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EVGA GeForce GTX 1080/1070/1060 BIOS Update

Iced

Member
None of that is related to the cards that go up in flames; the problem was a bad batch of caps. Either way, EVGA will take care of him.

Which the vbios update was meant to resolve, according to EVGA (well, they said it was meant to lower the temps of the pwm, but not necessarily prevent fires). Since he said he had applied the update, I was just curious if there were other factors at play that could have contributed to it. I have email correspondence with an EVGA rep who basically says the fires are a fabrication, so when I see posts like these, I like to see if there is more to their story. Not that I'm calling the poster a liar - I'm concerned about having a fire hazard sitting in my own tower and would like to know if the steps I've taken are sufficient (update + pad install).
 

Dartastic

Member
For those of you who installed the pads, how did it go and how complicated is it? I have a 1070 and the pads are just sitting on a shelf...
 
I went out and bought a EVGA SC 1070...seems to run very cool so far, 27-29C at idle and 53-61C at full load.

Those temps are gpu chip itself, the problems with those cards are the vrm and vram cooking alive with no pads to conduct heat to the plate, or in the case of vram bad contacts on the pads.
 

JBwB

Member
For those of you who installed the pads, how did it go and how complicated is it? I have a 1070 and the pads are just sitting on a shelf...

I'd advise to be very careful when removing the cooler. The LED connector is really difficult to remove and I personally ended up severing one of the wires by accident on my 1080.
 

Iced

Member
For those of you who installed the pads, how did it go and how complicated is it? I have a 1070 and the pads are just sitting on a shelf...

Very easy, save for 1 additional screw I needed to remove that was not described in the instructions (I have a 1070 FTW). If you've built your own PC, you won't have any trouble whatsoever. The only thing I can imagine might be a bit stressful is the application of thermal paste, but from what I've read it's not as critical to "get it right" like when installing a CPU.
 
For those of you who installed the pads, how did it go and how complicated is it? I have a 1070 and the pads are just sitting on a shelf...

The base plate on my 1080 FTW was stuck to the pre-installed pads on the memory modules around the GPU, so I had to use a heat gun to loosen things up and remove the plate. Other than that, it was pretty easy.
 

dcx4610

Member
I have the kit and as someone who has built numerous PCs, the instructions look intimidating and it doesn't seem like it would make a big difference. What do you guys think? I have the firmware updated and haven't had any problems. Just keep it the way it is or go ahead and put in the kit and risk screwing it up?
 

eXMomoj

Member
I have the kit and as someone who has built numerous PCs, the instructions look intimidating and it doesn't seem like it would make a big difference. What do you guys think? I have the firmware updated and haven't had any problems. Just keep it the way it is or go ahead and put in the kit and risk screwing it up?

I've built countless PCs for the past 15 years and thought the instructions seemed a bit lengthy for something like this. But it was actually a very quick and easy process for me.
 
I have the kit and as someone who has built numerous PCs, the instructions look intimidating and it doesn't seem like it would make a big difference. What do you guys think? I have the firmware updated and haven't had any problems. Just keep it the way it is or go ahead and put in the kit and risk screwing it up?

It's not something that happens gradually. One day your card may go poof or not.
 

Stevey

Member
I have the kit and as someone who has built numerous PCs, the instructions look intimidating and it doesn't seem like it would make a big difference. What do you guys think? I have the firmware updated and haven't had any problems. Just keep it the way it is or go ahead and put in the kit and risk screwing it up?

I felt the same but you cant really screw it up, its literally undoing a few screws, unclipping two wire connectors, replacing/putting pads in and redoing some thermal paste.

But then again, my card showed no signs of overheating and you get a 3 year warranty if you registered it so I dunno :v
 

Stevey

Member
Oh right, not seen that.
I fitted the pads to my 1080 but didnt bother with the BIOS update as I set my own fan curve.
 
Installed the mod and the applied the bios.

As others have said, the trickiest part was removing the fan and LED power connectors. Little buggers just didn't want to budge.

Oh, and the super sticky/stretchy themal pads took a couple of tries to lay down correctly. Not too much bother though.

I'd advise watching a couple of videos online rather than just reading the printed instructions. They miss steps (such as removing the thermal paste from the cooler) and it was much easier to follow.
 

