I am curious to know which one preforms better. I want to get 2x 770 classifieds but am not sure which preforms better...  

maniacvvv

The ACX provides better temps -BUT- dumps heat into the case because of its design...
This "heat dumping" problem is magnified when running SLI

For a high airflow case this is not really an issue...
But looking at your mods rigs pic your case appears to be restricted in airflow, so cards that exhaust might be a better choice.

Stickly on cooler performance, the ACX wins
But put dual ACX cards in a case with poor airflow and its a loser compared to Stock cooler design. 

I havent updated those pictures yet. But i have a 900D now with way better cable management.  The ACX is also $10 cheaper. Whenever these cards finally go on sale i will most likely pick up the ACX version then. :)

With GPU Boost 2.0, your GPU temperature is king. Based on that my suggestion is go ACX unless you have restrictive case airflow or are concerned about chassis temps.

single gpu = ACX, SLI = Blower stock fan

ACX its just marketing, just go for the ones you find in stock and like the most, (The 770s with the nvidia cooler are beautifull).
 
I got my Blower 780s, and with a custom fan profile they never get over 62 / 65 Degrees and when doing some benchmarks at maximum voltage, with a really high core clock and mem clock (+200 / +700) they stay around @ 70 / 75 degrees

KEVRAY

Go ACX, i use reference GTX 780 2-way SLI plugged into asus p9x79 motherboard screwed into/onto a corsair 700D, good PCI-E_x16 spacing between cards, case side panel off i see max 80C approx on both cards and case side panel on i see max of 89C on GPU1 about 82-83C on GPU2 at full load, ambient computer room temps approx 20-21C. I also maxed out the case fans, this takes it to 3 120mm case fans, three 140mm case fans, 140mm and 120mm fans on the cpu heatsink, lot of air in and out of the case but these GTX 780's of mine do get toasty, ACX FTW i reckon.

 
89c on a ACX with that much airflow? something is wrong thier it shouldn't be that warm even in SLI.

_Nite_89c on a ACX with that much airflow?.

lagittaja

Doesn't his post say "I use reference GTX 780" .

Yeah, haha. Original poster asked which (preforms) meant to say performs better ACX or standard reference blower. I was just explaining my personal opinion based on my pc. Although when the op asked which performs better, i wonder if that question asked was about the temperatures or noise?, i presume temperature?. From what i see here at these forums and elsewhere the ACX is king cooler over the standard reference blower.

Go ACX if your case can afford the additional heat. If you have adequate airflow you will love it.
 
I have the Coolermaster HAF X and with a very moderate fan profile set up in Precision X my card idles at 24C and I have not seen it go above 55C-60C. My CPU temp has not flucuated at all since changing from blower style 580s in SLI, so my case temps have not been affected by any noticable degree.
 
Its nice to have you card running so cool. Especially in the Summer months.

My 780 SC ACX has not hit over 66c with overclock.
 
GPU @ 1117mhz with 1.2v

Biggest thing to think about is if you plan to SLI 2/3/4 cards that have in-case exhausting coolers (like the acx) the top card/s will always suck hot air straight from the bottom card/s. I always go for blower coolers when running SLI as they will both only suck cool. Even if you have a 2 slot gap in between the air from the bottom card always goes straight up into the top one as the top one can;t get it's air from anywhere else sooner.

Id say in your case the bottom card hasn't got direct fresh air and it is also loops its own hot air. By means of best air flow for ACX style coolers, having a direct intake fan on your side panel the blow straight onto the cards is the ideal setup. If you run a window and only rely on the front intake for fresh air ACX coolers will do nothing but loop their own hot air.

Find someone who owns a party smoke machine, test your case air flow if your really really curious about your cases air flow and setting it up perfectly.

In some instances with correct air flow you can run lower speed fans but achieve low temps purely down to directional air flow through your case.

ACX or internal heat dumping coolers are more ideal for those who don't really care about these kind of things, and are normally used to cases with high fan counts.

External Exhaust (EE) coolers are much more suited for sealed, quiet and directional air flow case cooling. For example my new EVGA 760s i bought, i got the blower or EE version on purpose and am still getting low temps overclocked than all the reviews of the ACX versions are getting. All down to making sure it has fresh cool air.

EE coolers are also better if you run air CPU cooling as then the CPU wont also be using pre-heated air. The differences all come down to you case layout and the kind of cooling you have. but each can be better than the other in different scenario's.

I've got a 780 SC reference cooler coming, just got shipped today from EVGA, and I went with reference because, at least with the 800D, I'm just not confident in the case's airflow. With a 140mm fan the only intake into the case, the ACX will probably just end up sucking on it's own fumes and feeding that nasty stuff right to my H100 trying to keep my 3930K cool.
 
Unless someone has evidence to the contrary, this is one of those cases that really does demand a blower type cooler, despite how nice the ACX is.
 
PS: I'd love for someone to correct me on this one so I could turn that card around and get a different one. I don't think I'm going to SLI this bad boy.

Hey all,
 
 
I have a the GTX 770 SC ACX in my CM: HAF-X case, and it stays super cool; generally '24' at idle and '40'-'50' whilst gaming. I'm interested in purchasing another card for 2-way SLI-- but the 'blower type' this time; I assume the both will be compatibly correct?(Derp moment). I would like to put the ACX version on the bottom of the SLI and have the Blower type at the top. Is this a good/the better recommended idea? 
 
Thanks for your time lads :)

same dilemma here, upgrading my 770s to 780s, but not sure if going for the ACX or the titan style blower, and why in hell is it more expensive though??

Mid or above cases with good air flow -> ACX.
Small cases -> Blower.