3090 FE or 3090 FTW3

undertaker2k8

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jul 25, 2012
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Have a new 3090 FTW3 coming in today. Was thinking of using both my 3090 FE and this for mining but luckily managed to get a RX6800 at MSRP as well so going to put that in my secondary rig (the thought of two 3090s is tempting but will make my office a furnace in peak summer).

Which one should I keep? The 3090 FE has been good for the past two months, yes RAM junction gets toasty but a 120mm fan on the back keeps it under 100 C even in mining loads.

Is Tjunc significantly better on the 3090 FTW3 and have the power/red-light issues been resolved? Was set on swapping the FE for the FTW3 but not so sure anymore.

PS: All of these cards were manually obtained with a lot of effort, no bots, so I earned them :)
 
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I would love that 3090...not for mining, but for my video editing and AI research. Prices are crazy on ebay for the 3090. You should be able to get a pretty penny for it.
 
The problem with the FE version is that terrible, one year warranty. EVGA has a standard three year warranty which you can augment with added protection from EVGA for a certain price which escapes me. In addition; you can transfer your warranty to another person during a private sale.
 
The problem with the FE version is that terrible, one year warranty. EVGA has a standard three year warranty which you can augment with added protection from EVGA for a certain price which escapes me. In addition; you can transfer your warranty to another person during a private sale.
FE in US has 3 year warranty AFAIK. My only concern are the reports into Feb of power issues with the EVGA. Good problem to have I guess lol.
 
FE in US has 3 year warranty AFAIK. My only concern are the reports into Feb of power issues with the EVGA. Good problem to have I guess lol.

This is correct:
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/support/warranty/

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I've heard that the failure rate is higher on the EVGA cards than the FE. That's about all I know.
 
Loving my 3090 FTW3 HydroCopper. Have had it for about a month and a half I think now. Hits 500W no problem and scores in the low-mid 22K range in Time Spy with little tweaking. No issues whatsoever, but I believe the HydroCopper cards went through a revision compared to the older 3090 FTW3 cards.

Haven’t had a FE but my buddy returned his due to the coil whine. Surprisingly my card has absolutely zero coil whine even when pulling 500W.
 
My FE has no coil whine. I did it, went insane. Moved the FE to the SFF rig and the FTW3 to the main rig. Couldn't get myself to sell either yet...excuse some of the cable management and dust, cleaned up after pics were taken :)

And to the question at hand: the FTW3 does run about 6-8c cooler on TJunc than the FE, though it is a bit less efficient overall.
 

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My FE has no coil whine. I did it, went insane. Moved the FE to the SFF rig and the FTW3 to the main rig. Couldn't get myself to sell either yet...excuse some of the cable management and dust, cleaned up after pics were taken :)

And to the question at hand: the FTW3 does run about 6-8c cooler on TJunc than the FE, though it is a bit less efficient overall.
Don't feel bad about the cable management, there are some that are neurotic about it...Not I. Looks cool. Left you a PM as well.
 
My FE has no coil whine. I did it, went insane. Moved the FE to the SFF rig and the FTW3 to the main rig. Couldn't get myself to sell either yet...excuse some of the cable management and dust, cleaned up after pics were taken :)

And to the question at hand: the FTW3 does run about 6-8c cooler on TJunc than the FE, though it is a bit less efficient overall.
I really doubt you have some magical version of the 3090 FE that does not have any coil whine. You may not be bothered by it or not notice it but every single one of the FE editions have it unless they suddenly changed the components on it.
 
I really doubt you have some magical version of the 3090 FE that does not have any coil whine. You may not be bothered by it or not notice it but every single one of the FE editions have it unless they suddenly changed the components on it.
It probably does but I can barely hear it and I am absolutely anal about that sh*t. Also breaking it in helps a lot with coil whine. PSA, every one who isn't applying fancy thermal pads to their 3090s need to run a fan on the backside.
 
I really doubt you have some magical version of the 3090 FE that does not have any coil whine. You may not be bothered by it or not notice it but every single one of the FE editions have it unless they suddenly changed the components on it.
My 3090 FE has some cool whine in certain situations but it isn't any worse than other cards I've used in past. From my experience and what others have said cool whine can vary depending on your PSU and possibly other components in your system.
 
I would keep the ftw3 if you leaving it as is. If you want to put a block on it some time the FE would be better for it.
 
