IAmTheNorwegianGamer
 
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Wouldent 970 sli give me a big advantage since i am getting a 144Hz monitor? G-synch though (and 1080P)
 
I woud def. not get another 980. So either single 980, dual 970, you still mean 980 is the best way to go now?
Saves me 150$ which i can use on a block for the 980. Thank you!
 
Hilsen Fra Kr.sand^^
 

Haha! My best friend if from Kristiansand! Though, he's not living in Norway at the moment, and I'm not Norwegian. ;D
 
OK, I overlooked the fact that you'll be playing at 144Hz as well, instead of the usual 60Hz. Then, the 970 SLI setup will probably keep you kissing the 144Hz mark more often than a single GTX 980. But please, don't take my single opinion for it. Do the same I did; Google reviews and performance compares between single 980s and 2x SLI 970s, check the games you play, or at least games used in the benchmarks that use the same engine. Don't check only one or two reviews, but rather as many as you can find. See what fps was reported for each case in the reviews. You'll be wanting the cards that maintain stable ~140fps at 1080p. If a single 980 does that (I know 60Hz - aka 60fps wouldn't be a sweat), then that's all the money you need to spend and can discard SLI headaches. If the 980 can't make hold ~140fps on most games at 1080p, then the 2xSLI 970 would be the best bet to achieve it.
 
Do keep a thing in mind though; from what I noticed, most review sites tweak the game settings a bit, but don't exactly max them out, so do keep an eye on the graphical settings used, and if you own the games, check if that's their max before considering your options.
But again, don't base your decision on a single or a couple opinions, research and make an educated decision. If you regret it later, it is due to a call you and you alone made, and noone else misled you towards it.
 
So, to rephrase my earlier statement and prevent missunderstandings: 
Long story short, if I was playing at 1080p @60Hz, I would definitely stay the hell away from SLI headaches as a gamer. If I was playing at 1080p @144Hz, I'm not so sure, as I didn't dig into a setup I wasn't looking for. =)
 
Best of luck and may you enjoy your decision in the end!

aronh17

outlawii
So why are the FTW's faulty? 

They're not exactly faulty, they just do not deliver on the performance expectations that they should. They're good GPUs but are lacking in power draw and seemingly voltage as well. I've read about a few FTW cards not doing well even with voltage increase and my card has the issue as well. Seems the only thing the FTW owners got was a better heatsink for the cooler and that's it. The other problem is that the SSC is now outdoing the FTW, which is actually supposed to be under the FTW but isn't. I'd fully expect EVGA to allow the step up, but releasing the FTW as is to begin with makes me question what they're going to do or say about the issue.

Agreed! The FTW at the time was suppose to have been the top of the line EVGA 970. Instead we got a cheap board with cheap parts...but a better heateink.
Will EVGA release a FTW plus? They have to, to compete with the G1 and the MSI gamer.

Miko Ryukudo
I honestly can't fathom, my current monitor isn't even FHD. Our household just got our first 1080p TV for Christmas and it is a marvel to see. I hope Big Daddy will be able to handle it and not cost over $1000 ;w;
 
I bet that the FTW+'s would absolutely wreck it at 120hz up until the most demanding games. I just don't want to enter SLI until Nvidia fixes all the problems with it and gets around the bandwidth cap. Rumors float around that that might not be until Volta though x.x

Yeah, my Samsung 1080p TV that I got years ago when 1080p was still new really spoiled me since it was of course IPS.  Even though my TV would be considered old now, it still looks great since I went with a really good TV back then; spend a little more for a good TV and it will last you.  Ever since it, I haven't been able to buy another TN; even my 18.4" on my Alienware 18 is a Samsung IPS.  Also why I couldn't get one of the 144Hz 1440p monitors, because they were all TNs.  I decided to get one of the Korean 1440p monitors with the LG IPS screen and got the OC PCB that lets me get my monitor to 120Hz now.

Morphevz
@MvdL79: curious fact: the card I ordered first was a GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 980 G1 GAMING - 4GB, since I've been curious about the brand but always had second thoughts on trying it. But let's just say I couldn't keep thinking if I had done the right choice, since I normally SLI but couldn't spend the money in 2 980s, and cancelled my ordered and decided to return to stick with EVGA giving their top of the line products and good customer service reputation. So, I bought the two GTX 970 thinking I was buying the best 970 models that money could buy, keeping in mind that the Gigabyte version would supply more power to the cards, but trusting EVGA's rep remark that "the card has no used for more power" as mentioned in one of the few reviews done on the FTWs. Speaking of reviews, the lack of them also sounded the alarms in my head. Why isn't EVGA supplying more reviewers with the model? I guess that... You know what you've done if you don't want people to start sniffing around it...

