Hey,
just installed my new GeForce RTX 2080 XC Ultra and noticed some strange behaviour straight away.
 
First of all, the fans are making a loud "clicking" noise every time they start spinning up. This is happening even during idle, as the GPU's base temperature seems to be around 55°C at all times.
My old Geforce GTX 970 MSI Gaming has never reached that temperature during idle, far from it actually.
 

 
I'm assuming the fans on this particularl card are already damaged due to the loud noise as they start spinning, though that does not explain the high base temperature.
I have tried adjusting fan curves and everything, but no luck. Does anyone have an explanation for this?
 
I've already requested a refund with the retailer where I purchased the card by now, though the temperature is really putting me off at the moment...

As I said, the fans were constantly spinning up and then stopping again right away at default settings with high base temperature on an idle PC.
Doesn't change the issue with the temperature though, I've been reading those should be at around 35~40°C on idle at most (not particularly for this model, but come on). Maximum temperature also seems to be going above the roughly 75°C on the default FE card.

Ye gonna definitly take apart that new 1000€ to apply some juicy thermal paste right now. And no, that doesn't sound like it.
Anyway, gonna exchange it and see what happens.
 
GPU goes up to ~80°C under load from what I've seen so far, though I haven't had anything running for an extended amount of time so far and not run any benchmarks etc.
 

You really need to use Precision X1. The fans run independently and Precision XOC only shows one fan control slider so you're not getting the correct fan control. The dual fan control on Precision XOC was made to only control certain 10 series cards that have independent fan control. As you can see in the image here, my 10 series cards has two fan sliders as my card was built that way by EVGA. The new independent fan control is made by Nvidia and Precision X1 is made with the Nvidia fan control.
 

I'd give EVGA a call and see what they say. I would do it tomorrow, seems like their people during the evening hours are not as knowledgeable as the people during normal business hours.

The fans on my xc ultra also make a "clicking" noise when the fans start to spin, at least my card is very cool

fugusp
I just received my Evga RTX 2080 XC ultra and i have issues too. The card seems hot ( 50° minimum on idle ) while on Hexus.net their sample was 38°... Next, when the fans start they make a clicking sound like other people above said. I kept the best for the end, in Shadow of the Tomb Raider when i'm around 70 fps, i've got something that looks like coil whine... The more the fps go up, the more the noise becomes annoying.
My first Evga card. Nice, really nice, futhermore for a 1000€ card.

I have not experienced the clicking (at least that I've noticed yet) on my ti xc ultra, but that does seem hot idle compared to what I've seen as well, though I wouldn't pay too much attention to that unless it runs extremely hot when under load.
 
I do have a slight coil whine on mine though, which is making me consider exchanging or returning the specific card.

I installed the XC Ultra TI today and my idle was at 54c, had a slight clicking from the fans. Oh no, after reading the posts here I was worried. Ran Timespy Extreme and the score was not very impressive. Opened the Precision X1 software and arrowed over to fan control, checked the curves and selected the box for auto. Temps immediately dropped to 38c and no fan clicks. Then arrowed over again and ran the Scan feature, clocked up to 2050 mhz with temps under 60c. Ran Timespy Extreme and got a pretty decent score and the temps remained pretty stable. The score beat my 2 1080 FE in SLI by a 100 points.

I have a 2080 founders edition that has a constant fan clicking noise on the second fan (the one near power connectors).
Furthermore i have discovered that the founders editon uses a custom ribbon cable to power rgb and fans so you cannot use it to power custom heatsink fans.
 
Nvidia support keeps asking to try different PSU and cables thinking that i'm talking about coil whine (that among others things i have) but that's not the issue, even if i push the fan by hand i can hear the clicking noise compared to the other fan which is dead silent.
 
I have bought it because didn't resist the wait for the EVGA Ultra to be available again but now i'm really regretting it. I'm thinking to just refund the card without wasting other time with the support and just wait for the evga to be available (i'm in europe). Anyone knows if all EVGA models uses "standard" fan connectors?

I am having the exact same issue and the clicking sound is driving me crazy. Is this expected or a defect?

IMHO the clicking is semi-normal, my 980ti did it when I first got it (never noticed it after the first month or so), and my 2080 is so far. It's the fans bouncing off 0 RPM when the GPU is right at the temp they would start. I suspect the sound lessens as the fan bearings get more worn in, but the real fix is to get better airflow so your idle temps aren't that high, and make sure your drivers are downclocking the card all the way at idle. I only notice the click rarely as my idle temp is well below 55 C, so it only clicks for a moment on the way down in temp.

Well Belydrith said that his replacement card didn't have the click noise issue. So for me it's a defect on some cards. I can't imagine that it was made to be like that.
 
On my evga rtx 2080  watching videos on the desktop makes the card go higher than 55°, then the fans start and make noise. Then the gpu go down in temperature due to the airflow. Afterwards the fans stop then the gpu go up in temperature and so on… click click!
Sometimes the fans even had really strange behaviors when they tried to stop... 

fugusp
 
On my evga rtx 2080  watching videos on the desktop makes the card go higher than 55°, then the fans start and make noise. 

You need better airflow. 

If you guys want to stop the 'clicking' start noise of the fans, just create your own fan curve and have the fan run constantly but at a low speed and audible to your liking and have it set to ramp up for the higher temps.

Same on my FTW3. But I'm using a manuel fan curve that let the fans run at lowest setting 20%. So no big deal for me.