I am not 100% sold on MSI and Asus using superior board components, but I will say this in EVGA's defense: I, for one, am a sucker for aesthetics; EVGA keeps their designs minimalist and sleek.  MSI's and Asus's coolers look like they were designed by prepubescent 12-year-olds who just finished a Transformers movie marathon 

godgxjs
Ok, since I was the one who started this thread I'm going to share my current opinions with everyone. My gtx 970 ssc axc 2.0 is coming tomorrow, and I have decided to give Evga the benefit of the doubt. I have always trusted this brand and it has never disappointed me before, and after much reading and deliberation I have decided to trust them again. Putting all the unfair criticism aside (witch hunt), there are few factual points to consider. The evga 970 axc cards are a bit louder and run a bit hotter than the competition. Now I'm not saying that it is because there are defects on the manufacturing or the design of the card. People who say this are just angry that the card didn't turn out to be as good as they wanted it to be, when compared to other brands. This does not mean that the card won't perform as it should or that it will malfunction or break based solely on its design. If that was the case, then it wouldn't have passed Nvidia Greenlight tests. Products that compete with each other have always been different. That's what makes competition possible and good for consumers. If you want the card with the lowest temperatures and the lowest noise then it seems the EVGA 970 isn't for you this time around. But that does not give anyone the right to say that EVGA is bad now or that the card has manufacturing defects, because that is way out of line. The engineers at EVGA decided that the design was good enough and that is why they produced it that way. They aren't always trying to figure out exactly what other brands are going to come out with in order to beat them in every single aspect of the card, because that is not how it works. They design a product, they make it, then they test it extensively, then they send it to Nvidia and they test it as well. They have been doing this for quite a while now, and they must have been doing something right because last time I checked, EVGA is probably the most reliable manufacturer of aftermarket Nvidia GPUs. So if it happens that this time, other manufacturers produced 970s with lower temperatures and noise (by a small margin), then so be it. I congratulate their design team and engineers for achieving that. I, for one, don't blindly look for the card with the lowest temperatures and noise in order to buy it. I look for a good all around product that is backed up by a reliable brand and an excellent customer service. In this case, this happens to be the EVGA gtx 970 ssc acx 2.0. It's the highest end evga model of the 970 available on the market right now (before they ran out of stock). I will be testing the card once I receive it tomorrow afternoon. 
 
And before people start calling me a crazy EVGA fanboy, I assure you I'm not. EVGA is just a brand that has earned my respect and preference over the years, and this time I did my best to analyze the situation as objectively as I could. 

You arn't crazy!  Best of luck to you.  I hope it proves me wrong on my decision and next time i'm buying EVGA again.  I've owned 7 EVGA gpu's and this is the first time I've gone with another manufacture since switching over to EVGA.  Just recently I've had co-workers who bought the new Iphone because of their quality and reliability.  Needless to say one of theirs is already bent from sitting on it in their pocket and the rest are now upset at the build quality and worried about whats to come of their new phones.  I just couldn't put myself into that same situation with my GPUs this go around because after years of quality and reliability I don't recall any bad reviews such as these. 

Casuist

gizmo88
EVGA used "affordable" components on their 700 series and it showed. Just read the Newegg/Amazon reviews. Unfortunetely, they are using the exact same components for their 900 series. This means coil whine and a short life span is all but guaranteed.

Hmmm... if true, would that go for the "FTW" version as well? I've currently got a 660 Ti SC (so I apparently missed the "affordable" components) and holding out for the 970 FTW (my first FTW), but with all these concerns (in spite of the much appreciated official response from Jacob), I can't help but worry a bit if I will have any issues with a 970 FTW. I was feeling VERY pumped to get one, but now I'm a little iffy. :(

I am in the same boat.  I would like to know if the FTW version will be using improved components - from pictures alone, it can be seen that the same capacitors are used as on the regular ACX 2.0 boards.
 
Would love to get a response from EVGA on this.  I was absolutely gung-ho about the FTW, now I am feeling very apprehensive.  I was won over by the overwhelming reputation EVGA held for previous generations (this will be my first GPU purchase), but these findings are more than a bit concerning.  
 
I am not so much concerned about the performance discrepancies, because when it comes to real-world performance, I am sure the differences are marginal.  I am more concerned about getting the most for my money and if EVGA's competitors are using higher quality board components, it seems silly to pay the same price for an inferior product.
 
 

mcknig.k
I am not 100% sold on MSI and Asus using superior board components, but I will say this in EVGA's defense: I, for one, am a sucker for aesthetics; EVGA keeps their designs minimalist and sleek.  MSI's and Asus's coolers look like they were designed by prepubescent 12-year-olds who just finished a Transformers movie marathon 

You thought of transformers too!

Can someone post an HD video on this to give a proper demonstration of this supposed whine? I've got a Corsair Obsidian (quiet case), so I'd like to know just how concerned I should be about this "whine."
 
I've not been disappointed by EVGA yet, and definitely prefer to support an American company, but if it's truly a defect I may be forced to look elsewhere; sadly. :(

Step 1: open youtube
Step 2: Search ''gpu coil whine''
Step 3: profit??
 
It's a high pitched whistle type of noise...

