1080 Ti Strix 11GB fan problems

[9-Ball]

Hi Folks,

I'm having issues with a newly installed 1080 Ti 11GB STRIX video card. After the PC boots and runs for 5-10 minutes, or after any kind of even low-intensity game is loaded, the fans move to 100% and sound like a 747 is in my driveway.

Looking at GPU Tweak II, I can amend the fan speed and set up manual controls or a curve speed/temp but nothing seems to affect the fans. The only way to stop the 100% spin is to reboot.

In all other ways, the card is performing perfectly well. It's max temp is 59 on heavy load, idles at 29 (for the few mins it might idle) and seems to average at about 43 under normal gaming load.

The GPU and Memory clocks are running at stock.

The video card is sitting in a Gigabyte GA-Z270X-Gaming 9 (rev.1) mobo with all the latest drivers, BIOS at F6. There is an F7 but it makes no mention of this ASUS issue and I don't like updating BIOS for the sake of it.

The video card BIOS appears to be VBIOS ver 86.02.39.00AS08. Not sure how to update this, if there even if an update.

Driver version is 388.00. I did have some issues getting this driver to install after putting the card in. I stupidly removed the previous tenant, a 1080 Ti 8GB card, without removing the drivers first. It booted fine but when I went to update drivers I hit the Nvidia can't install drivers error that appears common. Using Display Driver Uninstaller in safe mode, twice, appeared to clear that issue and I could install the 388.00 driver and all seems well.

I've found a few links to pages with people having the same issue. Some fixed it simply by doing a clean install, which I've done. Others talked of plugging a case fan into one of the GPU fan headers and that sounds like flying a kite in a storm - not sure I want to try it or exactly how/why it might work.

Possibly a defective card, or other suggestions/ideas? Much appreciated, if anyone can help resolve this. I'm close to putting the older 8GB card back in due to the huge volume, even with big headphones on.

 

[DRagor]

Seeing as Asus software is not top quality, I would consider uninstalling GPU Tweak, and using MSI Afterburner instead to control GPU fans. Obviously it is not going to help if your problem is cause by hardware malfunction, but worth trying anyway. Next thing you may try is using different (older) nvidia drivers.

 

[9-Ball]

Seeing as Asus software is not top quality, I would consider uninstalling GPU Tweak, and using MSI Afterburner instead to control GPU fans. Obviously it is not going to help if your problem is cause by hardware malfunction, but worth trying anyway. Next thing you may try is using different (older) nvidia drivers.

I should have mentioned that - I did try removing GPU Tweak II and installing MSI Afterburner, and Speedfan. No change - nothing seems able to affect the fan controls/speeds.

I haven't tried an older driver. I guess I will try that later tonight, unless someone comes up with a better idea here.

I did find bios details here [https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/?architecture=NVIDIA&manufacturer=&model=GTX+1080+Ti&interface=PCI-E&memType=GDDR5X&memSize=11264&since=] but I don't even see what GPU Tweak II reports my current FBIOS version as, which makes me wonder if it is somehow corrupt/the problem. Or, GPU Tweak II just isn't reporting it correctly.

I'm not sure how risky updating the VBIOS is and whether it's likely to present a fix - also no clue which of the ASUS bios files on that list to use, except perhaps the youngest, which is from May 2017.

Thoughts?

 

[pete_101]

On GPU Tweak 2, does it have a tab or button called "Live update"? I know version 1 does, as I use it. It should tell you which BIOS you're using and if there are any updates available.

 

[9-Ball]

On GPU Tweak 2, does it have a tab or button called "Live update"? I know version 1 does, as I use it. It should tell you which BIOS you're using and if there are any updates available.

Hi Pete - yes I think so - on the Info tab there's a 'Live Update' panel on the right, which is where I got the above mentioned VBIOS number. It shows this:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UaNwb2atbmLEmqi43

See the weird VBIOS number? I can't find that in the list of VBIOS files in the techpowerup.com site, which makes me wonder if the current VBIOS is somehow damaged. Or?

 

[SinxarKnights]

There is no update for the BIOS. https://www.asus.com/us/Graphics-Cards/ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING/HelpDesk_Download/

Interestingly your card has the same cooler as my 1070 and it had the same issue. You should RMA the card before doing anything that will void the warranty. Asus refused to honor the warranty on mine but you may have better results as this problem has been reported for some time now.

