I just purchased 1080 Kingpin, which is probably overkill for my 3770K @ 4.7Ghz rig, all of which is on air (great airflow).

I started reading reviews of this great card and it became confusing with all the extra gadgets, BIOS types, sensors, etc.

I only want max stable OC on air without going to un-sustainable extremes, hard-mods, or dangerous temps.
- Do I have to somehow activate the OC BIOS?
- Are there BIOS updates?
- Do I need to use those extra gadgets, wires, etc., assuming I do not plan on water-cooling this card?
- Anything else I should know?

To get the most out of your card on air...
 
#1 Flash the extreme watercooling oc vbios released by kingpin/tin to the ln2 switch on your card.
#2 Download/install precision xoc.
#3 Set fans, voltage, power target & temp target to max inside precision.
#4 Enable kboost inside precision.
#5 Increase gpu clock offset in 13 MHz intervals until you crash/see artifacts. Once you crash/start seeing artifacts start reducing the gpu clock offset in 13 MHz intervals until stable. Note max stable gpu clock offset for later use. Reset gpu clock offset to +0.
#6 Increase memory clock offset in 100 MHz intervals until you crash/see artifacts. One you crash/start seeing artifacts start reducing the memory clock offset in 50 MHz intervals until stable.
#7 Apply both max stable gpu clock offset & max stable memory clock offset together.
#8 Test for stability. Reduce clocks if needed.
 
It would be best to test each game for stability. Testing for stability in unigine superposition on its 8k preset would be a good idea too.

See Sajin Posts.

See Sajin Posts.

I asked about my PSU being good enough for this card on different forums and people replied it was good enough.

As far as using separate cables to power the card, do you mean to just use fully independent cables and not split (2 from 1), like the included split cable / adapter?

Big thanks for all the help! The only real differences between clocking it (for an air rig) compared to my older single 8-pin Gigabyte GTX 1080 that I noticed in the given advice are:
- Use independent power cables
- Select orange (OC) BIOS (not risking with LN...)
- Use Precision X with KBoost enabled

Has anyone noticed an increase in OC or OC stability from turning off LED effects entirely? It worked on Gigabyte GTX 1080 (50Mhz extra OC on GPU), but again, it only needed a single 8-pin power plug and was likely power-limited due to it.

P.S. Are there any full non-YouTube reviews for this card, like the ones Guru3D writes?

I cannot believe I just spent $1050 on a card to finally run GTA V maxed out with ENB MSAA at 1080p with Redux mod and get 60-ish FPS...

I heard there is some special "Classified" application made just for Kingpin cards that is not related to Precision X. Is that so? What exactly does it do and where can I get it?

Thanks, but I assume for air adjusting those voltages would be considered entering the - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siwpn14IE7E 

Doesn't KBoost in Precision X force constant voltage?

Got the beast - awesome performer, but I find Precision X overly confusing and sluggish as hell, almost locking up my PC and that's after a format and clean OS re-instlall. MSI AB get's the job done though. The card stays between 1980-2012Mhz 100% of the time, which is excellent! 

pozzallo
Doesn't Evga guarantee 2025 mhz for the Kingpin card

Yes.

pozzallo
If the Kingpin does not do 2025 mhz boost clock speed and maintain the speed can it be sent back as RMA to Evga

Most likely. 

Errr... I doubt it is supposed to maintain 2025Mhz all the time. It boosts to 2025Mhz sometimes, but mostly stays at 1980-2012Mhz. Again, I am not using KBoost or even Precision X.

I am quite happy with all aspects of it, aside from not being a 4K card for some of my favorite modded games like Witcher 3 and GTA V. I still have to stick with 1080p for those...

It looks like it. What is the average air OC for such a card with OC BIOS enabled, steep/aggressive fan curve with maxed out power and voltage (via Precision X)? 

You really don’t need too big of a gap between the kp and other cards. The fans draw air into the sink then blow exhaust out the side of the card. As long as you have a very small gap so that fans can suck air into the cooler you are fine.

The bigger issue is circulation and air exhaust from the enclosure.

make sure that there's lots of air space around the card. Also, take a look at the new kingpin bios that allows for 150% power.