How to Install Thermal Pad Mod on EVGA GTX 1080 & 1070

[@WinzoIsAEpicFail]

Steve please consider applying the entire tube of thermal compound in a future video. Don't mention it and act casual. I really want to see the reactions from the comment section.

[@GamersNexus]

Phantom Ninjar Ha! One day...

[@Barney-ii1no]

the amount of comments about the fucking thermal paste is so played out, (yeh i know i am adding to that list)

[@Xfade81]

Watch Jayz2cents or w/e his video about it. He actually does it.

[@stevethea5250]

Gamers Nexus 9:05 what size of giant grain of rice are y’all eating LOL

[@chrinaldi]

I came from the grim, dark future of 2021. The mad lad did it.

[@hardware20x]

Got to love that retro '80's banger hair.

[@justinnote3264]

Present day Steve would have roasted evga for this issue.

[@stevethea5250]

Why’s that

[@-FOXX]

Now imagine today's Steve.

[@exodusfred2177]

Thanks dude. Just added the thermal pads on mine. Your video was very helpful. The instructions that came with the thermal pads says to take out ALL the screws at once which seemed daunting.

[@Lukescomment]

Such a huge fail by EVGA .I remember there 970 had a manufacturing defect where one of the heat pipes wasnt touching the gpu.

[@byCDMC]

Nvidia: Hey, AMD! AMD: What? Nvidia: Uh, where can we buy some cheap fire extinguishers? AMD laughs, Nvidia laughs, everything catches fire.

[@IvoMimica]

yo do realize this has nothing to do with nvidia what so ever right ? it's completely evga's fault.

[@3rdGenGuy]

EVGA and nvidia are 2 different companies.

[@IvoMimica]

justanalt whaaaaaat ? Dude, that makes no sense whatsoever, when we talk about temps AMD vs nVidia it's always comparing the cards in the original form (Founders Edition) and that's were AMD fails.

[@3rdGenGuy]

***** the Gtx 1080 still runs cooler than the rx480 while being twice as fast. It also consumes 20watts more than a 480 ha ha

[@3rdGenGuy]

grg cost is irrelevant since the chips probably don't cost any more to manufactor. Twice as fast, but the same wattage. Da fuck is AMD doing

[@tapts503]

That LG monitor ad roll is truly epic.

[@blackwidow7804]

Wait a sec, so someone buys a 700€ card and still need do shit like this so that expensive card runs fine? WTF?

[@testtest-vb2qn]

no this is for cards people already bought + like he said it is optinal you can also update your bios but that will make the fans run a little bit less quieter. and new card will have that bios by default

[@matthewfennell7886]

Eduard Marcinek You got it backwards, this is a FTW card not a WTF card

[@CareyHolzman]

No, EVGA stands behind their product. This is just something they are offering to customers who want it. EVGA says it is NOT necessary. They are simply doing these to appease the crowd-mentality. Whether you do this mod or you do not, if your card fails, EVGA has clearly stated they will replace the card under the standard warranty procedure. That's why it's worth buying EVGA branded products. A warranty means nothing if the company is hard to reach or has terrible customer support. Kudos to EVGA for responding quickly and appropriately to a 'mole hill' that the internet has created into a 'mountain.' Absolutely ridiculous mob mentality from people on the internet.

[@jaffarshah5024]

CareyHolzman carey, the card failing is one thing, but if it takes out the mobo with itself or any other component in my tower then we have a problem. But hey, I don't OC or run furmark for hours so here's hoping.......

[@mud2479]

Just the EVGA FTW model, and you have to do shit like this because EVA fucked it up.

[@DundeMan]

Thanks so much man Its pretty easy to do, i was scared to do this first

[@miketlane]

Thanks for this, I just ordered a used card and now I know I can check if this has been done by removing the back cover

[@nicolasarenas8988]

I was waiting for this video!/ Really glad you managed to release it in the same day as the previous one.

[@grafforlock]

Nice tutorial steve, thank you. I have just the regular 1080 ACX 3.0 gaming card and just waiting for my thermal pad order to get approved by EVGA so I can get this done. I've been running a custom fan curve since I bought the card because it was set too low to my liking based purely on my GPU temps which may have unknowingly helped to alleviate this issue.

