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EVGA ACX 2.0 cooler problem?

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  • EVGA
  • Cooling
  • Graphics Cards
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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October 17, 2014 1:55:12 PM

I was considering upgrading my graphics cards and getting two EVGA GTX 980's in SLI with the ACX 2.0 coolers.

But I read that these coolers have problems and one of the three heat pipes is misaligned and not connected to the GPU.

When will EVGA release a new batch of these cards with this problem fixed?

More about : evga acx cooler problem

a b U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 1:59:23 PM

Newer reviews are out with good results but I would still hold off. But I'm guessing it'll be a little while longer before this problem is completely in the rear view mirror
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a c 94 U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 2:00:59 PM

Not likely going to be a fix, as they claim it is 'as intended'.

See the official response from EVGA (this is for the 970, but it is the exact same issue)

Hello everyone,
The way the EVGA GTX 970 ACX heat sink was designed is based on the GTX 970 wattage plus an additional 40% cooling headroom on top of it. There are 3 heat pipes on the heatsink – 2 x 8mm major heat pipes to distribute the majority of the heat from the GPU to the heatsink, and a 3rd 6mm heatpipe is used as a supplement to the design to reduce another 2-3 degrees Celsius. Also we would like to mention that the cooler passed NVIDIA Greenlight specifications.
Due to the GPU small die size, we intended for the GPU to contact two major heat pipes with direct touch to make the best heat dissipation without any other material in between.

We all know the Maxwell GPU is an extremely power efficient GPU, our SC cooler was overbuilt for it and allowed us to provide cards with boost clocks at over 1300MHz. EVGA also has an “FTW” version for those users who want even higher clocks.
http://www.evga.com/images/forum/precision_gtx970sc.png

Regarding fan noise, we understand that some have expressed concerns over the fan noise on the EVGA GTX 970 cards, this is not a fan noise issue but it is more of an aggressive fan curve set by the default BIOS. The fan curve can be easily adjusted in EVGA PrecisionX or any other overclocking software. Regardless, we have heard the concerns and will provide a BIOS update to reduce the fan noise during idle.
Thanks, EVGA


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October 17, 2014 2:03:18 PM

I thought it was just the GTX 970's with ACX 2.0 with the 'problem', from the gist though, EVGA don't consider it to be an issue.
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a b U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 2:05:41 PM

Nope it's for the 980 too. They dont consider it to be an issue because their BS response is it was built that way. Just choose a different version.
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October 17, 2014 2:05:51 PM

I can't speak to the pipe alignment or eVGA's plans, however I can attest to the effectiveness of what is currently in place. I am actually using twin 980s, both with ACX 2.0 and both substantially overclocked (+150 on the GPU, +325 on the RAM and using +87mv overvolt) and I have not seen the temp even peak 80C.

So either way, what is there is working.
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a c 919 U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 2:14:31 PM

I'm glad I bough the 970 Gaming MSI.
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a c 670 U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 2:19:39 PM

If you look at that photo, would you rather have one heatpipe gap in contact with your GPU or two? Two is going to be less efficient, so there is some logic in what they are saying. Just picture if it was centered, there would be two heatpipe gaps with contact instead of just one.
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October 17, 2014 2:24:04 PM

I'm disappointed with EVGA's QA this time around, the ACX 2.0 does do its job, but worse than just about every single competitor, plus they have seriously cheapskated on the components. This is the GTX 970 -

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_970_SC_ACX_...
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_O...
http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/4/0/40210_04_msi_s_...

You can clearly see a difference in quality, and I would assume it's pretty much the same story with the EVGA branded 980's; I'm staying well clear of EVGA this generation.
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a c 670 U Graphics card
October 17, 2014 2:37:00 PM

anti-duck said:
I'm disappointed with EVGA's QA this time around, the ACX 2.0 does do its job, but worse than just about every single competitor, plus they have seriously cheapskated on the components. This is the GTX 970 -

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_970_SC_ACX_...
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_O...
http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/4/0/40210_04_msi_s_...

You can clearly see a difference in quality, and I would assume it's pretty much the same story with the EVGA branded 980's; I'm staying well clear of EVGA this generation.

So you're finally seeing the light, huh? It's not just this generation, but the past several. EVGA uses all reference PCB components in general on all of its cards below the top-of-the-line FTW and Classified series. That goes for all those SC and SSC ACX models.
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October 17, 2014 2:48:42 PM

17seconds said:
anti-duck said:
I'm disappointed with EVGA's QA this time around, the ACX 2.0 does do its job, but worse than just about every single competitor, plus they have seriously cheapskated on the components. This is the GTX 970 -

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_970_SC_ACX_...
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_O...
http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/4/0/40210_04_msi_s_...

You can clearly see a difference in quality, and I would assume it's pretty much the same story with the EVGA branded 980's; I'm staying well clear of EVGA this generation.

So you're finally seeing the light, huh? It's not just this generation, but the past several. EVGA uses all reference PCB components in general on all of its cards below the top-of-the-line FTW and Classified series. That goes for all those SC and SSC ACX models.


Yeah, I was holding out for a GTX 970 FTW specifically but then I saw an EVGA employee confirm that the FTW version this time around uses the same generic components as all of their other 970's, with the only difference being a metal plate covering the GPU. It's always the same with EVGA lol, I always think "they'll get it right next time around :) " and then they shoot themselves in the foot lol. I've seen the light, no more EVGA for me :p 
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October 17, 2014 3:21:10 PM

I was gonna pull the trigger on an EVGA GTX 980 but read about the issues so I went with the Gigabyte G1. Hope all works out good!
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