looks great! any idea if this will fit the optimus KPE blocks? i finally mounted the second KPE HC on z590 dark last night and that's one of the first things i noticed. (well, not totally true, before this i had a 3090 HOF OC Lab with the Bykski active backplate block that had to go in the x8 slot at the bottom bc it just won't fit in top slot)
 
so i'm hoping i won't have to do this, but i will to get those sweet sweet KPE blocks in the mix. can't wait to see your finished results!

I have 17.48mm clear from the graphics card PCB now, after modifying heatsink & shroud,..
the EK Vector FE Backplate only requires 16.8mm.
 
@zippytek, Thanks,..  
I can not find any dimensions on Optimus site to confirm clearance needed for the KPE Backplate,.. 
lots of folks have been asking Optimus on Twitter for technical drawings, dimensions as well for months.
 
 
 
 
 
 



 
 
 
 

Ludacon
This seems like a big oversight on a board released this late into the cycle, from a company making a exotic cooling spec'd high end card. It looks like the FTW has a lot more spacing with the smaller heat sinks on it.

sure and to be fair, i'm not married to the idea of doing SLI on the dark. I've done it, but feel like i can go harder w the optimus blocks...i have a couple of other boards w the right spacing that will work as a fallback for this particular experiment.
 

Braegnok
@zippytek, Thanks,..  
I can not find any dimensions on Optimus site to confirm clearance needed for the KPE Backplate,.. 
lots of folks have been asking Optimus on Twitter for technical drawings, dimensions as well for months.

yeah add me to the list of folks asking for specs. guess we'll either find out from them or one of us will measure and share when the blocks arrive! (i'm near the front of the list i believe so fingers crossed it is soon)

+1,.. I would not advocate lapping your GPU die. 

I replaced all the pads,.. using Thermal Grizzly Minus 8 pads on copper heatsink, a light coating of Kryonaut grease on heat tube underneath pads, and used Gelid Solutions GP-Extreme pad on the chipset with Kronaut grease on top of pad.
 
My original heatsink pads were all dry and fell apart when I removed heatsink, and the chipset pad tore a hole in center exactly as yours looks. I used same size as original pad on chipset, so the grease would spread across PCB after mounting for more surface area.
 

 

I'm not quite the perfectionist that Braegnok is, but I think my trimming of both the fins and cover shield turned out ok:
 

 
Next up will be cutting the I/O shield corner.  I think I'm going to do that by hand with a hacksaw in a jig with a very fine toothed blade.

Thanks!  Order placed for the pads and grease.
 
I cut off the corner of the I/O shield cover.
 

 
Once I get the active backplates and get the 3090's installed, I'll see if that ends up being an eyesore or not.  I'm hoping the opening will mostly be covered up, but we'll see.
 
I tested everything in a Core 9 case, but I went ahead and picked up a Core P8 TG, which will expose everything.  In the Core 9 case, I could have just left all the shields off as you would not have been able to see any of them anyway, lol.
 

 
Good news is the Z590 Dark works great in SLI and the 11900K OC nicely (on water with Optimus block).
 
The one remaining long pole for this build is EKWB shipping the blocks by the end of the month after being delayed twice already...
 

Still tracking to get your active backplate today?
 
My pads showed up, but I messed up and got a 1.5mm chipset (small square) and 0.5 heatsink (long rectangular).  Just ordered the correct ones.  So now I wait another 2 days.  Geez.
 
On a positive note, EKWB is saying their system still shows the FTW3 active backplate becoming available this Friday the 22nd.  Fingers crossed the date doesn't slip again.

Where I live DHL hands off to USPS for "the last mile".  Most of the time I get it the next day, but it varies.  I live in the sticks that DHL does not server directly.

That is nice, but it looks like 3-slot spacing, so no good for SLI.
 
4-slot spacing was the main driver for me getting an EVGA Z590 after being an Asus fanboy for years.  I really like it, so I'll definitely keep them in mind for future builds as well.

Very nice!  I did a double take at first given where the ports are, then realized your backplate is for the FE and not the FTW3.

The card is vary heavy with both front and back blocks installed, feels like 10 lbs.
 

 

 

pclausen
That is nice, but it looks like 3-slot spacing, so no good for SLI.
 
4-slot spacing was the main driver for me getting an EVGA Z590 after being an Asus fanboy for years.  I really like it, so I'll definitely keep them in mind for future builds as well.

Elmore Labs has been selling 3 slot RTX 3090 NVLink bridges since last spring.  I've been using a 3 slot RTX A6000 bridge myself since last summer.
 
The Asus Maximus XIII Apex also uses 4 slot spacing with a Z590 chipset.