EVGA 980 Ti SC ACX 2.0 Review

[Khajiit Dealer]

After many months of saving money, I was able to purchase this card to replace my 660 Ti SLI setup. When I bought it, I wasn't sure if it was going to make any discernible difference in gaming performance.






Pleasantly enough, this card blew my previous cards out of the water. With a 1080p monitor this destroys any game I throw at it, with the exception of ultra-modded Skyrim and Total War Attila. I have not tested it with a 1440p monitor but I am confident that it would run well at that resolution.

Games I've tested: Witcher 3, Star Wars Battlefront 3, Skyrim, Garry's Mod, Europa Universalis 4, Just Cause 2, Chivalry Medieval Warfare, Far Cry 4, Dying Light, Mount and Blade: Warband, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Total War Rome 2, Total War Attila, and Kerbal Space Program.

Alright, let's get to the list of pros and cons.

Pros:
-Amazing Gaming Performance at 1920x1080p resolution
-Much better cooling than reference 980 Ti (Runs at load 70C-74C whereas reference runs 83C-86C) due to ACX fans
-Amazing EVGA Customer Support
-3 year warranty
-Warranty covers overclocking
-Came with extra 8 and 6 pin connectors that I actually needed for my PSU
-Runs silent when not gaming
-Very small premium on card for extra cooling and factory overclock
-Clock speed reached 1272 MHz without any manual overclocking
-Changeable LED name color
-Card looks great

Cons:
-Loud under load (coil whine)
-Not the best for overclocking, could only push it to 1400MHz before experiencing problems (silicon lottery)
-Packaging had no foam, only plastic
-Power draw (250 Watts)


Neutral:
-Card is very large, will not fit in some cases
-Accidentally tore off warranty sticker on card because I could barely read it, had to put it back on

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. The card's pros outweigh the cons and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to purchase a premium 980 Ti card without shattering the bank.

 

8.5/10

[Senzelian]

You forgot the probably best pro about this and all the other cards with the ACX 2.0 cooler:

The fans.
The ACX 2.0 cooler is the only one with 3 phase / 6 slot motors to reduce vibrations and power consumption. That makes it the quietest cooler on the market.

 

Even be Quiet will have 3 phase / 6 slot motors in their upcoming Silent Wings 3 fans.

Otherwise, well done. Nice review.

[Khajiit Dealer]

You forgot the probably best pro about this and all the other cards with the ACX 2.0 cooler:

The fans.

The ACX 2.0 cooler is the only one with 3 phase / 6 slot motors to reduce vibrations and power consumption. That makes it the quietest cooler on the market.

 

Even be Quiet will have 3 phase / 6 slot motors in their upcoming Silent Wings 3 fans.

Otherwise, well done. Nice review.

 

I included the cooling in the Pros section, thanks for the input! 

[Khajiit Dealer]

Edited to include aesthetics.

[ThiefZero]

Was hoping this card would be without coil whine. It seems a common issue amongst all 980 Ti's, think there is a design flaw by Nvidia or something? I'm looking to purchase a 980 ti but spending €750 on a GPU that has coil whine is just plain wrong in my opinion :\.

[Khajiit Dealer]

Was hoping this card would be without coil whine. It seems a common issue amongst all 980 Ti's, think there is a design flaw by Nvidia or something? I'm looking to purchase a 980 ti but spending €750 on a GPU that has coil whine is just plain wrong in my opinion :\.

I got unlucky with my card, not all of them have coil whine.

[ThiefZero]

I got unlucky with my card, not all of them have coil whine.

 

I'm starting to think they all do, but some people are just not as sensitive to it or play less demanding games on 60 fps.

 

Really contemplating about rolling the dice myself though. Thanks for the review.

[Guest]

Was hoping this card would be without coil whine. It seems a common issue amongst all 980 Ti's, think there is a design flaw by Nvidia or something? I'm looking to purchase a 980 ti but spending €750 on a GPU that has coil whine is just plain wrong in my opinion :\.

My GPU doesn't have coil whine (same processor.)