The thing is though, the Ti versions and better cards are from Nvidia and have them to blame, not eVGA, this is a different situation.  No other company has had to release 3 different versions of the same card because they kept on making it better and in such little time.  Like aronh17 said, the other companies came out with the card that they meant to right from the start.  No other company came out with a ACX 1.0, then ACX 2.0, and now much better versions of the top 2 cards.  Plus these were the things people who originally bought the FTW (myself included), payed $50 extra over reference to get.  And now they are telling us that they came out with a much better version with great features for $30 cheaper.  You can see how this would make people mad right?  I am a HUGE eVGA fan (look at my mods rigs, anything that can be bought from eVGA, I have), but even I can't defend them on this.  To say the least, I would be very disappointed if they didn't offer us original FTW owners a chance to step up to the new FTW+.

that's exactly my point of view ManBearPig, I'm with you.

ManBearPig
The thing is though, the Ti versions and better cards are from Nvidia and have them to blame, not eVGA, this is a different situation.  No other company has had to release 3 different versions of the same card because they kept on making it better and in such little time.  Like aronh17 said, the other companies came out with the card that they meant to right from the start.  No other company came out with a ACX 1.0, then ACX 2.0, and now much better versions of the top 2 cards.  Plus these were the things people who originally bought the FTW (myself included), payed $50 extra over reference to get.  And now they are telling us that they came out with a much better version with great features for $30 cheaper.  You can see how this would make people mad right?  I am a HUGE eVGA fan (look at my mods rigs, anything that can be bought from eVGA, I have), but even I can't defend them on this.  To say the least, I would be very disappointed if they didn't offer us original FTW owners a chance to step up to the new FTW+.

Well said. I still like EVGA, they're a great company but to blindly defend them is wrong. I'm not the type of person to shout boycott just because of something like this but as I said, they should offer a step up for people that got a FTW as it would be a nice gesture for people that spent more to get more, but didn't get much more. It should be a limited time offer and only if you got a FTW. I have recommended EVGA multiple times for people buying GPUs, but if this isn't sorted or at least looked into I will definitely be wary about their next line of GPUs when I plan to upgrade. They should've used their leftover coolers and PCBs on the GTX 960 when it launches, not their top tier GTX 970 version.

Eh... Earlier buyers got a free backplate with their purchase. I'd love to have one, but they don't even have any in stock... I'm also glad they made revisions and recognized issues or areas where they could improve in such a short time, it does not mean every single person that purchased a EVGA card is having issues with the coolers. Just because others do not do it, does not mean they don't have issues. I know Gigabytes windforce coolers have issues, from personal experience. I've also read about issues with other vendors as well. I wish they would of put out revisions, cause the one I had problems with was a late end model HD7970 right before the R9 series came out. I don't see why everyone is getting worked up over this... If you are having issues with your card, you can always RMA it and I bet you would get a revision if they found it defective.

So, when do we expect the FTW+ to drop?

Are you really saying that you would rather have a cheap piece of metal over ALL the improvements the new SSC has while also paying $30 more?  Even buying a back plate separate, the new SSC is cheaper than the FTW and is the superior model.  As it stands now, we FTW users payed more and received an inferior model (pay more get less).  I have no issues with the cooler, what I have issues is the OCing potential of the card.  The WHOLE reason why people spent $50 more for.  From my point of view it looks like eVGA just rushed out cards as quick as they could while using old stock to make a quick buck.  The only thing different the FTW has over reference is the better cooler, dual BIOS, and of course higher clocks.  This is very disappointing for a FTW model.  FTW used to mean something, my 670 FTW was great because it actually was much better than reference with a 680 PCB.  They made a real reason to own a FTW over reference for people who like to OC.
 
The only video cards and mother boards I have ever owned are eVGA.  I have eVGA's 1600 G2 power supply, even got the Pro SLI Bridge and an eVGA carbon mouse.  I have my friends buy eVGA mobos/GPUS.  This is coming from a big eVGA fan.  This is the first time I truly have been very disappointed with eVGA.  They still have time to make it right, but time will tell.
 
Oh and those wondering if the new models light up LEDs, Jacob has said no they don't. https://twitter.com/EVGA_...tus/547831253295460352

ManBearPig
Are you really saying that you would rather have a cheap piece of metal over ALL the improvements the new SSC has while also paying $30 more?  Even buying a back plate separate, the new SSC is cheaper than the FTW and is the superior model.  As it stands now, we FTW users payed more and received an inferior model (pay more get less).  I have no issues with the cooler, what I have issues is the OCing potential of the card.  The WHOLE reason why people spent $50 more for.  From my point of view it looks like eVGA just rushed out cards as quick as they could while using old stock to make a quick buck.  The only thing different the FTW has over reference is the better cooler, dual BIOS, and of course higher clocks.  This is very disappointing for a FTW model.  FTW used to mean something, my 670 FTW was great because it actually was much better than reference with a 680 PCB.  They made a real reason to own a FTW over reference for people who like to OC.
 
