EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2/SC2 - with 11GHz Memory

Hold on a minute! How can this be offered as a free performance upgrade for existing card owners?

Did the SC2 and FTW2 cards already come with 11GHz memory ICs installed and were for some strange reason underclocked to 10GHz? Or is this free "upgrade" simply overclocking 10GHz memory ICs to 11GHz? In which case, how can they guarantee stable operation on every single existing card out there? Or are they trading in cards that were previously sold at no cost to the customer?

Also are new cards coming out of the production line from now on fitted with different memory ICs, or are they still the same as the ones already in the market and will simply come overclocked ever further than before?

I feel there are many unanswered questions here!

 

They most likely mean free upgrade as in you send your card in and they send you another.

No way they can guarantee an extra GHz will be stable on every card via bios update.

 

https://forums.evga.com/EVGA-GeForc...11GHz-BIOS-Update-Available-Now-m2652350.aspx

 

its an optional BIOS update.

https://forums.evga.com/EVGA-GeForc...11GHz-BIOS-Update-Available-Now-m2652350.aspx

 

So instead of fitting the cards with upgraded memory ICs, like MSI did with the Gaming X PLUS that Guru3D just reviewed yesterday, they are simply releasing a new BIOS that will overclock RAM to 11GHz!? There is no way they can guarantee stable operation for every customer out there. And they obviously know that and are covering their asses by repeatedly stating this update is OPTIONAL, so they can put the blame on the customer when things go wrong. That's extremely disappointing EVGA!

I just hope that new cards coming out of the production line from now on will come with upgraded memory ICs.

 

They are doing both. Newer cards are shipping with the 11Ghz IC's but for older customers they are providing a bios update, they just aren't guaranteeing that all cards will be fine with the update. Seems fine to me.

 

@hilbert will we see a review of this card? or the TI Variant?

 

Do you have any source confirming the hardware update is happening? Their website gives no indication that there is any hardware update for new cards in production. All it says is that the SC2 and FTW2 cards are "Now available with 11GHz memory (After firmware update)".

I'm very interested because I'm considering the purchase of a GTX 1080 SC2 in the next couple of months, and I would like to confirm that there is indeed going to be updated hardware before I start looking.

 

Hmm..

Well originally I thought they were, because I saw a SC2 model with 11ghz, but now I'm seeing that it's labeled as an "ICX" SC2 model. So I don't know what the ICX part means as far as memory (I know it has the updated cooling stuff)

What's stranger is that the top page here:

http://www.evga.com/products/produc...ily=GeForce+10+Series+Family&chipset=GTX+1080

Says:

But when you click on the actual link to the product at the bottom:

http://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=08G-P4-6583-KR

It says: Memory Clock: 10000

http://www.evga.com/articles/01084/evga-icx/

But then the ICX page itself advertises:

My guess is that the ICX models are running the 11Ghz chips. The SC2 ICX and FTW2 ICX are going to replace the originals. The 10,000Ghz value on the SC2 ICX page is probably a typo and/or copy-paste error. The original SC2/FTW2 models will only get the 11ghz via the bios update.

 

SC2 and FTW2 should be synonyms with SC2 iCX and FTW2 iCX. The "2" means it's the model with the updated iCX cooler. The older SC and FTW cards had the ACX 3.0 cooler.

Only the cards with the iCX cooler are getting the upgrade to 11GHz memory. The older SC and FTW aren't getting the update. So only the SC2 and the FTW2 should be available with 11GHz memory.

Now my question is, will production of the SC2 and FTW2 change and the cards are going to start coming out with 11GHz memory ICs in the near future? Or are all cards going to keep being produced with 10GHz ICs as they currently are, and they're just going to be flashed at the factory with the new firmware that overclocks the RAM to 11GHz?

EVGA's website kinda leaves that in the open, this page is particularly ambiguous since it states that the cards are "Now available with 11GHz memory" and then the fine print at the bottom says "After firmware update".

I believe this is a pertinent question to prospective buyers like myself, and worth looking into, since there are other brands, such as MSI, that are actually producing updated cards with 11GHz ICs, which would be preferable to factory overclocked 10GHz ICs. In my opinion EVGA should be more upfront with the information.

 

easy, just go with a different brand.
for me, if evga would really care, the information would be out from the beginning...

 

iCX is the new version of EVGA's cooling system, formerly ACX 2.0. The first 1070 and 1080s to have iCX appeared on Amazon in February. Prior to that is was all SC and FTW version 1 ACX 2.0 models.

I'm guessing the memory for the iCX boards is different than version 1 of the SC/FTW line, and are fully capable of 11ghz. They've just been waiting for NVidia to "release" the cards and now EVGA is fully enabling them. I doubt we'll have version 1 and 2 together for long, v1 will be discontinued (or likely already has) and v2 11ghz will be the new normal.

 

Easier said than done. The current trend among card manufacturers to make GPU coolers larger with every new generation, has put a lot of the latest high-end cards over the size restrictions of my HTPC case. EVGA's iCX cooler on the SC2 and FTW2 is one of the few that would allow me to go with a top-performing card while still fitting where I need it to go.

 

Correction: Only the SC2 is equipped with the faster 11 Gbps GDDR5X memory.

 

eh has it already been proven the 9gbps didnt change perf much overs the 8gbps? is 10/11gbps gona even do much of anything?

 

Hilbert's MSI 1080 Gaming X Plus shows an 850Mhz overclock on top of the new 11Gbps memory. The different is quite large over a reference 1080 alone.

 

Not really talking about the personal OC on top of the manufacture speed upgrades. cause even the original speed vs the upgraded manufactures speeds show 2 or 3 fps different between the the original and there re releases with faster memory and there performance difference. vs the price

yes all that speed upgrades and personal OC add up, but i talking about that i talking about orginal speeds and original prices vs new speeds vs new prices being worth it or not? seeing it very hard to find the new card with new speed and prices with out the being over priced