Sound card proximity to hot graphics card

[Fixadent]

I noticed that the PCIe 1x slot that most modern sound cards plug into is located directly above the PCIe 16x slot that your graphics card plugs into.

There is a problem with this.

Graphics cards get very hot under heavy loads and this would share it's heat with the audio processing unit, possibly affecting it's performance and unit lifespan.

Also, some enthusiast graphics cards have metal backplates, which could physically obstruct a sound card, making it impossible to install.

Motherboard manufacturers for both AMD and Intel should redesign the layout of the PCI slots to avoid this problem.

Also, there should be slightly more spacing between the slots so that SLI/CFX graphics cards can breathe better.

 

[dudio]

Most GPU's these days are upside down, with the heatsink and fans on the bottom.
The design now exhausts quite well out of the back of the case (if it's not clogged up).
The heat doesn't transfer well through the PCB board on the top, and the dissipation is quick.
Try raising your CPU heatsink above the CPU, the same distance as is between the GPU and soundcard.
.. you'll see that the heat transfer is very poor
If it was a problem, then you'd be talking about case fan set up.

 

[Fixadent]

Most GPU's these days are upside down, with the heatsink and fans on the bottom.
The design now exhausts quite well out of the back of the case (if it's not clogged up).
The heat doesn't transfer well through the PCB board on the top, and the dissipation is quick.
Try raising your CPU heatsink above the CPU, the same distance as is between the GPU and soundcard.
.. you'll see that the heat transfer is very poor
If it was a problem, then you'd be talking about case fan set up.

I'm using two-way SLI GTX 1080 ASUS STRIX/RoG edition, which comes with an aftermarket heatsink and fan system already built-in.

And what about any physical obstruction posed by the heatsink?

The Soundblaster ZX has an EM shield that encases the pcb, which protrudes more than an inch above it, which might conflict with the metal backplate of my graphics card.