Eurodancer
I think I'm going to see how my card reacts over the next month. If I notice ANYTHING...then I'll RMA it faster than you can say FTW.

Do not use inappropriate language on the evga forums. Thanks.

nawagadj
 
Yes, EVGA are offering thermal pads for your card, because there is no issue.
 
That seems to be true, but................
 
isn't the full story.  The tests that raised these concerns showed that EVGAs ACR 3.0 cooling implementation is far inferior to the other major brand cards.  Not just a bit, but by 20-30 deg C on that testing (as un-real world as it is).
 
That's what has people concerned, and it is an issue.
 
And EVGA have responded to that issue with the thermal pads offer.  And well done for that.
 
Insisting their is "no issue' is misleading and, ultimately, counter-productive.
 
If by "no-issue" you mean ' no evidence that this will be a problem', I'd agree.
 
But if you mean ' evidence that there is no problem', then no, this is completely wrong.
 
We don't know yet.  Elevated temps compared to other cards may have an effect on the longevity of your card.  They may not, if temps indeed stay 'within spec'.  
 

Exactly. It really isn't the full story.
Essentially because EVGA has officially stated every card runs within spec and yet they've also stated the next batches will include the thermal pads, which means the ones we got are missing them. This is just logical thinking.
They won't be optional for the people who get them in the future, as they are for us.
 
Plus, why would EVGA go through the trouble of spending money on adding thermal pads to the new batches if they've already stated they aren't needed?
It doesn't add up.
 

Did they say when the new batch of cards will be sent out? I'm curious, if I bought a new card directly from EVGA in 1 week, will they have thermal pads?

Anyways I just emailed EVGA presale/sales asking them that if I bought a new card from their website tomorrow, will they come with the needed pad for the fix. Curious what they say.

brokencross
Plus, why would EVGA go through the trouble of spending money on adding thermal pads to the new batches if they've already stated they aren't needed?

Most likely because the internet has blown up about missing pads.

People keep saying "why didn't evga put thermal pads on the vrm?" where are people getting this? Why are they saying there isn't thermal pads on the vrm? There very clearly is. The thermal pad is going between the mosfets and the heatspreader. The pad that EVGA is sending will go from the heatspreader to the cooler. There is thermal pads on the vrm, so please stop spreading that false statement.

Scarlet-Tech
People keep saying "why didn't evga put thermal pads on the vrm?" where are people getting this? Why are they saying there isn't thermal pads on the vrm? There very clearly is. The thermal pad is going between the mosfets and the heatspreader. The pad that EVGA is sending will go from the heatspreader to the cooler. There is thermal pads on the vrm, so please stop spreading that false statement.

I do think everyone knows there are thermal pads between the VRMs and the mid plate. Except there's literally nothing conducting the heat from the mid plate to the heatsink.
 

Sajin

brokencross
Plus, why would EVGA go through the trouble of spending money on adding thermal pads to the new batches if they've already stated they aren't needed?

Most likely because the internet has blown up about missing pads.

Honestly, it sounds like really bad PR, even though EVGA thought this was a good idea.
If everything is running within spec, EVGA shouldn't even offer optional thermal pads, much less say they'll have them installed on future batches.
 
This may sound counterintuitive but think about it. All this "damage" control just makes EVGA QC look shoddy and in turn cause the people, who already bought their cards, feel like second fiddle.

My fans run at 50% (slave bios, 1070 ftw) and my vrm do not go above 50c according to the IR heat gun I own. (it's cheap, but has been very accurate on other items I have used it to check.)

I added extra thermal pads right where evga suggested, and notice no change on backplate temp, core temp, or VRM section. It all still runs relatively cool under a normal load, fan set to automatic and running at 50%.

If people stop running fans at 30% and hoping for a silent system, the air may move through the fins of the cooler and cool the heatspreader as well.

brokencross
Honestly, it sounds like really bad PR, even though EVGA thought this was a good idea.
If everything is running within spec, EVGA shouldn't even offer optional thermal pads, much less say they'll have them installed on future batches.
 
This may sound counterintuitive but think about it. All this "damage" control just makes EVGA QC look shoddy and in turn cause the people, who already bought their cards, feel like second fiddle.

They've tried to walk on both sides of the street with this - say it's optional and "not an issue", but then implement the change on all new cards.
 
The result - confusion and unhappiness.
 
Maybe what they should have done is to state clearly that all cards are ok (and demonstrate that with their own published full test results, Tom's Hardware style), but acknowledge that the ACX 3.0 cooling is out-performed by competitors and undetake to implement a new/tweaked design for future lines. Might not be the best PR for the  brand, but would have the advantage of being accurate and fully transparent....and probably better in the long term.

Most of the competitors for the 1070/1080 versions offer a triple fan style instead of a dual like on my 1070 FTW. I own a Gigabyte 970 G1 Gaming and it operates supremely cool as in with fans on auto it never reached past 68*C under full load and it did not throttle down at all. My EVGA 1070 FTW on the other hand with fans on auto will reach 80+ C relatively quickly under full load and will start to down clock when it passes 50* C...which is to me way too early to start throttling. I know it's because of the new Pascal and their concerns with OC problems, but atleast start to throttle at 60* as 50*C is relatively cool. Now I personally like the dual fan wider design rather than the longer triple fan style, but I am definitely noticing that this ACX 3.0 dual fan cooler is not performing as well as the other brands triple fan coolers, which would obviously make sense because the lack of a 3rd fan. Even though my 970 doesn't use as much power it still stayed more consistent than my new 1070. I ordered the pack of thermal pads and will install them just in case. But something seems fishy about this whole ordeal with the optional VRM pads as well as the latest EVGA cards being sold having them installed. I think this is a lack of awareness on EVGA's part and when the tests revealed the heat problem they all of a sudden said OK we will release VRM pads to help with that which appears as them trying to cover their butt's. I'm not hating on EVGA I just think it's a right to be suspicious about potential thermal issues later down the road without the new thermal pads installed, especially is the newer cards will have them installed unlike the early models. I didn't post this to argue about it, just simply stating my opinion. I still like EVGA and will most likely get a new generation card from them later on, but this whole situation will be in the back of my mind when I consider upgrading later down the road. Anyways that's my 2cents.