Rx 580 sapphire too thick to fit in PCI-E x16

[Richard Gere]

I recently bought SAPPHIRE NITRO Radeon RX 580 Special Edition 8GB, and it's too thick to fit in PCI-E x16 slot because it interferes with RAM clips. Is it safe to remove that backplate?

[Snow]

It should be totally fine without the backplate, just make sure the screws holding the cooler still do the job.
Do you have PCI-E x8 tho? RX 580 won't be able to max out x8's bandwidth anyway.

[Omega]

What motherboard do you have?

If it's fine to remove the backplate will depend on the GPU. Based on pictures of the card online it looks to me like the backplate is not connected to the cooler and that it can be easily removed.

Be aware that without a backplate the might sag noticably. Sagging isn't pretty but it's nothing to worry about as long as it doesn't sag too much.

Doing this may void your warranty. If you can return the card that might be the better way to go.

[Richard Gere]

I've got Intel DH67CL Motherboard. It has PCI-E x16 slot. I even thought of removing about 2mm of RAM clips. So removing that backplate won't do any harm to the GPU?

[Omega]

Removing the backplate does not hurt the card no.

It's an old board, I would prefer taking a knife or dremel to those clips over taking the screwdriver to the new card.

I say cut the clips. Do some mobo modding. The clips will be fine even if you remove half of them. Just try not to pull on the clips or you might break them.

[Snow]

Originally posted by Richard Gere:

I've got Intel DH67CL Motherboard. I even thought of removing about 2mm of RAM clips. So removing that backplate won't do any harm to the GPU?

There are 4 screws around the GPU that look like they might hold the cooler. If they in fact do - put them back after removing the backplate so the cooler will be pressed against the GPU.
Other than that - GPU and other card's parts should be perfectly fine. Backplate might help a bit with sagging Omega mentioned and it might help a bit with cooling, but it absolutely is not vital for the card.

[Richard Gere]

Ok thanks a lot. Damn this takes really long time lol. I'm doing it for 5 minutes and it looks like I haven't cut even 1 mm haha
Alright, if I get bored cutting I'll just remove backplate.
Thank you for your answers.

[Snow]

Originally posted by Richard Gere:

Ok thanks a lot. Damn this takes really long time lol. I'm doing it for 5 minutes and it looks like I haven't cut even 1 mm haha

Maybe try an office knife? Like that really sharp one they use for cutting paper, with replaceable blades.
Edit: actually, you can just heat the knife and press it against the clip. I love melting plastic.
Sandpaper can work well too. But either way be careful not to hurt the motherboard.

Originally posted by Omega:

I say cut the clips. Do some mobo modding.

They say ghetto - you say modding, I like your point of view.

[Richard Gere]

Yeah heating up the knife would work, I hope melted plastic doesn't fall onto the motherboard lol

[Snow]

Originally posted by Richard Gere:

Yeah heating up the knife would work, I hope melted plastic doesn't fall onto the motherboard lol

Just place some paper under the clip just in case. A single drop will cool down pretty fast, and it's unlikely to do any harm to the mobo, but no need to stress it.

[Richard Gere]

Oh great, will do, thank you.

[Skytrill]

I also had trouble fitting my 580 Nitro+ in the board as well but by bending slightly the plate at the bottom I managed to fit it just fine. Biggest problem was to make some space for the 6 SATA/Power cable in the front cause this card takes space.

[mtono]

my comment: you lose warranty...i wouldnt use the card with your computer.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Originally posted by Omega:

Removing the backplate does not hurt the card no.

It's an old board, I would prefer taking a knife or dremel to those clips over taking the screwdriver to the new card.

I say cut the clips. Do some mobo modding. The clips will be fine even if you remove half of them. Just try not to pull on the clips or you might break them.

Those ram clips should pop off with force, just remove all ram first and then remove all of the lower side ram slot clips.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Originally posted by teh_germ:

my comment: you lose warranty...i wouldnt use the card with your computer.

Lose warranty how? You are free to disassemble any gpu card, that does not void warranty. Some gpu this is required to some extend to clean it properly such as gpu with reference design blower. Or if you need to replace paste for example.

[Sid1701d]

how does a deadicated graphic card interfere with ram? I never had a graphic card in the 16x slot interfere with ram. Unless it is the mini ATX form factor. That motherboard only has one pci-express slot though some are only 8x though.