GPU Support Bracket (BRA)

Graphics cards (GPU's) have been constantly evolving and growing in size, getting larger and larger. In the early days, a small on-board fan was sufficient for cooling the GPU chip.

Additionally the expansion slot (where the graphic card makes it connection to the motherboard) and the back plate screw was sufficient to hold it in place securely. However more recently GPU's are looking more like this.

As the length of the GPU has grown the expansion fixing itself has remained relativity the same size. Yes of course the expansion slot itself has developed hugely from its humble beginnings, ISA, VLB, PCI and now into PCI-E but the mounting point size itself hasn't really changed a great deal.

Thus leading us on to the phenomenon of a drooping or sagging of your GPU..

I actually drew a White rectangle around this image of a GPU to highlight the drooping to the right side. GPU sag can damage cards if it is to an extreme degree, if it sags far enough it can warp the PCB and potentially dislodge the cooler, causing higher temperatures or possibly damage the GPU itself.

So now that I've explained what GPU sag is, and the reason it occurs I can move on with my story. I recently purchased the GameMax Expedition budget case and it came with (to my surprise) a GPU brace which is optional to install or not. I had no idea this was included nor can I find much online that refers to it. GameMax's site mentions "VGA fit part(Optional): VGA Card Fix part (included)" in the case specifications but of course no pictures! Here's an image I took with a zoomed in view and my own diagram of whats happening to try and help you understand.

The thumbscrew goes through the upright section and screws into the L-piece, the upright section itself has a rectangular hole up the middle which means that the the L-piece can be positioned anywhere up or down on the upright section. The L-Piece itself has a protective surface where it comes into contact with the GPU to prevent scratches.

It's a really nicely designed bracket and I was impressed with it. Admittedly I had to modify it's location as it is supposed to screw into the holes that I've marked using a Blue rectangle. However if it were positioned there it would definitely be touching the heat pipes and possibly the two GPU fans as well but I digress.

I contacted GamesMax directly to enquire about this but I didn't really get a straight answer. I presume it was differences in languages so I persisted. They send me the following which are much better diagrams of how to fit the GPU support (instead of answering my question of where can I source additional units from!)

They kindly marked the brackets in case location with a Red rectangle themselves (I presume so I didn't get confused? ROFL!!!) and again I persisted.They told me "They don't sell them seperately" then 7 minutes later I had another email from them.. Maybe they had though they'd made another business associate? This email read "Hi, How many pieces you need to buy? See our list on our AliExpress shop for you order. This is our owned parts, you can’t buy it from other supplier." O.K. We're starting to get there I thought.

After spending an hour or so going through the 44 pages of AliExpress search results for "GPU Support" I have found a fairly wide selection of GPU support brackets. Admittedly I have not found GameMax's one. But I just wanted to share these examples with you, I was by no means an affiliate of AliExpress and compiled this list just for reference. After I had completed this list I did apply to become an affiliate and they accepted me. So just to be transparent with you, I will earn a very small percentage from any sales made from these links.

We seem to have two main types of GPU support bracket, the horizontal type and the vertical type. We'll start with the vertical ones :

It looks ideal, small, but in reality is quite large at 15cm x 15cm. Click here to buy one..

The classic pole n peg style.  Click here to buy one..

A variation of pole n peg with a triangular base. Click here to buy one..

Again another base variation of the pole n peg style. Click here to buy one..

The significantly taller pole n pointy peg variant. Click here to buy one..

The pointy fat pole with RGB. Click here to buy one..

The 'Treetrunk' with RGB, admittedly with this one you can at least route your GPU's power supply leads up inside the Treetrunk! Click here to buy one..

The very fancy looking 'Billboard' Edition.. Click here to buy one..

and finally the minimalist, and possibly my favourite of all of the vertical supports. Click here to buy one..

Moving onto the horizontal GPU supports:

Looking sweet in a range of different colours and customisation options, however they forget to mention the actual length of the damn thing! NEXT!! Click here to buy one..

The fiendishly expensive 'City Skyline' that ironically sits under the CPU, actually most of the horizontal brackets support the GPU from directly under it. Click here to buy one..

Really cool looking clear plastic etched with a design which looks very good once illuminated. I really like this one. Click here to buy one..

Very similar to the first horizontal support with the unknown length, but looks more sculpted and probably stronger because of that? Click here to buy one..

This is a very nicely designed bracket, adjustable in size too which makes it a real contender. Click here to buy one..

Another mystery sized GPU bracket. Would you really take the risk of ordering something that you didn't know the size of? Especially from Asia where your looking at an extended delivery delay. I just don't understand the logic of some sellers not giving this information. On the plus side, this bracket is Aluminium and Acrylic which nice, especially when it's illuminated by the inbuilt RGB. Click here to buy one..

Tidy looking bare metal example. Click here to buy one..

Lovely metal and RGB design on this example bracket. Click here to buy one..

Same manufacturer as the previous bracket, this time metal and acrylic for a more colourful RGB. Click here to buy one..

A smaller acrylic example bracket here, illuminated by RGB. Click here to buy one..

Fantastic looking etched acrylic example, highly customisable (as are most available). Click here to buy one..

Very, very similar to the bracket listed above this one, also it's another 'unknown' length bracket.. NEXT! Click here to buy one..

A really nice mix of aluminium and acrylic, looks both strong and colourful. Click here to buy one..

Very similar (again) to the bracket above this one, however it deserves a mention as there is more bulk of acrylic on this one, so once it's illuminated it will look totally different. Additionally they have a thousand or so different designs that can be etched into the acrylic too. Click here to buy one..

My final example is this half and half bracket, the left side is aluminium whilst the right side is acrylic. The RGB looks fantastic and if I were to declare my horizontal favourite it would probably be this one. Click here to buy one..

Here's how it would look installed under a GPU:

I was going to call it enough at this point and finish my post, however I accidentally discovered a third category of GPU Bracket thanks to Google images...

It's a vertical bracket that lives on the motherboard side of the card (first I've ever seen of this type of bracket) looks REALLY interesting and DISCRETE if your not into that whole RGB scene (which I am definitely not into!!)

Something to bear in mind for the future, here's it's info : 

'Lian-Li GB-001 black Anti Sag Bracket for VGA Cards'

and even a quick YouTube video:

Thanks for coming along on this GPU bracket journey with me, I hope it's opened your eyes to what is available out there. This list is by no means a definitive guide, and also I'm still trying to find the GameMax mounting bracket that started me on this very journey. Thanks for accompanying me!

EDIT : A helpful email rec'd from Teresa (Sales assistant at GameMax) giving me the exact link of the item I've been looking for all this time! A big thank-you to Teresa and all the staff at GameMax who've been helping me out with this. Excellent folks!

Click here to buy one.. 

Ironically there is no commission on this link, yet this is the one that I was looking for that started all of this in the first place! Once again thanks for accompanying me on this GPU bracket journey!