Unidentified small piece fell out after dropping computer

[rdoctor9]

I have a MSI Aegis Gaming desktop

When putting in a new hard drive yesterday I accidentally let it drop on its side while tilting it back up. Afterwards I heard a piece rattling around when I moved the computer and eventually a small plastic part fell out of my graphics card (I don’t know if the part was originally there). I had not previously heard rattling when moving the computer so I suspect the drop caused something to come loose. Here are pictures of the part that fell out (finger for scale).

What is this part, and do I need to be worried? The computer runs fine but I don’t know if the graphics card might be physically unsupported now or something. Thanks!

[ATTACH type=“full” width=“357px” alt=“IMG-5838.jpg”]10986[/ATTACH][ATTACH type=“full” width=“357px” alt=“IMG-5839.jpg”]10987[/ATTACH][ATTACH type=“full” width=“358px” alt=“IMG-5840.jpg”]10988[/ATTACH][ATTACH type=“full” width=“356px” alt=“IMG-5841.jpg”]10989[/ATTACH][ATTACH type=“full” width=“356px” alt=“IMG-5842.jpg”]10990[/ATTACH]

[Rustys]

looks like the locking mechanism that is used to lock the RAM in place

[rdoctor9]

It isn’t one of those - they look different and all of them are still there. With that starting point though, I thought to look at my PCIe slot locking mechanisms. It’s identical to the one on my unused port. I figure it must be the one from my graphics card’s port. Is it important to try and put it back in?

[Rustys]

Yes, it could be that simple to just reattach it to the port and or the card if that is what it came off of.

Let ger more specific information about the hardware

[COLOR=rgb(243, 121, 52)]What is the brand and model name or number of the PSU.

Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here, this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s.

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.

In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.

Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.[/COLOR]

[rdoctor9]

Here’s the URL: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/Q...qKCNvkbJmsw8j0

[Malnutrition]

Could post a picture of the inside of your computer, from at couple different angles.

[Rustys]

According to the motherboard that is what you thought it is the clip to lock the GPU into place it is located at the end of the slot.

See if this helps at all…
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z490...y#lg=1&slide=2

[rdoctor9]

I looked at the connection points and the function of the part. It seems like it’s unlikely that it’s important for the safety of the graphics card that I replace it immediately. I figure I’ll just put it in the next time I change a component or whatever. Thanks for the help!

[Rustys]

Not a problem.

Happy computing
Rustys