Chamidorix
People asking questions that have already been answered. The Strix 480W bios displays the exact same behavior. Pci-e is limited to 75W instead of 80W on EVGA 450 W bios, so you actually pull less power to Vcore1. And yes, I have confirmed it is Vcore1 that is locked into a ratio with pci-e draw. So you can still pull more than 450 W by pulling extra power into Vcore2 or Vmem. 
 
The point is EVGA is artificially segmenting their cards rather than make a card that competes with other vendors at the same or lower price point. This is most likely being done to make the FTW3 artificially lower performance than the upcoming Kinpin Edition by a wider margin than generations past. EVGA has very tellingly completely ignored the issue in the last few pages, since it is artificial product segmentation. 
 
Basically, this problem cause has been cut, dried, and solved. People still asking haven't read the whole thread and or most likely lack the ability to understand what is being said. The board power limit indeed raises to 500W with this Bios, but there are 3 different power limits inside the card: Vcore1 (core), Vcore2(cache), and Vmem (VRAM). The Vcore1 power limit is locked in a fixed ratio to the draw of the pci-e express slot, which is limited on the 450W bios to 80W and to 75W on the 500W EVGA and 480W Strix. So this bios does nothing and in fact worsens the power draw limit of the GPU core. If you have increased scores, stability, or power draw, this is due to extra power being available to the cache and memory.
 
Since this has no chance of being fixed since it is intentional, I'm selling my 3090 FTW Ultra to the first interested buyer at the standard retail+shipping+tax (a little under 2k). PM me if interested. 

Chamidorix
People asking questions that have already been answered. The Strix 480W bios displays the exact same behavior. Pci-e is limited to 75W instead of 80W on EVGA 450 W bios, so you actually pull less power to Vcore1. And yes, I have confirmed it is Vcore1 that is locked into a ratio with pci-e draw. So you can still pull more than 450 W by pulling extra power into Vcore2 or Vmem. 
 
The point is EVGA is artificially segmenting their cards rather than make a card that competes with other vendors at the same or lower price point. This is most likely being done to make the FTW3 artificially lower performance than the upcoming Kinpin Edition by a wider margin than generations past. EVGA has very tellingly completely ignored the issue in the last few pages, since it is artificial product segmentation. 
 
Basically, this problem cause has been cut, dried, and solved. People still asking haven't read the whole thread and or most likely lack the ability to understand what is being said. The board power limit indeed raises to 500W with this Bios, but there are 3 different power limits inside the card: Vcore1 (core), Vcore2(cache), and Vmem (VRAM). The Vcore1 power limit is locked in a fixed ratio to the draw of the pci-e express slot, which is limited on the 450W bios to 80W and to 75W on the 500W EVGA and 480W Strix. So this bios does nothing and in fact worsens the power draw limit of the GPU core. If you have increased scores, stability, or power draw, this is due to extra power being available to the cache and memory.
 
Since this has no chance of being fixed since it is intentional, I'm selling my 3090 FTW Ultra to the first interested buyer at the standard retail+shipping+tax (a little under 2k). PM me if interested. 

tubnotub1

arcky
What’s the return policy for launch day 3090s from
EVGA’s store?

14 days w/ a 15% restocking fee, you would be much better off selling it to someone at retail instead of returning it. I'm not quite there yet personally, I do have a bit of buyer's remorse having sold an Asus TUF 3090 (at retail cause scalping sucks) to "upgrade" to the EVGA 3090 FTW3 Ultra and then to see how this has been handled. I don't necessarily want a fix, just confirmation from EVGA whether this limitation is by design or if it is an issue w/ the BIOS that can be worked around. I am far less upset about not being able to hit 500 watts than I am about having the carrot dangled out in front of me, the excitement of the possibility it created, and then having it seemingly ripped away w/ no explanation as to why. Any response, even if it was confirming what others have speculated and this is an issue that cannot be resolved through further BIOS revisions would settle me quite a bit. 

tubnotub1

justin_43
Shouldn't we see what this bios will do under water before jumping to conclusions? No one has waterblocks yet. I bet they limited the voltage based on temp. Drawing 500w on air is probably not possible. If the card can be kept under 50c it might be another story. Just a guess.

