Iluv2raceit

jlp209

Iluv2raceit
 
What I find disturbing about EVGA's response that the GTX1080 FTW Hybrid is not affected.  I checked myself using a high intensity LED flash light and confirmed that the my FTW Hybrid card does NOT have a thermal pad in place that covers the backside of the VRMs and makes contact with the back plate.  Nothing but air space between, which is bad.  I have already ordered thermal pads and will put them in place to ensure adequate cooling of the VRMs.   Better safe than sorry is my motto.  Still, it pisses me off a bit that EVGA really feels they have to cut corners on thermal pads that cost only a $1 or so.  The assumption that the use of a Hybrid cooler will negate the VRMs from overheating is short sightedness at best.  And interestingly enough, the EKWB back plate for my water cooled Titan XP does have a thermal pad that is provided to transfer the heat from the VRMs to the back plate.  So, why doesn't EVGA offer the same solution for the FTW Hybrid cards as well??

Were you able to order the thermal pads from EVGA or did you get generic ones that will fit? My latest card / 3rd FTW Hybrid (also had a Classified) has been the most stable by far. I am very curious why it is so different. Prior cards, aside from black screen + fans 100%, would always hit power + voltage limit at same time causing massive downclocking, while temps stayed under 65 degrees. At stock I'd boost to 2025 mhz and still got downclocked to 2012 mhz and 2000 mhz for no reason that made sense to me (on a Hybrid with temps under 60 degrees). Maybe it was related to inadequate VRM cooling, I'll never know.
 
The Classified I had hit the temp limit in Precision (also at different times hit voltage and power limit), yet the core never went over 65 degrees. Maybe that had something to do with the VRM issue. Bizarre behavior, returned it to Microcenter. 
 
My current FTW Hybrid stays at 2113 mhz regardless of game or benchmark almost all the time, with the occasional dip down to 2101 mhz. But even when that happens, I've never hit voltage, temp, or power limit. A down clock of 12 mhz / 1 bin is normal and what my prior cards should've been doing. So confused by my experiences so far, definitely the most issues I've ever had with any GPU ever. EVGA support has been great though, luckily. 

The issue has nothing to do with GPU temps and is directly associated with the VRM temperatures, which are not monitored by the card's BIOS or any other tool for that matter since there are no thermostats near the VRMs.  This is something altogether a different problem that is fortunately easily fixed by just applying some thermal pads to the back of the PCB so that the heat can be dissipated through the back plate.  EVGA would not allow for me to submit the request for the thermal pads, so I had to order them from Amazon.

silixx
so in other words should hybrid owners be worried about the vrm heating issues?

Angier_1985
It's easy. 
 
If the VRMs are affected by overheating issues, the hybrid cards are not affected. The active cooling is deemed adequate. Contrary to what earlier posters mentioned, the fan ON the card is completely meant to cool the VRM and is in direct contact via the thermal pads. There is no need for thermal pads on the backside of the PCB as the backplate is not needed for heat dissipation. This is different from the ACX 3.0 model, where both the mid- and the backplate are meant as surface increase for passive heat dissipation of VRM and VRAM.
 
If the VRMs are affected by QC issues from the supplier, the hybrid cards are affected. According to EVGA this QC-issue has been resolved back in august. Cards manufactured and shipped after 8/31 should not be affected. Cards manufactured and shipped before might bear a 4% chance to be faulty. Warranty will cover it in case of faulty VRM. The chance that your card might "explode" is actually really low. IF you are affected by a faulty VRM it is more likely to encounter the blackscreen + 100% fan issue.

Angier_1985
There are tools that can control such a fan via the GPU temps, like speedfan. Most often, it is more advisable to look for the sweet spot of sound and heat dissipation and have your fan run at this setting all the time. A sudden change in noise is more noticable than a constant humming as background noise and thus even a fan that features no idle mode can still appear "silent" as long as it is quieter than for example your average volume setting or other background noise in your room. I usually aim to be quieter than any A/C.

Angier_1985
Personally, I am curious if anyone is running a corsair sp120 quiet edition on the radiator. I am unsure if that would be sufficient (rad as intake) or if I should rather look at the sp120 HPE with the 7v adapter. Any experience outta there?