Classified is the better card if you're going to be doing extreme overclocking.

JerkMan
If you're going to leave the card on air, FTW.

+1

Yes Classified is better than FTW...
Maybe someone know is it FTW compatible with reference waterblock for 980Ti and TITAN X?
That's same waterblock.
 
It's highly recommended for people with Classified to invest in waterblock from EKWB.
They don't need super expensive water cooling, but some of new systems as Swiftech H220X and EKWB Predator will keep temps below 60C.
Or inside of case could become really hot

Yeah, why one card or the other if you leave on air or put on water?  Wouldn't they both benefit by going to water?  What are the differences between the FTW and the Classified?  Do they have different coolers?  Doesn't the Classified have better components all the way around than the FTW?  I have three 980 Classifieds, but I don't know the answers to all these questions.  Somebody close by does, though, and you can bet they'll sing out (c'mon HeavyHemi or Hallowen).  I just buy them and use them.  I buy Classifieds because I can.  And, they're good cards.

Oops my bad...

Classified technically is the better card out of the two, but it is much larger and most of the benefits will only be seen with exotic cooling.

Custom.

Scarlet-Tech
Classified has more heat generating parts than the FTW. They are both clocked the same, overclock the same (typically), and one costs less.

The components on the classified are meant for extreme overclocking, and shine under those circumstances. All of the vrm is meant to handle extreme voltage and provide clean power, which is something you won't be doing on air or water.

On air, the cards perform rather average honestly.

With the cost being so close, just consider the size of your case, and if they both fit, just pick one and get it. Your happiness is what needs to be met, and we can't make up your mind as well as you can.

To answer the question, ^this. The Classy will run hotter under similar conditions than the FTW. They have equal chance of overclocking on air.

JerkMan

Scarlet-Tech
Classified has more heat generating parts than the FTW. They are both clocked the same, overclock the same (typically), and one costs less.

The components on the classified are meant for extreme overclocking, and shine under those circumstances. All of the vrm is meant to handle extreme voltage and provide clean power, which is something you won't be doing on air or water.

On air, the cards perform rather average honestly.

With the cost being so close, just consider the size of your case, and if they both fit, just pick one and get it. Your happiness is what needs to be met, and we can't make up your mind as well as you can.

To answer the question, ^this. The Classy will run hotter under similar conditions than the FTW. They have equal chance of overclocking on air.

It has been a year or two since I have frequented these forums, and I keep seeing this sentiment repeated when I don't recall ever seeing it talked about when I ran around here before. I also don't see it mentioned other places. So I have to ask, how do we figure that the Classified will run hotter under the same conditions?

I have seen comments in other threads (not necessarily from you as I don't recall who) that state things like "more heat generating phases" that cause increases in temperatures. I guess that is not my understanding of how a GPUs VRM works. Yes there are more phases, and yes those phases generate heat. However, if two GPUs are each using 250W and one has a 2 phase VRM and the other a 4 phase VRM, it is my understanding that each individual phase of the 2 phase VRM will be much hotter than each phase of a 4 phase VRM. I would assume they would be roughly twice as hot since they are handling twice as much power. In total though, the heat generated by the VRM would be roughly the same since each is handling 250W of power. The advantage of the 4 phase system being that each phase operates at a lower temperature than that of the 2 phase system. I guess that was my impression of the advantage of more phases. You can pump more power through the VRM without components reaching fatal temperature levels.

If this is correct, then where do we figure the extra heat is coming from? Are you guys figuring some additional power loss due to inefficiency which would be expended as heat? I could see that since each electronic part has some level of inefficiency, but I would think the additional heat generated from the inefficiency of more parts would be negligible. Are you figuring a hotter PWM? I could see that scenario as well. On the contrary though the Classified is quite a bit larger and has a bigger heat sink and fans which would allow more heat dissipation.

I am not an engineer and don't know much about electrical theory or design. Please correct me if what I've said above is incorrect. I just keep seeing statements like the quoted above and that is not the way I understand things.

As for the OPs question, I agree with what most have said. I would buy the FTW if I were leaving the card on air. I personally find the size of the Classified obnoxious, and you will not be able to take advantage the additional power delivery capabilities of the VRM of the Classified while keeping the GPU cool on air. On the other hand, there are no full cover water blocks for the FTW at the moment, so it is only an option on water if you use universal blocks. For extreme cooling, the obvious choice is the Classified.

Scarlet-Tech


The vrm on all cards is currently passively cooled. The fans do lock air across the heat plate, but the heatsink itself doesn't touch any part of the VRM section.

Individuals that purchase the classified automatically think "more VRM, more power." nope. It has already been shown that voltage does extremely little for maxwell card. Maybe 50 Mhz or so after going from 1.2v to 1.4v. As Jacob stated, the classified is beneficial under exotic cooling. Water doesn't even change much. For $150-$200 more you get about 50mhz..

Since they are passively cooled, the vrm still gets hot no matter how any phases there are, but on unlocked cards people seem the dump a lot more voltage for those tiny bits of gain.

With the 780ti classifieds that I have, voltage made a huge difference and scaled amazingly. Maxwell doesn't care about voltage unless it is freezing, and then it will scale well.

That is true that they are passively cooled and a good point. That does negate the larger cooler of the Classified really having any affect on overall VRM temperature. I also see your point that people will try to pump more power through the Classified VRM because it is unlocked and capable of it. However, in the "all else equal" scenario that we were talking about, I don't see how the Classified would run hotter than the FTW simply because it has more phases. I would think the Classified would actually run cooler due to having more phases and surface area of said phases to dissipate heat from even considering the passive cooling.
 
That said, I still wouldn't recommend the Classified for air cooling as there is no point.

thebski

Scarlet-Tech


The vrm on all cards is currently passively cooled. The fans do lock air across the heat plate, but the heatsink itself doesn't touch any part of the VRM section.

Individuals that purchase the classified automatically think "more VRM, more power." nope. It has already been shown that voltage does extremely little for maxwell card. Maybe 50 Mhz or so after going from 1.2v to 1.4v. As Jacob stated, the classified is beneficial under exotic cooling. Water doesn't even change much. For $150-$200 more you get about 50mhz..

Since they are passively cooled, the vrm still gets hot no matter how any phases there are, but on unlocked cards people seem the dump a lot more voltage for those tiny bits of gain.

With the 780ti classifieds that I have, voltage made a huge difference and scaled amazingly. Maxwell doesn't care about voltage unless it is freezing, and then it will scale well.

That is true that they are passively cooled and a good point. That does negate the larger cooler of the Classified really having any affect on overall VRM temperature. I also see your point that people will try to pump more power through the Classified VRM because it is unlocked and capable of it. However, in the "all else equal" scenario that we were talking about, I don't see how the Classified would run hotter than the FTW simply because it has more phases. I would think the Classified would actually run cooler due to having more phases and surface area of said phases to dissipate heat from even considering the passive cooling.
 
That said, I still wouldn't recommend the Classified for air cooling as there is no point.

Look, I can't explain it and it does go slightly against logic, but that has been my experience. I've had the SC versions as well as the Classified, and the Classy ran noticeably hotter under similar conditions. I will allow that that may have been just my experience, and it was a subjective rather than objective observation, but it happened with more than one series of card. It ultimately turned me off of the Classy (also mainly because I stay on air).

FTW  

DragonSquid
I hate to bring this up again.
 
But i do not want to make a $700 mistake,
 
I am not going to be overclock the card I buy any further,
Since the Classy generates more heat, I would be better off with the FTW series.
 
Is that correct?

For the price, FTW.