[@The2808erik]

EVGA sould release a new CIY Card, Cool it your self, the Card ships with no cooling what so ever and can be purcased separately.

[@FSXgta]

The2808erik that might not go so well for some..

[@Danny_S.]

Basically, they've done that. I believe it was unintentional though. :)

[@kamadeva5121]

That would be a neat Idea for people who plan on watercooling, that way you only pay for the pcb and not the fans.

[@OhManTFE]

I just blow on my cards when they get too hot.

[@enicotinic]

OhManTFE not really an option if a user has asthma genius.

[@babycowkiller475]

the only "mod" that is necessary is a full refund and apology from the company.

[@DarkHerring69]

lmao

[@feelingtardy]

lol,, true. however i think evga will do it for you. what they should really do is send you a card that is free of any defects and a box to send them back your defective gpu.

[@babycowkiller475]

feelingtardy it's the type of situation where people move off of a brand for good. the lack of quality control here for a device that is 1000 canadian dollars (each) is appalling.

[@babycowkiller475]

TwiceBakedPotato the only acceptable fix is a refund. you don't pay thousands of dollars and then do a "repair job" on it. this situation is gross negligence.

[@Kirinketsu_]

All you have to do is download the VBIOS update, the pads are optional and free. Why should they give you a full refund when they are fixing the problem, if they really wanted to they could had said FU and did nothing, they have all the rights in the world to do so.

[@adiby111]

thanks! i will come back to this video when my kit arrives

[@spoertm4952]

"This is brought to you by AMD.." That's one we don't hear very often.

[@stevethea5250]

How come

[@RobertOortwijn]

Jesus Christ Alex!!! That is way to much paste on the GPU. Man I'm un-subbing /s!!! But for real. Thanks for doing this video. I'm still waiting on my kit. Do you have any information on when these will go out? I'm from the Netherlands, and my request is still saying: Waiting for approval. I will follow this video when the time comes :). Thanks!

[@GamersNexus]

Not sure yet... EVGA US HQ only received them this week.

[@stew360]

is this the FTW edition ? because i got a Superclock and evga seams to claim they didnt have such issue but that iam free to get the kit for free should i ?

[@rougespitefire6226]

can i just buy any old thermal pads? if so what thermal pad do you recommend?

[@RobertOortwijn]

stew360 From what I read so far the probably is only with the FTW cards. According to EVGA, the SC models don't have the issue. I also don't think that they will approve your request for the Thermal Mod as they will be able to check which model you registered.

[@uther10]

Great way to show people on how to add the thermal pads to the video card, but the real question. How long did it take you to grow your hair that long?

[@sptz87]

Uther years m8

[@Nes924]

Uther about two and a half years to grow.

[@hugostiglitz6530]

Thanks very much for the video- great tutorial!

[@xXSilentAgent47Xx]

Sorry for noob question, but what's thermal pad and what's for? Does GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming PP have thermal pads?

[@xiaxia686]

Such a terrible thermal pad solution EVGA! They should give users free new designed ACX4.0 cooler instead of these pads. The pad on the frontplate pushs the one side of the fins on the main heatsink. The main heatsink is secured only with 4 screws around the GPU chip. It adds more pressure on one side of the GPU chip, so the GPU is unevenly loaded. I don't think that's good for GPU. They may hacked the vrm problem but created a potential GPU chip problem. And thermal pad on the backplate covers like 50% (or 80% for non-ftw model) mesh area.

[@Kirinketsu_]

All you have to do is download the VBIOS update, the pads are optional and free.

[@Xfade81]

There's no uneven load, the 4 screws prevent this. The thermal pads are quite soft. The fins from the cooler will indent them. Wich gives them a better dissipating area to boot.

[@superethangaming4941]

I just applied my 1070 FTW mod using your tutorial. I'm an avid watcher and greatly appreciate all of your content. Thanks this made it fool proof. People, it was very simple and btw my thermal pads arrived within 5 days of placing the order with EVGA. THANKS AGAIN GN

[@Pinozzo]

are both pads 2mm?

[@LuisAFigueroa]

Sharing this video, hope owners of these cards will be able to watch it and fix them before they get damaged!

