Can i take this off my Motherboard without Damaging it

[cody1005]

Hi so i recently did a new build with a asrock Fatality Board and I cant fit my Msi Gtx 970 into the case the 1st Pci slot i can get card into the 1st slot just not into it fully because the Red plate that says Fatality is in the way and i cant push the card in all the way. My question is can i take this plate off with it off i can probably fit it in or is it a heatsink and will damage my motherboard. 2nd Pci slot is not a choice due to HDD cage in the way. Anyways all help greatly appreciated and sorry for noob question

 

[jsmithepa]

All the red "covers" are heatsinks and yes they are needed for heat dissipation. The heatsink right behind the SATA ports, if that is the one you are talking about actually is a large metal covering a very small chip. You can take it out and look, it's screws from the bottom. That also means you can trim it down a bit to fit your GPU, but of course once you do that, Mobo warranty is void. Another option is to buy a third party heatsink that serves you better.

 

[_Blink]

Wow, that's awful. I can't believe your card doesn't fit.

Aren't you able to move your HDD cage? I wouldn't remove the red cover :s because if something goes wrong, then you could lose the whole motherboard.

I would even go as far as to buy a new computer case so that you can move stuff around, and have enough space.

Does the GPU fit in the second slot if there is no HDD cage?

 

[cody1005]

Wow, that's awful. I can't believe your card doesn't fit.

Aren't you able to move your HDD cage? I wouldn't remove the red cover :s because if something goes wrong, then you could lose the whole motherboard.

I would even go as far as to buy a new computer case so that you can move stuff around, and have enough space.

Does the GPU fit in the second slot if there is no HDD cage?

it doesnt seem to be possible to remove the HDD Cages theirs no screws or anything really trying to avoid buying a new case if so i would like to try and keep it under 50$

 

[cody1005]

All the red "covers" are heatsinks and yes they are needed for heat dissipation. The heatsink right behind the SATA ports, if that is the one you are talking about actually is a large metal covering a very small chip. You can take it out and look, it's screws from the bottom. That also means you can trim it down a bit to fit your GPU, but of course once you do that, Mobo warranty is void. Another option is to buy a third party heatsink that serves you better.

Not sure how i would go About Trimming it down?

 

[gondo]

Once removed take a dremel to it with a cutting disc. Then file it smooth. Chop the corner off so the video card fits.

I have an HIS video card that has a big plastic cover on it's heatsink/fan cooler. Problem is the plastic bubbles out on the side and interferes with the Crossfire link. Good thing my second card is not identical and is a Gigabyte. By putting the HIS on the bottom I can get the link on, but on top it doesn't work. The designer of that heatsink cover on the video card wasn't thinking.

Is it possible your heatsink or cover on the video card is just too large and another video card would fit? One solution would be to trim that instead, or even replace the heatsink with another aftermarket one such as a liquid cooler.

Either way you need some modifications. Sux how they manufacture stuff that doesn't fit together. They design it, package it, and sell it. But the manufacturers don't ever install their components to find out the heatsinks are bigger than the product and get in the way like a cow blocking the road. Just plain stupidity.

I looked at a a high end Asus board and they use a similar heatsink with the corner cut near the slot. Something tells me it's the heat sink on the video card. Something doesn't make sense.

 

[jsmithepa]

Once removed take a dremel to it with a cutting disc. Then file it smooth. Chop the corner off so the video card fits.

The next level or PC building. If parts don't fit exactly (too easy) just go to the tools box and...

Now if you are super-lucky, just by rotating the heatsink around 180 degree may do the trick, ready to go to the next level?