Do PCI-E slots just die?

[Duner]

Hi, I've got an MSI K9A2 Platinum mobo. AM2+, 790FX, 4 x PCI-E slots. I was running SETI with 4 GTX 260's for a while, but had to shut it down due to bandwidth issues. I recently started it up again, but my 3rd PCI-E seems dead. I have tried 3 different video cards in that slot and they are not detected. I've Reset the CMOS, no help either.

I just haven't heard of a PCI-E slot dying before. Is this common?

 

[QuietIce]

Not common at all, as far as I know. I take it you've tried blowing out the slot and taking a good look at it with a magnifying glass? It only takes one small short or one speck of dust in the wrong place to kill a connection and there are, what?, 40 pins there ...?

 

[trents]

I suppose a capacitor or some electronic component governing signals or power to that slot could have fried.

 

[Duner]

Well I don't think anything could have fallen in there since I didn't even remove the card from the slot, it just stopped working. I blew it out with some air anyways, but no help. I can't tell if any of the caps are blown since they are the solid metal ones so they don't bulge or anything.

Most likely I've just fallen victim to the old "it was working fine, then I turned it off and now it's broke" syndrome.