EVGA Pascal cards hotspot problem

[Simon Belmont]

Hi guys

Please excuse my silence until I had something formal to post on the matter, I have also been out of the office but now have something formal to post and wanted to offer UK version and options for you should you wish:

1) New VBIOS re-vision – Out tomorrow – This will 100% fix any heat issue, there is no need for any other action other than installation of the VBIOS revision for the cards, the models for which the BIOS will work are clearly listed here - http://eu.evga.com/thermalmod/

2) Optional Thermal Pads – With the new VBIOS revision the Thermal Pads should no longer be required, however these pads will still be available for customers who want additional cooling beyond the VBIOS revision. These must come directly from EVGA and you can apply here - http://eu.evga.com/thermalmod/

3) If you are uncomfortable with installing VBIOS and want optional thermal pads installed by EVGA then you can carry out RMA directly with EVGA ONLY. RMA in the UK would be shipment to EVGA UK RMA centre. Here the BIOS would be flashed and thermal pads installed onto the card and returned to you, repair turn around in 24 hours from receipt of product.

4) Advanced RMA – The cross shipping option is available to consumers in the UK. EVGA will ship a replacement card to you however collateral payment must be made, once replacement card is received old product must be returned to Germany as this is where advanced RMA is handled. Once the old product is received the collateral payment would be returned within 10-14 days of receipt.


I imagine there will be questions so will be diving in and out today to answer these for you as best I can. Of course you can also always contact EVGA directly at [email protected]

Thanks
Ben

Hello there ben

I feel very uncomfortable doing the pads and vbios myself. I would like a RMA please. Could you help me with this please?

Thanks

 

[Ben @ EVGA]

Thanks for the update Ben.
With regards to the advance RMA, will the replacement card be a brand new card with the new bios and thermal pads installed or will it be a refurbished card?

Thanks

Albaba

Hi Albaba

Yes likelihood is this will be a brand new unit returned on the Advanced RMA option.

Ben

 

[Simon Belmont]

Hi Albaba

Yes likelihood is this will be a brand new unit returned on the Advanced RMA option.

Ben

Thanks for not answering my question. This is my second card that's had issues.

 

[Ben @ EVGA]

Hi Ben, thanks for the info.

It's been stated by the senior product manager at eVGA that the above option will be of no cost to the consumer, can you confirm?

Cheers

This is yet to be confirmed. As the VBIOS is the only essential update needed. The Thermal pads are completely OPTIONAL now the BIOS will fix any issues. I am pushing for an answer to confirm this one way or the other.

Before the BIOS was found to work we offered no cost but now the Thermal PADS are optional and in no way essential. I need to wait on news of this before confirming.

The Thermal Pads will still be shipped to the consumer free of charge directly to fit themselves if they so wish but please note carefully this is now optional and not essential for the card.

Thanks
Ben

 

[Albaba]

Thanks Ben, if you could confirm that it will definitely be a 100% new card I receive, with the thermal pads applied then I will probably go with option 4.

 

[Ben @ EVGA]

Hello there ben

I feel very uncomfortable doing the pads and vbios myself. I would like a RMA please. Could you help me with this please?

Thanks

Hi Simon

Please note here firstly the pads are entirely optional and not essential at this stage. My suggestion would be at this stage to try the BIOS revision when it is released tomorrow to see how your card performs. This is simple to install and a guide will be issued to help. If you still feel you would like more advanced cooling then you can apply for an RMA to fit the pads, it is a simply proccess on our site - http://eu.evga.com/support/guestregister.asp or mail [email protected] and they will help.

Thanks
Ben

 

[Simon Belmont]

Hi Simon

Please note here firstly the pads are entirely optional and not essential at this stage. My suggestion would be at this stage to try the BIOS revision when it is released tomorrow to see how your card performs. This is simple to install and a guide will be issued to help. If you still feel you would like more advanced cooling then you can apply for an RMA to fit the pads, it is a simply proccess on our site - http://eu.evga.com/support/guestregister.asp or mail [email protected] and they will help.

Thanks
Ben

Hello again.

Is it easy to update card? I've never done so before.

 

[IvanDobskey]

I flashed the bios once on my card, it was simple and took seconds.

 

[Simon Belmont]

I flashed the bios once on my card, it was simple and took seconds.

Thanks mate.

I just worry about everything. These cards were very expensive and it should be worry free, but they're not. I'm om my 2nd card as it is and was thinking oh no here we go again and needed a 3rd

 

[IvanDobskey]

Thanks mate.

I just worry about everything. These cards were very expensive and it should be worry free, but they're not. I'm om my 2nd card as it is and was thinking oh no here we go again and needed a 3rd

I know what you mean, i was a little twitchy updating mine. Half expected it to get bricked.

But all i did was run an exe and wait a few seconds. Then rebooted and all was perfectly fine.

I'll be updating it again tomorrow that's for sure.

 

[Gripen90]

I know what you mean, i was a little twitchy updating mine. Half expected it to get bricked.

But all i did was run an exe and wait a few seconds. Then rebooted and all was perfectly fine.

I'll be updating it again tomorrow that's for sure.

Yea I did it too when there was all the fuzz with the MSI GTX 970 TwinFrozr cooler. Ran the exe file, and everything was done.