Ask yourself this, if EVGA's says and I quote: "the card has no used for more power" then why do they now release an SSC and a FTW+ who do have 6-pin PCIE >AND< a 8-pin PCIE connector?
Just another marketing trick from EVGA imho. :P

El-Dubya

Airwolf24
the FTW+ will have 4 heat pipes instead of 3 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23MStdkcJc4

I watched the whole vid (in case I missed it) and kept pausing it at around 0:49 and still only saw 3 heat pipes coming out the back. The 980 at the end of course had 4 heat pipes though.   

I just did the same thing lol.  I think he was talking about the 4 pipe cooler that is sitting near it at the start of the video which looks like the old FTW cooler (non copper).  Where if you look when he is holding the actual card, you can tell they are copper heat pipes this time.  And if you pause it at just the right spot, you can count 3 at the end.  So it looks like it will be using the same cooler as the new SSC.

ManBearPig

El-Dubya

Airwolf24
the FTW+ will have 4 heat pipes instead of 3 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23MStdkcJc4

I watched the whole vid (in case I missed it) and kept pausing it at around 0:49 and still only saw 3 heat pipes coming out the back. The 980 at the end of course had 4 heat pipes though.   

I just did the same thing lol.  I think he was talking about the 4 pipe cooler that is sitting near it at the start of the video which looks like the old FTW cooler (non copper).  Where if you look when he is holding the actual card, you can tell they are copper heat pipes this time.  And if you pause it at just the right spot, you can count 3 at the end.  So it looks like it will be using the same cooler as the new SSC.

that makes more sense now and now I'm curious if the FTW+ will have a slight higher voltage boost or it will be the same as the the new SSC

Wow, so then if everything is almost the same between the new SSC and FTW+ minus back plate and possibly only slightly higher clocks, then....does
anyone consider this a worthy "FTW" model? I know the 670 FTW was beefed up considerably back then (although I ended up having to RMA mine 4 times lol), but the only thing different I can even think of apart from paying more for the back plate is if these FTW+ all come with much higher ASIC for much higher factory clocks on air. I was surprised when my new SSC only came with 64% ASIC but to be honest I still don't know if this is any indication of a high overclocker.   

Airwolf24
I think the FTW+ will probably cost around $380-$425, also the only difference is higher clock and a black plate

Edit: $680 for a 970 is way too far fetched, also you can get a 980 a lot cheaper than that price 

A 980 G1 cost 1010$ here, so no :P

If there is a step up for FTW+ from FTW - i got a few question if anyone can answer for.
 
So basically i got my 970FTW in a prebuilt from cyberpowerpc. - i did no receive the videocard box it self, I just got the VGA inside the PC. if ever there is a FTW+ step up option how will I handle this situation? Do I call cyberpowerpc or double check with EVGA. Can i send the VGA just the VGA itself without the box?
 
Thanks for those who will reply!
 
- EDIT - btw i have not register my product yet or anything like that. especially for step up program. I got my PC for Blackfriday - started using the PC on Dec 11/ 2014. anytips for me. thanks. newb here.

I had applied for stepup of my two original version SSC 970s to FTW cards in early December.  Right before EVGA broke for the holidays it was approved and I made payment for both my cards.  I did not send them in because of EVGA's holiday break.  Now that the new SSC is out and the FTW+ is on the way, my step up to the original FTW was not looking too good.  I just called and cancelled the step ups.  Now I have 24 days left to see if the FTW+ is going to be an option, if not I will be applying for step up to the new SSC.

Jacob commenting on the FTW+
hexus.net/tv/show/2015/01/EVGA_shows_off_upgraded_GTX_970_FTW

just wondering if EVGA are planning to give us an option to liquid cooling SSC or FTW+like a separate accessories that we can buy

fkrIII: Nice work, man! I'm strongly tempted to just get it over with and step up to the SSC, but I'm certain that 10 minutes after I do it, the FTW+ will suddenly be available.

For sure. I want backplates for my GTX 970 SSC's, i will be upset if they don't offer them. Can't wait to mess with them. Sucks I won't be able to run them much till Monday though... I just found out about 10 hours of OT I will be working for the next few days.

I just learned about this today. Being that the three Evga 970 super clocked gpu's I bought at the end of December, may be eligible for a "step up" has me wondering how this might work.  How would I even find out if evga was, in fact, offering such a deal.  Should I save all the original packaging?  Could I send them back, each of the three, separately.  That way my computer could always have a gpu to run on the computer.