EVGA is upgrading this GTX 970's cooling by using a full-coverage memory and MOSFET cooling plate (MMCP) rather than the partial plate found on the last-generation For The Win (FTW) card. Such a move is claimed to reduce memory temperature by 14 per cent and, probably more relevant to the overclocker, keep the hot-running VRM MOSFETs 48 per cent cooler than on the same card bereft of MMCP
technology
. The present Superclocked ACX 2.0 card, 04G-P4-2974-KR, also has no such MMCP plate, mind.
Further, EVGA says it is now using a trio of 8mm heatpipes that run horizontally across the heatsink instead of the usual U-shaped arrangement found on other models, including the original Superclocked. EVGA believes the straight-across-the-block design offers six per cent better heat dispersal and lower thermal resistance.
Harnessing this extra performance potential, the GTX 970 SSC upgrades the circuitry to six power phases while adding 6+8-pin power connectors in concert with an overclocking-friendly Power Target figure higher than on the majority of the competition. This appears to be a card begging to be overclocked to GeForce GTX 980 levels, then.
i was hoping these improvements would be made. I am lucky enough to have started a step up program to this card. I just have to pay for shipping and I will trade my sc for the ssc.
I cannot find anything that says the new ftw+ is any different than the new ssc other than another 25MHz on the core.