I think that's fair, and I think people would be content (though maybe not thrilled) if EVGA confirmed that the stock cooling on the card was not capable of keeping the card within the thermal limits set by EVGA in the BIOS to pull 500 watts, if the response was, "Hey guys, we know this BIOS isn't quite working as you wanted, it won't allow for 500 watts to be pulled on the stock cooler, but wait until you purchase our AIO kit or get your cards underwater, oh, and here's a sneak peek," w/ an image/video of the card pulling 500 watts consistently under load while on water, people would probably put their pitchforks down. For a little while. But there are some people that are making future purchasing decisions right now based on the information we have *right now* which is incomplete because at this point as all we have is conjecture as to *why* these FTW3 Ultras can't pull 500 consistently under load whereas other AIBs that have flashed this same BIOS, on stock air, *are* able to pull 500 watts on a consistent basis. 

ehabash1
This whole mess is because Evga tried to scam ppl using the 3080 ftw3.
You see, Evga wants you to spend more money. The margins on the 3090 ftw are huge compared to the 3080 and if they gave you the true 420w from day 1, well, the performance is too close to the 3090. They want you to think OH you want more performance? You better spend more

When they got caught they acted super shady about it. Jacob was like “oh what are you guys talking about im seeing 419w on my test bench”
The problem is they HAD to release the minimum 420 since its actually illegal and false marketing. Ppl make buying decisions based on that sort of thing. HOWEVER, if they released only a 420w bios, they would have to admit they were wrong. So instead they never acknowledged it and cane out with 450w to look like heros.

Except, now they were offering same power as much more expensive and more power hungry 3090 card.
So, once again their hand was forced.
And once again they acted super shady about it. Jacob pulled the same exact bs with the “oh what are you talking about im seeing 497w being pulled on my computer” and then he completely disappears and no1 from evga acknowledges ANYTHING even though for SURE they are reading this thread

This is all because they scammed 3080 users out of their 420w bios and have found themselves in this mess.

You will not get a statement because this is not an issue that you will see get fixed. This time around (unlike last time) the ftw3 card is 3x8pin, making it easy to flash the kingpin bios. How can they scam you into paying $2500 for the kingpin? How will they make their massive margins if you know u can just flash the bios! The solution? To completely gate you out of it via circuitry.

bloodshot45

ehabash1
This whole mess is because Evga tried to scam ppl using the 3080 ftw3.
You see, Evga wants you to spend more money. The margins on the 3090 ftw are huge compared to the 3080 and if they gave you the true 420w from day 1, well, the performance is too close to the 3090. They want you to think OH you want more performance? You better spend more

When they got caught they acted super shady about it. Jacob was like “oh what are you guys talking about im seeing 419w on my test bench”
The problem is they HAD to release the minimum 420 since its actually illegal and false marketing. Ppl make buying decisions based on that sort of thing. HOWEVER, if they released only a 420w bios, they would have to admit they were wrong. So instead they never acknowledged it and cane out with 450w to look like heros.

Except, now they were offering same power as much more expensive and more power hungry 3090 card.
So, once again their hand was forced.
And once again they acted super shady about it. Jacob pulled the same exact bs with the “oh what are you talking about im seeing 497w being pulled on my computer” and then he completely disappears and no1 from evga acknowledges ANYTHING even though for SURE they are reading this thread

This is all because they scammed 3080 users out of their 420w bios and have found themselves in this mess.

You will not get a statement because this is not an issue that you will see get fixed. This time around (unlike last time) the ftw3 card is 3x8pin, making it easy to flash the kingpin bios. How can they scam you into paying $2500 for the kingpin? How will they make their massive margins if you know u can just flash the bios! The solution? To completely gate you out of it via circuitry.

I would avoid posting about EVGA attempting to "scam" people when you have no such proof just assumptions. Be happy Jacob is helping the community as much as he is. It's these type of posts that would make any EVGA team member not respond. As for 3080 vs 3090 XOC BIOS, all 3090 buyers knew the PL was 450W as it was stated by Jacob and even by reviewers. To come out whining about why its not 500W doesn't make any sense since you bought it KNOWING it was 450W. If EVGA does get it to work with 500W then treat it as a BONUS. Jacob is doing his best to make sure EVGA consumers are happy with their product and does his best to provide answers that he "can". He is NOT the one making the decisions at EVGA so lets cut him some slack. If you want better support, try providing constructive feedback.