Honestly I'd cut them off or get them fixed, you dont want them shorting out, you have nothing to gain by leaving them on except the possibility of them shorting out.

AdamScott85 said:

When I remove my 2 cards i push down on the clip with the end of a screw driver, always works easily.

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This is the method I use as well, obviously being extremely careful to use minimal force so that it doesn't end up slipping and scraping the motherboard. It's just not possible to access the retention clip any other way with some of the larger cards with backplates, at least with the large tower CPU cooler I have also in the way.

So now you have cut them down i do recommend either hot glue or even just some tape, anything to stop any stray lint/dust/fingers/tools anything from going near it, who knows one day you might forget and whip the graphics card out and BOOM no more motherboard.

Something as simple as a piece of tape could save that!

I would cut them down as short as possibly and I wouldn't use any glue as it could change the electrical properties across the pins.

I'd get a bit of plastic and bend it into a cover and glue it on top so the pins are covered but not being pressed down.

This has got to be one of the daftest threads I have seen for a while.

OP if you have exposed wiring get it fixed/replaced.

Don't bodge it.

cut them short and glue over so dust or anything can't create a contact later in life. or get it fixed

Is the accurate version of the events that you go really ****ed off and yanked out the card breaking your nice motherboard?

I don't think its worth doing a bodge job, what if you damaged something else beneath the surface and it has not yet showed? Is it really worth the risk further down the line if you burn out a bunch of other components? I would say replace it, a fix might seem cosmetically possible but again like crashing a car sometimes there is damage you don't see.

Alternatively fit long wires to each of the terminals and then install your graphics card outside your PC.

I jest!

archerz said:

cut them short and glue over so dust or anything can't create a contact later in life. or get it fixed

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Why? There are hundreds of exposed electrical connections on a motherboard with no glue on so why would these be any different?

I guess you could brush some clear nail varnish over the exposed pins now you have cut them down...or even bright pink if that's your thing

Does this mean I need to brush nail varnish, hot glue or electrical tape over the exposed pins on my unused pci slots?

I think we may be going a bit overboard here. He's cut the pins, they are not going to short, he's safe to leave it on while he has his tea and the world isn't going to spontaneously burst in to flames.

Deleted member 2277 said:

Why? There are hundreds of exposed electrical connections on a motherboard with no glue on so why would these be any different?

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This tbh, there is always exposed wiring on a mobo, if they're not shorting then jobs done

Is there a setting in BIOS to turn off pcie slot 2

Don't know if this would stop power going to that slot but if it does may be a bit "safer"

Deleted member 2277 said:

Why? There are hundreds of exposed electrical connections on a motherboard with no glue on so why would these be any different?

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My guess would be that any exposed components that have been left like that have been risk assessed, the pins in the PCIe socket have been covered over with a plastic plug housing for a reason, otherwise they'd have left them exposed as well.

So long as nobody in this thread ever wants to come and do electrical work at my house, I'm fine with this thread TBH.

Deleted member 2277 said:

Why? There are hundreds of exposed electrical connections on a motherboard with no glue on so why would these be any different?

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What he said ! Just leave it alone bud. Its not going to cause a fire. We are talking about low voltage connections. If you try and mess with them or cut them etc. you will just bend the pins and short things out. Also anything you cut off if likely going to fall in the computer and short things (no matter how careful you are).

Telecaster said:

My guess would be that any exposed componen that have been left like that have been risk assessed, the pins in the PCIe socket have been covered over with a plastic plug housing for a reason, otherwise they'd have left them exposed as well.

So long as nobody in this thread ever wants to come and do electrical work at my house, I'm fine with this thread TBH.

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Are you for real? This has got to be the most ridiculous comment I have ever read in this forum. The PCIe socket has been covered with plastic so that a card can be plugged into it. The connections on the PCIe socket carry the same voltages as the rest of the motherboard, what do you think the PCIe connections are connected to? Sorry for my rant but some some of the comments on this thread are unbelievable.

If a spider walks over it everyone for a 12 mile radius will die.

sieze2 said:

Its not going to cause a fire. We are talking about low voltage connections.

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Let it be known that it's not just voltage that can cause fire, current can too. In fact, I bet that high currents cause the majority of electrical fires.

Like when one of my SATA connectors caught fire. Not much voltage to be found in a SATA connector.

Dervious said:

Let it be known that it's not just voltage that can cause fire, current can too. In fact, I bet that high currents cause the majority of electrical fires.

Like when one of my SATA connectors caught fire. Not much voltage to be found in a SATA connector.

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This is correct, try shorting a 12v car battery and you will be doing a bit of arc welding!