I'm currently looking to replace my old EVGA GTX 680. It's served me well, but the newer games are getting a bit too much for it now. I've been looking at either an EVGA 980ti Classified (might be an issue with my small case), or the 980ti non-ACX 2.0 fan version, or the newer EVGA 1080 Founder's Edition, which also has the non-ACX fan setup. What I'd like to know is the higher price worth getting the 1080 and does the Founders Edition also have the heat and thermal pad issue? I noticed that in the top sticky thread about the excessive heat problems the 1080's are experiencing that both the Founders Edition and the Hybrid versions were listed as NOT having the thermal pad and heat issues. Is this true?
 
For everyone's information, I'm still running Windows 7 64bit with an Intel i7 960 3.2 GHz processor on an older ASUS motherboard, a Rampage III GENE, which has so far worked just fine with the GTX 680. Would a 1080 be a waste of money to put in this old of a motherboard? The BIOS hasn't been updated either, but I can rectify that if needed. I'd like to keep this system going for a little while since I can't afford a whole new system.

haris525
Hello 
if you are gaming at 1080P - 60fps get GTX 1060
if you are gaming at 1080P - 120 fps get GTX 1070 - (I would not consider the gtx 980 ti at this point)
if you are gaming at 1080P - 144 fps get GTX 1080
if you are gaming at 1440p - 60 fps get GTX 1070
if you are gaming at 1440p - 120 fps get 2 x GTX 1070 or 1080
if you are gaming at 1440p 144fps (same as above) 
if @ 4k - 60 fps - atleast 1070, or 1080 (would be better choice) 
do your research, I would contact evga to make sure you dont become a victim of Ramgate! - they are a good company but we all get lemons once in a while. 
and yes, the Founders Edition, and the Hybrid cards are not part of Ramgate. 
 
GL

Thanks everyone. Right now, I play games at 1920X1200, so I'm sure the 1080 would be waaaay more than enough and I already have a 850 watt Corsair PS. I don't plan to use VR because it made me cybersick the one time I got to try it on someone else's system. Gaaah! It was cool, but the nausea sure took a whole lot away from the experience. I might also look at the 1060's and 1070's as well to save a little money. The ACX versions wouldn't be good for my small restricted case anyway, so it's good that EVGA still has the HSF fan versions. Unfortunately, I might not have the room for a water cooled card either, but I'll do some measuring. How thick is the fan radiator setup for the hybrid madthing17? Also, what are the maintenance requirements for a water cooled card?

Hmmmm. It might work, but I'll have to do some serious measuring. There's a big cable and connector that sits about an inch behind the current rear case fan, that sticks up just enough to hit things if the fan gets moved rearward too far.
 
I've already got 3 big 120 mm fans blowing into the case, one of them is on the side of the case blowing towards the VC's intake along with one 120mm fan behind the PS and a smaller 80mm fan on the bottom of the case, all pulling air out. I have slight positive pressure in the case. That's in conjunction with the PS fan pulling outwards as well. What about the aforementioned fan noise issue? Can the fan be changed out for a better one, or does the speed just have to be modulated? And I've heard about some EVGA cards having pump noise issues as well. Any problems with the 1070's?

Thanks. Good to know. I don't have any other hybrid radiators on my system, so it would be all by itself at the top of the case. I've also got a special 120mm Noctua Fan sitting around that's specifically made for pushing air through radiators, so I might swap that one in if I get the hybrid version.

sehlat
I've got one more question for anyone who who knows anything about older Asus motherboards. My Asus Rampage III GENE is currently still using BIOS revision 0501. It came that way from the builder. The Asus website currently lists several BIOS revisions above that, mostly for newer CPU's and memory. I'd like to know if I need to update the BIOS in order to run a GTX 1070, or even a GTX 980ti, or can I leave it alone? I'm really hesitant to flash the BIOS and potentially brick my motherboard or spend hours resetting everything back in the BIOS just to upgrade my video card. I had no trouble upgrading from the noisy GTX 480 that originally came with the system in 2011 to the current GTX 680 that I'm using now.

You'd be better off posting this question on an Asus-centric site. Good luck.

Get the card you want (I'd go with a FTW 1070 or 1070 SC in your case) and just try it in your rig.  If your system fails to POST or if the card seems to be underperforming, then you'll probably be looking at updating your mobo's BIOS.  Before I did that though, I would follow the advice of visiting ASUS forums and asking for advice/help.  Updating the BIOS on any board is nothing to be taken lightly.  Although it may be trouble free and easy on your board, there is always the chance of a bad flash and a creating new motherboard shaped paperweight.

I hang out at the ASUS forum enough as I've been using their MB's for years. Get the GPU that you want and be ready to update the bios on your Asus Rampage III GENE. You might or might not have to but it will be in your best interest flash the bios to the newest version anyway!

selhat,  I don't overclock except for XMP so my changes are minimal. When I say be prepared to flash the bios it is a 'just in case' situation, just have the newest bios on a thumb drive in case. I know of no way to save bios settings to an external source (not that it can't be done) so I would go page by page and write things down as I found them. Sorry I can't be of better help.

Thanks everyone. I'll just take pictures with my Android pad, page by page, as a record of the settings if I have to flash the BIOS. The only issues I might run into is that I swapped out the old OS spinner drive for a Samsung EVO SSD a few years back and I had to change things, like disable that hobbled Marvel controller in order to switch to the Intel controller. In this case, I want to make sure to keep my changed settings.
 
By the way Heini2, the new BIOS file comes as a .ROM format. Will that work for with my older MB's BIOS or do I have to convert the file? I think I read that somewhere in my searching.