Fans Not Spinning on New EVGA GTX 980 ACX SC

[xedrak]

I just installed a brand new GTX 980 into a gaming rig, and I noticed when I booted it up that the fans weren't spinning. They looked like they were trying to start spinning, because they were moving slightly, but they never got up to speed. Once I got the OS installed and updated and all the drivers installed, I installed EVGA Precision to see if I could manually set the speed of the fans. I can set the fans to whatever speed I want and they operate properly, but if I try to set them to "Auto" the fans stop spinning.

Right now, I just open EVGA Precision every time I start my computer and set the fans to ~45%, but I think I may have a defective unit. I tried looking online for somebody with a similar problem, but I haven't seen anyone with this issue.

I've tried moving the card to another PCI express slot, and I built an identical computer at the same time with all the same parts and that GPU has no issues.

 

[Golcsae13]

The fans on the GTX 980 ACX 2.0 cooler do not spin until the card reaches 60c. This allows the card to operate silently when not under heavy loads.

 

[phatazzbp]

^what he said. My 970 is the same way. Pretty nice actually. Fear not there is nothing wrong with your card.

 

[Techy Nicky]

Agreed. Once the fans are on auto, they would not spin fast unless it is under a heavy load. This is so that it will not be to noisy. If however, you set it to manual and raise the fan speed, it will spin faster but tend to make more noise.

 

[juliansol]

Sir You just saved me some time. I was actually about to call newegg to replace the card. My heart dropped when i finished building my system earlier this day. Thank you so much. I didnt know those new cards dont spin on startup. Thanks.

 

[Dizzye]

Same happen to me but the problem is that when i play the witcher 3 in the cave i get a black screen with buzzing sound, thats why i installed the evga precision and i configure the gpu and since then i didnt have any problems unless i choose "auto" the fans wont work, it is a defective card? Thanks for the answer in advance!

 

[college123]

Also have the same problem fans wont turn on, EVEN WHEN IT REACHES 80 CELSIUS. Please help.

 

[DarkShadow86]

Also have the same problem fans wont turn on, EVEN WHEN IT REACHES 80 CELSIUS. Please help.

Having the same issue myself. I already had to RMA this card once not two months after buying it, because it was causing Kernel panics, and now out of the blue, the fans refuse to work, even when set to manual and 100% on Precision X. I rue the day I decided to purchase this "FTW" $550+ paper weight.

 

[YourMumAndYourDad]

I think it's lame they made it default to a 0 rpm fan if "cool". And if you want to force fan speed everything above 40% is a joke. Even 40% is damn noisy.. I can't leave it on 0 rpm because the card is within an hour of turning on (assuming you have Prefer Maximum performance on) around 55/60 deg celcius, making my whole case hot. Making every other component hot that's in the airflow of that card.
With a semi fixed fanspeed curve (20% from 0 to 40, 30% from 40 to 60, 40% from 60 to Max) the card remains much cooler and the noise is blending in with my radiator and intake fans.

I wish EVGA would rather try to design a silent design, rather than a performance design which they shut off to heat up all your components -.- It's really silly, I don't understand this really. It's not like it's RMi powersupply from corsair, which never gets above 30/40 when having light load, approx 50 degrees under 80% power load (My psu never gets that hot, because I have a great buffer for future needs). But 60 degrees on a GPU, that's idling in maximum performance mode, is rather insane, my cpu socket is so close to all that heat. If I don't have a fixed fan speed, my CPU gets a bonus 9 Celcius extra heat on the socket.

Though, the fan is good as far as I can call it good (REALLY I NEED IT TO BE DEAD SILENT, Guess I'm going to fix a waterblock for this gpu gtx 970) With fan speed of about 30% the card is sitting around 34 degrees idle and my cpu idles around 31. (WITHOUT fixed fanspeed, the GPU would idle around 55 degrees making my CPU idle around 42 degrees). I really don't like it, because it means I need to turn off Maximum performance everytime I need to do CPU intense tasks like 3D rendering and blast my fans very loud. Otherwise I need to go back about 12% in my overclock. Geez thanks a lot evga, I guess.

Really EVGA, one more time. Try to make a silent design with a turning fan, otherwise make it turn from 40 degrees or above. I don't mind to setup a curve for it, don't get me wrong but it's just such a hassle, doesn't work straight out of the box.