[@Sulfen]

If they get damaged it would be a manufacturer defect to EVGA would be losing a ton of money.

[@billhaggard400]

This is actually EVGA's "Trojan Horse" line of cards....Whn you buy it its a beautiful GTX 1070 FTW....then it turns out to be a GTX 1070 WTF

[@aarontrupiano9328]

mine came with this from the foctory and when i took it out of the box after a whiule i noticed that the pads seem to have deposited a sticky grease like substancce everywhere

[@WolF-if9ys]

I want to buy an EVGA GTX 1070 FTW in the next few months and I asked my self whether my card is going to have these thermal pads already installed or not? Thx for help!^^

[@CareyHolzman]

This video was very well done! I'm impressed and will use this as my guide to do a similar video in my style on my channel. Thank you! If you ever want to collaborate on a video together, let me know!

[@Jeebuus]

Nvidia gtx 1080/1070 vrm repair. brought to you by amd... with, perfect timing

[@MeepMeep88]

Hey... You did the thermal paste wrong...... It's suppose to be orange, not gray like yours.

[@Jester_1]

Are you going to look into the thermal pads not touching the vram. There is a big thread on this www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/

[@VGDocs]

Steve, you do (insert action here) 2% different than I do! You're doing it all wrong Steve, you're going to break your card!

[@GamersNexus]

:(

[@watchmen22]

AMD makes some nice monitors.

[@FlankerB3]

and the monitor he shows is a LG!

[@draanexle]

Why not showing temp results before and after?

[@keithsplish]

Agree.

[@RepsUp100]

When you say thermal paste should be grain of rice size, what kind of rice? basmati rice? jasmine rice?

[@GamersNexus]

Martian. From Mars.

[@Mrfil1977]

Thanks for the vid, Steve. Went out to get some thermal pads and applied them as well as updated the VBIOS. Just played some BF1 on my 1080FTW and did not get any hotter than 69° C with fans ramping up to max 1787rpm (Open Hardware Monitor). Keep up the good work!

[@johndo1158]

b/c of you guys i broke some of the condensators at the back of my evga 1080. there is a secret screw behind a sticker there and you forgot to mention about it. backplate turned around this screw and the metal behind the backplate broke some of the condensators that provides power to GPU. You have to edit these videos for newbies. Idk will this card will work again or not but i am really angry. almost every video i watched they opened the backplate so easily and none of them talked about we have to be careful about the sticker that hides the screw under it. backplate is black and sticker has the same color easy to miss. i wrote this comment so no one make the same mistake. and you guys should take the responsibility here. b/c you guide them wrong. backplate don't come out that easy!!!!

[@johndo1158]

@notice me Senta! one the screw was under a black sticker. at this video he removed the sticker before he recorded the video that is why you can easily make the same mistake i do.

[@IvZCom]

This ARCTIC Thermal Pad (145 x 145 x 1.5 mm) is sufficient for EVGA 1070 FTW?

[@juancruzgonzalez2601]

ward

[@timorohde95]

are the pads on the 1070 sc already applied? & i would like to know if the led´s on the logo are naturally super weak? it almost looks like they´re not even turned on despite having the led power on 100%. thank you :)

[@Kyros9119]

Im here to critisize the lack of proper cleaning on the cold plate. Now that this is done with, someone or someones should be getting fired at EVGA. First GTX 970 cooler then this fuckup is just too much.

[@GamersNexus]

Illsigvo We cleaned the coldplate. That's when my wrist was in the lens.

[@jellowiggler]

What exactly is the thin TIM strip on the front of the card contacting once applied? When the main cooler gets mounted it looked like the heat will transfer directly to some of the fins and not a plate.... strange? It might help a bit, but there is no metal surface area to dissipate the heat to... The back strip makes more sense.

[@ltguy]

I agree totally. I dont understand how this isnt the question everyone is asking themselves. Where is the metal mating surface the termal pad is making contact with like the older acx 2.0 coolers had.

[@cryohellinc]

Hope all EVGA users with those cards wont get burned, good luck! :)

[@thelastcopier]

Heck, if you're taking coolers off video cards you're half-way to water-cooling. Might as well go the extra step, people. Great video as usual, btw.

[@GamersNexus]

That's true!

