EVGA Infuses Its Latest GeForce GPUs With iCX Technology

Don’t be fooled, iCX is not just another overblown marketing name for yet another aftermarket cooler! iCX enabled cards feature no less than nine thermal sensors spaced around to cover the GPU, VRAM, and VRM areas of the graphics card. These sensors can be monitored in EVGA’s Precision software and OSD, and even configured to tie into any one of three different LEDs on the side of the card for at-a-glance monitoring when your display is off.

Next up, EVGA is touting asynchronous fan control; specifically, multi-fan coolers can have each fan individually controlled. Each fan can also be adjusted based on localized temperatures from only the parts of the GPU each fan is responsible for keeping cool.

For better efficiency the fin design of the cooler has been optimized with “fin holes to direct airflow through the fins”, half-open fins to maximize airflow patterns, and finally L-shaped fins to increase the overall fin surface area. The underlying baseplate also receives a minor boost with fins of its own beneath the heatpipes.

One of the most interesting additions to EVGA’s cards is a 10A fuse soldered onto the card. While this part isn’t user-swappable, it has the intriguing potential to minimize damage to the GPU (or the system) should something blow out during an intense Friday night gaming session.

Double ball-bearing fans for extended lifespan, low power fans, and a sharp-looking form-fitted baseplate & backplate are also on the menu along with EVGA’s dual BIOS setup. A generous helping of configurable RGB LEDs is included with the colors and patterns able to sync with EVGA’s waterblock LEDs and possibly even other system components via the Precision OCX software.

EVGA is launching iCX on GTX 1080, 1070, and 1060 cards across ten different models with many already listed on Newegg and other retailers, and at the time of writing are still in stock at EVGA’s own store. There is a price premium of $30 over comparable ACX 3.0 models for the 1080’s, $20 for the 1070 models, with the 1060 not yet in stock.

For current Pascal owners EVGA hasn’t forgotten you either, and has announced its iCX upgrade program. Current EVGA ACX 3.0 GPU owners can elect to pay $99 and shipping to upgrade their cards to an identical iCX capable version. EVGA will cover return shipping and include a t-shirt to lessen the sting a bit. That said, it is worth noting all iCX cards received from this upgrade program are eligible for EVGA’s 90-day Step-Up program. EVGA members can also buy an iCX upgrade using only EVGA Bucks (if they’re lucky to have enough).