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No PCB backplate on 7970?

O

Ohmycaptain

Gawd
Joined
Jul 10, 2011
Messages
717
Why are AMD and Nvidia going backwards? I love backplates on my GPU's, and the 7970 doesn't have one. Nvidia did this with the 580/570. What's going on, guys? Do they want us to have ugly builds? :eek:
 
I think less blame should go to nVidia/AMD and more to MSI, Visiontek, etc.

eVGA sells graphics cards with backplates, though they are an accessory purchase. Asus has a handful with backplates as well, though I think the Asus cards with a backplate are all three slot DCU2 cards.

I personally wouldn't mind paying a little extra to get a backplate to be honest.
 
They save 20c worth of aluminum by not having a backplate. Those savings get passed on to the consumer! ;)
 
I'd pay more for a backplate. The reference 7970 doesn't have a backplate, though. I agree that once manufacturers start creating their own versions of cards, they should put a backplate on that will fit correctly, but not even the reference designed 7970 has a backplate? Stupid.
 
Eh, I think this will help with the spacing of cards in crossfire. On some mobos with the 5870/6970s it looked like the cards were sandwiched together.
 
x3sphere said:
Eh, I think this will help with the spacing of cards in crossfire. On some mobos with the 5870/6970s it looked like the cards were sandwiched together.
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Yup, if you're doing a tight multi-card setup, you're better off without a backplate. Plus, it's not like they help with cooling or anything.
 
Rizen said:
Why does it matter? :confused:
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Why do people sleeve PSUs and use colored tubing for their WC loops? It looks better.

As far as spacing goes, making the backplate removable shouldn't be too difficult a task.
 
Rizen said:
Why does it matter? :confused:
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Why does it matter? Because a backplate is the difference from having a good looking build and a great looking build. A backplate is necessary for a clean look.

5870, 5970? Backplate. 6950/6970/6990, backplate. 7970/7950? No backplate = backwards and stupid.
 
Ohmycaptain said:
Why does it matter? Because a backplate is the difference from having a good looking build and a great looking build. A backplate is necessary for a clean look.

5870, 5970? Backplate. 6950/6970/6990, backplate. 7970/7950? No backplate = backwards and stupid.
Click to expand...

Why does it matter?
 
Ohmycaptain said:
Why does it matter? Because a backplate is the difference from having a good looking build and a great looking build. A backplate is necessary for a clean look.

5870, 5970? Backplate. 6950/6970/6990, backplate. 7970/7950? No backplate = backwards and stupid.
Click to expand...
What are you, the ricer of PC mods? :p

My build sits under my desk. I have a watercooling loop, two 580s and a Corsair 800D. It looks bad ass enough without any frills. No hate on any of the guys building custom PCs at all - but I don't expect my components to come with parts that are purely for aesthetics.
 
I like backplates. Certainly adds to the feel of the card. Then again, since I got my FT03, I now put my computer behind my desk, in a corner where only the MB I/O (due to how the case is layed out :D) and power buttons are accessible. Honestly? That fits me fine. I've managed to *not* upgrade my computer for 5 months now. And I didn't even remember I bought an eVGA GTX580 backplate back then, till I read this thread.

But seriously, I do like backplates. Vendors never seem to include them, so it'a almost always up to the reference design :(.
 
Ohmycaptain said:
Why are AMD and Nvidia going backwards? I love backplates on my GPU's, and the 7970 doesn't have one. Nvidia did this with the 580/570. What's going on, guys? Do they want us to have ugly builds? :eek:
Click to expand...

Just go with an inverted ATX case so you can actually see the good side of the card. :cool:
 
It shouldn't matter, windowed cases are tacky as hell. Put your machine under a desk and look at your monitor/s.
 
I was a bit disappointed to see that as well. Backplate keeps dust away and has been extremely helpful on my 6950. Would have preferred the 7970 to have one as well.

Time to go on a roid rage on these forums... :bleh:
 
Like nearly every high end cpu heatsink or self contained water set-up, the backing plate ensures contact between the chip and heatsink. It's a much better method than flexing the pcb to apply pressure.
 
