there is not much breathing room when multi gpu are sandwiched together so every millimeter of clearance matters.
on the 4gb version of 680. there are vram chips on the back side. they are passively cooled by the back plate. GDDR5 temp are rated to higher than the GPU temp so vram "should" be fine without the back plate, however vram overclocking headroom may suffer without the back plate. so back plate should stay on.
alternative is to replace the back plate. plan to store the original back plate for warranty reasons because the serial number is on it.
planning to cut up the replacement back plate near blower end to allow that extra needed clearance.
-----
so. is there a public review or private individual with some data pointing out the difference/delta in temperature with the back plate removed and vice versa?
be nice to know such info before pulling out the hacksaw.
on the 4gb version of 680. there are vram chips on the back side. they are passively cooled by the back plate. GDDR5 temp are rated to higher than the GPU temp so vram "should" be fine without the back plate, however vram overclocking headroom may suffer without the back plate. so back plate should stay on.
alternative is to replace the back plate. plan to store the original back plate for warranty reasons because the serial number is on it.
planning to cut up the replacement back plate near blower end to allow that extra needed clearance.
-----
so. is there a public review or private individual with some data pointing out the difference/delta in temperature with the back plate removed and vice versa?
be nice to know such info before pulling out the hacksaw.