 

[Ben @ EVGA]

I know what you mean, i was a little twitchy updating mine. Half expected it to get bricked.

But all i did was run an exe and wait a few seconds. Then rebooted and all was perfectly fine.

I'll be updating it again tomorrow that's for sure.

Of course we apologise for the issue but as EVGA we don't put our heads in the sand as a consumer facing manufacturer we work to ensure we provide solutions to problems as best we can.

The update as Ivan said is very simple and we will provide details on what to do but very easy process.

Would be worth doing this first before RMA action to EVGA or thermal pad installation is my advise.

thanks
Ben

 

[Dervious]

It'll be interesting to see how much cooler the VRMs and VRAM runs with the new BIOS. It appears that the VRMs and VRAM are cooled by a metal baseplate which sits underneath the main cooling fins and fans. The air being blown over the baseplate will have been heated up by the heat being dissipated by the GPU. Altering the fan curve (I assume increasing fan speed when the GPU is under load) should reduce the temperature of the air hitting the baseplate slightly, and also increase airflow across the baseplate. Hopefully some tests will be carried out to demonstrate that the new BIOS does reduce VRM temperatures enough to improve reliability.

 

[Drollic]

It'll be interesting to see how much cooler the VRMs and VRAM runs with the new BIOS. It appears that the VRMs and VRAM are cooled by a metal baseplate which sits underneath the main cooling fins and fans. The air being blown over the baseplate will have been heated up by the heat being dissipated by the GPU. Altering the fan curve (I assume increasing fan speed when the GPU is under load) should reduce the temperature of the air hitting the baseplate slightly, and also increase airflow across the baseplate. Hopefully some tests will be carried out to demonstrate that the new BIOS does reduce VRM temperatures enough to improve reliability.

It's already been tested on one site. A drop from 109c at stock to 95c with the update. I used a custom fan profile from day one as found the stock profile far too conservative.

If updating the bios and already running a custom profile via afterburner I presume there would be no change unless you uninstalled afterburner or disabled your fan profile?

 

[JediFragger]

Before the BIOS was found to work we offered no cost

I'm sorry Ben, but this was stated by one of eVGA's top people and can't just as easily be withdrawn imo (especially as I'm in an SLi situation with some extra thrown-in hotness for the top card, which has an obvious design flaw).

I'm just not confident that the new 'solution' is going to work for someone with my configuration. I'm a bit of a system builder, and build a few top-ish end systems for friends a year (and friends of friends). This isn't exactly going to want me to recommend or use eVGA!

Thanks for your reply anyhow.

 

[Gripen90]

I'm sorry Ben, but this was stated by one of eVGA's top people and can't just as easily be withdrawn imo (especially as I'm in an SLi situation with some extra thrown-in hotness for the top card, which has an obvious design flaw).

I'm just not confident that the new 'solution' is going to work for someone with my configuration. I'm a bit of a system builder, and build a few top-ish end systems for friends a year (and friends of friends). This isn't exactly going to want me to recommend or use eVGA!

Thanks for your reply anyhow.

I've been running EVGA GTX 1080 SuperClocked ACX 3.0 SLi (2 cm spacing) for the past 4months, and I've been using a custom fan profile from day one since I wanted to keep my OC'ed boost speeds even during long gaming sessions. I haven't seen any issues, and as of yesterday I took out my IR thermometer to measure the vrm's and even in SLi they were well below 90°c during Heaven 4.0 loop.

 

[Ben @ EVGA]

I'm sorry Ben, but this was stated by one of eVGA's top people and can't just as easily be withdrawn imo (especially as I'm in an SLi situation with some extra thrown-in hotness for the top card, which has an obvious design flaw).

I'm just not confident that the new 'solution' is going to work for someone with my configuration. I'm a bit of a system builder, and build a few top-ish end systems for friends a year (and friends of friends). This isn't exactly going to want me to recommend or use eVGA!

Thanks for your reply anyhow.

Hi Jedi

I am not saying it will not be offered but I have to check to confirm this first as EVGA worldwide will follow the same policy here. My advise initially would be to try the BIOS revision tomorrow when it is issued and then decide upon further action as may be needed.

Of course we apologise for this issue and will now strive to win your trust back in coming weeks/months/years with the support we can offer and solution we provide.

Thanks
Ben

 

[JediFragger]

Hi Jedi

I am not saying it will not be offered but I have to check to confirm this first as EVGA worldwide will follow the same policy here. My advise initially would be to try the BIOS revision tomorrow when it is issued and then decide upon further action as may be needed.

Of course we apologise for this issue and will now strive to win your trust back in coming weeks/months/years with the support we can offer and solution we provide.

Thanks
Ben

Thanks Ben. Normally I would try the offered solution, but having SLi (and the extra heat it generates) I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

[Rusko187]

Is this issue isolated to a specific model of EVGA card or could it be across the board? I have the founders edition which been monitoring recently got up 85degrees last night on GPU core.

I downloaded the EVGA software for altering the fan speed and adjusted the curvature so it kicks in sooner but I need to test it tonight.

 

[Albaba]

Ben, I'm still not clear on what I will receive if I set up an advanced RMA?
Will the card I receive be:

A. New
B. Have the thermal mod already installed
C. Have the new bios installed.

Before doing any kind of RMA or swap I would need these points clarified.

Thanks again for any info.