Use a desktop case 😉

I wouldn't worry too much about it. As long its its firmly in the slot and screwed into the case, it shouldn't naturally bend enough to cause a problem.

My Gravis Ultrasound is quite long and does have some noticable sag but I'm not worried about it. A lot of VLB cards are quite long as well and sag also, despite the extra connectors holding them to the board. As long as they don't sag so much they touch neighbouring cards I don't think its a real problem.
PCB's should be able to flex a little without problems, although I'd definitely advise against using one to practice your Rolf Harris impressions.

Some modern video cards are quite long as well, and they are far more complex (more layers, smaller traces) than an old sound blaster, AND they have to support a heavy cooler as well, and I've never seen a bent one of those 😀

As HAL9000 says, if you're really concerned just get a desktop case or lay your tower on its side.

In my pentium pc where I use an AWE32, I've placed it on the last ISA slot, and I also put a plastic stand off on the upper corner, so that even if it bends, it won't touch the metal underneath.

Ditto my GUS Max - I've put it in the bottom slot of the tower and raised the end up with an old 5.25" drive bay cover (just the right width to support an ISA card!).

I owned the card from new and never supported it, so it has quite a bit of sag now (after what, 16-17 years?) - as long as you don't let them short against anything there shouldn't be any problems.

Markk wrote:

In my pentium pc where I use an AWE32, I've placed it on the last ISA slot, and I also put a plastic stand off on the upper corner, so that even if it bends, it won't touch the metal underneath.

Good hint! 😁

I was worried one of my AGP GF7600GS's was bending too much (it's one of those with a large passive heatsink to which I added an 8cm casefan). I ended up using a wire to the extreme tip of the card and tied it to some upper portion of the case 😜