Benefits of metal backplate on graphics card?

Question

I read some reviews on new graphics cards and presence of a metal backplate was considered a benefit, however there was no explanation why that is a plus? As I see it, the only benefit is physical and dust protection and possibly general sturdiness of a card. But maybe I'm missing some other benefits?

I would imagine heat sink and/or RFI shield.... – Tyson Oct 21 '14 at 02:13 — Tyson, Oct 21 '14 at 02:13

score 8 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 10 '15 at 02:08

8

There's four main reason for them, the benefits of each are debatable:

Aesthetics, some people prefer it to the look of a bare PCB
Rigidity, depending on how it's constructed it can help prevent "drooping" of larger/heavier cards once they are installed in a case; potentially reducing stress on the PCIe slot.
Cooling/Heat dissipation, arguably the metal can help dissipate heat (especially if there are extra components on the back of the PCB). Though the actual cooling benefit is likely next to zero if not completely negligible.
They are often part of the mechanism for mounting water-cooling blocks to GPUs, though you would normally use a third party backplate for the water block in these cases.

edited Jul 10 '15 at 02:08

Cobra_Fast

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answered Oct 21 '14 at 02:20

Windos

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I am not sure the reason this answer was downvoted; – Ramhound Oct 21 '14 at 03:18
On point 2, it may help with rigidity of the card itself, but how would it reduce stress on the slot? It's adding weight overall. – EntangledLoops Nov 20 '17 at 16:19

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 21 '14 at 02:20

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As @Tyson already mentioned, a metal backplate may have the added advantage of a heat sink. That is in addition to the other properties that you mentioned.

answered Oct 21 '14 at 02:20

Gaurav Joseph

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Benefits of metal backplate on graphics card?

2 Answers2