Evga Gtx 1070 FTW Edition question

[Arbiter051]

Well, it is time, I am going to be buying a 1070 this week and I am all but in for either the SC version or the FTW version (FTW I like the oc potential for future purposes and the RGB lighting😀). I have a few questions.

I have read and watched every review I can find and I will tell you I am very paranoid when it comes to overheating equipment. I see people say their FTW cards reach 75c when gaming and some say that is perfectly fine and others say it is not good and something is wrong or needs to be fixed etc. I see others say they reach 68-72 under load and even the lower 70s scares me a bit.

Is there anyone with personal experience with this card that can help me have a better understanding? I plan on keeping this card for the next 3 or more years and want to keep it working well. Please no answers of, "if anything goes wrong just RMA it, that is what the warranties are for". I am leaning towards EVGA because I have heard they have great customer service unless others say otherwise.

I currently have a build of this.

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/carbide-series-spec-01-red-led-mid-tower-gaming-case - Case (Important for temperature help I am sure)
i7 4790 non k @ 3.6ghz
16gb ram
3 corsair case fans
corsair gold 850W power supply(Might be 900, not exactly sure).
SSD
regular hard drive

If anyone has suggestions on whether or not I should the EVGA FTW card or the MSI gaming x card etc, please help me. Buying things for me is hard because I am always afraid something will go wrong😀.

Thank you!

 

[faalin]

NVidia cards will start to throttle themselves around 80*c but they can reach up to 100*c before the start to do an damage. Mid 70's is fine for the card, you can even download MSI afterburn and set custom fan profiles to help with cooling if your worried.


For me I always buy EVGA, they have amazing RMA support. But ive had msi, zotoc, and asus cards as well. Just now a days I buy EVGA, till they do me wrong ill keep buying them.

 

[Arbiter051]

I know they throttle at 80c. But you see this is the problem, I have seen plenty of people say they would start getting worried at 75c.

I feel like at this point everyone just has a temp they are comfortable with because everyone has a different opinion on safe temps.

I am not trying to undermine what you said and thank you for your answer, I have just grown tired of seeing so many different people say so many different temps are safe/unsafe.

 

[Dom_79]

I have the EVGA 1070FTW. I unfortunately don't have a CPU that can push the GPU above 70% in games but in benchmarks (like Valley) I can get it up to the max. So far it has been hitting high 60's low 70's with EVGA's own auto fan profile only spinning the fans to +/- 700RPM (I think they go up to high 2000's).

I haven't overclocked it yet and I'm pretty sure anyone reporting higher temps has already set some OC or is using the GPU in a case that has restricted airflow

The way I see it, if EVGA thinks that +/-70C does not warrant spinning the fans faster than a few hundred RPM then it's probably a safe temp.

 

[Arbiter051]

How is your 4670k not enough????

On topic: getting it the 70s really doesn't scare you? Man, I guess I'm just a noob then🙁

Heat just bothers me so much. Then again I guess my options are to either deal with or not game at all, I'd rather game personally.

But still I don't get it, why do so many say different temps are fine and not fine? A lot say 75 is fine while others say to rma a card like that, it's just very confusing.

 

[Dom_79]

MY i5 isn't enough because... I have no idea why. It get's up to max 87% usage on the first core (never higher on any other) and then that's it, no more performance and I can see it in games. CPU +/- 87% usage, GPU never above 70% usage, usually high 40's. I only mentioned it because you have the non-K i7-4790 and at stock speeds (and in games, which don't use more than 4 threads anyways) it is very similar to my i5 @ 4.2Ghz

Back on topic 😉 : No being in the 70's doesn't scare me. It doesn't scare EVGA either or they would have made the fan profile more aggressive. Out of curiosity, where are you getting information that being at or above 65C on a GPU is dangerous?

As for why you are seeing so many people giving different statements on what temps are acceptable and which are not, are you sure you are reading the whole topic (thread) and understanding what they are talking about? Not trying to be rude but I can give a few examples of what I think you've misunderstood even though you don't have any links to the info.

Example 1: Someone has said that the GPU running over 70C is bad. Perhaps the discussion is about the temperature of the GPU at idle, not under stress. That would be a cause for concern.

Example 2: Someone said that it's totally normal to go and stay above 75C. Maybe they are talking about in an Overclocked situation under a sustained, long-term 100% load.

Example 3: Someone said that really high temps all the time (idle or under load) are normal. Maybe they are talking about using the 1070 in a mITX form factor HTPC or a 100% soundproof, no venting at all, totally-the-quietest-thing-ever build that doesn't even have any fans to spin.

