I bought my 580 primarily because it earned a rep as a good GPU compute solution, but I had to RMA it, I know that it was almost to the end of its warranty and life cycle, but I was at least hoping that I would get something that holds up to the 580gtx in all departments, my research showed however that the 960 is no where near as good at that as the 580 for gpu compute.....my question is what exactly determines "compatible or better" and is that standard only isolated to gaming, not really big on PC gaming anymore, so all I'm "gaining" is rendering hours if my research is accurate.
 
thanks

when it gets to me I'll give it a go at the project the 580 was rendering when it effectively died, I still have stats I recorded from my last blender cycles render session with the 580, so I'll see how it goes

That's good to hear. EVGA does go out of its way to keep their customers happy with their products and warranty coverage. A happy customer is a loyal customer.