AliExpress GPU Backplate Coolers Tested, Mostly Useless

Der8auer We’ve tested two very unusual cooling solutions from Aliexpress that aim to lower the surface temperature of the backplates of the best graphics cards. and found no tangible improvement in graphics card temperature.

Backplate cooling is nothing new, but the cooling device Der8auer showed off is quite unusual, a very large and bulky device with active cooling. This is quite overkill for most graphics cards, as the backplate does not (generally) house the high wattage components that require a powerful cooler. The only exception is his RTX 3090 (non-Ti) with his GDDR6X memory IC half on the back of the card. But even in this case, passive cooling from the backplate is sufficient unless you’re looking to overclock the memory.

The first cooling unit tested by Der8auer was made entirely of copper and consisted of two fans mounted inside a copper heatsink. The mounting mechanism included zip ties and tape to “tightly” attach the cooling to his GPU backplate.

The next device is even stranger, with a very unusual L-shaped design featuring three very long heatpipes connected to a distribution plate on one end and a heatsink on the other. Der8auer reports that this model didn’t come with instructions, but the device has no screw holes or sophisticated cooling mounts at all, and instead uses the same zip-tie mounting mechanism as its predecessor. It seems that.

In testing, Der8auer found that both cooling solutions failed to meet expectations, only lowering the Gigabyte RX 6900 XT’s backplate temperature by 5C and 8C respectively. Worse, neither solution lowered his GPU temperature at all, with no measurable benefit to GPU lifespan or performance.