Hi Sgt_Brewskie! Start with a benchmark test to see if you can reproduce the error. Use OC scanner from our site http://www.evga.com/ocscanner/Default.asp, Valley Benchmark http://www.evga.com/ocscanner/Default.asp, or 3Dmark http://www.futuremark.com/support/downloads. If the problem does occur with any of these tests swap out the video card and check that your PSU has a stable idle reading by going into your BIOS > PC Health Status, System Monitor or HW Monitor. The +12v rail should be between 11.4v ~ 12.6v without any fluctuations outside of 0.05v according to industry standards. Hope this helps.

EVGATech_JoseR
Hi Sgt_Brewskie! Start with a benchmark test to see if you can reproduce the error. Use OC scanner from our site , Valley Benchmark , or 3Dmark . If the problem does occur with any of these tests swap out the video card and check that your PSU has a stable idle reading by going into your BIOS > PC Health Status, System Monitor or HW Monitor. The +12v rail should be between 11.4v ~ 12.6v without any fluctuations outside of 0.05v according to industry standards. Hope this helps.

I didn't think about 3DMark
 
I ran the tests and I found one where the system reboots each time I run it. It is completely reproducible for me.
 
BTW...the numbers I got were astronomical too
 
FireStrike ----- 12129 (regular, not Extreme)
Sky Diver ----- 29565
Cloud Gate --- 28669
 
However, when I got to Ice Storm Extreme the system crashed right when the second scene loaded and started to run.

The first scene tough, I got frame rates like I've never seen. The FPS counter was going over 2000! I don't know whether that's common with this card but I've never seen it :)
 
I then turned on the demo portion of Ice Storm Extreme and it crashed right when rendering the very first micro-seconds it seemed.
 
So, to ensure the problem was reproducible I ran it three times and each time my computer was reset by the Demo at the same place.
 
If you would like to see the state of my system right when it crashes I uploaded three runs where I used Afterburner.
 
I don't know whether I can post the links here but I'll give it a try
 
First run:
 
Second run:
 
Third run:
 
On the last run I went back to the other benchmarks before I ran Ice Storm Extreme.
 
You'll see the graphs take a dive between each benchmark and at the end is where system is reset.
 
Now I just have to figure out where to start troubleshooting :)
 
 

Interestingly enough, I am having a very similar issue but a slightly different system.

The two games its happened on are Crysis 3 and AC:Unity where suddenly everything will go black and my computer will reboot. Like a hard crash. I at first thought it was perhaps the card was getting too hot, but the thermals seem ok. Card does not run above 55c even during heavy moments, and I have the fan profile going so that its keeping it cool and since this is the ACX 2.0 version by default it would only click the fans on over 60c but i circumvented that. 

Prior to this I used a GTX 970 SC for a couple of weeks and I do not remember having any problems. Before THAT I had a GTX 680 reference version and it was rock stable and I never had these issues.

My system specs are: i7 4770k OC'd to 4.3ghz, 16gb RAM, 250gb EVO Samsung SSD, 1tb WD Black. The one thing of note is that my previous cards only used the two 6pin , but this card uses a 6/8 pin combo. Maybe thats the issue? 

Hey Sgt,
 
Well I bought the card at Frys here locally, so I may swap it for the same card later today. Ill report back. Other than that, I may also get the normal SC version because based on the customer feed back I've seen on the card it may be that the FTW version has some issues. I suspected my power supply but if you're having an issue with a much better PSU, then thats probably nto it. As a side note, people with the SC version dont seem to have similar reports :( Thoughts? 

Try running Prime95 & Unigine Heaven 4.0 at the same time to see if it causes your system to reboot. Start Small FFT test inside Prime95 first then startup Heaven 4.0. You will notice lag but it's completely normal since you will be putting your entire system under a full load. If your system reboots while both tests are running your PSU has a problem.

Sajin
Try running  &  at the same time to see if it causes your system to reboot. Start Small FFT test inside Prime95 first then startup Heaven 4.0. You will notice lag but it's completely normal since you will be putting your entire system under a full load. If your system reboots while both tests are running your PSU has a problem.

Good idea.
 
It could be a faulty memory module too though.
 
But I don't know how to check a single RAM module

Methodical2
What BIOS is on the card?  When I had issues, I found that Nvidia had a post (back on 11/25/14) on their forum that a certain BIOS was a problem child.  I will try and locate that thread, but if you go over there, you should find this thread as it was a hot topic.  Nvidia provided the BIOS number and stated that you would need a BIOS that is higher than what was listed. When I saw this and checked my BIOS, I contacted EVGA who gave me the BIOS, but my card still would not function, so I RMA'd.  The new card is just peachy now.  Personally, I would not waste anymore time and just ship it on it's merry way back to EVGA.  Let them deal with it.

Oh!
 
I forgot to post the BIOS version!
 
The BIOS is:
84.04.2F.00.80
 
I'll RMA the card if I can't figure out what is causing the problem.
 
If I return it before I can learn something would be a waste of all the hours I've already spent on it lol

Sounds like a dying PSU to me.

Having the same issue as well, I have an RMA in the works now.
Playing COD-AW and the screen will go black and sometimes the "EVGA GTX 980...." logo will go out on the card. I've moved the Mem Clock Offset to -50 and so far so good,  but not convinced just yet.

Ooof thats rough man. Im going to just take the card back to Frys. Get a normal SC GTX 980 - those dont seem to have problems :( I've been running Heaven 4.0 for about an hour and a hafl with zero issues but i cant have weird crashy cards.

Yeah, firestrike didnt crash it either. Just AC:Unity and Crysis 3. And just once. I played Unity for hours another time. Extremely odd. Anyway, going to shut this machine down and take it out to return it. Get a normal SC one, hopefully with zero issues...

Upload the .dmp file so I can examine it. Use a free hosting site like mediafire.com to upload the file to then post a link to the file here in the thread. You can now post links since you have 10 posts. .dmp files can be found at C:\Windows\Minidump

I'll try this
 
[.]4shared[.]com/file/A5NFGOv2ce/032315-33711-01.html
 

Gotcha
 
[.]mediafire[.]com/download/5vhc9gngb3tdilk/032315-33711-01.dmp

Run your CPU & RAM at default clocks then try running prime95 + heaven 4.0 at the same time again. Your .dmp file is pointing to your CPU overclock being unstable.