GPU Zotac GTX 1080 Mini

[Zerofool]

The fans sound like they are really going at it even under idle.

Have you tried fiddling around with the fan profile yet?

This is what the reviewer wrote:
When idle, the card's fans drop to their lowest available speed, which is 37 percent (approximately 1,150RPM), at which point the card is almost impossible to hear in a normal system.

I guess their norm is a water-cooled system with at least 4 140mm case fans and a fast WD Black drive (or two in RAID) inside .

I hated my Palit 780Ti JetStream back then for the same reason - you can't go lower than ~1100rpm, which is overkill during idle.

 

[robbee]

Wonder why they didn't go semi-fanless with this card. The heatsink looks beefy enough to keep the card cool in idle.

 

[CubanLegend]

Using TechPowerUp's GPU-Z software you should be able to submit the BIOS of the card to their ZOTAC GTX 1080 BIOS page.

Here's how you submit the BIOS to the database/ Save a backup of the BIOS (do both first):

After that, you can go onto their forums and ask to see if they can help you with modding your saved bios file to change the stock fan curves. They have a thread on BIOS saving/reflashing. Then you can try reflashing the card to have a lower fan curve, as the Pascal cards have support for 0% fan profiles in 90% of cards.

Here's an LTT thread on GPU reflashing.

I successfully reflashed a card like this back in the day with my GTX 770 to add a higher base overclock, worked smoothly. just don't try to flash a BOIs of another card unless you know it will work and has been verified by another user first.

EDIT: Also you could try just setting a custom fan curve in MSI Afterburner to see if it will apply a 0% fan curve to the card.

 

[jeshikat]

When idle, the card's fans drop to their lowest available speed, which is 37 percent (approximately 1,150RPM), at which point the card is almost impossible to hear in a normal system.

I guess their norm is a water-cooled system with at least 4 140mm case fans and a fast WD Black drive (or two in RAID) inside .

Exactly, SFF enthusiasts have some of the highest (or should I say lowest) standards for computer noise of almost any group I know of

 

[Josh | NFC]

I don't know what to say. I test everything open air before installing and this is definitely a loud card. I haven't played with fan curves or afterburner yet but you would think it would run lower during...web browsing.

I don't care as much as some people for games or video editing, because I have sound on.

I guess I am spoiled by cards that turn off fans and run the card hotter during idle....

 

[Kmpkt]

Hopefully they release a fanless BIOS update like EVGA did for their Pascal cards.

 

[Phuncz]

It might not happen, the ZOTAC GTX 1080 Mini is targeted as a "cheap" GTX 1080 and they would probably use semi-fanless as a "premium" feature. But if modding the BIOS would allow it, I'd say go for it.

 

[K888D]

You want the fans to be sat down at less than 900 rpm really if you want it to be near silent, 1150rpm is a bit high for idle. But from their review it seems the card has plenty of cooling headroom for a less aggressive fan curve.

 

[Runamok81]

Kicking up an old thread, so apologies. Any update? Did the 1080 Mini ever fit into the S4? What about fan curve? Any way to make it more silent?

 

[CubanLegend]

Kicking up an old thread, so apologies. Any update? Did the 1080 Mini ever fit into the S4? What about fan curve? Any way to make it more silent?

Here's my S4Mini & ZOTAC 1080 mini project : https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/nfc-s4-mini-193-acrylic-ant-man-7700k-1080mini.1646/

 

[Runamok81]

Ah Yes! AntMan! I forgot how epic this turned out.

I'll catch up over there.

 

[fminus]

Has anyone got a copy of the BIOS? I can tweak it to enable "passive" mode. If not, my 1080 mini will be coming in a few days. Can do it then.

Edit: NM. Pascal BIOS's are encrypted. muddafukka

 

[confusis]

BIOS hacking is dark magic.. I've been there before, adding AM3 support to an AM2+ board from Abit.. the company went bust just before AM3 came out, so BIOS updates for the new CPUs never happened.

 

[fminus]

Just uploaded the BIOS to techpowerup. If anyone needs a copy now here it is. This card is pretty loud under idle and general :/

 

[Kmpkt]

Just to be clear, this enables fanless mode?

 

[fminus]

Just to be clear, this enables fanless mode?

Nah. Stock BIOS. You can't tweak Pascall Bios yet.

 

[fminus]

So anyone interested. Ripped off the fans and hooked up two Noctua NF-F12 120mm fans. Set the fan curve with Speedfan and we are back to silence. Card idles around 32C...with fans at 30-40%...once it hits 65 it slowly ramps up. The sound difference is night and day. Even at 100% speed it's WAYYY more quiet than stock fans.

 

[stevey500]

On the testbench (meaning parts just laid out on my desk without an enclosure at all,) the gtx 1080 mini was a boss at handling whatever I threw at it, I like it! Current build teaser with the 1080.

 

[stevey500]

So anyone interested. Ripped off the fans and hooked up two Noctua NF-F12 120mm fans. Set the fan curve with Speedfan and we are back to silence. Card idles around 32C...with fans at 30-40%...once it hits 65 it slowly ramps up. The sound difference is night and day. Even at 100% speed it's WAYYY more quiet than stock fans.

Got any photos of this?

 

[fminus]

Got any photos of this?

Eh, nah. It looks like what it says. Two 120mm Noctua Fans sitting on a fanless 1080mini. I am currently using a Node 202. I have the first fan held in place with four pieces of hard foam. The second one is using the existing mounting holes of the case.