I would keep the ftw3 if you leaving it as is. If you want to put a block on it some time the FE would be better for it.
Thanks, where I am leaning as well. Only thing I don't like the Precision X1 SW is still the buggy POS I remember it to be: profiles not saved on reboot, tells me ReBar is disabled through Nvidia System Info clearly says it is....

Side Note: Appreciate the interest folks, but this is not a FS/FT thread. I may decide to sell the used 3090 FE as part of the entire SFF system I built in keeping with the updated rules but will not discuss anything selling related on this thread, period.
 
I think the FTW3 has a higher power limit (if it's the ULTRA) and a quieter / more effective cooling solution overall. The FE has better power delivery (higher rated) but it can't use it since it's power limit is lower.

So really up to you. I'd probably go with the EVGA as their warranty is usually better.
 
Wondering if the backplate fans would work better blowing away vs currently blowing on to the plates...any experiences?
 
The 3090FE, apparently the thermal pads on the memory don't make good contact. I've heard that those will run cooler if you replace the thermal pads on the memory. BUT, taking those apart is a bitch, at least to get started you gotta do some prying.

Been trying to buy a 3090FE, if I can get one I will be brave and replace the pads (only after watching several how-to videos).
 
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The steady state RAM temps on the FTW3 get quite toasty too, just a few degrees better than the FE tbh. Decided to keep the FTW3 because used pricing on the 3090FE is very close to the FTW3 though the FTW3 is significantly more expensive.
 
The steady state RAM temps on the FTW3 get quite toasty too, just a few degrees better than the FE tbh. Decided to keep the FTW3 because used pricing on the 3090FE is very close to the FTW3 though the FTW3 is significantly more expensive.

Good choice, you had probably the 2 of the best cards to pick from. Win win either way.

The 3090FE, apparently the thermal pads on the memory don't make good contact. I've heard that those will run cooler if you replace the thermal pads on the memory. BUT, taking those apart is a bitch, at least to get started you gotta do some prying.

Been trying to buy a 3090FE, if I can get one I will be brave and replace the pads (only after watching several how-to videos).

No prying needed really. Just a lot of care when removing connections to not rip them off the PCB like I did :) RIP LED Geforce Logo
 
I had the EVGA 3090 FTW Ultra and it worked great for ~ 10 days. It died on me randomly; plus, it used to run hotter and would draw more power (doh!) - resulting in worse performance than the 3090 FE.

I kept my 3090 FE cards. Returned the 3090 FTW Ultra.

4QYQl0S.jpg
 
I had the EVGA 3090 FTW Ultra and it worked great for ~ 10 days. It died on me randomly; plus, it used to run hotter and would draw more power (doh!) - resulting in worse performance than the 3090 FE.

I kept my 3090 FE cards. Returned the 3090 FTW Ultra.

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Looks like you had an earlier batch given the red lips, the newer version of the FTW3 are definitely better.
 
I have both cards. I think I like the FE better after a pad mod, but stock the FTW3 is better.

Two 3090's? Man I've been looking for 8 months and haven't been able to buy any 3xxx series cards. What a bunch of horseshit! Yes I am Jealous.
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Founders Edition (Reference) all the way
 
I was sad to let my FE go but having two 3090s was just impractical..having two 300w space heaters in addition to two work laptops would have fried me. Even the 3090 plus 6800 is a cooling challenge at times but doable..
 
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Personally, I love the small PCB on the FE cards. Wish more 3rd parties would prioritize small PCBs with higher end cards. Makes things much easier for SFF systems.
 
Call me silly, but i love the water cooling setup on my Kingpin. Highest temp so far is in the lower 70's on graphic-intensive games.
 
That seems pretty high for wc card.
On average its in the mid-40's, lower 50's for most newer games. low 70's was the highest temp i've gotten so far and i had everything cranked up graphic-wise for a while. If just surfing the net, it's in the mid 30's.
 
On average its in the mid-40's, lower 50's for most newer games. low 70's was the highest temp i've gotten so far and i had everything cranked up graphic-wise for a while. If just surfing the net, it's in the mid 30's.
With a FTW3 Ultra 3090 on stock air cooling I'm sitting at 28-30C idle / browsing the internet. System in signature. You need to check your load.

I've found a bunch of weird shit lately that has had me idling at 60C doing absolutely nothing, I think your WC is hiding something and you could be lower.
 
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