[@captapraelium1591]

Sure, you paying for the other half? ;)

[@alexandradeon7508]

before GTX 1080 WTF after the mod Its now GTX 1080 FTW

[@IRQ1Conflict]

EVGA to customers: Here is what we forgot. Please fix our problems for us, Thank-You. For The Fail.

[@BlueScapegoat]

Jesus christ what kind of rice were you eating back in 2016

[@44NEGRO44]

I suffer of cancer on my eyes when i see him utilize screwdriver, but nice video ;)

[@SeriusSim]

The fact that a product so expensive isn't flawless out of the box is weird... Looking back at the very short delay between the 1080 reference and the third party designs reveals, it makes me wonder how many of those designs were rushed è_é

[@versaleyang]

tbh i was reluctant at first buying my 1080 ftw as it was cheaper than most other after market 1080s, that kinda didnt sit well with me as usually evga cards are rather at the top of the prices, now I know why this time it's not the case, they pretty much cheaped out on everything and only made the gpu die iteelf have direct contact with the cooler, everything else is indirectly and insufficiently cooled because the vram and vrm are seperated by the midplate. They thouht they could get away with it cuz gpu monitoring only reports gpu die temp and not the rest, this is my first and it will be my last evga card, never gonna trust that brand again I assure you.

[@sovietbirdz]

Considering picking up one of these during the great pandemic GPU shortage - seller claims the VRMs are running hot, this video is still useful.

[@atv-com]

Likewise, thanks for putting this up. Just bought 2 1080s and then heard about this.i have not taken them out of the box yet so I'm waiting for the pads before I install.

[@ElemXCR]

Hey Steve, thanks for doing a video on it. I thought i would be installing the thermal pads blind but with this video, I should be ready. I'm wasn't willing to botch up a 700 bucks piece of hardware because of breaking apart the card.

[@Hippownage]

I own this card as of today, and am waiting for those pads. One (stupid?) question: is the pad thermally conductive? Does it feel metallic? If so, that seems like a fine solution to me. Another, perhaps equally dumb question: after reading this www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/5aqjvb/so_i_disassembled_my_two_evga_gtx_1080_ftws/ I've been thinking, should I put a drip of thermal paste on the VRAM or its cooling pads? Would that be a good idea? I could request a refund on this card through Dutch law (mandatory 14 day return policy), but I actually kind of look forward to applying these mods. I've always wanted to open up a GPU but never have, in fear of losing my warranty. I doubt the issues will persist after these fixes and if they do I'm confident they will offer good customer service.

[@captapraelium1591]

I always notice when you handle graphics cards that you have a habit of touching the fans. Those fan bearings aren't really designed to be load-bearing, they're only designed to hold a light plastic fan, not the weight of the whole card/cooler. Probably better to not touch the fans at all when lifting a card/cooler. It's unlikely to cause major damage but can cause them to spin off-axis and make noise/heat/wear/etc.

[@GamersNexus]

The fans are fine. You seem to think they are being pressed a lot harder than they are. The force from shipping would be far greater.

[@C0manso]

You also have to remember they are designed to spin so damn fast, so the way Steve is pressing it is nothing basically.

[@captapraelium1591]

That's an entirely different type of force at an entirely different vector. There's no point comparing them. They are designed to spin around the way a fan does, not to be pushed down on one side. What the comment above yours basically says is that he's being careful not to push them too hard. Better still, is to not touch them at all. It's not like you'll harm the card by not touching the fans, but there is a risk of harming the fans by handling them. Why take a risk if you don't need to?

[@GamersNexus]

Because there is no risk of damage here. There is a huge difference between "push" and "touch." Being overly sensitive about this level of touching a product is needlessly worrisome. Flipping the card on its face doesn't put force on the fans, either. That's on the faceplate. And touching them while presenting is harmless.

[@captapraelium1591]

I never said anything about flipping the card over because of exactly that. And yes, there is a difference between 'push' and 'touch', it's the amount of force exerted, and that's not visible on a video. I'm not being overly sensitive about it, I'm just mentioning it. You seem to be overly sensitive about me saying so. I've repaired a lot of devices with fans broken by people mishandling them. We'll have to disagree.