Stephenk291
Step 1: open youtube
Step 2: Search ''gpu coil whine''
Step 3: profit??
 
It's a high pitched whistle type of noise...

You mean like this? (sorry, couldn't post live links.) :(
http ://youtu .be/T0GnZJvURWA (EVGA)
http ://youtu .be/ISIRKFETxZA?t=35s (Zotac)
http ://youtu .be/vfrxPnmKrN0?t=8s (MSI)
http ://youtu .be/f5RHx9otadY?t=20s (Asus)
http ://youtu .be/3PMcmOxZ7_0 (reference)
 
They all do it apparently, but as shown on the Asus vid, it can be helped in some cases by enabling VSync. At least with EVGA you'll get great customer support, which is more than can be said for Asus and MSI whose support ranges from terrible to lacking. Apparently Zotac is a pretty solid company, but I haven't had any personal experience with them.
 

godgxjs
The coil whine coming from my gtx 970 SSC acx 2.0 is very low and not noticeable at all unless I put my ear next to the card. My temperatures are really good too. The highest temperature I have gotten even after overclocking the card is 62C. I am using a custom fan profile, but it doesn't get loud enough to be bothersome at all. 

thats probably the fan your hearing not even a coil whine.

EVGA_JacobF
Component wise the 970 FTW is similar, but there are some updates on the cooler, it does not use a 3 heatpipe design, instead it uses the below style:

Thank you for the response, Jacob.  I am going to stick to my intuition and go with EVGA.
 
HOWEVER, if the 970 FTW finally is stocked and is sold out before I get the chance to buy one, I may have an aneurysm 

as with anything new, people tend to join the bandwagon and complain about anything they can.

Casuist

mcknig.k
...HOWEVER, if the 970 FTW finally is stocked and is sold out before I get the chance to buy one, I may have an aneurysm 

LOL!! My thoughts EXACTLY!  
 
Yeah, plenty of people on bandwagons out there who don't do their research. I'm gonna stick with a company I trust. EVGA is the best!  

You'd call us band-wagoners, I'd call us informed customers. To each their own.

I know EVGA has been great in the past. But EVGA's 970 is $340 that is the same price as the others, and it's also a bit more than others. Why give the same price or more money for a card with low quality? Just because of the name? Just because they have been good in the past is no excuse to blow money when you can pay the same amount and get a better product. This is a expensive High end card! This is a card you could use for a few years, It is best to make sure the quality is good enough to last. I think EVGA decided to cut corners because they honestly wanted to sale the card for much more money. Luckily Nvidia has finally decided to go with fair reasonable pricing with this series (thank God!) . I will get a GTX 970 myself in a few months to replace my R9 270. But I  will probably get the PNY reference model since it is cheaper ($329) and less noisy, Also PNY's board looks much better.
 
EVGA disappointed me too. My old EVGA 8800 GTS I owned before my 5850 was solid. But I am not the type to get suckered into brand worship. I go with what brand offers the best price/build. I have owned several different brands. EVGA 8800 GTS 320mb, PNY 9800 GTX+, Diamond ATI HD 5850, MSI GTX 650 Ti, and currently HIS R9 270 iPower IceQ X² Boost Clock. Like I said I do not worship! I am my own person. So be your own person too. Buy what is best for your wallet.

please keep us updated, i am also interested in buying this card, yet there several negative (or rather very depreciative) reviews on this card, so first-hand experience from you is exceptionally helpful

cptobvious1
Not sure how well a cell phone camera will pick up the sound over all the fan noise and such.  I can try tonight.
Basically, it just sounds like a loud electrical hum that gets louder depending on the load the card is under.  It stops as soon as you return to the desktop.  At it's loudest during benchmarking, it was the loudest noise coming out of the PC by far and I've got a loud case.

Hey mate, just curious if you got a chance to test the coil whine or shoot an analysis vid on it? I've seen lots of vids already on other cards, but I'd like to see how this one behaves, particularly with the 970 FTW edition. I'm also curious to see how VSync helps the issue (if at all) as some videos have demonstrated that this can help.

outlabin
my saga so far

Bought Six Evga 970 cards for clients system builds 2 cards are fine the other four had coil whine 1 bad 3 not so bad but still not acceptable returned all 4 them and went for 3 MSI and 1 gigabyte due to what they had in stock at the time... and glad to report no coil noise on any ....This is very poor from EVGA i think they have dropped the ball on this one .....so far its cost me Time and money sorting there faults out.
 
As for people stating that running in vsync ect helps reduce or removes the noise is still unacceptable yes you are going to have some form of noise but this should not be a resonant frequency that we humans should be hearing.
 
I can not be expected to give clients there new built pc's and tell them you get a free dog whistle included

Shame on you EVGA and yes i have been very loyal with evga for many years but this is unacceptable me personally my next cards for system builds & for my own system will not be a EVGA..this is why i am not loyal to one company.

Aye, it seems the 970 SC and 970 SSC versions are rubbish, but the 970 FTW and all 980s are substantially better. Definitely the 980s are getting great reviews, but honestly I've heard next to nothing on the 970 FTW so that's an educated assumption on my part. I sure hope I'm right though because that's what I'll be getting if it ever becomes freaking available again. >.<