Got two of those babies in sli in my system
EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC GAMING Black Edition
11G-P4-6393-KR
 
When SLI started to CTD games I started diagnostics and found out that secondary gpu was bad - crashing in every game, every benchmark after 1-2 minutes. Did test on 2 different PC's with fresh Windows and several driver versions so I am sure that this is the card faulty. But doing that I found some oily stuff that comes from inside the card, somewhere under backplate - probably where the GPU core is and I freaked out! Both cards have this problem! I don't have any liquid cooling systems in my pc. 
Primary card still working:

Secondary I am about to send to RMA but now decided not to because I will use distributors RMA where warranty will be denied because of liquid. You can see this oily stuff under the ribs. 

 
What is this? Some type of thermal pad breaking down? Will this be covered in warranty? Can i disassemble working card to clean this stuff and replace anything that causing this "bleed"? Can I get some approval from EVGA that such card can be replaced in warranty so I can avoid misunderstandings with my distributor or better to send this card directly to EVGA? I did contact EVGA support 5 days ago about general questions about support, but no answer yet.

The oil is coming from the thermal pads under the backplate. It's harmless. The oil won't void your evga warranty. Yes, you can take the card apart to clean up the oil & replace the old pads with new pads if you want. It would be best to send the card to evga if you need to rma.

When I took mine apart and when I got the SC2 Hybrid kit, I noticed that the included thermal pads were a bit weird even for stock ones in that they used a very sticky adhesive on both sides. Even without running the card this stuff gets left all over anything it touches for any amount of time - so all over the PCB, all over the backplate, fans, VRAM, VRMs, yeah. I could see how a bad few pads or getting too hot too quickly might cause this - there's a 1.5mm thick pad right under that EVGA logo.
 
They're super cheap and really bad. I read somewhere they're something like 1W/m.K conductivity, which is around the lowest you can get but it's completely normal to get that as stock on everything. What makes them super cheap and really bad is the adhesive. If you compare them to the Fujipoly ones you get with a Bitspower block, or the EKWB ones, which are only adhesive on one side and use a tacky adhesive rather than the liquidy one you get with these cards, the difference is amazing. Even the ones you get on Gigabyte cards are far better - same green 1W/m.k pads, different adhesive.
 
I saw these and was pretty disappointed. I'm not an electrical engineer, but from everything I've seen over the years and just common sense, the pads that go in these should be single sided tacky and the tacky side needs to be placed onto the backplate and heatsink - not onto the PCB. Again, not an electrical engineer, but first port of call was to order some halfway decent ones to replace them.

Sad.. glad I'll be putting a ek water block on my ftw3 elite card to get away from these pads but crap.. there on the backplate as well and I'll still be using that!

It's amazing that for years, this has been a cosmetic issue that has been complained about FREQUENTLY and is so easy to solve...yet here we are. I read these complaints on various internet tech sites almost always paired up with the OMGBBQ exploding GPU. EVGA, this is such an easy fix to get rid of negative publicity. So..what's the hold up?

HeavyHemi
EVGA, this is such an easy fix to get rid of negative publicity. So..what's the hold up?

+1

Gentlemen, what your seeing is the gap pad filler (silicone) seeping out of the thermal pad. It is not conductive or corrosive. The silicone is used to aid thermal conductivity and keep the component cool, also it prevents stress on the component by keeping the pad pliable. After years of use it will stop leaking and the ability to cool the component will not be as good as it was when it was new, and they should be replaced.
 
A little bit of alcohol and a paper towel will clean it up.

vincinator44
Gentlemen, what your seeing is the gap pad filler (silicone) seeping out of the thermal pad. It is not conductive or corrosive. The silicone is used to aid thermal conductivity and keep the component cool, also it prevents stress on the component by keeping the pad pliable. After years of use it will stop leaking and the ability to cool the component will not be as good as it was when it was new, and they should be replaced.
 
A little bit of alcohol and a paper towel will clean it up.

We (those commenting from experience) know this. We also know that other GPU makers do not suffer from the same "cosmetic" issue of  weeping pads. It's an easily solvable issue that would pay for itself in good will. I detest needing to do more work cleaning gunk off the GPU on a regular basis when a bit of air and a soft brush is all I should ever need.

they really should use better pads, i usually just replace them with some good 7w/m.k pads when i change the TIM on the GPU, really helps the temps come down and stay down.

The test that gamer nexus shows that the 1w/mk pads do a very good job at cooling the vrm and memory down substantially. Is there any tests to show the true performance of the higher rated pads?

I honestly don’t care to see the, “tried them and see a difference” without substantiating tests. I definitely don’t care about manufacturer claims either. I like independent proof. I can’t really seem to find good websites that don’t spam my phone with irritating ads though, and all other pages are just forumnposts without proof or websites selling the pads.