[@guillermocalle1729]

Well I got the asus dual 1070 and for me is better than this evga the only thing is doesn't have led light and backplate, but what u want led people buy this card only for the led, and for asus backplate you can buy on google or eBay they have different styles and color white or black and the card comes with no issues and overclocked don't waist ur money get asus dual fan 1070 and you will be happy doesn't make noise and gets cool...

[@versaleyang]

This is the first time I see the inner design of this cooler, so basically the fins are only connected to the gpu die itself, and the vrms and mosfets are seperated all together with no direct cooling? What the hell was the designer at evga thinking when he drew the design? This is beyond bad designing, this is basically idiocy.

[@zylo999]

Does the overheating issue only affect FTW cards?

[@lotust251]

Does anyone know he best pads or a kit with enough pads to do this mod? EVGA has no more pads they claim... I contacted them.

[@willis936]

I just did this today and my GPU load temperature is up from 75C to 80C with the fan ramping up to 2000 RPM (rarely went above 1800 on the same tests before), and with the core clock getting pushed lower. Strangely the 3dmark scores are consistently marginally higher. Idk what gives here but I'm not a fan of the louder card. I think the thermal paste they send out may actually be liquefacted garbage.

[@4udoUdo]

Thanks for video! But SHAME for EVGA!!! People bought evga for silence not for 2200rpm (after bios update) or moding the cooler...

[@Fabulousideiumn]

Does this need to be done with every EVGA GTX 1070s and 1080s?

[@dustinshane92]

Does this include the FTW DT? Thanks for the video man.

[@podcastbunker]

Why do you think you're in a fast talking contest ? Or do you need to hurry and run to the bathroom. Slow down Dude !

[@MohondhaY]

Can we use one big thermal pad to cover the entire back side of the pcb?

[@AndyGneiss]

That's what I want to know.

[@dangdiggity9916]

I dont know why, but i watched this for entertainment. would love a Strix overview(/teardown) tho, what's good and what's not so good about the coolers (like does the vrm connect with the cooler), been looking around on the internet to check the most common issues about them, and couldnt find all that much. (yea, i look at the products i like, just to find bad stuff about them, just to be prepared i guess).

[@bothellkenmore]

I didn't find a teardown by Steve for the Strix here so hopefully he doesn't mind this link. It's a German site but you get a good look at the cooler underside and a pretty beefy thermal pad on the VRM's. www.computerbase.de/2016-05/asus-geforce-gtx-1080-strix-oc-test/ No one does as thorough a teardown as GN though :)

[@dangdiggity9916]

***** thanks a lot ^^ good thing i dont mind it being german :P

[@TheBIOSStar]

I just wanted to say that you applied both too much and too little paste. :->

[@temptor7585]

Nor did he use the "mona lisa" pattern for the thermal paste, he used the old "pea-sized" drop of thermal paste! He's going to have TERRIBLE thermals now

[@essentialone1]

If EVGA run out or just cant get them out to you, then if I was to buy pads from say thermal grizzly they arent that cheap, and 1080s new cost 5to600+ in uk, You should be refunded for the pads as you already paid for the card that should have had them anyway so shouldnt be expected to pay £30 plus shipping for pads that they should have installed, And does it void warranty opening up the card?

[@dizasta25]

Is this the culprit of the EVGA FTW 1080 cards Black screen 100% Fans issue? Does anyone know if any cards have been fixed using this? I need a video card so bad and now more than ever this would be so helpful if I knew that this is what it was for or if it would help.

[@manuelserrano5374]

I am really regretting the evga 1070 ftw rgb i just bought. Comes Tuesday I wonder if I should send it back without even opening the box and buy a different card. selling you card and telling consumer to fix it has to be one of the most messed things i have ever heard. Going to look into the return policy right now

[@onnlyfutebol]

what if we dont have a backplate, how are we supposed to aply the pad? i have a 1070 sc black edition and it doesnt have a back plate

[@rrook88]

shit like this that make yu want buy founders edition. NVidia gave all partner card makers standard blueprint of what works. (aftermarker company) thinks where smarter.. look what you get.

[@fu4ien]

This video How to install thermal pads on your evga fail-to-win 1080 and 1070 brought to you by AMD and their affordable devices. So your nvidia card is too hot? *trollface*

[@georgimarkov1655]

hello im planning to buy a EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition 8GB, does this model have the problem with the thermal pads ?

