FTW is "For the Win", just a higher overclocked version of the 970. The ACX 2.0 has lower fan speeds, increased cooling, and now, with the updated software, more silent operation with the fans only turning on when the temp gets above 67 degrees.

Stock base clock is 1216MHz, boost is 1367MHz. Honestly there aren't too many out there at the moment and I personally haven't seen any overclocking results on them.

It's not quite another heatsink, just a different version of the ACX 2.0 where they added a plate over the 3 heatpipes to increase contact between the actual chip and the heatsink. So better overall, still called ACX 2.0 though.

Hadn't heard that before, thanks for the info.

yehoshuaC
It's not quite another heatsink, just a different version of the ACX 2.0 where they added a plate over the 3 heatpipes to increase contact between the actual chip and the heatsink. So better overall, still called ACX 2.0 though.

Its a difference heatsink. FTW uses more heatpipes as well as a plate and the fins are vertically aligned. The SSC and below have 3 heatpipes and horizontally aligned fins. http://forums.evga.com/FindPost/2222180
 

phreakwarz77
So why is the ram different on the ftw and ssc models?

Different voltage regulator circuit, not different RAM.

phreakwarz77
Thinking about this card.
Got any thoughts?
 
EVGA 04G-2978-KR GeForce GTX 970 FTW 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 ACX 2.0 PCI Express 3.0

Top of the line for the 970's right now unless a classi comes out which isn't in the foreseeable future. 
If you can get your hands on one, go for it or better yet 2/3 sli even