Fracas

#fuckonami
For those of you who installed the pads, how did it go and how complicated is it? I have a 1070 and the pads are just sitting on a shelf...

I knocked it out this weekend and it wasn't too bad. Removing those power connectors are a pain, though. I used tweezers and it helped a bit. Everything else is crazy easy as long as you have right tools.
 

Chanser

Member
For those of you who installed the pads, how did it go and how complicated is it? I have a 1070 and the pads are just sitting on a shelf...

Read the instructions thoroughly. Used a small flathead screwdriver to remove the connectors and everything else was easy.
 
The new cooling solution for EVGA's FTW cards (ICX, FTW2) now have reviews up on youtube

Gamers Nexus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZuze3OZqL4


JayzTwoCents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U-OCvcV7Yw&t

Now with proper vrm / memory cooling! And a fuse so your card don't blow up lol.

I just came back to see if this was mentioned, the PR nightmare must have really done a number on the sales of their cards lead to this product line re-branding/relaunch.

Also link to their site on it.

http://www.evga.com/articles/01084/evga-icx/
 

Iced

Member
You can, but you gotta chuck 99$ for the step up program.

Or I could stop being their loyal customer. What a bunch of fucking asshats.

Edit: Just read up on the upgrade process. From their site: "There are several steps to the ACX 3.0 to iCX Upgrade Program. After submitting a request, reaching the top of the queue, obtaining approval, and purchasing the iCX Upgrade you will send your ACX 3.0 product to EVGA first. Once we receive your ACX 3.0 graphics card, we will do our best to get your brand new iCX graphics card shipped out as quickly as possible. EVGA offers complimentary return ground shipping, unless you choose to purchase a faster return shipping option."

Fuck. You. EVGA.
 

vg260

Member
You can, but you gotta chuck 99$ for the step up program.

Can you do that if you didn't buy directly from them? I got it from Newegg.

It's almost worth it to me for peace of mind it's not going to fry itself or my components. I'm afraid to let it run unattended currently.
 

JayBabay

Member
For those of you who installed the pads, how did it go and how complicated is it? I have a 1070 and the pads are just sitting on a shelf...

I just did it last night after reading about another user's board burning up a couple days ago. Mine were also sitting in a drawer for months. The application is not difficult, everything fits into place very easily.

The hardest part was just removing the fan and LED connectors while you are holding up the board with one hand. I tried a flat head and I wasn't getting any wiggle out of it so I had to use my nails to nudge it from each side over and over until they each came loose.

My idle temps were the same after applying the pads so I guess it worked out well. At maximum GPU use I couldn't get the card over 51-53 degrees on Heaven Benchmark, but I don't have a comparison from before, I think it would climb higher than that though.

You can, but you gotta chuck 99$ for the step up program.


Gah, I hate that they are the only ones who changed the design of their card so soon. I wouldn't mind spending the $99 but my card boosts to 2012mhz without any OC applied and it has the Samsung memory so I'm not sure if it would even be worth it. Especially since I'd have to go back to using an older card for who knows how long till they ship out a replacement.
 

vg260

Member
Gah, I hate that they are the only ones who changed the design of their card so soon. I wouldn't mind spending the $99 but my card boosts to 2012mhz without any OC applied and it has the Samsung memory so I'm not sure if it would even be worth it. Especially since I'd have to go back to using an older card for who knows how long till they ship out a replacement.

I have Samsung memory, and I don't overclock, so it might be worth it for me to pay the stupid upgrade price just so I'm not paranoid about it, even though I did the pad mod. Of course, paying the fee sucks, but I'll take that as a lesson learned about supporting them in the future.

Looks like you can submit to get in the queue and you can back out if out before paying if accepted (although you lose your only chance at that). I think? I can't tell for sure though if they would still accept card even if you did the mod.
 
Can you do that if you didn't buy directly from them? I got it from Newegg.

It's almost worth it to me for peace of mind it's not going to fry itself or my components. I'm afraid to let it run unattended currently.

Yeah you can. Also the step up program ends feb 28th so make a decision fast.
 

styl3s

Member
I can't tell if mine has the pads on the 1080 SC but i do have the bios update and after playing a ton of BF1/Witcher 3 and Overwatch since it never hit above 67 which my GTX980 ran at like 80 on BF1/Overwatch so i think i am good?

