EVGA offers updated BIOS for GTX 1080,1070,1060

Yesterday, we discussed a problem with EVGA’s GTX 1070 and 1080 cards where at least some GPUs had failed unexpectedly and in fairly high-profile ways. In response, EVGA said it would ship thermal pads to any customer who requested them. The company has made a follow-up announcement to the community in which it discusses the problem and promises a new set of BIOS updates for its GPUs that should bring the cards back into thermal trim, whether you apply the supplemental pads or not.

On ACX 3.0, EVGA focused on GPU temperature and the lowest acoustic levels possible. Running Furmark, the GPU is around 70C +/- and the fan speed is running approximately 30% duty cycle or lower. However, during recent testing, the thermal temperature of the PWM and memory, in extreme circumstances, was marginally within spec and needed to be addressed. Conclusion: EVGA offers full warranty support on its products, with cross-ship RMA*, and stands behind its products and commitment to our customers.

To resolve this, EVGA will be offering a VBIOS update, which adjusts the fan-speed curve to ensure sufficient cooling of all components across all operating temperatures. This VBIOS will be released in the next few days and users can download it and update their cards directly. This update resolves the potential thermal issues that have been reported, and ensures the card maintains safe operating temperatures.

EVGA will still offer its thermal pads for free to anyone who wants them; interested users can request a set of these pads here. (Scroll to the bottom). EVGA has also stated that any customer who is uncomfortable performing the update themselves may request a warranty cross-shipped product with a new VBIOS. All EVGA cards will also use the new BIOS that ship after 11/1/2016. From the EVGA website:

The EVGA EAR(Advanced RMA Program) and Cross Shipping options are available in the Continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, EU, UK, Norway, and Switzerland. EVGA offers Standard RMA replacement options in the Middle East, Africa, India or outside of the before mentioned supported areas.

In either case, customers who have damaged cards will be taken care of.

While no one likes to see their GPU transform from a $500 to $700 high-end workhorse to burned-out circuitry, EVGA seems to be handling this right. The number of cards that have failed appears to be small, and it many only be an edge-case — but the right way to deal with problems like this is to address them in ways that minimize their chances of happening in the future. EVGA had previously calibrated the sound profile on its ACX 3.0 GPUs to a very low threshold, so the company should have some headroom to increase GPU cooling without turning its cards into Dustbusters.

One last note: EVGA has included a list of hardware that its new VBIOS will apply to, as shown above, but we’ve only heard about ACX 3.0 cards from the 1080 and 1070 families flaming out. While we still recommend that customers with one of the relevant part numbers apply the update, the problem appears limited to just ACX 3.0 hardware. EVGA’s FAQ states that Founders Edition, blower-type cards, Hybrid designs, and its Hydro Copper products are not included.

Source : Extremetech

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