HELP! Zotac Trinity RTX 3080 OC Fans not spinning.

Tom Reeve · 13 Nov 2020 at 20:54

Hi all,

I managed to bag myself the above graphics card yesterday. Installed it today and can't get the GPU fans to spin.

Have downloaded MSI Afterburner and enabled user defined software automatic fan control, however the fans still wont budge...

I have a horrible feeling that there's nothing I can do, however I wanted to ask you all on here if there is anything else that I can try before trying to return it.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

peahead · 13 Nov 2020 at 21:12

Hi

Did you install the Firestorm software from ZOTAC because when i did with my 3090 Trinity there was a bios update available.

So they don't spin when gaming ?

harney · 13 Nov 2020 at 21:27

sound like someone forgot to plug in the fan plug in to the header when being built or could just be faulty not good either way

Tom Reeve · 13 Nov 2020 at 21:50

Hi both.

I have downloaded Firestorm and when I tried to run it for the first time it had to update, which I did. I have been running some benchmarks and fired up WoW, and its almost hitting 90 degrees and no fans...

@harney - Apologies, i'm pretty new to this. I placed my GPU onto the MOBO and plugged it into the PSU using 2 x 8 pin connectors. Have I missed something?

harney · 13 Nov 2020 at 21:53

Tom Reeve said:
Hi both.

I have downloaded Firestorm and when I tried to run it for the first time it had to update, which I did. I have been running some benchmarks and fired up WoW, and its almost hitting 90 degrees and no fans...

@harney - Apologies, i'm pretty new to this. I placed my GPU onto the MOBO and plugged it into the PSU using 2 x 8 pin connectors. Have I missed something?

No you have not missed anything you did everything correctly ..sounds like the cards faulty or the fans have not been plugged in from the factory .. you maybe be able to look yourself if you take the card out and look for the fan header you may see and cable that is not plugged in ..again this is nothing you have missed but could be worth checking

Tom Reeve · 13 Nov 2020 at 21:55

harney said:
No you have not missed anything you did everything correctly ..sounds like the cards faulty or the fans have not been plugged in from the factory .. you maybe be able to look yourself if you take the card out and look for the fan header you may see and cable that is not plugged in ..again this is nothing you have missed but could be worth checking

Thanks mate. I’m not going to mess with it as I don’t want to void any warranty and will get in touch with OC/Zotac tomorrow. Thanks for your help!

peahead · 13 Nov 2020 at 22:02

Take it out and check and look if the fan connectors are seated correctly it could be just as simple as it's not fully inserted and needs pushing back in place.

harney · 13 Nov 2020 at 22:03

Tom Reeve said:
Thanks mate. I’m not going to mess with it as I don’t want to void any warranty and will get in touch with OC/Zotac tomorrow. Thanks for your help!

Agree your better just RMA it ...shame but these things happen

so you know you do not have to dismantle anything ..you maybe able to see if a cable is not plugged in ..you may not be able to see because of the shroud but still worth a look i guess

I marked in red where i suspect the fan header or headers to be

either way i hope you get a replaced card back asap

Tom Reeve · 13 Nov 2020 at 22:19

Found the fan header and couldn’t see anything not connected, thanks for the suggestion though I’ll just have to contact them tomorrow.

peahead · 13 Nov 2020 at 22:42

Tom Reeve said:
Found the fan header and couldn’t see anything not connected, thanks for the suggestion though I’ll just have to contact them tomorrow.

That is a shame hope you dont have to wait long for a replacement

Petrolhead · 14 Nov 2020 at 14:24

peahead said:
Hi

Did you install the Firestorm software from ZOTAC because when i did with my 3090 Trinity there was a bios update available.

So they don't spin when gaming ?

Bios update, when was that and whats been changed?

SkeeterUK · 14 Nov 2020 at 14:37

Check for a motherboard bios update, u never know it might need mb support for these new cards. Doubt it but u never know.

Check a different driver, and also use DDU to clean install. Maybe a driver is causing the fan issue?

SkeeterUK · 14 Nov 2020 at 14:41

Tom Reeve said:
Found the fan header and couldn’t see anything not connected, thanks for the suggestion though I’ll just have to contact them tomorrow.

Maybe if u can use some tweezers or something to get at the fan header connector and give it a little push to make sure its in fully or just a nudge it might help ive heard from a reddit user when i googled it as thats what their tech support said.

peahead · 14 Nov 2020 at 16:08

Petrolhead said:
Bios update, when was that and whats been changed?

It happend when i first ran the firestorm software it just said a new bios is available, sorry no idea what it did.

Bios version on my trinity 3090 is 94.02.26.40.81, what is yours showing ?

Kiev the Great · 14 Nov 2020 at 16:19

Just had the opposite issue, 1 fan keeps ramping up to 100% at idle, but I can control the other 2. Can't believe our luck!

jaminben · 14 Nov 2020 at 18:15

That bios update your looking at is for the RGB lighting and not the card itself... apparently (this is what Zotac technical support told me when I asked about the Firestorm firmware update).

I had an issue with mine which was also delivered yesterday (same batch as you) where mine would just crash to desktop when playing games.

There is another bios update which increases the power limit to 105%... this fixed my issue with crashing but not sure if it will fix yours. You can send Zotac technical support an email or live chat with them and they will give you a link to download it... or click here (use at your own risk).

My BIOS version is now: 94.2.26.48.50

Tom Reeve · 14 Nov 2020 at 19:02

jaminben said:
That bios update your looking at is for the RGB lighting and not the card itself... apparently. This is what Zotac technical support told me. I had an issue with mine which was also delivered yesterday where mine would just crash to desktop when playing games. There is another bios update which increases the power limit to 105%... this fixed my issue with crashing but not sure if it will fix yours. Let me know if you want to try it and I'll try and find the link Zotac sent me in the live chat.

What a pain in the arse these cards have been! DPD are picking mine up on Monday and they’re reserving a card for me in the next batch they get. Fingers crossed the next one works out the box! Glad yours seems to be sorted though mate.

jaminben · 14 Nov 2020 at 19:14

Tom Reeve said:
What a pain in the arse these cards have been! DPD are picking mine up on Monday and they’re reserving a card for me in the next batch they get. Fingers crossed the next one works out the box! Glad yours seems to be sorted though mate.

Yea, it's a royal PITA... after waiting almost 2 months and this happens. I feel bad for those that finally get one and it's damaged or doesn't work correctly

I'm still half tempted to send mine back as well due to the fact that I have to manually set the power limit to 105% for it to work correctly... which I guess I shouldn't have to do. What I might do is ask if would be ok to keep the card until things become more settled (more stock) and then ask for a swap out and at least they'll know that it had issues as soon as it arrived.

Did you call them or use the web-note thingy? Were they quick to respond?

peahead · 14 Nov 2020 at 19:20

jaminben said:
My BIOS version is now: 94.2.26.48.50

Is that bios for the 3080 trinity ?

jaminben · 14 Nov 2020 at 19:25

peahead said:
Is that bios for the 3080 trinity ?

Taken from the readme in the download: This is a vBIOS update only for the 3080 Trinity OC. Do not use it for any other models as it can/may cause the card to be inoperational or not to function properly.

I think because these are the OC models the cards weren't being provided with enough power when the boost kicked in so they increase the power limit to 105%... maybe? Just guessing at this point.