[SOLVED] So I put heatsinks on the backplate on my GPU, are these safe to place if they're near the motherboard?

[Noobpunk]

Hey all,

Hope everyones doing well.

So I have put aluminium heatsinks on top of the gpu backplate to help reduce temps around the memory chips.

As you can see in the images below that the heatsinks are nearing to touch a part that sticks out on the motherboard. My question is, is it safe that these aluminium heatsinks are that close to it?

 

[tennis2]

You don't need to be worried about your heatsinks touching other heatsinks....

 

[Noobpunk]

You don't need to be worried about your heatsinks touching other heatsinks....

Is that what the bump on the motherboard near the heatsink is?

 

[tennis2]

Without knowing your mobo make/model it's difficult to decipher what your pics are showing. I can only assume we're looking at the added GPU backplate heatsinks touching the M.2 slot heatsink.

I just pray that you actually installed thermal pads between the card and the backplate before you embarked on this exercise of excessiveness. Usually ppl only pad the back sides of the VRAM so the backplate can remove a little extra heat from them (through the PCB and through a 1+mm thermal pad. JUST adding the fan probably adds plenty of heat dissipation such that the heatsinks are/largely unnecessary, or vice versa. But hey, smoke em if you got em!!

 

[Noobpunk]

Without knowing your mobo make/model it's difficult to decipher what your pics are showing. I can only assume we're looking at the added GPU backplate heatsinks touching the M.2 slot heatsink.

I just pray that you actually installed thermal pads between the card and the backplate before you embarked on this exercise of excessiveness. Usually ppl only pad the back sides of the VRAM so the backplate can remove a little extra heat from them (through the PCB and through a 1+mm thermal pad.

Since im new to this, I did not open the card up to install thermal pads. All I have done is put heatsinks ontop of the backplate with a fan resting on the heatsink too..

 

[tennis2]

Since im new to this, I did not open the card up to install thermal pads. All I have done is put heatsinks ontop of the backplate with a fan resting on the heatsink too..

Ok, GENERALLY the backplate doesn't actually touch the card (except for the screw positions). Visual inspection should confirm/deny this. The GPU product page may provide some insight also, since providing thermal pads between the card and the backplate is uncommon enough that it would be used as a marketing point if they do.

If the backplate doesn't have thermal pads that thermally connect it to the card, it's not dissipating much/any heat. So cooling it as you've done isn't changing anything. In fact, omitting the heatsinks and ONLY using the fan would be the best (albeit minimal) solution since the fan would be pulling heated air out from between the PCB and the backplate through the (presumably perforated) backplate holes.

 

[Noobpunk]

Ok, GENERALLY the backplate doesn't actually touch the card (except for the screw positions). Visual inspection should confirm/deny this. The GPU product page may provide some insight also, since providing thermal pads between the card and the backplate is uncommon enough that it would be used as a marketing point if they do.

If the backplate doesn't have thermal pads that thermally connect it to the card, it's not dissipating much/any heat. So cooling it as you've done isn't changing anything. In fact, omitting the heatsinks and ONLY using the fan would be the best (albeit minimal) solution since the fan would be pulling heated air out from between the PCB and the backplate through the (presumably perforated) backplate holes.

I can see the thermal pads between the backplate and the memory chips however I still use the heatsinks + fans obviously. Touching the heatsink I can feel the heat but since its aluminium its not much but still!

So I should have my fan exhausting the air from the GPU die gap where memory chips are?

 

[tennis2]

So I should have my fan exhausting the air from the GPU die gap where memory chips are?

I think your fan placement/direction is fine.