I don't want to take the card apart to see if it has the pads but it idols cool and runs cool.
 
I can't tell if mine has the pads on the 1080 SC but i do have the bios update and after playing a ton of BF1/Witcher 3 and Overwatch since it never hit above 67 which my GTX980 ran at like 80 on BF1/Overwatch so i think i am good?

I don't want to take the card apart to see if it has the pads but it idols cool and runs cool.

Your card has no sensors on the vrm / memory, which is where the issues are.
 

JayBabay

Member
I have Samsung memory, and I don't overclock, so it might be worth it for me to pay the stupid upgrade price just so I'm not paranoid about it, even though I did the pad mod. Of course, paying the fee sucks, but I'll take that as a lesson learned about supporting them in the future.

Looks like you can submit to get in the queue and you can back out if out before paying if accepted (although you lose your only chance at that). I think? I can't tell for sure though if they would still accept card even if you did the mod.

I signed up for the replacement anyway and I'll see when they respond to my request. I highly doubt that the pad mod is going to have an effect on eligibility. If anything, we did them a favor by applying it, it's just so funny that I finally did it last night and now this afternoon I see this news. Oh well, I know my card inside and out now.
 

Nyoro SF

Member
I just came back to see if this was mentioned, the PR nightmare must have really done a number on the sales of their cards lead to this product line re-branding/relaunch.

Also link to their site on it.

http://www.evga.com/articles/01084/evga-icx/

Well, any engineer worth their salt knows that sometimes the best stuff can come from initial fuckups. I'm def. willing to give EVGA another chance. Just wish it didn't have to happen to this card of all of them since it was my first upgrade in 5 years.
 

styl3s

Member
Your card has no sensors on the vrm / memory, which is where the issues are.
I took some pictures are these the pads? Not sure what they are supposed to look like but it looks like it might have them.
RAkyvF0.jpg
 

Pat

Member
I sent an email asking some details about a cross-shipping replacement elligibility with my card since I'm not very confident with installing the pads myself and this is what I got as an answer:

Hello Patrick,

I am sorry to hear that you're having issues with your graphics card. If you can, please upload that newegg invoice for us so that we can further assist with an RMA. I can also address your concerns on the Thermal Pad issues. GamersNexus was able to confirm in a final stress/torture test that there were no issues with or without the thermal pads, more on that article HERE. There were a lot of misinformation that caused widespread concerns on our graphics card. It started with a reviewer from Tom's Hardware who ran a benchmarking program called FurMark. FurMark is very notorious for causing damages to these cards, there were also posts about FurMark a few years back from NVIDIA themselves linked HERE. This reviewer ran FurMark for 2 hours, which was 8 times the recommended limit. Similar to purchasing a vehicle, putting the vehicle into neutral and then maxing the RPM's for 2 hours. The reviewer proceeded to post thermals of the card during those extended tests, causing concerns to our customer. I would like to confirm that your card should be functioning without any issues. However, again, we can definitely assist you in getting a replacement. Please upload the invoice so that we can continue forward. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us back here or through our Customer Support Line 1(888)880-3842. Thank you for being a valued EVGA customer.

Regards,
EVGA

They kind of... deny there is an overheat problem with the GPU. That is concerning lol.

I will try to install these pads soon, I've built my own computer and repaired some (desktop and laptops) in the past year so that shouldn't be a problem. I'm not afraid the card burning itself since there is a 3 years warranty, but I'm concerned about what it can do to my other components.
 
Gamers Nexus said:
If you already own an ACX card (like the FTW ACX GTX 1080, now $600), you could trade-in for $100 and get an ICX equivalent – but we don’t think it’s worth it, unless you specifically want the new toys to play with. In terms of gaming performance, it’s the same. Thermals on the power and memory components are better, certainly, but the temperatures were already acceptable with the ACX cooler once thermal pads were added. The VBIOS update was not even necessary if you did that.
http://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/2799-evga-gtx-1080-ftw2-sc2-icx-in-depth-thermal-analysis

As expected, not really worth the upgrade for ACX owners.
 
As far as the models with 'the troubles' goes. Did they recall remaining stock when the problem happened? I grabbed an EVGA 1070 for my bro towards the end of December, I kind of assumed that it didn't have the problem but I guess I never checked for the pads on install.

