P5Q3 not recognising HD 3870 in second PCIe slot?

[Guest]

I ahve a Sapphire HD 3870 Ultimate (the passive cooled version) and it physically wont fit into the primary PCIe slot because the heatsink clashes with the memory sticks.

So i have put it in the second free PCIe slot which it does fit in.

The problem now is that the card wont show up anywhere on the system, and there is no output from it.

I put my old card in and it works, so i have tried changing the BIOS to boot with the second slot - but there doesnt seem to be any way of forcing the damned thing to recognise it.

the next thing on my list is to put my old card in the secondary slot, but considering it is a new board and i just pulled the GPU from my old rig, there should really be no problems with either.

So what i am asking is: how can i get the motherboard to recognise that i want it to use the secondary slot as the primary?

that or any other workaround would be great

 

[r_manic]

You can try a PCIe ribbon, which is basically a cable that connects your card and the PCIe slot. You can tuck the card in somewhere else, and still connect it to that all-important first slot.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, it is good to know they exist for a plan B but, how would one "tuck the card in somewhere else"? doesnt the PCIe slot also act as a physical attachment to the motherboard / align with the slots at the back of the case?

 

[brendano257]

You'd use the ribbon to connect it to the motherboard (data connection) and then find a way to put it in place somewhere in the case where a cable can reach in from the back. Also somewhere, where there is good enough airflow for the card. I assume you'll end up using some sort of duct tape and such to hold it in place, but it's better than getting another card/motherboard so it'll fit.