Installation

Installation is on the easier side of average owing to the fewer types of components used. To begin with, I am assuming you have taken the stock cooler off the NVIDIA GTX 1080 reference PCB already as that is beyond the scope of this review. Once done, apply your favorite electrically non-conductive thermal paste over the GPU die to then remove the plastic covers on both sides of the thermal pad strips. 10 cm is just long enough to fit the VRMs well, but you will need to cut the other two strips to size for the VRAM modules - there is plenty here, so do not worry about messing up a few times.

Once done, place the block on top and align the standoffs with the holes in the PCB. Carefully flip over the assembly. This is best done on a box so that the I/O ports on the GPU PCB can extend past the box, which allows you to place the two flat on to the box. Now, take a plastic washer and a spring-loaded screw and use this combination (washer in between to prevent electrical shorting) on each of the standoffs on the GPU block. Bykski has no mounting hardware to account for the two holes on the PCB right by the I/O section here, which is of no consequence in practice.


In order to install the backplate, you will have to remove some of the screws you just installed. I will also note here that my EVGA backplate from their GTX 1080 ACX (the GPU used) was compatible with the provided mounting hardware as well, so that is another option. But if you are planning to use the Bykski backplate, note that any leftover thermal pads are according to the manual not really meant to be used, though you can still use them after having cut them to length for some better contact with the VRMs on the back as I did for some further cooling. You will need to use the longer screws here and, as expected, the screw heads jut out slightly, which has them stand out from the otherwise red/black color scheme of the backplate over the PCB.


There was good contact throughout - VRAM and VRM thermal pads and core thermal paste alike. I did end up using a bit more thermal paste than necessary for this demo, so I sized it up accordingly for the actual thermal tests.

Overall, I do wish more companies would go the EVGA route and have pre-applied thermal pads at the very least to simplify the process further. But as it is now, Bykski is doing what the vast majority of others are, so there are no extra points I will add or remove here.