DO GRAPHIC CARD BACKPLATES REALLY GET HOT?

[Aaron1080p]

So I been testing and observing my RX 570 and it performs really above my expectation especially when I render my 3dscenes 40mins less now.

And 'Ive been monitoring its temperature too of course. And it doesn't get high above 65c (at least during when I am looking at the numbers).

Then earlier tonight, I touched my case's tempered glass, not expecting too feel warmth. It's new to me since this is my first beefy card so I got a little nervous. I touched the backplate as it was the first thing to touch and it was really hot. 
But when I touched the heatsink it wasn't that hot like the backplate. The heatsink was warm but not comparable to the backplate that I couldnt let my finger stay in there touching it. I touched the motherboard of the card (expecting maybe it's abnormally hot and maybe its frying up the whole card) but it wasn't that hot like the backplate. 

So I researched right away, and backplates do get hot just like heatsinks. But it's really concerning for me. Or should I be? Why is it that it is hotter than the heatsink?

Do I need to buy a case fan to help it? Would it damage my card if I let it get hot like that? 

 

Thank you in advance as always. 

[WereCatf]

4 minutes ago, Aaron1080p said:

But it's really concerning for me. Or should I be?

It all depends on how the card has been designed. If the card has been designed to use the backplate as an additional heatsink, then yes, it's doing what it's supposed to be doing.

[Aaron1080p]

30 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

It all depends on how the card has been designed. If the card has been designed to use the backplate as an additional heatsink, then yes, it's doing what it's supposed to be doing.

I tried playing The Forest in maxed settings for 10mins and I feel it getting hot. That soon...

 

[WereCatf]

10 minutes ago, Aaron1080p said:

I tried playing The Forest in maxed settings for 10mins and I feel it getting hot. That soon...

And? Heatsinks get hot, that's what they do.

[Aaron1080p]

1 minute ago, WereCatf said:

And? Heatsinks get hot, that's what they do.

I'm referring to the backplate. They get hotter than the heatsink. And fast.

[da na]

i got a rx 570, backplate gets spicy. youre ok

[Grabhanem]

53 minutes ago, Aaron1080p said:

I'm referring to the backplate. They get hotter than the heatsink. And fast.

Keep in mind that the backplate is basically pressed against the back of the GPU core, and doesn't get much active airflow, so it's going to naturally run pretty warm. It's not something you really need to worry about - if it's not instantly giving you a bad burn, it's not hot enough to damage your components.

[-iSynthesis]

Depending on the GPU in question the backplate is often connected to the back of the GPU core or the back of the VRMs. Both get toasty fast, it's normal to feel it getting warm in that amount of time. 

(Some cards have purely aesthetical backplates, those shouldn't get very hot)

On my Vega56 the backplate gets hotter than the normal heatsink, too. Just the VRMs touch the backplate, though they are not well cooled in the first place...

[MadPistol]

A heatsink has a lot more area to dissipate heat. It also has a fan over it (on a GPU) so it is actively moving heat away from it.

 

A backplate does not.

If it was dangerous for the card, manufacturers would not put backplates on their GPUs. The last thing they want is an RMA because the backplate caused damage to the GPU. That makes no sense economically.

If it's getting hot, it's doing its job; absorbing heat.

[Mick Naughty]

Depends on the card. Most do get hot. Especially with a poor design. 
 

I had two identical cards, one on air and one on water. Using a sealed backplate like an ek version was very hot. 70-80c

A perforated one like evga sat around 60c. The cards have vram on the back too. Contributes to a lot more heat. 
 

But all of my cards get hot on the back but that depends on how hot they get as well. Tend to keep mine no hotter than 45c ever. And I keep my builds designed with airflow for all the mobo components anyway, so everything tends to stay cool. 

[-rascal-]

5 hours ago, Aaron1080p said:

I'm referring to the backplate. They get hotter than the heatsink. And fast.

 

If you are saying it is HOT by feel, then that's not a properly way to measure it.

For human skin, basically anything 50*C+ is hot.

But for a GPU, 50*C is considered COOL; 80*C is warm / hot-ish, 95*C+ is HOT.

80*C for human skin can be hot enough to cause burns.