The GTX 1070 has been one of the more popular cards released this year, and with good reason: it’s pretty powerful. And as the months have passed, the GTX 1080 has come down in price, making it also a little more affordable.
But if you picked up an EVGA GTX 1070 or GTX 1080, you might have come a little stuck of late. Owners took to forums and YouTube to complain about thermal issues — specifically, their card turning into flames.
The problem stems from a lack of cooling on the voltage regulator module on the EVGA cards using the ACX 3.0 cooler. And when I mean a lack of cooling, I mean to the point where stuff quite literally is going up in flames:
Since the first video above, people continued to post reports online about their EVGA GTX 1070 and 1080 FTW cards operating at temperatures far higher than they should. EVGA finally responded, announcing it would be releasing a VBIOS update to “ensure sufficient cooling of all components across all operating temperatures”.
Something I’m sure owners would want, especially if you forked out around $1000 to pick up an EVGA GTX 1080 earlier this year. EVGA also noted that any cards shipped after November 1 would come with the VBIOS fix, and any users (or GPUs) that got burnt will be able to get an updated replacement from the company free of charge. There’s also free thermal pad kits on offer, although they’re not ready just yet and you’ll need to register an account to get one.
The response from users has varied: some have thanked EVGA for offering advanced RMAs with updated cards, while others have questioned whether the cards are suffering from a more serious design flaw. It’s also worth pointing out that you can apply your own custom fan curve anyway through overclocking software, VBIOS update or not.
Here’s the full list of affected cards. Note that it’s not just the GTX 1070 and 1080, but also certain models of the GTX 1060 as well.
GTX 1060 3G
03G-P4-6365
03G-P4-6367GTX 1060 6G
06G-P4-6262
06G-P4-6366
06G-P4-6265
06G-P4-6264
06G-P4-6267
06G-P4-6368GTX 1070
08G-P4-5171
08G-P4-5173
08G-P4-6171
08G-P4-6173
08G-P4-6274
08G-P4-6276GTX 1080
08G-P4-6181
08G-P4-6183
08G-P4-6284
08G-P4-6286
08G-P4-6384
08G-P4-6386
08G-P4-6167
08G-P4-6165
If you’re an affected user, head on over to EVGA’s post for all the details on the VBIOS update, cooler pads and the relevant installation guides.
Comments
9 responses to “EVGA Prepares Fix For Overheating NVIDIA GTX 1070 And GTX 1080’s”
Just to clarify, AFAIK so far NOT ONE card has failed because of this vrm “overheating” issue.
The Issue causing the PC BBQs is caused by a faulty batch of vrms that operate out of spec. The issue is corrected with cards manufactured after august but It’s estimated 4% of FTW cards manufactured before this time may have out of spec components.
That said, these cards do have hotter running vrms (still within spec) and i will definitely be adding the thermal pads to my FTW 1080.
Reports i read stated otherwise.. where the VRMs sit is way too hot not to be cooled considering how hot the cards get. Stock 1070/1080 cards have the VRMs cooled and the new batch of EVGA 1070/1080 also now include them being cooled.
My 1080 SC is running all right but it will be nice to have the VBios update before summer gets here.
FYI You can achieve the same result right now by creating a custom fan profile with MSI afterburner if your interested.
You could do it with PrecisionX as well, right?
Sure can 🙂
From what i have read, this new vbios update wont help – all it will do is crank the fans faster (more noise) and the VRMs arent being cooled to begin with.
The VRMs arent being cooled and extended use will eventually cause them to fry. EVGA have already said they will swap out these cards with new ones which have VRM cooling.
The vrm doesn’t nessisarily need cooling. All depends on how much power it’s dissipating. Most if not all will have inbuilt thermal overload protection. I’d say these are being cooked by external heat sources coming from the board rather than themselves.
Oh Thank God. Mine is 03G-P4-6162. Not affected! Yay!