I got my pads for my 1080 a while back but it looked like more effort than I expected from the instructions so I haven't gotten around to doing it yet.
 
Interesting. I am actually considering the upgrade option almost explicitly because it adds a new 90 days to the step up program.

I'm thinking about registering to get in line for a step up on the 28th (the last possible day). If the 1080Ti's end up coming out before ~May 30th (or whatever 90 days is after the replacement is shipped), I can step up to the Ti which is something I really wanted to be able to do anyway.

Pros:

- Possibility of not having to resell my 1080 on the open market.
- If I did have to resell it, this version might make up some of the $100 difference.
- The 1080Ti might come out in the 90 day window, giving me the opportunity to step up to it.
- Clocks speeds may be better on the replacement.
- Card will definitely not be a refurb (I don't think the replacement card I got was a refurb, but I have no real way of knowing).


Cons:

- My primary computer won't work for what? at least a week? maybe longer? Fuck, man.
- If the 1080Ti doesn't come out, I'll sort of feel like I wasted my money.
- My GPU clocks not amazing but are pretty good right now. The replacement might be a poorer performer.
- Current card has had 0 issues. New card may mean new headaches.

Thoughts?
 
Interesting. I am actually considering the upgrade option almost explicitly because it adds a new 90 days to the step up program.

I'm thinking about registering to get in line for a step up on the 28th (the last possible day). If the 1080Ti's end up coming out before ~May 30th (or whatever 90 days is after the replacement is shipped), I can step up to the Ti which is something I really wanted to be able to do anyway.

Pros:

- Possibility of not having to resell my 1080 on the open market.
- If I did have to resell it, this version might make up some of the $100 difference.
- The 1080Ti might come out in the 90 day window, giving me the opportunity to step up to it.
- Clocks speeds may be better on the replacement.
- Card will definitely not be a refurb (I don't think the replacement card I got was a refurb, but I have no real way of knowing).


Cons:

- My primary computer won't work for what? at least a week? maybe longer? Fuck, man.
- If the 1080Ti doesn't come out, I'll sort of feel like I wasted my money.
- My GPU clocks not amazing but are pretty good right now. The replacement might be a poorer performer.
- Current card has had 0 issues. New card may mean new headaches.

Thoughts?

Keep in mind when you use the step-up program you can only step-up to reference cards, so no custom cooling / pcb design (ACX -> ICX being an exception). You card having 0 issues doesn't mean anything, the kind of problems you can get from the issues are not something that happens gradually, your card just might suddenly poof in smoke suddenly for no reason (vrm / memory have zero sensors, you wouldn't see it coming). Personally I'd do the upgrade for the peace of mind, because if you just want to leverage your 3 years warranty to rma your card if it goes in flames you could short / char your motherboard along with it. Happened to some users on reddit/r/evga.


As far as the models with 'the troubles' goes. Did they recall remaining stock when the problem happened? I grabbed an EVGA 1070 for my bro towards the end of December, I kind of assumed that it didn't have the problem but I guess I never checked for the pads on install.

I got my pads for my 1080 a while back but it looked like more effort than I expected from the instructions so I haven't gotten around to doing it yet.

Any cards shipped since november 2016 have the thermal pads and the new BIOS installed
 

vg260

Member
I was reviewing their page again and this is the part I wan't sure about:
After receiving your product, EVGA will review the product and confirm receipt if your graphics card is in original factory condition. Once the review is complete, EVGA will ship out your new-in-box EVGA GeForce GTX 10-Series iCX graphics card.

Does that not technically apply if you did the pad mod?
 

JayBabay

Member
I finally got around to testing my 1070 FTW that I got around launch and was able to get my card to 2126mhz stable on the core (+125 in my case) and +700 on the memory. With a decent overclock like that I think I'll save the $100, hang on to this card and next time just think twice before supporting EVGA.
 

grendelrt

Member
Interesting. I am actually considering the upgrade option almost explicitly because it adds a new 90 days to the step up program.

I'm thinking about registering to get in line for a step up on the 28th (the last possible day). If the 1080Ti's end up coming out before ~May 30th (or whatever 90 days is after the replacement is shipped), I can step up to the Ti which is something I really wanted to be able to do anyway.