Windowed cases do have a purpose beyond aesthetics. It allows you to visually check for things like loose components or leaks/motherboard error codes etc. I don't think i'd go for a non windowed case anymore (unless I intended to fit a panel myself). You could have an easy to release side panel, but thats a whole lot more effort to remove/replace, especially in a more confined space.

Are there any chips/components mounted on the back?

Nobi125 said:
Just go with an inverted ATX case so you can actually see the good side of the card. :cool:
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I always wonder why "standard" has stuff upside down...
 
DeathPrincess said:
I always wonder why "standard" has stuff upside down...
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I think that's due to the beginning era of the Desktop PC where they were mainly built horizontal, and then us subsequently moving over to the vertical design. In the vertical design I guess it made sense to people at the time that 3rd party cards would go on bottom (usually the largest and heaviest components), with the CPU and I/O ports at the top, and this wasn't accounted for in the original horizontal design. Manufacturers could have flipped the card orientation, but it's very hard to break standards (how long has ATX been around? :p)

On the subject of backplates, I do love them. The old GTX260's not only had a backplate, but was fully encased in a black aluminium housing. The only circuit board you could see or touch was the PCI-E connector. (Not trying to promote nVidia over AMD, just saying I do like the backplate style)

zotac_gtx260_0012.jpg
 
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DeathPrincess said:
Windowed cases do have a purpose beyond aesthetics. It allows you to visually check for things like loose components or leaks/motherboard error codes etc. I don't think i'd go for a non windowed case anymore (unless I intended to fit a panel myself). You could have an easy to release side panel, but thats a whole lot more effort to remove/replace, especially in a more confined space.

Are there any chips/components mounted on the back?



I always wonder why "standard" has stuff upside down...
Click to expand...

ISA cards and VLB cards were right side up. Initially PCI slots were often shared with ISA space on the board. I know that initially PCI slots sometimes shared space with ISA slots and as a result, their orientation may have been designed as part of the specification to allow for this sharing of space. Eventually as the need for ISA slots diminished PCI slots stopped sharing space with ISA slots. As the specification was updated, this orientation had to be retained for backwards compatibility. ATX came out later and once it did, I believe PCIe and AGP retained the orientation for the sake of case compatibility. They just didn't want to bother altering the expansion slot layout of the case.
 
I don't get it either :p. Never in my life have I stopped to say " Hey, now that's one sexy backplate ". When it came to my video cards, the only thing I cared about was what it was delivering on the screen. Could give two shits about the backplate :).
 
DarkLegacy said:
I don't get it either :p. Never in my life have I stopped to say " Hey, now that's one sexy backplate ". When it came to my video cards, the only thing I cared about was what it was delivering on the screen. Could give two shits about the backplate :).
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I prefer them but not having one is far from a deal breaker.
 
ISA cards and VLB cards were right side up. Initially PCI slots were often shared with ISA space on the board.
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Intriguing. A bit before my time, at least before I started really caring about the internals of PCs ;) Earliest PC I remember was my first 286. The thing weighed over 20kg, and had solid steel, expandable railings to hold it's drives :p
 
RealityCrunch said:
Intriguing. A bit before my time, at least before I started really caring about the internals of PCs ;) Earliest PC I remember was my first 286. The thing weighed over 20kg, and had solid steel, expandable railings to hold it's drives :p
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The cards in it would have had the components mounted right side up if those were placed into towers.
 
Not a deal breaker, but we'll see how well they fit when I have 3 of them stacked. Perhaps its a good thing...perhaps it's too floppy..we'll know soon enough.
 
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Ohmycaptain said:
Nvidia did this with the 580/570.
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I don't know where you get this idea that Nvidia offers backplates as standard. They do not.

The reference design 580/570 never had any backplates. In fact there are only 3 models that have one. The ASUS 3 slot cooler one (both 570/580) and one made by Galaxy, that's it. The vast majority of 580s for sale today do not have a backplate.
 
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