Is the Titan X cooler the same as the 980 reference cooler?  I think I had read somewhere that they were different but I wasn't sure. 

Thanks for the info, someone one another site was saying that the Titan X cooler is different in that it is a vapor chamber cooler.  Sounds like they are the same style of cooler just one needs to encompass slightly bigger dimensions like you said?

This is what you want, the Titan X runs 4 degrees hotter than the 980... Both with blower coolers:http://www.guru3d.com/art...-titan-x-review,1.html
 
Now, the ACX 980 will run cooler than both without SLI. I have maybe hit 77c while completely maxing out the card, stock fan profile, on a hot day... 

lordkahless
Yeah not to big of a difference.  Was mainly worried that the vram running so hot will reduce the life of the card.

EVGA covers you for 3 years. Do you plan on having it longer than that? I will tell you, my ACX will NOT top 70c with a custom fan profile that I cannot tell an audible difference when running... The ACX is a very good cooler, after they fixed that damn rattle. 
 
EDIT: One thing that you CAN count on with EVGA graphics cards, they honor their warranty. I wouldn't say the same for their motherboards... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbvHR1Jcd-g
 
http://forums.evga.com/Si...me-Review-m815337.aspx
 
 
I contacted ASUS to see if they would honor a warranty with a similar situation to Sir James', I accidentally scratched the surface of my motherboard with a graphics card install... They told me absolutely they would.