is a backplate important?

[immanueltja]

Do i need to install a backplate to a graphics card? or is it just for aesthetics purposes?

[Enderman]

for looks yes

[DarkBlade2117]

Mainly Aesthetics purposes though I believe they can also help distribute heat on the VRMs or something like that.

[thekeemo]

If its a really heavy card it can help prevent it from bending

[immanueltja]

Just now, DarkBlade2117 said:

Mainly Aesthetics purposes though I believe they can also help distribute heat on the VRMs or something like that.

hmm. so I can just install my evga 970 right away correct?

[SamTheWelshDragon]

They have next to no effect... Other than making the card look less cheap.

[stealth80]

they take a little heat away from the under ram chips (minimal but it works, mine get really hot!) and look great!

[SeanAngelo]

4 minutes ago, immanueltja said:

Do i need to install a backplate to a graphics card? or is it just for aesthetics purposes?

just for looks

 

but if its a heavy card it might prevent it from sagging too much

[Oshino Shinobu]

1 minute ago, immanueltja said:

hmm. so I can just install my evga 970 right away correct?

Yep. 

Some manufacturers claim that they help with passive heat dissipation, but the differences are negligible. It's almost entirely for aesthetics, and possibly offers some rigidity and support for heavy cards. 

[DevilishBooster]

If it is a high power card/a card with RAM modules on the back of the PCB then it can help dissipate the heat from the VRM and RAM, and it also helps prevent bending of the PCB when you are looking at the larger graphics cards that weigh a lot.

[GreatRP]

I mean ive heard that it can help in cooling a little bit but i dont think it would be a huge difference. So i would say more for looks.

[afyeung]

37 minutes ago, SeanAngelo said:

just for looks

 

but if its a heavy card it might prevent it from sagging too much

Backplates pretty much never prevent sag on heavy GPUs unfortunately 

[SeanAngelo]

Just now, afyeung said:

Backplates pretty much never prevent sag on heavy GPUs unfortunately 

i know that, but they do help a little

[afyeung]

Just now, SeanAngelo said:

i know that, but they do help a little

Yeah. They do prevent warping. But you can still have a lot of sag without any PCB warping. 

[i_build_nanosuits]

2 minutes ago, SeanAngelo said:

i know that, but they do help a little

they add weight to the card and the sag generally come from the motherboard pcie slot/case assembly due to the heavy weight of the cards...not the card itself...this is a myth IMHO backplate only look good...they don't help with heat and they don't help with sag, they just look cool.

[afyeung]

2 minutes ago, i_build_nanosuits said:

they add weight to the card and the sag generally come from the motherboard pcie slot/case assembly due to the heavy weight of the cards...not the card itself...this is a myth IMHO backplate only look good...they don't help with heat and they don't help with sag, they just look cool.

Yeah. I've had 3 cards with back plates, MSI 290, MSI 390x, and Asus 290. All have had sag. It has to do with the weight of the card on the slot, not the cooler warping the PCB. Backplates solving sag is a silly myth. However, a lot of the less heavy cards with backplates don't have sag, but that's not because of the backplate, it's because they're less heavy. 

[i_build_nanosuits]

8 minutes ago, afyeung said:

Yeah. I've had 3 cards with back plates, MSI 290, MSI 390x, and Asus 290. All have had sag. It has to do with the weight of the card on the slot, not the cooler warping the PCB. Backplates solving sag is a silly myth. However, a lot of the less heavy cards with backplates don't have sag, but that's not because of the backplate, it's because they're less heavy. 

no absolutely...i have the 980ti Strix in my system right now which is super heavy no joke i think it weight over 10 pounds...and the card is absolutely 100% rigid there is absolutely zero flex in the card yet i have to put a plastic toy bolt under it to prevent sag because it put too much stress on the pciE slot and this is where the sag effect is coming from...

 

 

 

[afyeung]

27 minutes ago, i_build_nanosuits said:

no absolutely...i have the 980ti Strix in my system right now which is super heavy no joke i think it weight over 10 pounds...and the card is absolutely 100% rigid there is absolutely zero flex in the card yet i have to put a plastic toy bolt under it to prevent sag because it put too much stress on the pciE slot and this is where the sag effect is coming from...

 

 

 

Yeah. The Strix has a bit of sag and it doesn't help that it's design is angular so it amplifies the appearance of sag lol

[Mick Naughty]

They could help heat but you would need good airflow going across it, but if the card doesn't have vram on the back its pointless. Have one and it just holds in heat.