Are this backplates strictly for water cooling?

[da Maia]

I am new to this types of modding and I have been looking for the possibility of installing a backplate on my Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC.

 

After contacting Sapphire about it they linked me to this site where I could get said backplates.

 

So now I am wondering are these usable only with water cooling blocks or can i simply add them to the back of my GPU without having to remove the stock cooler?

 

Link to the backplate in question:

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc-r9-290x-backplate-red.html

 

 

Thank you for any help and clarification on this!

[BloodWithIce]

I have the same exact Gpu and I was going to buy the exact same backplate.
I emailed EKWB but they never got back to me, but on their website, it says that the backplates are only to be used paired with a waterblock.
Now this might be just a marketing strategy, but I am still yet yo find out whether it is possible to use those sweet backplates.
I know of people using EK or Swiftech backplates on their stock GTX 680s

[Guest]

I wanted to buy one of them for my R9 290 as well, but what I found out was that the mounting mechanism for the backplate basically goes through the PCB and through the waterblock to mount it correctly. So, it may work without the waterblock but it would not be mounted correctly and I decided not to buy it in the end.

[da Maia]

Thank you all for your replies! I see I am not the only one with this GPU looking for a solution like this. I hope we can get more information on it, I am sure that someone out there has done this already.

 

I posted a simitar post on another forum and i got this response:

 

"You won't have to remove the whole cooler, but you will have to remove a good many of the smaller screws holding the PCB to the cooler in order to replace them with longer ones that go through the backplate as well. A backplate isn't really going to help the cooling of your card as all of the VRMs and memory chips are on the top side of the PCB in the r9 290. Unless you're worried about the structural rigidity or really want the look of a backplate, I wouldn't bother installing one."

 

 

Hope it helps you guys too.

 

Just as a heads up, I did contact Sapphire about this, first through facebook and now I opened a direct ticket in Sapphire Global support after registering. I am still waiting on the ticket response (opened it today) but through facebook they warned me that "Also please be aware that physical modification to the card will void the warranty."

 

 

Thank you guys again and I hope we get more feedback. 

[Maxwit44]

I am new to this types of modding and I have been looking for the possibility of installing a backplate on my Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC.

 

After contacting Sapphire about it they linked me to this site where I could get said backplates.

 

So now I am wondering are these usable only with water cooling blocks or can i simply add them to the back of my GPU without having to remove the stock cooler?

 

Link to the backplate in question:

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc-r9-290x-backplate-red.html

 

 

Thank you for any help and clarification on this!

 

Not to be rude, but If you buy one, use how you see fit. Back plate for your card, dinner plate, Frisbee, what ever you like.

 

The only limitations for anything is how you use it. If your card already has a back plate, but you want to change to a fancy yellow EK one, the just be careful with the screw length, as you may need shorter or longer screws.

 

Out side of that, there is no reason that you can not put one on your card ( warranty issues aside).