Iluv2raceit

jlp209

Iluv2raceit
 
What I find disturbing about EVGA's response that the GTX1080 FTW Hybrid is not affected.  I checked myself using a high intensity LED flash light and confirmed that the my FTW Hybrid card does NOT have a thermal pad in place that covers the backside of the VRMs and makes contact with the back plate.  Nothing but air space between, which is bad.  I have already ordered thermal pads and will put them in place to ensure adequate cooling of the VRMs.   Better safe than sorry is my motto.  Still, it pisses me off a bit that EVGA really feels they have to cut corners on thermal pads that cost only a $1 or so.  The assumption that the use of a Hybrid cooler will negate the VRMs from overheating is short sightedness at best.  And interestingly enough, the EKWB back plate for my water cooled Titan XP does have a thermal pad that is provided to transfer the heat from the VRMs to the back plate.  So, why doesn't EVGA offer the same solution for the FTW Hybrid cards as well??

Were you able to order the thermal pads from EVGA or did you get generic ones that will fit? My latest card / 3rd FTW Hybrid (also had a Classified) has been the most stable by far. I am very curious why it is so different. Prior cards, aside from black screen + fans 100%, would always hit power + voltage limit at same time causing massive downclocking, while temps stayed under 65 degrees. At stock I'd boost to 2025 mhz and still got downclocked to 2012 mhz and 2000 mhz for no reason that made sense to me (on a Hybrid with temps under 60 degrees). Maybe it was related to inadequate VRM cooling, I'll never know.
 
The Classified I had hit the temp limit in Precision (also at different times hit voltage and power limit), yet the core never went over 65 degrees. Maybe that had something to do with the VRM issue. Bizarre behavior, returned it to Microcenter. 
 
My current FTW Hybrid stays at 2113 mhz regardless of game or benchmark almost all the time, with the occasional dip down to 2101 mhz. But even when that happens, I've never hit voltage, temp, or power limit. A down clock of 12 mhz / 1 bin is normal and what my prior cards should've been doing. So confused by my experiences so far, definitely the most issues I've ever had with any GPU ever. EVGA support has been great though, luckily. 

The issue has nothing to do with GPU temps and is directly associated with the VRM temperatures, which are not monitored by the card's BIOS or any other tool for that matter since there are no thermostats near the VRMs.  This is something altogether a different problem that is fortunately easily fixed by just applying some thermal pads to the back of the PCB so that the heat can be dissipated through the back plate.  EVGA would not allow for me to submit the request for the thermal pads, so I had to order them from Amazon.

silixx
so in other words should hybrid owners be worried about the vrm heating issues?

Angier_1985
It's easy. 
 
If the VRMs are affected by overheating issues, the hybrid cards are not affected. The active cooling is deemed adequate. Contrary to what earlier posters mentioned, the fan ON the card is completely meant to cool the VRM and is in direct contact via the thermal pads. There is no need for thermal pads on the backside of the PCB as the backplate is not needed for heat dissipation. This is different from the ACX 3.0 model, where both the mid- and the backplate are meant as surface increase for passive heat dissipation of VRM and VRAM.
 
If the VRMs are affected by QC issues from the supplier, the hybrid cards are affected. According to EVGA this QC-issue has been resolved back in august. Cards manufactured and shipped after 8/31 should not be affected. Cards manufactured and shipped before might bear a 4% chance to be faulty. Warranty will cover it in case of faulty VRM. The chance that your card might "explode" is actually really low. IF you are affected by a faulty VRM it is more likely to encounter the blackscreen + 100% fan issue.

Angier_1985
There are tools that can control such a fan via the GPU temps, like speedfan. Most often, it is more advisable to look for the sweet spot of sound and heat dissipation and have your fan run at this setting all the time. A sudden change in noise is more noticable than a constant humming as background noise and thus even a fan that features no idle mode can still appear "silent" as long as it is quieter than for example your average volume setting or other background noise in your room. I usually aim to be quieter than any A/C.

Angier_1985
Personally, I am curious if anyone is running a corsair sp120 quiet edition on the radiator. I am unsure if that would be sufficient (rad as intake) or if I should rather look at the sp120 HPE with the 7v adapter. Any experience outta there?

Mertsi
Do they sell hybrid kits for ftw cards separately?

Iluv2raceitThe issue has nothing to do with GPU temps and is directly associated with the VRM temperatures, which are not monitored by the card's BIOS or any other tool for that matter since there are no thermostats near the VRMs.  This is something altogether a different problem that is fortunately easily fixed by just applying some thermal pads to the back of the PCB so that the heat can be dissipated through the back plate.  EVGA would not allow for me to submit the request for the thermal pads, so I had to order them from Amazon.

jlp209

cmoney408
can you rotate your cpu cooler 90 degrees? have it blowing towards the gpu rad?
 
it doesnt hurt to try it. i too was having trouble trying to find a solution that worked for me. 980ti hybrid sli setup. i ended up with one on the rear (intake) and one on the front (intake). as well as a regular front intake fan and a side panel fan that kicks in only when it gets warm or i turn my fans up while gaming. i also have a h100i on the top (exhaust). so all fans are pulling in and exhausting through the h100i at the top.
 
it was the last thing i tried, since i thought i would be creating too much heat in my case, but my GPU's run the coolest in this config, and my CPU only went up a few degrees under load, but still in the 50's (though i did delid my cpu for the heck of it).
 
i know most people use the rear as exhaust, but if you move it to the front put an intake on the rear in its place. it will create positive airflow (more intake then exhuast), which helps force heat out. rather then suck air in through the cracks and empty fan slots (creates a dusty system). 
 
pics a little old, since i now have the newer 980ti hybrids (silver) and i added fans for a push pull on each on with spacers/shims on both sides of the rads for better air flow, or so people say. i wish they were titans, those were just titan hybrid kits on my 980ti's.
 
http://imgur.com/yjVXQ32
 
http://imgur.com/NoX5Ab7 

Interesting setup you have. If I ran a liquid CPU cooler I would definitely try the rear-intake method. I removed/re-pasted the NH-U14S and put it back to how it was, vertical, exhaust toward rear of case like my MR photo. If I place the Hybrid radiator vertically at the rear as you are suggesting, won't it be negatively affected by the warm air from the CPU cooler blowing at it? I will try it just for kicks later. 
 
Edit: I don't have the energy to remove and re-seat + re-paste the Noctua again today, haha. I have to remove it and adjust the brackets if I put it back to horizontal. Maybe over the weekend I'll try your setup in my case:
 
1x 140mm intake at front
Hybrid radiator as intake at front
1x 120mm fan at bottom for intake
1x 140mm fan at rear for intake
1x 140mm fan at top for exhaust
Noctua CPU cooler (140mm fan) facing horizontal blowing up toward top of case for exhaust
 
I think that could work. 

jrcbandit
I was thinking of getting the hybrid cooler kit, and I already have an AIO CPU cooler (Corsair H100i V2) with the radiator at the top of my case blowing out in push/pull.    The potential locations for the GPU radiator would be the rear of the case or bottom, not sure what would be best?  JLP209 mentioned he had pump noise when the radiator is placed horizontally, which is how I would have it if placed at the bottom of the case.  Would it be best to have it vertically at the rear of the case, where the radiator would also be above the GPU?  If I put it there, it could partially block the airflow of my CPU radiator that is mounted horizontally at the top of my case.  I could potentially move the CPU radiator over some since the top of my case accommodates a 360mm radiator and the Corsair H100i is only 240mm.