In my case, the wires from the fan harness was being pinched in the fan shroud causing a short that when the fans turned on they stayed on and at max speed until the PC was shutdown/restarted. Thankfully that is all it was and i just redid the harness myself and all is well now.

 

[9-Ball]

There is no update for the BIOS. https://www.asus.com/us/Graphics-Cards/ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING/HelpDesk_Download/

Interestingly your card has the same cooler as my 1070 and it had the same issue. You should RMA the card before doing anything that will void the warranty. Asus refused to honor the warranty on mine but you may have better results as this problem has been reported for some time now.

In my case, the wires from the fan harness was being pinched in the fan shroud causing a short that when the fans turned on they stayed on and at max speed until the PC was shutdown/restarted. Thankfully that is all it was and i just redid the harness myself and all is well now.

Hi Sinxar,

hmmm, that's odd - did you see the page I linked to, with BIOS updates?

Problematically, I bought the card on Amazon in early September while I was overseas, so it's passed their 30-day return/replace policy for Prime, annoyingly. So, I'd be stuck with an ASUS RMA, which I understand from past experience can take upwards of 22 years, after which I may no longer be alive. I'd like to avoid that if there's any alternative.

Is it possible for me to look at the fan harness wiring to see if it's similarly pinched? I'm guessing that means removing the face plate which means voiding the ASUS warranty?

 

[SinxarKnights]

There is no update for the BIOS. https://www.asus.com/us/Graphics-Cards/ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING/HelpDesk_Download/

Interestingly your card has the same cooler as my 1070 and it had the same issue. You should RMA the card before doing anything that will void the warranty. Asus refused to honor the warranty on mine but you may have better results as this problem has been reported for some time now.

In my case, the wires from the fan harness was being pinched in the fan shroud causing a short that when the fans turned on they stayed on and at max speed until the PC was shutdown/restarted. Thankfully that is all it was and i just redid the harness myself and all is well now.

Hi Sinxar,

hmmm, that's odd - did you see the page I linked to, with BIOS updates?

Problematically, I bought the card on Amazon in early September while I was overseas, so it's passed their 30-day return/replace policy for Prime, annoyingly. So, I'd be stuck with an ASUS RMA, which I understand from past experience can take upwards of 22 years, after which I may no longer be alive. I'd like to avoid that if there's any alternative.

Is it possible for me to look at the fan harness wiring to see if it's similarly pinched? I'm guessing that means removing the face plate which means voiding the ASUS warranty?

Yeah i seen the BIOS page. That isn't for yours though. The easiest way I found to check is using GPUz to extract your BIOS and upload it. If it already exist it will tell you, if not, then it is added to the collection. Flashing BIOS to your card that isn't made for it can cause issue (this is usually a problem with lower default clocked cards and cards with different memory). I don't recommend you do it.

If you have no other option, sure take off the shroud and have a look. If you do, try gently separating the wires and maybe run them slightly differently so they aren't bundled as tight and don't run anywhere near a screw or the edges of the cover. Considering the cost of the card, I would try to get it replaced but it is yours, you can do whatever you see fit.

 

[9-Ball]

Curiously, I appear to have 'fixed' this.

I re-ran Display Driver Uninstaller twice in safe mode to clean everything. I hit a BSOD after each attempt. Did a cold boot after the latter and then installed an older driver. 385.69, to be precise, which I think is from early October, 2-3 revisions back.

Rebooted again and now the fans are operating normally. I have (slightly wonky) controls working in GPU Tweak II where I can now manually set fan speed - I think GPU Tweak is rather clunky which explains that wonk but it works. On auto mode, the fans spin variably. At full load it's now really quiet with a max temp of 62 and fans at only 35%. Average sustained load temps of 58 which I think is fine. I can crank the fans up to 80% and bring sustained temps down to 52. Either seems fine. Card seems to be performing perfectly now.

I think the only problem might be when I 'need' to update the driver to a new version for some game that requires it. Whatever the problem is, it seems to be in Nvidia's drivers. I'll report this to them but I doubt it'll have any impact. Either that, or something fixed a kink somewhere and I maybe could now update to the current drivers, but I'm not inclined to mess with that right now where everything is working properly. At least I think I avoided a lengthy RMA.