Have I just broken the video card? Please answer, I'm terribly worried.?

I needed a new video card for my computer, and my father brought me one the other day. When he first showed it to me, he didn't even let me touch it, saying that it's very delicate and could be very easily broken.



Unfortunately, a few minutes ago I was searching for something among a bunch of papers and stuff on a desk, and I didn't notice that this new video card was there... It fell on the ground. At a first sight it looked okay, but I'm extremely worried that the shock of the impact has damaged it, even though it fell on a soft carpet and not from a very tall place.



Can a mere fall really damage a hardware component beyond repair?|||If it landed on soft carpet and it doesn't look damaged it's probably fine. I've smashed up computer parts far worse and they've still worked. So long as no pieces came off the board you'll be okay.



More than anything what damages components isn't impact but ESD (electrostatic discharge). I wouldn't worry too much about that either, just keep the card in the bag it came with until you're ready to install it.|||well of course its possible it could have been damaged but the fan didn't break off and its sounds like the cosmetic condition is fine.Computer hardware is pretty sturdy so it sounds fine but the only way to find out is to install and power on of course.Trust me video cards can take a beating ha ha I drop a freaking harddrive and it was fine did a HD Tune scan %100 and this is from a 5FT free fall on concrete.



"Remember your always right"|||Unless any bits have fallen off, it will be fine. The greater danger to modern electronics is from static electricity. Keep the card in its special protective bag until you are ready to install it; and leave your computer plugged into the wall but switched off at the power socket while doing the installation. Keep touching the metalwork of the computer while doing the job, in order to discharge any static charge on your body.|||Well.. i'm sorry to disappoint you.. but your father card is fine.. If it didn't pop anything off and fell on carpeting, it should be just fine. Look for cracks on the backside of it. Otherwise good to go. Feel free to say nothing about what happened;)|||Put it back under the papers, claim ignorance, pretend you did not do it. He'll go to use it and IF it doesn't work he may just assume it's faulty and return it.|||If it fell on a soft carpet your most likely safe. The only way the video card can get damaged by falling is by physically broken pieces, you will most likely be able to see any damage from the outside if there is any.|||It should be fine since the carpet can absorb the damaging shock|||Unlikely as there are not many moving parts on them.