Pros:


- Possibility of not having to resell my 1080 on the open market.
- If I did have to resell it, this version might make up some of the $100 difference.
- The 1080Ti might come out in the 90 day window, giving me the opportunity to step up to it.
- Clocks speeds may be better on the replacement.
- Card will definitely not be a refurb (I don't think the replacement card I got was a refurb, but I have no real way of knowing).


Cons:

- My primary computer won't work for what? at least a week? maybe longer? Fuck, man.
- If the 1080Ti doesn't come out, I'll sort of feel like I wasted my money.
- My GPU clocks not amazing but are pretty good right now. The replacement might be a poorer performer.
- Current card has had 0 issues. New card may mean new headaches.

Thoughts?
My exact predicament. I really wish they would cross ship and just put a hold on my Cc, i mean leaving me without a gpu for weeks, come on.
 

dcx4610

Member
Question. For the Cross Ship RMA, are the replacement cards from EVGA including the thermal pads pre-installed or are they just shipping out cards with an updated BIOS?

Are the thermal pads just optional?
 

Adamator

Member
Hey all.

I am sort of new to this issue. I heard about it when it first hit and to be honest I sort of ignored it to an extent.

I have a EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC GAMING ACX 3.0, that I bought right around the time it came out so I know it's affected. I applied the BIOS Update when it came out and haven't thought about it since. EVGA Sent me the email about the new iCX coming out and the option to upgrade for $99 that got me thinking about this whole situation again.

This card is is in a computer I built around July of last year, and it's my first new computer in about 6 years. I am NOT a PC gamer, but I built something that would last and handle whatever I do use it for, such as home video editing and 3D animation. This is not to say I don't play games on it...just not super often.

What I am getting at is, does the BIOS update truly fix the issue? Are we able to apply that and call it good? Or is there more risk beyond that? I haven't ordered the thermal pads but I wouldn't be opposed to it. Just wonder if I would NEED to?

I'm tempted to do the $99 upgrade, but if I don't need to, I might as well save $99.

I appreciate any insight.

Thank you.
 
Keep in mind when you use the step-up program you can only step-up to reference cards, so no custom cooling / pcb design (ACX -> ICX being an exception). You card having 0 issues doesn't mean anything, the kind of problems you can get from the issues are not something that happens gradually, your card just might suddenly poof in smoke suddenly for no reason (vrm / memory have zero sensors, you wouldn't see it coming). Personally I'd do the upgrade for the peace of mind, because if you just want to leverage your 3 years warranty to rma your card if it goes in flames you could short / char your motherboard along with it. Happened to some users on reddit/r/evga.

thanks for the thoughts. I don't disagree. I'll probably wait another week before jumping in line to maximize my time.
 
I have my envelope with the thermal pads which I requested before finding out they weren't placing a full price hold on credit cards for cross-ship replacements.

Anyway yeah... I'm not going to spend $100 for an upgraded cooler and PCB, I already replaced my 1070 FTW once back when they were offering to do it for free within warranty and got a new 1070 that fared better in the silicon lottery and runs cooler with the same custom fan curve I used with my original card.

As long as I don't have any of those faulty MOSFETs I think I'll be good and if it happens to blow while within warranty, eh. I don't see myself replacing this card until maybe a year after I do a system rebuild which I'm planning on doing either this Fall or the first half of 2018 to replace the old OC'd 2500K.

I sent an email asking some details about a cross-shipping replacement elligibility with my card since I'm not very confident with installing the pads myself and this is what I got as an answer:



They kind of... deny there is an overheat problem with the GPU. That is concerning lol.

I will try to install these pads soon, I've built my own computer and repaired some (desktop and laptops) in the past year so that shouldn't be a problem. I'm not afraid the card burning itself since there is a 3 years warranty, but I'm concerned about what it can do to my other components.

That's how they've responded since day one in downplaying the potential issues.


On another note, MS is back with forcing driver updates installing the driver from December that I'm pretty sure I was already using and the additional NVIDIA bullshit I don't need along with it.
 
Keep in mind when you use the step-up program you can only step-up to reference cards, so no custom cooling / pcb design (ACX -> ICX being an exception).

That's not correct.

I stepped up a 980Ti FTW ACX 2.0 to a 1080 SC ACX 3.0. The card is a reference design, but the cooling is custom.
 
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