[@paublusamericanus292]

of course I will criticize your paste application. saying it doesn't matter, then you thermal throttle with slower fps, then yes it matters a lot. Use the tip of your finger in a surgical glove people, his method leaves a large area around the corners uncovered, and can lower the graphics temps by 15 degrees at least. So yes, it matters a lot.

[@davidslayer]

are msi gpus affected by this ? specifically 1070 armor oc. mine is being shit, and screen blacks out/ lost signal and fans run 100% not during gaming also.

[@daffo911]

And EVGA just denied my RMA claim on my 1080Ti FTW3 because I had "modified the card" (replaced the thermal pads and grease). WTF

[@rileyg8265]

I broke the wires connecting to the 4 pin with the orange wire; They were very brittle. Any idea how i fix this? Are these just LED wires or for the fans?

[@MrCradox]

Hi, I had the 1070 SC but I don't know which size y had to use of the termal pads can use ¿Somebody can help me?

[@Barney-ii1no]

these oversights and cost cutting measure's have done them no favours, this fuck up could actually cause a house fire and possible deaths, if you would have left your pc on all day and left the house while one of these cards catched fire it could cause some serious problems

[@Sanutep]

I didn't look into this at the time. Now EVGA dont' supply the thermal pads anymore... Big sad.

[@so_cold7776]

did EVGA fix this shit? because its complete bullshit, to pay $400 for a card that doesnt even have thermal pads for the vram

[@mcknife84]

Hi i want to replace my evga 1080ti icx(2fans) thermal pads,what thickness should ı look for?1 mm or 1.5mm?

[@hollenjoe]

Mine came with an aggressive fan profile and a pad... its still in the 75ish degrees... my titan v was in the 90 degrees....

[@rayhan2884]

i just got my kit and all i got or thermal paste was some shit in a little packet :(

[@seanwilson7640]

Can someone tell me what the heck is going on with step 5 it ? should we skip to step 10 because all of that seems to be ignored in every tutorial on youtube?

[@farzshmarz]

I put the narrow thermal pad upside down, with the stickier side touching the vram. Will this cause a problem, or does it not matter?

[@ExtremeTaco]

I got a hand me down from this card and it's missing backplate screws, anyone know what size they are so I can replace them?

[@47refugee]

You need to update the video or put in the description that this is not the complete mod . Your missing the 3 vram pads that they send with the kit . I had to redo the whole mod because I relied on your video and not the instructions .

[@neellhd4542]

evga doesnot ship to my country, can i use thermal pad 3mm thick? or 1.5mm which found on ebay ?

[@geeksvendetta5333]

Arctic thermal pads? i use fujipoly SARCON thermal pads... ;)

[@davidejlertsen5577]

if i buy a evga card in the future will they be manufactured with thermal pads or will i still have to do that myself? if so im not gonna buy an evga card

[@snowman1432]

I have a evga 1080 SC. Should I be worried. Should I look into thermal pads?

[@Arvianth]

What's the thickness of the smaller pad? EVGA won't ship this mod to Russia, so I'll need to buy similar pads.

[@KennyjHolland]

Jusst want to add great vid and help as always keep up the good work and stay happy :)

[@waqarabbas6838]

Will EVGA ship these thermal pads to Asia? if not can use any other thermal pad ????

[@GregoryCunningham]

EVGA has been cost cutting for years now. Out of all the manufacturer's, I'm not at all surprised it's them suffering from QA issues.

[@RobertStubbs91]

This might be a stupid question but is the 1080 classified effected by this thermal issue?

[@PifchoBG]

i dont have a backplate on my card lol

[@Tempestni02]

Should've had that anti-static band on before you took the card apart and esp before you ran your finger over the chokes. Your ESD practice is shocking, no pun intended.

[@LFactoRve]

i would replace just right away thats making contact with nothing ...

[@essamjamal5941]

Can you give me amazon link for good thermal pads for evga 1080

[@AlphaXY13]

Maybe I'm lucky I dislike the look of the EVGA cards this time around, I love the look of the 1050, 1050 Ti, and 1060, but the larger high end cards look odd for some reason.