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Solve : PCI-E flexible riser card problems please help!?

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hey all,

i got a problem with a computer i am building and i am at a loss, i am hoping there is someone out there who can help

ok i have a Geforce GT220 graphics card, it goes in the PCI-e x16 socket and all is well, it works great. but it wont fit in the case, so i need a riser card. i had a 90 degree solid one, but its not high enough and bends the wrong way, but it does work great.

so i got a flexible one, and it moves the graphics card perfectly to where i need it, and the computer BOOTS up, but as windows is loading and i get the windows logo with the scrolling thing along the bottom, it just freezes and fully locks the computer.

i thought it was a cheap hongkong riser card, so i got another card. this one is much higher quality, it has big ground planes between the contacts, and each transmit line has its own capacitor, at both ends of the cable.

but still nothing. the computer boots fine all the way to windows when the graphics card is in normally, or at right angles. but when on either of the ribbon cables it freezes.

i tried modifying the graphics card so that it is powered from the power supply instead of the PCI-E socket, but that didn't work, so i am at a loss.

i need it to fit in this case so i can't get another. the graphics card is the smallest one i can find with HDCP so i have to use it.

any ideas? thanks! There's no reason any of those risers should work.  The PCI-Express Specification does not support their use.  So, since there is no spec for them, they may or may not work in your application. Quote from: Computer_Commando on April 05, 2011, 12:34:33 PM

There's no reason any of those risers should work.  The PCI-Express Specification does not support their use.  So, since there is no spec for them, they may or may not work in your application.

 thanks for the reply.

why should they not work? what is the limits of the standard? i really need to get this card to fit otherwise i have to start from scratch. its a custom computer with custom case etc, and i will have to redesign everything if this doesn't work, which i just cant afford to do and it will have been months of work down the drain.

i would even go as far as to hand solder each wire to the graphics card and to the motherboard if it would fix the problem because that would be less work.

the cables seem to work with the graphics card for the first part, the graphics card comes on, the fan turns and i get the POST screen, then i get the windows logo, so its starting to boot the OS, but something happens during boot up ( the lights on the keyboard also all come on and then switch off at the same time it freezes) but it is just locking up.

i was hoping someone could give me some in depth detail about what the computer is doing at that point and why it is causing it to fail. if its a case of better shielding on the cables, or more power to the graphics card then i can fix that, but i need to be pointed in the right direction.


from what i understand people seem to be having the same problem using riser cards on high spec graphics cards. they all crash at the same point, and lower spec cards work fine.

any hints would be great, i really don't want to start from the beginning againYou should look at whats called "low profile" vid cards instead of using a riser card solution...

Or as i did recently gut the DARN thing and put it in an appropiate case...The only type that would have a chance of working is one like this:
http://www.logicsupply.com/products/pcie_101l_16

The leads (extension) must be very short.  If it uses a ribbon cable, it probably won't work.
Reason:  impedance can't be controlled, throws timing off (out of spec).

Soldering something will only make it worse. Quote from: patio on April 05, 2011, 03:32:18 PM
You should look at whats called "low profile" vid cards instead of using a riser card solution...

Or as i did recently gut the darn thing and put it in an appropiate case...

the Geforce GT220 1Gb is as low profile as i could find, but its still to high when sitting vertically,

and the problem is that the case is designed to fit in a small space, changing it isn't an option without going right back to the beginning, where i may as well buy a new motherboard with a HDCP compliant graphics card built in. Quote from: Computer_Commando on April 05, 2011, 05:12:04 PM
The only type that would have a chance of working is one like this:
http://www.logicsupply.com/products/pcie_101l_16

The leads (extension) must be very short.  If it uses a ribbon cable, it probably won't work.
Reason:  impedance can't be controlled, throws timing off (out of spec).

Soldering something will only make it worse.

that is the right angle one i have, and it works but it is ANGLED the wrong way and is still too low.

the impedance shouldn't matter, if the signals are so limited that the traces need to be kept to an EXACT distance then graphics card companies are going to have real trouble when building the much larger cards. when the trace impedance becomes an issue everything must be fixed, like the way the memory is a set distance from the CPU, and memory sticks are a strict size. graphics cards differ hugely in size and so the physical traces are longer in bigger cards.

by rising the card up by maybe 2 cm, is no different than having a bigger graphics card.
  • You came here asking for help.
  • Help was offered.
  • You choose not to accept the help.
  • Move on.
Quote from: Computer_Commando on April 06, 2011, 01:47:48 PM
  • You came here asking for help.
  • Help was offered.
  • You choose not to accept the help.
  • Move on.

i appreciate the help but they did not answer my questions or solve my problem, at what point did i REFUSE to accept help?


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