I was holding a screwdriver to push the PCIe lever out to free my GPU, but it slipped and hit my motherboard.
I was holding a screwdriver to push the PCIe lever out to free my GPU, but it slipped and hit my motherboard.
I was using a good amount of force, what are the chances that it caused some sort of damage to the motherboard, and how do I tell? The PC still boots fine, and I didn't see any obvious cracks or scratches. Here are some pictures of the area behind the lever. Hopefully the screwdriver just slid to the left and struck the bare PCB. http://imgur.com/gallery/gTpIkji
If something fails, you'd likely have noticed by then. Over time, repairing computer parts has become much harder. Of course, being cautious is wise, but don't let fear get the best of you.
I used to do this until I accidentally scratched the back of my board around the CPU socket while setting up my tower cooler. From my experience, PCBs usually withstand some scratches, though there are hidden probe points that need to be removed before measuring. It’s best to use a soft plastic tool or something similar to avoid permanently damaging the board. If it was dead, you’d recognize it by now, but it’s hard to confirm if everything is functioning perfectly 100%.
It required a fair amount of effort. The latch was jammed, it was midnight, and I was becoming annoyed. I’m hoping things are fine.
Your PC starting up looks promising. As mentioned before, computer parts are generally resilient. Just proceed with extra caution now.