why the heck do they put that cover plate on in the first place?
Because that plate is also the PCI bracket. The card does not fit inside a computer case, and has almost no support in an aluminum rig. You have to get pretty creative on howto support these without that bracket.
Dropped the temps by 5c and also reduced the power draw at the wall by 10watts per card,
I also noticed ~5-8C drop, though I didn't measure any power drap. Didn't take any before-after reading with my kill-a-watt, as I didn't think it'd make a huge difference. You an def feel more air move through the card, tho.
There's 1 screw under the main plastic cover, Only 6 small screw to remove the cover. Takes less then 2 mins to remove the back plate.
Very easy job and well worth it
Yep, those 6 screws around the card you remove are just to take off the shroud/air channel. You never touch the heatsink, fan, support plate, or anything. Took me ~15 min to do all 6 cards.
