How much can the back of a motherboard be covered? (Case mod)

[FRD]

I'm thinking of doing a case mod to add some custom lighting, but this involves me putting an acrylic plate on the back of the motherboard tray. Like most cases my motherboard tray has an opening on the back which exposes the CPU part of the motherboard and the area around it. I will use double sided tape to mount the acrylic and my plan is to light up the acrylic plate. Either the acrylic plate will cover the whole motherboard exposed area or just partly. Of course, I could also make a cutout for the acrylic not to cover the CPU part. Since I ever might still need to change my CPU or waterblock, but I could always take the double sided tape off. Another option is to mount the acrylic much high than the opening, so it will have a few millimeters to breathe.

I would like to know, how bad is it to mount something over the back of the motherboard? How about the heat dissipation? Will it result in performance loss or overheating? I don't want to take risks honestly.

[Pixel5]

you can cover this part as much as you like, the reason why most motherboards have a cutout there is not for cooling purposes but because there are many coolers specifically for Intel platforms that are screwed in from the back side so if you dont have that cut out and you ever want to remove the cooler you have to completely remove the motherboard.

[FRD]

6 minutes ago, Pixel5 said:

you can cover this part as much as you like, the reason why most motherboards have a cutout there is not for cooling purposes but because there are many coolers specifically for Intel platforms that are screwed in from the back side so if you dont have that cut out and you ever want to remove the cooler you have to completely remove the motherboard.

That's good to know, because when I checked my PC's temps on the software it also showed motherboard temperature, which also made me to asking about it here.

Indeed many coolers must be mounted like that, without the cutout it would be a nightmare. I remember when doing my 2nd build ever I tried to mount the CPU cooler without taking the backplate off and it was nearly impossible, beginners mistake. Gladly my case even has a motherboard tray that can be slid out of the case along with the motherboard, I just shouldn't mount the acrylic part to that tray.

[tkitch]

Pixel's right.  The point of the cutout is to prevent the need to remove the motherboard to install a new cooler.

Covering it isn't a big deal, cooling wise.

 

Considered adhesive backed velcro instead, to make it removable?

 

[FRD]

11 minutes ago, tkitch said:

Pixel's right.  The point of the cutout is to prevent the need to remove the motherboard to install a new cooler.

Covering it isn't a big deal, cooling wise.

 

Considered adhesive backed velcro instead, to make it removable?

 

Thanks for the confirmation. Adhesive velcro is a good one, I can use that too. I just need to see if it looks decent, velcro on acrylic.