As a disappointed owner of 2x FTW where:
- the only FTW thing about them was the price
- the ASIC is weak sauce - 68.1% and 68.8%
- they don't even run at same voltage while SLI'ing
- the core can barely touch the 1500 Mhz barrier and the power limitations even at 110% power, prevents them from staying there
- the memory can't be clocked anywhere near the 8000 Mhz that most users are comfortably getting on air
- the coil whine is not a lie
I too would like to confirm that my pitchfork is raised high after reading the news that a real FTW is now being released and on top of that, cheaper than what I paid for my beta testing FTW versions...
My stet up possibilities are due by the end of January, and I would love if, at least, one of the following things could happen:
- the vanilla GTX 980s drop to the price point that I spent on my FTWs, and I step up to two 980s
- the fabled extra VRAM versions enter the market, and I step up to them
- none of the above materializing, at least, that I'm given the change to step up from these pretend FTWs to the real deal labeled as FTW+
One thing is certain: lesson learned; it was the first and the last time I trusted a manufacturer to come forth with an optimized product at launch. No doubt the sweet spot for "new hardware" purchases is 3 months after it's on the market and the pitchfork mob QAed the product for the final performance adjustments.
It's really saddening to see EVGA's market approach nowadays. There must have been quite a few internal changes for all these constant odd decisions happening nowadays.
I hereby confirm, that this situations leaves a very fowl taste in this sad panda's face.