blacksapphire08
We dont know because cards with the ACX 2.0 havent been released yet, they all have the original ACX on them. None of the GTX 970s come with a back plate.

enyownz
I been seeing images of the cooler's heatpipes being offset from the gpu core. One heatpipe doesn't even touch the core. Along with no backplate, the EVGA offerings looking a bit dull. Asus and Gigabyte both offer a backplate on theirs and custom PCB designs. 
 
Link to said discussion on reddit with pictures from reviewers: https://www.reddit.com/r/..._evga_gtx_970_appears/

godgxjs
Could someone please comment on the loudness and temperature of the card? This comparison (Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 Review Roundup - Performance Analysis, from bit-tech.net) has made me a bit worried about the evga card, mainly because they make it sound as if the quality of the card components isn't as good as the other 2 brands. I have never had a bad experience with evga which is why I decided to get their SSC GTX970 AXC 2.0 from newegg. Could someone also comment about the coil whine if any. Thanks.

I'm also wondering if the card will come with a backplate included or if evga will send us early adopters free backplates when available.

dave851

gizmo88
 
 
EVGA used "affordable" components on their 700 series and it showed. Just read the Newegg/Amazon reviews. Unfortunately, they are using the exact same components for their 900 series. This means coil whine and a short life span is all but guaranteed. 

Well, tech-power-up has some overclocking results of the card and its performing about the same as the ASUS model is. LINKY. You would think if the components are low quality it wouldn't be able to overclock and run at about the same temperatures as card presumed to have *high* quality parts. 
 
As far as newegg reviews, there is only two, one five star loving the card but hasn't even put it in his computer and one guy giving it one star hating the card.
 
Amazon reviews two people like the card. One person mentions about them using a cheaper power setup, and may affect overclocking. The tech-power-up review has it overclocking about the same as the ASUS model. He mentions the cooler feels a little weak, and yea, I wouldn't recommend the ACX 1.0 personally they have been known to have some problems. Not to sure how the ACX 2.0 is, it hasn't been out long enough.
 
So far the only complaints I have seen about the card using low quality parts is bit-tech so far. I would not be basing decisions on what *one* review site says and two other reviews on amazon/newegg say. If there where 3-4 review sites saying the same thing or 10-15 public people then be worried. If you look at the data from the cards, they are overclocking just as well as the competition and performing similarly in temps/frame-rates. They are running louder at idle because the fans keep running at a higher speed, but that can be changed with afterburner. 
 
 

EVGATech_JaesonW
Jacob has posted an offical response to this:
 
http://forums.evga.com/FindPost/2220695
 
The way the EVGA GTX 970 ACX heat sink was designed is based on the GTX 970 wattage plus an additional 40% cooling headroom on top of it. There are 3 heat pipes on the heatsink – 2 x 8mm major heat pipes to distribute the majority of the heat from the GPU to the heatsink, and a 3^rd 6mm heatpipe is used as a supplement to the design to reduce another 2-3 degrees Celsius. Also we would like to mention that the cooler passed NVIDIA Greenlight specifications.

Due to the GPU small die size, we intended for the GPU to contact two major heat pipes with direct touch to make the best heat dissipation without any other material in between.

We all know the Maxwell GPU is an extremely power efficient GPU, our SC cooler was overbuilt for it and allowed us to provide cards with boost clocks at over 1300MHz. EVGA also has an “FTW” version for those users who want even higher clocks.



Regarding fan noise, we understand that some have expressed concerns over the fan noise on the EVGA GTX 970 cards, this is not a fan noise issue but it is more of an aggressive fan curve set by the default BIOS. The fan curve can be easily adjusted in EVGA PrecisionX or any other overclocking software. Regardless, we have heard the concerns and will provide a BIOS update to reduce the fan noise during idle.

Thanks,
EVGA

gizmo88
Here's a board shot of EVGA's GTX 970, a $350 card. 
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_970_SC_ACX_Cooler/images/front.jpg
 
Compare that to;
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_OC/images/front.jpg
and
http://imagescdn.tweaktown.com/news/4/0/40210_04_msi_s_geforce_gtx_970_gaming_with_twinfrozr_v_spotted_looks_hot_full.jpg
 
I don't have an engineering degree, but even I can see the difference in board layout and components used. MSI and Asus clearly hold their products to a higher standard. As well they should, we are paying a premium after all. I don't want my expensive video card to sound like a dog whistle and neither should you. 

