompt so far in processing the RMA. Returning it is an option also, but I didn’t think the place I bought it from would have any GPUs for exchange.
Ruin_nX@reddit
Those pci express traces on the card look exactly like the ones on mine. I’m thinking those are the issue.
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
I think those are the new PCIe 5.0 traces. I’ve seen it mentioned elsewhere. The founder edition cards have the same kind of traces.
Ruin_nX@reddit
Ok thank you
ChemicalSock3926@reddit
I have the same, I just inserted it till it stopped, and it's working fine.
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
Glad it’s working fine! Did your PCIe latch move at all? It certainly seems like they had a batch that wasn’t quite cut properly. I ended up sending mine for RMA. I should be getting the replacement this week.
ChemicalSock3926@reddit
where did you send it? PCIe latch is not able to secure the card, so I just left it like this, I'm not moving my pc too much, so it should be fine I think, another concerning thing is the fan noise( it sound like something is rubbing inside
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
I contacted PNY via their support ticket website. They’ve been great to work with so far, although I think the RMA was expedited a bit due to the nature of the issue and that it’s a newly released card. I can’t speak to the fan issue… I didn’t try to use my card since it wouldn’t click in.
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
Just an update on this... I heard back from PNY support, and they have issued an RMA because their team wants to check the card. My back and forth with their support has been great so far, but I'm nervous about sending this in for RMA versus returning it to the store and having to hunt for a card again. I'll update this post later in case anyone receiving their PNY card has the same issue.
Extension_River_8670@reddit
Not familiar with this but I was installing my new PNY 4070 super yesterday and it was a pain in the ass to align the GPU pins with the motherboard PCIE slot.
I’m guessing that’s just a PNY problem?
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
Interesting… was yours warped or bent at all? Were you finally able to get it to click in?
Extension_River_8670@reddit
It wasn’t noticeably bent or warped but there was definitely something off with the small gap in between the two pins. Eventually after a lot of work it clicked in though.
tshinotu145@reddit
Just cut it at the line and see if it fits
Dosnbiersaufn@reddit
insane advise
DefMech@reddit
Not a good idea to do if you care about the warranty, but it’s not unreasonable at all. Cutting pcb material, especially a sliver this small is a trivial task. File, dremel, hobby saw, all kinds of things would work and it would only take a few seconds. No traces are in this area so you don’t even need to be that precise.
Dosnbiersaufn@reddit
Fair enough.
Scarabesque@reddit
your warranty is now voided for taking a file to a PCB
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
I’ve thought about it, but yeah… I don’t want to void my warranty or break the card.
greggm2000@reddit
I'm not advising it, but I admit I've chosen to break off the plastic latch connected to the slot (the thing the locking tab on your GPU engages with), on my motherboard, because I hate the damn thing so much. With this, my 4080 can be removed easily once it's unscrewed from the case, no messing about with an F-ing latch. All good :)
.. ofc I void the warranty on my motherboard by doing this, but I don't care about that.
Dosnbiersaufn@reddit
just wondering did you never take off the protective film from the backplate on the EVGA card? Somehow looks like it in the pic.
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
I put the film back on as I was boxing up the GPU. I wasn’t using it with the film in place 😀
Dosnbiersaufn@reddit
I see haha, makes sense
Core308@reddit
Is it close enough that a finger or a plastic spoon could easilly force the lock close?
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
No, unfortunately. I’ve tried to manually push the lock inward when the card is seated and it won’t budge. It really seems like the mis-shaped cut is somehow preventing the lock from moving. When comparing to my old GPU, the pcb tab is about 1mm longer.
Luckyirishdevil@reddit
Does the 5080 function in the slot without the lock engaged? If so... who cares? Use it until you figure it out with PNY
AOEIU@reddit
Ignore the plastic and look at the pins; they're totally fucked.
PNY messed up pretty bad to ship that card out.
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
I noticed that too at first, but was able to find photos to compare against like you did. Frustrating to finally manage to order one and it has a small defect. I’ve tried everything I could think of or find via searching. It just refuses to click in. I’m hoping PNY support is helpful, but I’m doubtful.
Luckyirishdevil@reddit
They were great when I had to RMA my 4090 for a defective fan last year. No issues at all a d a lot of communication when everything was relieved and shipped out, ect
astro143@reddit
I know the pcie 5.0 pins look a little different than we're used to, but yeah that looks very abnormal
AOEIU@reddit
Ooh, I didn't think about PCIe 5. Looking at photos of Founders Edition cards online roughly matches that.
I did check the PNY website and that's not what it looked like, but that might just be photoshop.
palindromedev@reddit
If you don't want to have to return the card, then all you have to do is deep score a vertical line straight down through that white mark, then just get to work increasing the depth until the excess piece comes off... its just a manufacturing error and overshoot by a few millimetres so it's an easy fix as long as you don't 'bull in a China shop' it
etom21@reddit
What about a fine file?
palindromedev@reddit
A fine file might be problematic due to filing it down will cause all the small fibres etc to keep coming off slowly and then once filed down, it's going to look obvious that it has been altered as it's not a clean cut. For potential future warranty needs, you want to perform a cut straight down that white line so the edge is clean like it would be by the factory.
jspikeball123@reddit
The locking pin does not need to click for the card to work. The card will be held in by the case screws. Unless it is not actually seating in the slot all the way, but I would bet it would work just fine.
Elijah_72@reddit
I mean if i bought a 1200$ card and it wont seat properly im returning that immediately
HurricaneFloyd@reddit
That is a counterfeit card.
geemad7@reddit
Yes, i had this with a AMD card, my problem was that my case did not want to play nice with the PCI bracket. little bending made it work. Did you try seating it outside of the case?
Migit78@reddit
I had a lot of trouble getting my MSI 5080 seated corrected.
Must've plugged and unplugged it a dozen times. But I got it in eventually.
I originally didn't notice it wasn't properly in, but testing it I couldn't get it to go to x16 lanes and it was stuck at x1
I did have a motherboard sided GPU anti sag bracket (lian-li gb-001) which I uninstalled, that made it easier to get the card to click in properly. I had been assuming it was the few mm of the bracket stopping the cooler getting close enough to the board, but maybe it's just the shape of the connectors that mean they don't go in as easily as people expect?
But I will say, connecting just about all parts to my motherboard felt like it took way more force than I would think to use.
agreable_licker@reddit
Um i can't make of the picture and what are you masking?
Katsumic@reddit (OP)
Just blocking out the serial numbers. Not sure if it matters, but an old habit. I’m referring to the small tab on the GPU that sits just beside the PCIE slot, where the motherboard has a clip / latch that clicks in and holds the GPU in the slot.
42Tyler42@reddit
Certainly looks like what you’ve described - I’ve never seen it before myself