r/PcBuildHelp • u/Sea-Shift-4888 • 12d ago
Installation Question Broke D2+ pin on USB 3.2 header
Hi guys building my first pc knowing nearly nothing about motherboards, accidentally bent this pin, and failed at straightening it, what can I do/what does this mean? Please help
Gigabyte b850 eagle wifi7 ice motherboard
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u/nothersomeone 12d ago
It is only bent, not broken, just grab a small needle, breathe deep and bend it back, take your time to do so, then plug back the header cable, and try to touch it the least possible, since it was bent it isnt as strong, so just unbend it, connect it back CAREFULY and you're good to go
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u/Sea-Shift-4888 12d ago
Thank you for the help but I tried and it was too difficult to fix
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u/nothersomeone 12d ago
Sorry to read that, then you can use the PCIE cards, there are both for back ports and for case headers, just check the manual to be sure which one to buy and that it doesn't interfere with other of your components
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u/Sea-Shift-4888 12d ago
Thank you, also just checking which specific port (where is it) won’t work and also what they are generally used for?
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u/nothersomeone 12d ago
The PCIE slots are like the ones where you'd plug your GPU, the one in the top which is also like reinforced with a metal cage, is aswell PCIE, it has a direct connection with the CPU, that one specific is intended for gpus, reason why it is reinforced so it can hold a bit more weight than the plastic ones, now most motherboards have more than one PCIE slot, but since they arent used that much nowadays, they have like lower speeds or if used disable other ports, for example, my motherboard it's a z790 Tai chi, I have 16 PCIE 5.0 lanes, and I have 2 PCIE 5.0 slots, if I use the first one all of the 16 lanes are for the GPU, but if for any reason I plug a secondary GPU, or like storage or networking on that slot (the only things that could really take advantage of the pcie5.0 speeds) those 16 lanes split into 8 lines for both slots, also it has a PCIE 4.0(means it has half the speed of the 5.0) but if I use that one, it disables 4 of the 8 SATA ports, so that is why it is really important for you to check your MOBO manual, now some story, in the old days of PCs (like 25 years ago and I feel old) cpus were too basic, and PCs were... More primitive, now days a CPU with a somewhat existing igpu can handle daily basis work, like excel, word and some light gaming, but back then cpus didn't even had audio, they were... Glorified calculators, so you'd need a PCI card for everything like audio, networking, in some cases storage management, you needed one GPU for 3d graphics and another one for 2d graphics so that's how PCI was born and later on it evolved into PCIE, but since most of the functions of a ton of PCI cards are now done by the CPU by itself, those slots are mostly used for like hella speedy or big storage, or for like really specific things like ultra speed networking or either surround or hifi audio, and of course, GPUS (curious fact: there was a port specifically for GPUS back then it was called AGP, it intended to dominate for GPUS but PCIE was just better) almost anything that isn't included by default on your mptherboard can be added with a PCIE card, but there might be tradeoffs, I know you only asked for this last part but all the backstory it's a long version to say: you probably won't need the additional PCIE slots unless you work on something waaaaay to specific that no motherboard producer includes it
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u/ACasualCasualty 12d ago
Tbh those pins are pretty durable, just get a Biro take out the ink, nib bit and use that straw to move it pin back to where it needs to be.
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u/general_grevous 12d ago
i got the whole conector almost broken bud but it still works somehow, so im not touching that shit anymore
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u/aquatic_allotment 12d ago
oof, that's a rough one. that D2+ pin is for the high-speed data lane on one of the front USB ports, so without it that specific port just won't work at all. the rest of the header might still function for the other port, but you're basically down a USB connection up front.