DchAoticN
Actually, you can..EVGA's looks like a 4+2 phase, Asus looks like an 8 phase + digital VRM.  This affects power efficiency + Overclockability.
 
 
Judging from the pics circulating around the review sites
1.  only EVGA has misaligned heat pipes.
2.  EVGA is using worse quality capacitors and worse power regulator than the competitors.  
3.  Review sites report EVGA cards running hotter.  5 degrees higher the Twin Frozr 5 and 3 degrees higher than Strix
4.  While already running hotter than the competition, EVGA ACX2 also runs louder, one site reports 10dBA higher than Strix, while another reports it 3 or 4 dBA louder than reference cooler.
 
All in all, this is what happens when you start cutting corners..

DchAoticN

dave851

DchAoticN
Actually, you can..EVGA's looks like a 4+2 phase, Asus looks like an 8 phase + digital VRM.  This affects power efficiency + Overclockability.
 
 
Judging from the pics circulating around the review sites
1.  only EVGA has misaligned heat pipes.
2.  EVGA is using worse quality capacitors and worse power regulator than the competitors.  
3.  Review sites report EVGA cards running hotter.  5 degrees higher the Twin Frozr 5 and 3 degrees higher than Strix
4.  While already running hotter than the competition, EVGA ACX2 also runs louder, one site reports 10dBA higher than Strix, while another reports it 3 or 4 dBA louder than reference cooler.
 
All in all, this is what happens when you start cutting corners..

Well first off, I'm not saying the ACX cooler is the best air cooler out there, MSI and gigabytes do appear to perform better. But just tossing more power phases at something doesn't always mean it overclocks more.  and has the evga overclocking similar to the ASUS on air, can't find results about results when water-cooled. 

1. It isn't, as we can all see.  This means, the heat pipe layout is obviously flawed.
2. U wot m8?  It means higher stability and durability.  Ask anyone on HWBot, even the amateurs, if they had the choice, would they go for a board with full Japanese solid capacitors with Ferrite chokes and digital VRM or would they go with a generic board?  I honestly am not sure why you are trying to argue against this.

godgxjs
Ok, since I was the one who started this thread I'm going to share my current opinions with everyone. My gtx 970 ssc axc 2.0 is coming tomorrow, and I have decided to give Evga the benefit of the doubt. I have always trusted this brand and it has never disappointed me before, and after much reading and deliberation I have decided to trust them again. Putting all the unfair criticism aside (witch hunt), there are few factual points to consider. The evga 970 axc cards are a bit louder and run a bit hotter than the competition. Now I'm not saying that it is because there are defects on the manufacturing or the design of the card. People who say this are just angry that the card didn't turn out to be as good as they wanted it to be, when compared to other brands. This does not mean that the card won't perform as it should or that it will malfunction or break based solely on its design. If that was the case, then it wouldn't have passed Nvidia Greenlight tests. Products that compete with each other have always been different. That's what makes competition possible and good for consumers. If you want the card with the lowest temperatures and the lowest noise then it seems the EVGA 970 isn't for you this time around. But that does not give anyone the right to say that EVGA is bad now or that the card has manufacturing defects, because that is way out of line. The engineers at EVGA decided that the design was good enough and that is why they produced it that way. They aren't always trying to figure out exactly what other brands are going to come out with in order to beat them in every single aspect of the card, because that is not how it works. They design a product, they make it, then they test it extensively, then they send it to Nvidia and they test it as well. They have been doing this for quite a while now, and they must have been doing something right because last time I checked, EVGA is probably the most reliable manufacturer of aftermarket Nvidia GPUs. So if it happens that this time, other manufacturers produced 970s with lower temperatures and noise (by a small margin), then so be it. I congratulate their design team and engineers for achieving that. I, for one, don't blindly look for the card with the lowest temperatures and noise in order to buy it. I look for a good all around product that is backed up by a reliable brand and an excellent customer service. In this case, this happens to be the EVGA gtx 970 ssc acx 2.0. It's the highest end evga model of the 970 available on the market right now (before they ran out of stock). I will be testing the card once I receive it tomorrow afternoon. 
 
And before people start calling me a crazy EVGA fanboy, I assure you I'm not. EVGA is just a brand that has earned my respect and preference over the years, and this time I did my best to analyze the situation as objectively as I could.