I am either going to RMA this card or try to sell it.  I hope am lucky and my VRMs are working right.  It is better to be safe than sorry.

I think I'm ready to give up on my 1080 FTWs. Too many issues. Seems like every day there's some new problem that requires my research and attention. Between the black screen issue, the bad PCB, and now another separate heating issue, I just can't be happy that I made this purchase.

RKarov
I am either going to RMA this card or try to sell it.  I hope am lucky and my VRMs are working right.  It is better to be safe than sorry.

 
I'm not suggesting you take this so seriously that you should panic and RMA it now before its too late, you'll probably have issues trying anyways if its fine lol.
But i do suggest you pay special attention to its VRM's and over-all temp performance. Visually inspect the card for gaps between the memory modules and the
heatsink, apply the free pads EVGA is sending out, and game on with light settings and without overclocking until its done. The TIM will need re-doing too.
 

Yes i think I will RMA this card to be safe, hopefully the fixed one have working WRM and thermal-pads installed.  I sent a support ticket to customer service.  It is wait and see now.

So I removed the back-plate on my card and noticed two areas that are much darker on the board than the areas around it, I wonder if they have been burned by heat.   Now I am even more concerned.  One area was where the gpu is and the other over something called R3021.  I can't get the photo uploaded since it is too large file size. ><

You said the area that directly contacts the GPU die is discolored? How does the TIM look? Too much or not enough maybe? Try taking photos again. I'm curious what you have there.

hapkiman
I'm curious what you have there.

As am i.

hapkiman
You said the area that directly contacts the GPU die is discolored? How does the TIM look? Too much or not enough maybe? Try taking photos again. I'm curious what you have there.

 It is much darker than the rest of the board, it is deep black and the rest is more like graphite pencil the same deal with the other area. 

Any obvious signs of scorching ? what about the under side of the back-plate itself ?

I don't remember possibly, the card is in my system again I will have to take it out and take a picture of it again.