The only video cards and mother boards I have ever owned are eVGA.  I have eVGA's 1600 G2 power supply, even got the Pro SLI Bridge and an eVGA carbon mouse.  I have my friends buy eVGA mobos/GPUS.  This is coming from a big eVGA fan.  This is the first time I truly have been very disappointed with eVGA.  They still have time to make it right, but time will tell.
 
Oh and those wondering if the new models light up LEDs, Jacob has said no they don't. https://twitter.com/EVGA_...tus/547831253295460352

 
Please quote me where I said I would rather have a backplate rather than the new SCC. It was a simple statement. A lot of people saw that as a very nice perk to buying a EVGA card when they first came out.
 
No, people don't buy FTW cards for OC potential. They buy them for the clock speed they are all ready at, so they don't have to overclock. They did not promise to heighten overclock abilities, they provide stability at the specified factory overclocked settings they market.
 
If you want a binned card, you should have went with a classified or just got a vanilla version and took your chances... I've seen quite a few vanilla cards do just as good as the FTW cards, if not better when it comes to overclocking.
 

It's more of you were trying to say that getting a back plate free makes up for getting an inferior model (an excuse).  To which I was replying that it simply does not make it up since you can get the new SSC with a back plate and still cost less than a FTW.  And actually eVGA is one of the only companies that does NOT ship a back plate with their cards.  Gigabyte, ASUS, Zotac have back plates already installed.  eVGA and MSI do not.  Where is this 970 Classified that you are talking about?  First time I am ever hearing of this.  If there was one, I would have gotten one.  If the FTW was not made for OC potential, why even put a dual BIOS on?  If the new SSC and FTW+ aren't for OCing potential, why put all these extra bells and whistles on?  Why give it more power phases?  Why give it a 8+6 power adapter for extra juice?  Why give it a higher power target?  Why give it a full coverage MOSFET cooling plate?  Why totally redesign the heatsink and give it a copper baseplate and heat pipes if the original was fine?
 
Who here bought the FTW version ONLY for the higher clock speeds?  Please, if anyone did, let us know; I know some did, but I bet most here on these forums did not.  I for one did not.  And I know there is no guarantee for higher OCs and it is all lottery.  This is all about releasing a much superior model for much cheaper so soon when this is what should have been released from the start.  I have learned my lesson with just blindly buying eVGA products from now on.  Sad to say that.

I was pointing out that you can't even buy that back plate for $30 anymore, they are not in stock and no specified date of arrival. If you want one now, you will have to fork out about 60 dollars from another source, like amazon or eBay. I never said it made up for anything... I was pointing out that you get certain deals at certain times.
 
I've been on your side of the consumer market before. Back when I made my first purchase with EVGA in 2007, I bought a 8800GTS 320MB card... very shortly after, a 8800GTS 512MB card came out that was smaller, faster, more OC potential, cooler, more power efficient and cheaper than my card. I wasn't too happy, but that's how it goes. There is always going to be something better out later... sometimes it happens sooner than you would expect. 
 
As for the classified, I was mistaken... Thinking about the GTX 980. They did one for the GTX 570, GTX 670 and GTX 770 variants. Maybe that's what is to come out, rather than a FTW+ since there has not been talked about. They always come out much later than the original release or they are just changing it up a little bit and just keeping it to the SSC and FTW lines.

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Backplate-Cooling-Case-100-BP-0972-B9/dp/B00OSAT62Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420275998&sr=8-1&keywords=evga+970+backplate
eVGA 970 back plate for $30.  And eVGA is away for the holidays, which is why we haven't seen any back plates come back yet in their stores.
 
And like I said earlier, this isn't about a faster card coming out (ie 8800GTS 320 to 512, or any of the Ti versions), that is Nvidia to blame.  I am talking about eVGA and their short comings.
 
And there was no 670 Classified either.  I owned 670 FTW and would have gotten a Classified if there was one.  And I know Classifieds usually come out much later like the 980s did.  But the thing is we know they are coming out.  So people who want the best OCing potential wait since they know it's coming, instead of fooling them by releasing it latter and not telling anyone before hand.  If we would have known a much better version of the FTW (FTW+) which all of us were wanting from the start was going to come out, then we would have waited.  But the only reason they are coming out with it now is because they saw how much better the competitions cards were.  I don't see a 970 Classified coming out, that's my opinion, I believe the 970 FTW+ will be their best 970.