The top PCIe slot might be damaged, but you could try repairing it.
The top PCIe slot might be damaged, but you could try repairing it.
You recently installed a powered standing desk and assumed your cables were long enough to reach from the top of your desk to the PC floor. It turned out you were mistaken. Your display port cable was too short, putting pressure on the PCIe slot and causing it to break. You were unaware of the issue until you tried booting your PC with the GPU in the first PCIe slot, which froze it and displayed error dots. Switching to the second PCIe slot resolved the problem.
Should I consider replacing my motherboard? Also, does Asus cover this under warranty? Your motherboard is a ROG STRIX Z490 E Gaming. Someone can help you find a suitable replacement if needed.
The second port features PCI-E 3.0 with eight lanes, as shown on the Asus site. That should suffice; I wouldn’t have been too worried about a four-lane version.
The broken clip wouldn't lead to that problem. If the slot isn't functioning right now, it means the slot itself is damaged. Unlikely. It's probably best to give it another shot, though it's uncommon for companies to cover user or shipping issues like this.
The 3080 GPU might influence your system's performance due to its specifications.