Favorite thin non conductive material and PCI-e slot descriptions, please explain.

[ManBehrPig]

Hi. I was just wondering what some of you might suggest I use as a non conductive material to protect my graphics card should I need to use the PCI-e slot closest to my large noctua heat-sink.

Also while I'm on the subject of PCI-e slots, can anyone please explain what my mobo manual is talking about when it labels a slot in parenthesis either (single at x16 mode,blue), (x8 mode, black), or (single at x16 or dual at x8/x8 mode, blue)?

[Oshino Shinobu]

You could get a backplate to protect it. 

 

That would be referring to how cards will run in different PCI-E slots. So a single card in the blue PCI-E slot will run at 16x and a single card in the black will run at 8x. If you run two cards, they will both run at 8x. It's not really something you need to worry about, there's little to no difference in performance between 8x and 16x. 

[ManBehrPig]

You could get a backplate to protect it. 

 

That would be referring to how cards will run in different PCI-E slots. So a single card in the blue PCI-E slot will run at 16x and a single card in the black will run at 8x. If you run two cards, they will both run at 8x. It's not really something you need to worry about, there's little to no difference in performance between 8x and 16x.

It was my understanding that backplates were metal and therefore conductive, am I confused on this assumption? What am I missing?

The second part seems to fly in the face of what Linus states in the build guide as he suggests we consult the manual to determine which slot to use.

[xXxYOLOxSWAGxXx_420BlazeIt]

Hi. I was just wondering what some of you might suggest I use as a non conductive material to protect my graphics card should I need to use the PCI-e slot closest to my large noctua heat-sink.

Also while I'm on the subject of PCI-e slots, can anyone please explain what my mobo manual is talking about when it labels a slot in parenthesis either (single at x16 mode,blue), (x8 mode, black), or (single at x16 or dual at x8/x8 mode, blue)?

About 5 thin layers of plastidip will do that. It will peel off incase you need to RMA the card. You will want to make sure you have great air flow over the card as it could act as an insulator for the heat.

[mr moose]

paper, 2 or 3 sheets will do. don't tear it.

 

Or one sheet, and print something cool on it and run it through a laminator = Custom plastic back plate. B)

[atrash]

Get a small silicon/rubber strip and lay it on the graphics card.

[Oshino Shinobu]

It was my understanding that backplates were metal and therefore conductive, am I confused on this assumption? What am I missing?

The second part seems to fly in the face of what Linus states in the build guide as he suggests we consult the manual to determine which slot to use.

You can get plastic backplates. You should use the top blue slot idealy.