Zotac Geforce GTX 970 4GB AMP! Extreme edition is VERY SEXY!

[I/O]

The acx 2.0 cooler was released around a week or so ago, the news of a "shifty cooler" was before it was out.

That's the ACX 2.0 it's been out for awhile. The Cooler on the FTW edition cards is a different cooler. I highly doubt they are going to release another ACX 2.0 cooler when the cooler was just released to the public less than one month ago.

[BenD]

not as ugly as a strix...

[I/O]

not as ugly as a strix...

Good thing all you see is the sexy back plate on the STRIX when it's in the rig.

 

 

[CCap]

 2 VGA.

what is this, 2002?

[TheKDub]

That's the ACX 2.0 it's been out for awhile. The Cooler on the FTW edition cards is a different cooler. I highly doubt they are going to release another ACX 2.0 cooler when the cooler was just released to the public less than one month ago.

 

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/evga-geforce-gtx-970-acx-has-misaligned-gpu-vs-heatpipes.html

 

http://www.eteknix.com/evga-respond-possible-design-flaw-gtx-970-acx/

 

Recently, we covered a story on the new EVGA GeForce GTX 970 ACX having a possible design flaw or manufacturing defect where the GPU die only makes contact with 2 of the 3 heatpipes included in their cooler design. You can check out the full story here. Since then, we’ve contacted EVGA and asked for a response to give any substance to the claims and if the cooler design was intentional.

EVGA have given their response below:

“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 3rd 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.

 

They are talking about the ACX cooler having the heatpipe issue (Which isn't a big issue as the cooler still performs just fine), not the ACX 2.0 cooler, 

[Bhav]

*rubs my darling gigabyte G1 GTX 970* none of the above can beat you my darling.....triple display ports,single HDMI and a DVT port ....I'm gonna insert you my darling

What about my pair of Gigabyte Windforce OCs (non G1s) that run at 1541 / 7800 on stock voltage?

And they were £50 less!

[Razzaa]

What about my pair of Gigabyte Windforce OCs (non G1s) that run at 1541 / 7800 on stick voltage?

And they were £50 less!

Ya Stick Voltage is OP!!!

[Bhav]

Fix'd, doh.

[I/O]

They are talking about the ACX cooler having the heatpipe issue (Which isn't a big issue as the cooler still performs just fine), not the ACX 2.0 cooler, 

It is the ACX 2.0 with the issues that's what they are talking about and that's why I linked the picture of the ACX 2.0 with maligned heat pipes.

[TheKDub]

It is the ACX 2.0 with the issues that's what they are talking about and that's why I linked the picture of the ACX 2.0 with maligned heat pipes.

 

It doesn't really matter if the heatpipe is aligned so it makes direct contact or not, as long as the card stays cool there should be nothing to complain about.

[I/O]

It doesn't really matter if the heatpipe is aligned so it makes direct contact or not, as long as the card stays cool there should be nothing to complain about.

Well the problem is fan noise and increased heat. The fans have to spin up more on the ACX to compensate for the crap designed cooler and even still runs hotter than all other aftermarket cooled 970s.

[shorinman]

Not too big of a fan of this particular model's aesthetics.  I am more of a Strix DC2OC by ASUS kinda guy    (hint hint... might be buying soon to replace my ole' reference 7970...)

[Bhav]

Can someone explain why the ACX 2.0 cooler is bad? Also why is the windforce so effective? Especially the weaker windforce cooler on the non G1s? (It only has 2 x 6mm heatpipes, but still keeps the GPUs in SLI under 70 degrees when OCed with 50-60% fan speed).

[I/O]

Can someone explain why the ACX 2.0 cooler is bad? Also why is the windforce so effective? Especially the weaker windforce cooler on the non G1s? (It only has 2 x 6mm heatpipes, but still keeps the GPUs in SLI under 70 degrees when OCed with 50-60% fan speed).

ACX 2.0 = Bad coil whine, loud cooler and mis placed heat pipes with the third not even touching the GPU or even closed for that matter. Look at the pic posted above.

[Bhav]

Oh right I see, a whole wasted heatpipe. Im not taking the coolers off mine because they are performing wonderfully without being touched (first time ever for that too, I always need to repaste MSI cards), so I cant check the GPU / contact area, but from that screenshot it looks like the GTX 970 / 980 arent using the usual heatspreader on top of the GPU? Just the exposed GPU this time around?

 

Pictures and early OCing results of my cards:

 

http://forums.hexus.net/graphics-cards/332257-gigabyte-windforce-oc-970-a.html

 

Im overvolting them now, unfortunately they arent 1600 Mhz capable but going to around 1560-1570 Mhz with +87mV.

 

Nah, they arent responding well to overvolting, I cant even get 1560 stable while 1540 is stable on stock voltage.