Does my GPU actually have a Reference PCB ?

[Splatacake]

My 1080Ti

 

on the listing it says 

 

but no where on the actual box does it say this, nor does it say it HERE or HERE

 

 

I desperately need to cool my GPU because its always around 86C and loud enough to drown out any audio coming from my speakers

 

but I want to make sure I get the right cooler for it...

 

 

is there anyway short of taking the actual card apart (scared i might damage it its my 1st GPU and i don't actually know how to handle these things) to tell if it has a reference PCB or not ?

[wildgg]

Most of the time a brand like asus msi or pny in your case will just put their cooler on the reference pcb and just put their name on it.

i would say it's reference

 

also what cooler do you plan on using?

if you plan on using a nzxt bracket with a aio cooler i'm sure it will fit 100%

 

 

[NelizMastr]

The noise is the risk of buying a blower card, to be honest. I have a 1070Ti founders edition and it's not as quiet as my previous card, but it's not that bad tbh.

 

I'd also say it's reference card. It's pretty much the same design as the MSI Aero and Asus Turbo cards. It's just a cheapo plastic shroud with a AIB logo on them. Switching the cooler will void warranty, so be careful.

[RollinLower]

looking at the height of the PCB compared to the PCI bracket tells me this is a reference PCB. also, it's a blower style cooler, which is very rarely mounted on non-reference cards. usually, AIB PCBs are made the way they are to house better VRM and accomodate a better cooler, so it wouldn;t make sense to slap a blower cooler on a non-reference card.

[Splatacake]

18 minutes ago, wildthing said:

Most of the time a brand like asus msi or pny in your case will just put their cooler on the reference pcb and just put their name on it.

i would say it's reference

 

also what cooler do you plan on using?

if you plan on using a nzxt bracket with a aio cooler i'm sure it will fit 100%

 

I plan to use this https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186068

 

[Splatacake]

13 minutes ago, NelizMastr said:

The noise is the risk of buying a blower card, to be honest. I have a 1070Ti founders edition and it's not as quiet as my previous card, but it's not that bad tbh.

 

I'd also say it's reference card. It's pretty much the same design as the MSI Aero and Asus Turbo cards. It's just a cheapo plastic shroud with a AIB logo on them. Switching the cooler will void warranty, so be careful.

 

if i Void the warranty, can i still just pay PNY to fix the card ? like with Nintendo, their warranty will not cover physical damage, but for $100 they will fix it anyway

[wildgg]

3 minutes ago, Splatacake said:

 

yes that will fit without any issues, i would recommend adding heatsinks to the vrm's and vram like THIS

1 minute ago, Splatacake said:

 

if i Void the warranty, can i still just pay PNY to fix the card ? like with Nintendo, their warranty will not cover physical damage, but for $100 they will fix it anyway

can you just pay them? maybe but it will be more then 100 i can guarantee you that, depending on the ''damage'' anyway

[Splatacake]

3 minutes ago, wildthing said:

yes that will fit without any issues, i would recommend adding heatsinks to the vrm's and vram like THIS

can you just pay them? maybe but it will be more then 100 i can guarantee you that, depending on the ''damage'' anyway

 

if the damage is like a malfunction of the card? and is only voided warranty because changing the cooler? idk how would break a gpu planning pay some one else to do all the installing of stuff 

[Jurrunio]

I dont think so. Asus Turbo and MSI Aero 1080ti are both custom designs (stupid imo because reference PCBs are more attractive).

 

12 minutes ago, Splatacake said:

I plan to use this https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186068

 

Then it will work. Aftermarket air coolers dont need the PCB to be reference because the heatsink mounting holes around the GPU core is universal. What could happen is that the included VRM heatsink and thermal pad isnt big enough, but since it's a 7 phase design just like the reference card, it should be fine as well. At worst, you need to buy some heatsink and thermal pad seperately which are cheap.

[wildgg]

idk in PNY uses warranty break stickers on the screws or on the cooler, if they're not using any stickers then you can just replace the cooler.

if something goes wrong you just mount the original cooler back on and send it for warranty.

 

this will depend on the company, EVGA is really good with this.

 

it doesn't matter how the card malfunctions with warranty, it doesn't matter if it malfunctions because of a random failure or because the new cooler. if you break a warranty sticker or remove it they don't have to except your RMA request.