I game at 1440p 144Hz on an Asus G-Sync panel and have no interest in going 4k yet so the reference is good enough for me.  I recently removed my entire WC loop and just have a corsair 240 aio on the cpu, preordered the ACX 3.0 1080 and will just use a Thermosphere on it with a swiftech H240x unit.  I'll leave the baseplate on, put some heatsinks over the VRM section and then figure a way to mount a good 92mm fan over that.  Will be every bit as good as my custom loop was and zero maintenance, possibly better since the cpu and gpu have their own cooling loops and can keep the nice EVGA backplate.  I did this before on a 980 FTW and it works very well as long as the vrm is adequately cooled.

Good news guys!
I have just sent an email to EK asking about the status of blocks for custom PCBs (FTW and Classified).
The mail itself got forwarded to their management.
 
While I'm waiting for their answer the support guy I initially sent the mail to answered this:
 
Jun 2, 08:19
Hello Christian!
I'll forward this.
But just a note, there are a lot of top notch GPU makers which will be supported.
And also, only the FTW won't be supported, just like with GTX 980 Ti. Classified model might be.
Best regards,
 
 
So there is at least a little bit of hope!
I'll let you know when I hear back from their management.

Gishan2
Good news guys!
I have just sent an email to EK asking about the status of blocks for custom PCBs (FTW and Classified).
The mail itself got forwarded to their management.
 
While I'm waiting for their answer the support guy I initially sent the mail to answered this:
 
Jun 2, 08:19
Hello Christian!
I'll forward this.
But just a note, there are a lot of top notch GPU makers which will be supported.
And also, only the FTW won't be supported, just like with GTX 980 Ti. Classified model might be.
Best regards,
 
 
So there is at least a little bit of hope!
I'll let you know when I hear back from their management.

It sounds like the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing here. EVGA says no in a stream, but yes in a forum post. EK says definitely no in a forum post, but "might be" in an email.
 
I wish both companies would just make an official statement on the matter and end this back and forth double answer stuff.

DarthYodi
 
It sounds like the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing here. EVGA says no in a stream, but yes in a forum post. EK says definitely no in a forum post, but "might be" in an email.
 
I wish both companies would just make an official statement on the matter and end this back and forth double answer stuff.

I would not trust the email. It's just that historically, EK was not doing blocks for the FTW, but was making blocks for the classified. The person in the CS department just saw that, and assumed things. We've had multiple confirmations, in reddit and here, that EK will not be doing custom PCBs blocks for EVGA.
 
They will make blocks for MSI and Gygabyte I believe.

Gishan2
Good news guys!
I have just sent an email to EK asking about the status of blocks for custom PCBs (FTW and Classified).
The mail itself got forwarded to their management.
 
While I'm waiting for their answer the support guy I initially sent the mail to answered this:
 
Jun 2, 08:19
Hello Christian!
I'll forward this.
But just a note, there are a lot of top notch GPU makers which will be supported.
And also, only the FTW won't be supported, just like with GTX 980 Ti. Classified model might be.
Best regards,
 
 
So there is at least a little bit of hope!
I'll let you know when I hear back from their management.

That's pretty much the response that I got when I emailed them earlier this week.
 
"Hello BirdiE!

It's not set in stone so there is a chance for a GTX 1080 Classified, probably not for the FTW.

Best regards, 
Grega"

Well, this is a nice positive turn.

EK will make waterblocks for the FTW and the Classified! :D
https://www.ekwb.com/news...s-for-gtx-1080-series/

Dschijn
EK will make waterblocks for the FTW and the Classified! :D
https://www.ekwb.com/news...s-for-gtx-1080-series/

I want my classified with the standard fan,  i'll let my window ac do the cooling
 

EK_Luc

Dschijn
EK will make waterblocks for the FTW and the Classified! :D
https://www.ekwb.com/news...s-for-gtx-1080-series/

Thank you EK and EVGA for getting the issue settled, I know a lot of people love their EK blocks and EVGA cards. Hopefully a better partnership in the future can be had.