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.

from what I know founders, hybrid and a couple others do not have the heating problem but they putting the temperature fixes on the cards that do have the problem but if it's the fixes I hear you can do it yourself its been making the cards louder and you will have around the 60s in temperature.

I got the 1080 ftw hybrid, it's good so far and the watercooler fan is at a constant speed and a little loud but can be changed out for a quieter one easily or plugged in to your board and control it that way and temperature for when I game seems to stick to 50c or bellow.

never had a 980ti and I can't give you a awnser for that, hopefully someone else is able to help you there.

However I'm still playing with this card and can't give 100% awnser. Good luck on what you decide.

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

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

 Very good Haris.         =)

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?

The radiator is 25 mm thick, and the radiator fan is the standard 25 mm thick...so together they are 50 mm thick.
 
The radiator itself is 120 mm by 120 mm...and a bit more (a small res.)  The radiator sits in any standard 120 mm fan mounting location.  Most folks put the radiator into the back exhaust fan mounting on the case.  Personally, I use 3 AIOs (1 for CPU, 2 for GPU) and have these running as intake into my case.
 
The water cooler on the hybrids is an AIO (All In One)...there is no maintenance required.

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?

I have never had any issues with pump noise...other folks usage may vary.
 
The fan on the hybrids runs at a constant speed.  You can change out the fans too, but will have to run them off a motherboard header or separate fan controller.  I use 2 Corsair ML120 fans in push/pull on each of my hybrid radiators...lets me keep the fans at lower speeds for less noise.

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.

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.