Diomar13
Hi all. I'm new here so I hope I'm not in the wrong forum for the question. I'm giving my hubby for birthday all the components for him to build his own Gaming pc and I have an unopened GTX 770 Dual Classified with ACX now I'm thinking if I should do the step up program and exchange it for a GTX 970 and if I should I would like to know for which one should I exchange it. I thought about the EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW ACX 2.0. Would like your help on deciding what to do.

Hi Diomar13, welcome to the EVGA forums. First off, it's pretty awesome of you to do this for your husband. My wife has more of a "tolerate" mentality towards my PC gaming, rather than "encourage." You're in the correct forum, but it might have been a good idea to create your own post for your question (you can still do this if you want - I'll copy/paste my reply).
 
First, a few questions:
What model is it exactly? I think it's 04G-P4-3778-KR, but just want to make sure
When did you buy it?
From whom did you buy it?
 
Anyway, the step up from the 770 Classified --> 970 FTW would be a slight upgrade, but not earth-shattering. In fact many of the specs are pretty close if not the same. The main improvements are the slight increase in CUDA cores and the great improvement in power efficiency (means it will run cooler and use less electricity).
 
The step-up program is actually designed for people who have already opened the box and started using their cards. Since you haven't even opened the box, are you able to return the card for a full refund to the store where you bought it? If so, do they charge a restocking fee, and how much?

Sprinx

Diomar13
Hi all. I'm new here so I hope I'm not in the wrong forum for the question. I'm giving my hubby for birthday all the components for him to build his own Gaming pc and I have an unopened GTX 770 Dual Classified with ACX now I'm thinking if I should do the step up program and exchange it for a GTX 970 and if I should I would like to know for which one should I exchange it. I thought about the EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW ACX 2.0. Would like your help on deciding what to do.

Hi Diomar13, welcome to the EVGA forums. First off, it's pretty awesome of you to do this for your husband. My wife has more of a "tolerate" mentality towards my PC gaming, rather than "encourage." You're in the correct forum, but it might have been a good idea to create your own post for your question (you can still do this if you want - I'll copy/paste my reply).

First, a few questions:
What model is it exactly? I think it's 04G-P4-3778-KR, but just want to make sure
When did you buy it?
From whom did you buy it?

Anyway, the step up from the --> would be a slight upgrade, but not earth-shattering. In fact many of the specs are pretty close if not the same. The main improvements are the slight increase in CUDA cores and the great improvement in power efficiency (means it will run cooler and use less electricity).

The step-up program is actually designed for people who have already opened the box and started using their cards. Since you haven't even opened the box, are you able to return the card for a full refund to the store where you bought it? If so, do they charge a restocking fee, and how much?

Yes, thats the model I have. Its new but I took the UPC for the rebates with EVGA. I bought it from Newegg but I won't get refund from them due to removing the UPC from box. 

Diomar13
He really plays GW2 right now but I want him to be able to play any kind of game he wants too. About overcloking I really dont know his preferences casue his actuall pc is like 6 years old has a GTX280 and he uses a tv as monitor. 
 

SSC would probably be the way to go then, but if his PC is 6 years old there's probably other components that would limit him from playing modern games.

Ah, if you've removed the UPC, then you cannot return it for full credit. Newegg would charge a restock fee (15% I think) anyway.
 
If you want to upgrade, then the Step-up is your best option. Read through this, and do the steps in the second section if you decide to go forward with it:
http://www.evga.com/support/stepup/
Did you register the card yet? You can do this with your account you've already set up. Since the 770 Dual Classified is actually a little more expensive than the 970 FTW, you shouldn't have to pay any extra for the new card. You may also need to buy the extended warranty (should be about $20 for 5 year warranty), plus shipping your 770 back to EVGA, and then shipping to get your new card (maybe $20 more total).
 
So, in total, you're looking at about $40 to get the newest technology, which in my opinion is not a bad deal. That's less than the potential restock fee with Newegg would be, even if you could return the card.

Diomar13
I already bought the warranty and would only have to pay shipping. This is my build so far plus an ASUS VG248QE and planning on buying 2 more for a 3 monitor set up.
Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core/ Cooler Master Seidon 240M 86.2 CFM Liquid. Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming G1 WIFI-BK ATX LGA1150 / Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133/ Corsair Force LX Series 256GB 2.5" SSD/Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM/EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Dual Classified ACX/Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower/ EVGA 1000W ATX12V/ Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer / Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
  

Looks like a solid build. My only suggestion would be to use Windows 8.1 instead of 7, as it's doubtful if Direct X 12 will be supported on Windows 7 or not. But your husband can also just upgrade to Windows 10 in the middle of next year, if you've already bought a Windows 7 key.
 
Since you've already bought the extended warranty, then you're all set. I would recommend getting the GTX 970 FTW ACX 2.0 04G-P4-2978-KR. It's the best 970 model that's available through the step-up program. The only better card is the 980, but then you'd have to pay a couple hundred dollars extra or so.
 
Just go to your "My Products" page here on evga.com and request the step-up.

I'd go with Windows 8 myself. I don't know about 8.1. Glad u got ur step-up. And hope it arrives before Christmas.