Example 4: Some people are just full of crap. They could be lying about the temps they are seeing for whatever reason or just giving bad advise. Trolls aren't just in Youtube comments, keep that in mind 😉

Just try to keep in mind that these components are made by the same people, in the same way, with the same materials as the components in Laptops - and those can get up to and stay at/near high 80's low 90's

 

[xxxlun4icexxx]

I think one of the reasons that people complain about it is because they think if their card is 70+ under load with a default fan profile they may not like the louder sound or noise that it takes to cool the card when the fans spin up more.

 

[Arbiter051]

@lun4ice: that is probably the case.

@dom_79: no your not being rude at all, no worries. I have read things on this website and many other forums where people have all different kinds of views on temps for non oc cards, right out of the box etc. it's all very confusing when you see 10 people say one thing is bad and the other 10 say that they are crazy and everything is fine haha.

 

[Dom_79]

So, hopefully your concerns about GPU temperatures have been addressed?

If not I'll be happy to take a look at any links you can provide to threads (on Tom's or otherwise) where you are finding these confusing statements and maybe help clear it up

 

[xxxlun4icexxx]

@lun4ice: that is probably the case.

@dom_79: no your not being rude at all, no worries. I have read things on this website and many other forums where people have all different kinds of views on temps for non oc cards, right out of the box etc. it's all very confusing when you see 10 people say one thing is bad and the other 10 say that they are crazy and everything is fine haha.

and also not to beat a dead horse, but I can attest that I ran Tri-SLI a while back with 980s for about 2 years (or since whenever they came out). Those cards got hot. Under full load they would periodically go to 84-85C. I never had a problem with the cards dying or getting damaged.

 

[Arbiter051]

Yes for the most part my issues have been addressed

When I get home I will do some research and post some links I found.

 

[Arbiter051]

One last question for anyone who can help. I noticed on new egg that the sc edition is only 410 and that is way better for my budget!

I know the difference between the ftw and superclocked is that the ftw edition will oc better. But is that all the difference is? I know without oc, both cards are basically the same.

Because the fans are bigger, is it true the ftw edition will perform better temp wise than the sc edition?

 

[Dom_79]

One last question for anyone who can help. I noticed on new egg that the sc edition is only 410 and that is way better for my budget!

I know the difference between the ftw and superclocked is that the ftw edition will oc better. But is that all the difference is? I know without oc, both cards are basically the same.

Because the fans are bigger, is it true the ftw edition will perform better temp wise than the sc edition?

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3200135/evga-1070-ftw-black-edition.html

That's the answer I got last week 😉

My advise though? If you are not into GPU Overclocking as a hobby then just save a little $$ and get the SC and not the FTW. It seems like all 1070s have about the same potential, so that is to say no "better binned" chips are on the FTW (or the Classified which I'm sure will be released as soon as the 1080ti ).
As far as the slightly bigger fans/cooler on the FTW I'd say that if you are very concerned (or believe you will be in this GPU's future) with temps get a Gigabyte G1, Asus Strix, MSI Gaming X or Zotac AMP!. They all have better reviewed (read: colder) coolers. I don't know if EVGA will be (or already is?) offering the cooler from the FTW Hybrid as a kit to "upgrade" a normal FTW but... they may not share the same PCB so it may not even be possible.

One last thing, if you are really considering getting the SC instead of the FTW then consider this as well : http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=08G-P4-5173-KR
That^^ is the SC Black Edition. Literally the exact same as the regular SC except the cooler is painted black, has no LEDs and no backplate. Otherwise it's the exact same card for less$

I hope I helped and didn't instead give you way more to think about 😉 Benifit from my 2 months worth of extensive (but maybe not extensive enough) research into the EVGA 1070 lineup

 

[Arbiter051]

I have considered Msi's card because it cools better believe me. But most reviews I read show that the evga card is only a few degrees hotter (maybe 2 or 3 at most), but evga is said to have great customer service and I think that's the deal breaker for long term use of the card.

As far as over clocking the card, it's not a huge deal to me if I don't and all the cards show that the oc these cards only squeezes out marginal results if you get screwed with the silicon lottery.

You have been a great help and I think I'm pretty much all in on the sc edition at this point for money reasons. Plus looking more into it, the sc white led looks pretty cool haha.

 

[Dom_79]

You are welcome for the help

I agree about EVGA's Customer Service. They are the only GPU I have ever bought and for that specific reason, plus the Trade up program - that is an amazing option to give customers.

About the "better Cooling" on other cards ; It is pretty hilarious how much those couple of degrees C will get people hyped out of proportion.

Good luck with the SC 😀 Maybe you will win the silicon lottery and get better clocks than my FTW 😉

 

[Arbiter051]

Haha maybe! But yea I think the best 1070 is the Msi card, but it's so minuscule compared to the other cards. Yes cooling is better, but no matter how cool your card is, anything can go wrong easily.

You have been a great help dom! Ty