EVGA revealed a brand new cooler that will debut with the company’s first overclocked GTX 1080 models. The ACX 3.0 cooler builds on the success of EVGA’s past ACX coolers with additional heatpipes and a more efficient heatsink design. The company also launched a new version of the PrecisionX overclocking software.
EVGA’s ACX 3.0 cooler comes equipped with two 0-dB double ball bearing fans that stop spinning when the card has a light workload or is at idle. EVGA employs a swept fan design that is optimized to deliver high airflow while consuming less power than a traditional fan. The air passes through two sets of vertically-aligned fins, which cools a set of copper heatpipes. EVGA said there are more copper pipes in the ACX 3.0 cooler, but it has not specified exactly how many. The image appears to indicate there are at least six pipes making contact with the GPU.
The ACX 3.0 cooler also features a memory/MOSFET cooling plate (MMCP) which makes direct contact with the memory and power regulation modules to help pass the heat through to the heatsink. EVGA said this allows the both the memory to operate as much as 15-percent cooler than the reference design. MOSFETS operate 13-percent cooler than reference.
EVGA’s new ACX 3.0 cooler is also equipped with custom lighting. RGB lighting on computer components is one of the hottest trends in hardware right now, and EVGA’s ACX 3.0 cooler is no exception. The card features a number of illuminated mesh grills that can be set to any color you desire. The RGB lighting will only be available on the company’s higher end offerings. Standard ACX 3.0 coolers will feature white LEDs instead.
The RGB lighting effects are controlled by a new version of EVGA's PrecisionX OC software. The new software combines the features of PrecisionX and EVGA OC Scanner into one utility. It offers manual and automatic overclocking profiles, and it has been designed specifically for Pascal’s architecture.
EVGA is well-known for offering a wide selection of clock speeds and coolers when it releases a new line of graphics cards, and indeed, with the GTX 1080, the company has five models. EVGA didn’t release many of the specifics, but it revealed the Founders Edition and four ACX 3.0 cards with varying specifications. EVGA also revealed that it will have Hybrid and Hydro edition coolers for the GTX 1080 models in the near future.
The first two ACX 3.0 cards are fairly standard cards. Both share the same power deliver system as the Founder’s Edition, and one of them shares the same clock speed specifications. The GTX 1080 SC ACX 3.0 offers a 100 MHz increase on the base clock, but otherwise it appears to be a reference design.
The Founder’s Edition GTX 1080 is available today along with the PrecisionX OC software. EVGA has not revealed when the ACX models will be available.
| Model | Base Clock | Boost Clock | LED | BIOS | Cooler | Power Type | Backplate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVGA Geforce GTX 1080 Classified ACX 3.0 | TBD | TBD | RGB | 3 | ACX 3.0 | 14 + 3 | Yes |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW ACX 3.0 | TBD | TBD | RGB | 2 | ACX 3.0 | 10 + 2 | Yes |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 SC ACX 3.0 | 1708 MHz | 1847 MHz | White | 1 | ACX 3.0 | 5 + 1 | Yes |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 ACX 3.0 | 1607 MHz | 1733 MHz | White | 1 | ACX 3.0 | 5 + 1 | Yes |
| EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Ed. | 1607 MHz | 1733 MHz | White | 1 | Founders | 5 + 1 | No |
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