Gaming Advice: Video Card securing

Thought I would share something from my experience with gaming. I have a shaky computer and home electrical wiring. I had problems with power supplies in the past, and I finally moved on to Corsair for their supposed reliability. Everything was going great, till I started getting low framerates in games. The PSU was also producing a whining sound (can be normal), so I thought it was on its way out and therefore reducing my GPU performance. I actually got out and bought a new power supply (corsairs second version of their TX650) but to my dismay, the situation did not improve. I did find a solution though, one that should have occurred to me sooner.

I had actually had problems with my GPU before. It would change to using x4 PCI-e speeds instead of staying at x16. This would cause reduced framerates and was due to the GPU not being seated properly. Remember, PCI-e lanes are all the same. x1 is just using fewer lanes than x4 etc. x16 uses all the lanes and if a few are not connected, it will continue working, but using a slower spec. This time though, I did not see anything but x16 as the speed. I checked this using GPU-Z. I thought everything was fine with the GPU, but it turned out to be the source of all my troubles. 

The GPU not being seated properly was causing these symptoms

1. 2-3 power cycles before the system would boot

2. GPU noise higher than normal

3.  Lower than normal Framerates in a game I was familiar with. i.e. I knew what kind of performance was normal for me. The game was League of Legends

I moved it around a bit and finally found a position in which the PC boots right away and games have the proper frame rates. I suspect that this problem might have caused the demise of my hd3870, but I am not sure. It is likely to eventually damage something in the system however, so take note and be careful. I have to say, even with the quirks of the motherboard, its been around for quite a while. Foxconn P35a.

Tags: PC gaming, Video Card, GPU, Trouble-shooting, Graphics Card, Foxconn Motherboard, HD5770