Now that we know about the many different cooling issues that plague these cards (no thermal pads on backplate or midplate pads not touching), how much greater of a risk is it to run 2x EVGA GTX 1080 FTW's in SLI?
 
All the VRM and VRAM testing has been on single cards, but it seems logical to assume that running these cards in SLI (as I do) could potentially raise VRM temperatures outside of spec. Do you think increasing fan RPM and adding thermal pads might not be enough to stop severe overheating in this scenario? I am currently in contact with Gamers Nexus who will be performing further tests with SLI users in mind, but there is a very real concern that SLI users will be disproportionately impacted by the cooling issues.

Scarlet-Tech
This is something I would be interested in seeing.

To be honest, it has always been a less than great idea to run two ACX cards in sli, especially without good airflow in the case. The top card can quickly get much hotter than the bottom card.

Reference style coolers are much more suited for sli since the air wouldn't be recirculating into the case causing another card to heat up. Obviously a lot of people don't like reference coolers and I completely understand.

I hope you're not blaming me for making this purchase, but it sure seems like it. Nowhere did EVGA include this warning. Their cards should work fine in SLI unless they specifically state otherwise. I did plenty of research before making this purchase and I can assure you that there was no mention of catastrophic failure (e.g. sparks/fire) resulting from operating these cards in a SLI configuration. This is a problem simply because of EVGA's admitted oversight of not including thermal padding on the backplate.

HungryHamster

Scarlet-Tech
This is something I would be interested in seeing.

To be honest, it has always been a less than great idea to run two ACX cards in sli, especially without good airflow in the case. The top card can quickly get much hotter than the bottom card.

Reference style coolers are much more suited for sli since the air wouldn't be recirculating into the case causing another card to heat up. Obviously a lot of people don't like reference coolers and I completely understand.

I hope you're not blaming me for making this purchase, but it sure seems like it. Nowhere did EVGA include this warning. Their cards should work fine in SLI unless they specifically state otherwise. I did plenty of research before making this purchase and I can assure you that there was no mention of catastrophic failure (e.g. sparks/fire) resulting from operating these cards in a SLI configuration. This is a problem simply because of EVGA's admitted oversight of not including thermal padding on the backplate.

Where in the world did you come up with anything resembling he was blaming you for your purchase??? Comprehension in reading seems not to be a strong suit for you.

1) he stated he would be interested in seeing this. Which I understand him meaning he would like to see the results of their testing
2) ACX cooled GPUs expel heat back in to the case and the air gets recirculated raising the temps on the GPUs, upper usually suffers since its drawing off of the lower GPU. Thus why he stated ACX cooled GPUs are usually not a good choice for a SLI set up and continued with the statement that the reference blower style would work better in a SLI situation since it draws from inside the case and expels the heat from the case.

But no, you basically didn't understand the reply........... reading and comprehension......... apparently a lost art form these days

AngryAce
I have 2 1080 FTWs in SLI, ran Furmark while I was at work for 12-hours the other day and nothing happened.....

Ok.. What were your temperatures on the backplate and on the core?


Not sure if you have a laser temp reader or anything available.

Scarlet-Tech

AngryAce
I have 2 1080 FTWs in SLI, ran Furmark while I was at work for 12-hours the other day and nothing happened.....

Ok.. What were your temperatures on the backplate and on the core?


Not sure if you have a laser temp reader or anything available.

Well, I do have a IR temp gun laying around somewhere but that would entail me doing it again...... I just wanted to test my cards and see if they would fail but they didn't. I have noted the top card temps higher when running Valley with maxed settings @ 3440x1440. I get 79c and 73c on the cards. I ordered the thermal pad kit as a precaution and will put them in when I also get the Power Links.... Moving that big DG-86 case around is a pain in the......