Matrix GTX 580 + Max V Gene and PCI-E

[Optimist]

Hello everyone, love the ROG community and great experts here I picked up a Z77 Gene as soon as it was available and it really does rock. Lots of features and the overclocking ability is tremendous. I ran into a problem recently though when I removed my Matrix 580 from its PCI-E slot to reroute and tie down a few cables. After reinstalling the GPU it no longer shows up in Windows 7, and the bios indicates a card is present but running at x0 (link speed set to auto). I also installed an mSATA SSD and Intel WiFi card into the Combo riser. I thought initially the add-in cards had something to do with it but upon closer inspection it looks like two of the gold connection fingers on the Matrix are chipped off the PCB. Each is missing about a 1/4 of a finger. I installed the card in an adjacent x16 to make sure it was not the motherboard and got the same result. An x1 soundcard I have runs fine in both slots as well.

My question is: Is there any way to repair the PCB connections, and/or does ASUS cover this kind of thing under warranty? I realize this might be categorized under Customer Induced Damage "CID", however I've removed/added countless cards in the past and never had an issue. The motherboard PCI-E slots seem to have a lot more 'grab' than other motherboards I've used, has anyone experienced this before?

[HiVizMan]

I suspect that if the missing connectors are indeed the problem and the damage was caused by removing then I do doubt that ASUS would RMA them as you have correctly surmised it would most problematic be construed as CID.

Do you have access to another VGA to test and see if that is the case?

[RonanC]

nearly certain my matrix had split fingers at each end, did you try a bios reset?

[RonanC]

if you look here, you see a split finger to the right

http://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/up...0_3D_3-H-2.jpg

I took my card out and confirm mine is the same as above

[Optimist]

Thanks guys for the responses. I checked out a few hi-res photos of the Matrix and you're absolutely right, two of the fingers are shorter than the others -- this newb jumped the gun a bit Since that was not an issue after all, the next step was to remove the bios battery (in addition to hitting CLR CMOS button). Initially everything would boot up into Windows but no display was present on either Intel HDMI or the Matrix. Also, to frustrate things further, the system would intermittently refuse to boot with Code A2, which is IDE detect. How that relates to a GPU beats me. I removed the Matrix and re-enabled multi-gpu rendering in bios. Maybe that was it? That option was enabled before I ran into problems though.

Current status: everything is working properly. Bios confirms x16 in Slot1, Windows and the Nvidia control panel are both happy. I have a feeling this may not last. I will keep everyone updated.

[RonanC]

glad you got it sorted, it sounds like a motherboard problem, I have heard sata controllers to go funky on some p67 and z68 boards..