Did I damage my motherboard by plugging a PCIe x1 card into a regular PCI slot?

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kvd171

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Jun 11, 2014
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I just put together my first build after a few modifications (details below) and had the system running for just over a week with no problems... smooth booting, great performance in games, etc. My old USB wireless adapter wasn't cutting it, so I found a better PCIe wireless adapter I had laying around and plugged it in.

Only problem: I accidentally plugged the PCIe x1 wireless adapter into a regular PCI slot. Machine instantly shut down and gave me a high/low/high/low beep code which according to Intel would indicate a thermal warning... but the shutdown was clearly caused by the incorrect installation of the PCIe card. After waiting a couple minutes and trying to reboot, I see the mobo LED diagnostic light but get no response, no beeps, nothing. Not so much as a fan twitch.

I removed the mobo from the case and removed all components down to a stick of RAM, CPU, and PSU and can't get any response/codes from the mobo. Removed the CMOS battery and tried again, nothing. I see no visual damage on the mobo but I can't get the thing to turn over at all. Does it sound like I fried my mobo with this stupid move?

System details:
CPU: Intel i7 860 @ 2.8GHz
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 HSF
Motherboard: Intel DP55WB
PSU: Corsair CX600
RAM: 4 x Kingston DDR3 1GB (4GB total)
GPU: GTX470
 
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logang

logang

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Mar 29, 2012
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You were trying to install an expansion card with it powered on, or you installed it, then tried to power it on and ran into problems? Based on your description it sounds like you attempted to plug in the new adapter card while the computer was on, but that would be ridiculous so I am guessing not.

 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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Nov 23, 2004
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You have a good chance of causing damage. It is that much worse that you tried with system running the look of things.

PCI-E would have taken the hot plug(but most certainly would have required a reboot), but the fact that the card shorted out a good portion of the PCI slot, I think you may have killed it.

You can try to disconnect the power and hit the power button then use the clear cmos jumper, but I do not have a good feeling.
 
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K

kvd171

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Jun 11, 2014
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I don't know what I was thinking. This mobo had 8 USBs or something so maybe I got too used to hot swapping peripherals in the back. Yes, I plugged the PCIe wifi adapter card into the mobo's PCI slot while the machine was running, and the machine instantly turned off (Windows did not shut down).
 
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sam80jr

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Apr 5, 2010
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OMG i thought you were saying you installed it in the wrong slot. You tried installing a pci device with the motherboard on? Even if you installed it into the correct PCI-e x1 slot, you still would have fried the mobo. Installing the card in the wrong slot didnt fry it, doing it while the PC was on did. If you did it with the PC off, worst case, it just wouldnt boot and you could remove the card to fix the problem.

By doing it with the PC on, the metal pins on the PCI-e card touched the metal pins on the mobo slot and caused a short or electrical discharge. You 100% fried the motherboard, my friend.

Next time, ask for help from someone who knows what they are doing...if this is your first time building a computer, you shouldn't be messing around with stuff. There is absolutely no need to add an expansion USB card...theres no way you used up all your USB ports, and if you did, there are easier methods like buying a 7 port USB hub for 20 bucks on newegg.
 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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Nov 23, 2004
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They hot plugged a wireless card not usb.

Hot plugging a part does not guarantee damage. Pins connecting to the right place will not cause a short. Sticking pins that are not in the right places can bridge 2 pins and cause damage and seems to have.

I have seen some people plug in and even remove cards with a system on at some lan parties in the past. Recommended? no. guaranteed part failure? no.

I have personally hot plugged memory to flash it after the SDP became corrupt(so it would not post with the stick in). that system is still alive today.

This is NOT to say I am ever recommending hot plugging parts, some systems are even designed with it in mind however.
 
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