Nvidia GTX 1070 with no backplate

[10pies]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291891606536?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ss

There's a decent deal on a ZOTAC GTX 1070 on ebay.
I asked some people about it and they said they wouldn't buy it because it has no backplate.

Aside from aesthetics, what are the advantages of having a backplate on a GPU, and would you buy a large GPU that doesn't have a backplate?
thanks

 

[dudio]

As far as I can figure. that circuit board is secured well to a solid frame, so I don't fear the board breaking, in which case the backplate would be purely for aesthetics (assuming you're not into looking at printed circuit boards!). My concern would be why buy it from eBay?

 

[Math Geek]

no reason to stress about the backplate. does not offer much at all for cooling. does make it more rigid but these are solid cards. i'd be more worried about my mobo pcie slot rather than the card bending. those zotac cards are massive so i'd be sure to help support it if it will be sitting horizontally like most cases mount them.

 

[10pies]

As far as I can figure. that circuit board is secured well to a solid frame, so I don't fear the board breaking, in which case the backplate would be purely for aesthetics (assuming you're not into looking at printed circuit boards!). My concern would be why buy it from eBay?

shouldn't be a problem since its being sold by a trusted seller in newegg. sometimes companies like newegg or bestbuy put things for a lower price on ebay than on their sites. I'm not sure why they do this but its worked for me in the past

aesthetics of a card isn't really a concern of mine. I don't take pictures or flash my rig to anyone. If the only real upside to a backplate is aesthetics then I don't see a reason to pass this up

 

[10pies]

no reason to stress about the backplate. does not offer much at all for cooling. does make it more rigid but these are solid cards. i'd be more worried about my mobo pcie slot rather than the card bending. those zotac cards are massive so i'd be sure to help support it if it will be sitting horizontally like most cases mount them.

So in this case wouldn't a backplate just put more stress on the PCIe slot?

also just out of curiosity: does your nvidia badge mean you are very knowledgeable about their products or do you work with nvidia?

 

[iamacow]

Unless the card is super heavy the backplate does nothing (on the 1060,1070 and 1080). Most of those cards like Gigabyte, MSI and ASUS backplates aren'te even touching the VRM on the back to provide extra cooling. I was surprised when I got my Gigabyte 1070 G1 to find out the backplate was for show and had no practical use. I would I have never figured it out without watercooling the sucker.

That Zotac card looks a tad heavy so I would be concerned to, that extra length and weight can cause PCIE slot and PCB problems.

 

[frank_hnd]

No reason to pass it up! If the card is heavy it will drag a bit but you can get an $5 PCIe GPU support made of plastic or acrylic to make to balance perfectly and not strain on your MOBO. (the backplate wouldn't help with this anyways)

 

[Math Geek]

no reason to stress about the backplate. does not offer much at all for cooling. does make it more rigid but these are solid cards. i'd be more worried about my mobo pcie slot rather than the card bending. those zotac cards are massive so i'd be sure to help support it if it will be sitting horizontally like most cases mount them.

So in this case wouldn't a backplate just put more stress on the PCIe slot?

also just out of curiosity: does your nvidia badge mean you are very knowledgeable about their products or do you work with nvidia?

right the extra weight of the backplate would just add to the possibility of the slot sagging eventually. it's not a massive problem but on cheaper boards (especially older boards made before cards got so heavy) over the time the slot can sag or even break. as already noted however, a simple and cheap plastic support will easily make this a non-issue. they make some very nice looking ones that even add to the look of the case if it has a window to see in.

as for the nvidia badge, this means i have been selected as best answer for nvidia questions enough times to earn it. just short of 50 times right now for the red master badge. overall, it just means i have answered a ton of questions on the subject. i have a bunch of various badges for all manner of topics covered on the forum. i'm most proud of the grandmaster badge for 1000 BA's overall. 😀

this generation of cards i have made myself overly knowledgeable in due to the megthread i maintain. as you can see there is a database of models with specs and reviews linked as well as basic performance numbers for each card series. and as soon as i can get the time i will be adding performance charts comparing the cards so it's easier to read. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3047729/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1000-series-megathread-faq-resources.html

still working on the 1050 series cards as they hit just as my business was ramping up for the holidays and my time has became very limited to complete its listings.