Hey all. I'm curious as to what you all think about about this. 
 
If Nvidia/AMD or even EVGA or other board partners offered their cards in a "naked" option, would you purchase it?
 
By "naked" I mean, for example, a 1080 ti without the shroud, fans, heat syncs, heat pipes, backplate, etc. Nothing but the card itself, ready to be water-blocked or maybe you can purchase a cooler separately and install it yourself, maybe in different colors (looking at you EVGA) or crazy, custom made shrouds and backplates. These would not be factory OC'd as like Intel does with their CPU's, they leave that to the end-user. They also haven't included coolers in the box since Skylake.
 
Nobody would be "Stuck" with a card that they thought would work but now won't if airflow in their case changed, or if they decided to go SLI but can't due to space. They could just buy a different cooler! Want to change your color scheme? Donn't buy a new card and sell your old one, just replace the aesthetics! 
 
The boards would be sold at a discount (maybe $50 less) and of course the "accessories" would be sold separately ($50). Of course, ready to go cards would still be available.
 
I'm interested in what you all think. Here's the link to the strawpoll: (TEMPORARILY REMOVED STRAWPOLL LINK)
Please let me know what pros and cons you can think of.

As far as resale, The purchaser could just buy what they want and add it themselves. The seller paid less and so will the purchaser. I think it's a win-win.
 
Also, EVGA should be extremely interested in it because with all these new colored GPUs coming out, (and forced color schemes, looking at you, MSI) they can make a killing on them as an accessory. I bought a Black edition and could just change to white (like I would have if they didn't announce them after the preorders already started) it would save them time assembling cards, have more stock ready (money out the window) and just give them an overall edge in the marketplace because color schemes and customization is very important to their customers. No-brainier to me.

Only if they have the HC WB In-Stock for each Naked Graphics Card.

rshwayder
Nope. They should never offer it either. Some idiot would plug it in naked, fry it, then pitch a fit. Then he'd pull it out of his PC, burn himself, sue EVGA, and we'd lose the Step Up program somehow. And he'd take our lunch money.

Intel hasn't included coolers in the box since Skylake so how is this any different?

I disagree. Obviously CPUs aren't "universal" and not as interchangable as GPUs but nothing a bit of marketing and warning labels wouldn't solve easily. 
 
EVGA has never voided a cards warranty soley based on if it's been tampered, modded, disassembled, reassembled, etc. Only damage directly caused by the user. In fact, they encourage it. 
 
I can see how they would look at this and think what you are thinking,,,the risks. There is an amount of risk in selling a Hybrid cooler or Water block that requires modding by a potentially inexperienced user. But think of the possibilities. The custimization and don't worry about other peoples stupidity. Wouldn't you like to save money and have more freedom with what you do with your hardware? If not, I want what you have...

timmyboy04
Also, EVGA should be extremely interested in it because with all these new colored GPUs coming out, (and forced color schemes, looking at you, MSI) they can make a killing on them as an accessory.
 

 
I agree with this, especially the 'forced color schemes' comment.
With all of the acrylic and tempered glass cases that are out now, it's obvious people are paying more attention to the visual aspect of the various components that are being displayed. When you consider that, it becomes apparent (no pun intended) that being able to turn a few screws to change the color of a component becomes enticing.
Now consider that some are choosing components based in large part on the appearance, or more to the point, the color scheme of the component. For instance, they may want an EVGA FTW3 GPU, but it doesn't come in white (for the masses that is), so they need to look to other manufacturers. This does happen. More than a few Galax 1080 GPUs have been sold because they were one of the few (if not the only) companies offering 1080's in white.
 

yeungster
Good pitch. I'm liking the idea. Maybe restricted to enthusiast cards (ie. 1070+) so the average Joe doesn't fry the card by accident

Yeah, that would be the way to!

rshwayder
Nope. They should never offer it either. Some idiot would plug it in naked, fry it, then pitch a fit. Then he'd pull it out of his PC, burn himself, sue EVGA, and we'd lose the Step Up program somehow. And he'd take our lunch money.

User do that now with HC Models

Thanks for all the input by the way. Good or bad. I'm going to defend my idea but I get where some of you are coming from. There will always be hurtles to jump through but I think there are ways to.do it right to minimize any catastrophic failures.

At the very least, maybe we'll get shrouds and coolers to buy separately from all this because that seems to be something everybody can agree on.

if evga just partnered up with block mannies this would be a non issue. id buy a 1080Xp with an ek delrin/nickel block in a heart beat.
then again they will jack the prices up so high no one could afford to buy one lol.
orrrrr sell the bare cards and make peeps take and pass a wcing test prior to ordering. keep those folks on record as wcing pros and wed all get rich building cards for people!!!! YEAH!!!
 
seriously i think bare cards are great idea especially if they knock a bill or two off the cards in the process. keep up the discussion folks this is a rare good read lately!

MitchWh
If the price is significantly lower than for a normale GPU, then yes. If not, i don't see a reason to buy a "naked" card.

To put your own Water Block or AIO Cooler on it.

Cool GTX
No, you need to test your new card before putting it in a custom loop. 
 
Re-Sale issue would also be a concern as it would appeal to a much smaller segment of the market --- the same segment that wants the "New GPU" that your updating to.
 
Your poll has too much bias, in that only one answer is No and it does not even take into account the issues I mentioned.
 
A poll with a simple Yes or No would have been better IMO

Just slap a Hyper 212 on it to test! ;) I'll remove the poll later. The discussion is better anyways. You all brought up good points that I didn't think of when I made it.

timmyboy04
If Nvidia/AMD or even EVGA or other board partners offered their cards in a "naked" option, would you purchase it?

I wouldn't.

I would, as long as the accessories stay available long enough to resell the card to non-WC users. Whoever is buying those cards is most likely going to WC anyways.

I'd buy one; all I do is remove the air cooler and add a waterblock anyway :)