[SOLVED] When should I use a holding bracket for GPU?

[AB2647]

I reckon Strix RTX 2060, or TUF RTX 3060 require brackets, right? Cards look heavy. Asking for my PC build ofcourse 😀

 

[Eximo]

Only if you want one, most times a little bit of sag is fine. Though with backplates and proper installation, sag will be minimal.

 

[AB2647]

Only if you want one, most times a little bit of sag is fine. Though with backplates and proper installation, sag will be minimal.

So the backplate really works, huh? Last time I built a PC, backplates weren't a thing lol (Radeon HD 6000 era)

 

[Eximo]

Backplates help a lot, higher quality computer chassis use thicker metal, motherboard slots are now commonly reinforced. All combined do a quite good job of dealing with the weight when in the standard orientation. Also the option of vertically mounting the GPU so that the slot is under the card.

If you have sag issues there are several simple options before getting a bracket. Most just involve really getting the i/o shield of the GPU to really connect to the expansion slots. As simple as driving a screw into a gap to tighten this up.

 

[AB2647]

Backplates help a lot, higher quality computer chassis use thicker metal, motherboard slots are now commonly reinforced. All combined do a quite good job of dealing with the weight when in the standard orientation. Also the option of vertically mounting the GPU so that the slot is under the card.

If you have sag issues there are several simple options before getting a bracket. Most just involve really getting the i/o shield of the GPU to really connect to the expansion slots. As simple as driving a screw into a gap to tighten this up.

Vertically mounting seems fun tbh, especially when paired up with an acrylic side panel to show the fans. Didn't know about the reinforced PCIe slots on mobos, just googled them and it showed me some steel reinforced slot (is it legit?)

PC building has become fun lol all these cards with three fans (my Sapphire HD 6950 only has 2 fans lol) and LED lights lol too bad the market is in a sad state atm.

 

[Eximo]

Yes, the reinforced slots are real. It got to the point that people were pulling the sockets out of the system. Since the GPUs got so big, people couldn't see the latch and sometimes it was strong enough to overcome all the pins in the socket. That and cards have reached quite epic sizes. More than doubled the average core count, and increased power consumption by about 50%.

Sapphire 6950 wasn't exactly small...There were certainly some monster HD 6000 cards, ASUS DCUII 6970 comes to mind, triple slot card with two large fans. Red Devil 6970 was a triple fan card. Also the era of dual GPU cards, though the official 6990 was a single, woefully inadequate, blower card. Prior to that companies had made their own 6970 X2 cards, which might have reached triple fan territory...

Vertical mounts are mostly for aesthetics in mid towers, actually pretty bad if the GPU is right up against the side panel. In some small form factor builds, necessary.

Tempered glass is the new common side panel, which is quite a good insulator, so not ideal for keeping things cool, but more scratch resistant than acrylic.

 

[AB2647]

Yes, the reinforced slots are real. It got to the point that people were pulling the sockets out of the system. Since the GPUs got so big, people couldn't see the latch and sometimes it was strong enough to overcome all the pins in the socket. That and cards have reached quite epic sizes. More than doubled the average core count, and increased power consumption by about 50%.

Sapphire 6950 wasn't exactly small...There were certainly some monster HD 6000 cards, ASUS DCUII 6970 comes to mind, triple slot card with two large fans. Red Devil 6970 was a triple fan card. Also the era of dual GPU cards, though the official 6990 was a single, woefully inadequate, blower card. Prior to that companies had made their own 6970 X2 cards, which might have reached triple fan territory...

Vertical mounts are mostly for aesthetics in mid towers, actually pretty bad if the GPU is right up against the side panel. In some small form factor builds, necessary.

Tempered glass is the new common side panel, which is quite a good insulator, so not ideal for keeping things cool, but more scratch resistant than acrylic.

Oh hell yeah. I'd heard about 6990, and ASUS ROG ARES II but didn't really see them with my own eyes.

The 6950 isn't small, but compared to like TUF 3060 or ROG 2060, it feels small lol. Especially the 3090. I'll definitely look for a reinforced motherboard for my upcoming build. I'm careful with hardwares, but wouldn't hurt to be a bit safer, and if it helps with the gpu weight, so be it 😀 God, I miss the days when I'd turn magazines upside down to find a good looking thing, I originally wanted an HD 6850 Cyclone by MSI, but the Sapphie 6950 caught my eye lol and now it's the TUF 3060 or Zotac 3060 twin edge, which has a backplate that wraps around the card, which reminds me of their GTX 460 Amp! edition for some reason.

Thanks for your time, Ambassador. I'll tell you, it's fun to get back into the game.

p.s. I'll definitely look more into this reinforced slot. Does it come with the motherboard, or should I install it separately?

 

[Eximo]

Comes with motherboards, not something you can install yourself as far as I know. Never looked into that.