Ok let see if i can explain this right
 
On the Z170 Classified K you have a I/O Shroud and the bottom of that shroud go to the 1st PCI-E slot for the GFX card well I have an issue with this ,seem like evga don't see an issue with that ,anyway ,i have an EVGA 970FTW+ i tried to put it in that slot there and it was try hard to go in and but with a little more encouragement i went in , well i didn't like how tight it was and how much i had to push that card in to get it to go in , as taking that card out i noticed that the shroud make contact with the backplate on the 970 and made a small minor scratch ,so i was glad i took it out of that slot and move it to the next PCI-E GFX slot ,cause I'm not going to risk my PC of something happening to it
 
So 4months ago i ordered myself the EVGA 1070SC BE WITHOUT  a backplate hoping it would fit in that 1st PCI-e slot , well sh!t that didnt work it still touch the I/O Shroud ,it was touching the PCB , So i called evga , cause i never had an issue with there CS or anything from them , i sent them Pictures explained everything ,told them this and that
 
they told me that there was nothing wrong with the Shroud  and that i can try to bent the shroud , well i tried to do that and if you try to bend that shroud and screw it bk to the mobo well guess what your right back to were you was lol , then was suggested to remove it all together , ya i can do that , but why did you make the part for that mobo in the 1st place if you just want you customer to just remove it if your having issues with it , here are some pictures , board look sweet when you 1st get it but look kick a$$ when you have the Shroud on it and the mobo is together like intended to be  ,its like buying a car and something its right about it, you going to let it go or you going to go to the dealer and say something , well I'm one of those people , it might be small to some ,but for me it not , i payed for this
 
This is the day i got the board sexy isn't she (without the shroud) all black board all that I/O showing would throw everything off
 

 
 
This is when she was install in the case (With Shroud) now she ready to dance so i thought 
 
   
 
here you will see i don't have it in the top slot , you will see why in a bit but I'm showing you look at that Shroud closely at the bottom right side , there is a small gap there if you close that gap there you will not be able to mount the shroud cause the hole will be bent up and that will cause the Shroud to just hang there and might hit the GFX Card , so from the right to the left of the bottom of the shroud you will see a crease next picture
 

 
so as i was saying that Crease i was talking about i had to cut just a tad above it to get the GFX Card to fit then cut a little more to get a back plate on it so it will not scratch another backplate as you will see here from the picture  look at the back of the GFX card where the ports are and look how close it is
 

 
these last few Pictures are what was stopping me from putting my GFX CARD in the top pci-e slot
 

 

 
so i don't know if anyone on this forum agrees with me or not , but i will not risk putting my card in that top slot if its that tight of a fit , this is why i am anal about that ,,,,, oops almost forgot to post the 970 with the small minor scratch from that Shroud
 

 
this last picture is both GFX CARDS top one is the 1070sc BE and the bottom one is the 970 FTW , As i said b4 the 970 is a small minor scratch on the backplate meaning it was touching , so when i did put the 1070 in the same slot it was touching as well just not enough to leave a mark 
 
 
 
so what do you all think
 
 
 

Mine touches the top of my backplate, nothing to be too concerned about.

Yagyu_Jubei
In my case there is no chance in getting the shield over my card. I use a custom loop to cool my rig and the backplate is exactly 1.5 mm too high. The layout of the new Z270 Classified K shows how the Z170 version should have looked from the start. Much more space for the I/O-shield and for SLI.

I also custom water cool my rig (view mods rig) and I still have no issue with the shield. It may take a little coaxing to get the card to seat a locked into place, but it will get there. 

ok so I'm not the only one having this issue , so there are a few and to cool GTX that's what i had to do is to cut the shroud to get it to go in the top PCI-e ,and again your right it is just decorative , and it like it ,it wouldn't look right without it
 
here are two pictures b4 i cut the shroud and after
 

 

 
not only that I'm getting my x16 now and when you game as much as i do you need it

I was never able to get my 980 Ti FTW to fit with the shroud either and it's not watercooled. Not sure if the dimensions of the FTW are different from the standard 980 Ti's since other people got theirs to fit, or if slight manufacturing tolerance differences made it so mine can't. Either way, it was an oversight to design the shroud like that.

Slightly different board, but it was a tight squeeze for my 980 with a backplate to get into the first slot on my Z170 FTW.
It sits there, but its tight.

+1