EVGA’s iCX GeForce cards feature 9 sensors to prevent your card from overheating
EVGA has unveiled new details about its iCX cooler, which was first shown off at CES 2017. It features a revamped design and nine sensors for more detailed temperature monitoring.
EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2. (Image Source: EVGA)
EVGA has unveiled new details about its iCX cooler, which was first shown off at CES 2017. The previous year wasn’t the best one for EVGA, and the company was dogged by reports of thermal issues on its GeForce GTX 1070 and 1080 FTW cards.
This was eventually fixed with a BIOS update, but the root cause was insufficient cooling around the VRMs and memory. The incident also led to greater scrutiny of how monitoring software works, because it currently only detects the GPU temperature and varies fan speeds according to that.
Unfortunately, this means that even a rise in temperature on the other components will not result in fan speeds ramping up.
That said, EVGA has now come up with a more robust solution in the form of the iCX cooler, which features a revamped design and nine sensors for more detailed temperature monitoring.
These sensors – one for the GPU, three for memory, and five for PWM – are monitored independently within EVGA’s Precision XOC software.
The two double ball bearing fans on the iCX cooler are independent of each other, and will vary their speeds according to the card’s GPU, PWM and memory temperatures. One of the fans will be pegged to the GPU temperature, while the other will be controlled by the PWMs and memory, so you could end up in a situation with one high RPM and one low RPM fan.
In addition, the new cards will support custom RGB profiles based on temperature. The shroud includes RGB indicator displays, with G, P, and M corresponding to the GPU, PWM and memory respectively. The backlight on these indicators will change depending on temperature, for instance glowing red above 83°C.
Other feature include die-cast baseplates and backplates, which double as heatsinks because they are in direct contact with the components. The backplate is even divided into two parts, so heat from the GPU doesn’t end up affecting the PWMs and memory.
The EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 features two 8-pin PCIe connectors. (Image Source: EVGA)
The heatsink fins have had their design tweaked as well. Half of the fin array now consists of L-shaped fins that maximize contact with components, while the other half comprise "open" fins for better airflow. Small holes have also been punched into the fins to let air through better.
The first card to use the new cooler is the GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 iCX, which costs US$680. The company will continue to offer cards with its ACX 3.0 cooler, while iCX-based SC2 and FTW2 cards will be marketed as premium models. The cooler will also not be restricted to the flagship GeForce GTX 1080, and will be available across the entire 10-series line-up.
Source: EVGA
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