EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB GAMING, Silent Cooling Graphics Card 06G-P4-4990-KR

I bought this as a tax return gift to myself to replace the EVGA SSC GTX 960 I originally bought with my desktop build. The performance difference is there, it is noticeable in gaming, and it is quite substantial to say the least. I have already reviewed the GTX 960 card I originally had, but in light of it's popularity, I will follow a similar review format here.For anyone who is new to buying these parts or is interested in some facts to help make purchasing decisions, I will go over the reasoning behind my personal choices. First, I chose nVidia over AMD for my Graphics Card Unit (GPU) because, historically, AMD cards run hotter, and use more power compared to their nVidia counterparts. For a real-world example, the Fury X is the closest AMD card to the performance of the 980Ti (in benchmarks the 980Ti typically nets about 5-15 more FPS compared to the Fury X in both 4K and 1080p). This card under a heavy gaming load, drew 408W (according to AnandTech), whereas the 980Ti drew 388W (same source). The difference isn't much, but it's there. In regards to heat, AMD has been getting better, and typically the Fury X produces less heat under load.I chose EVGA for their customer service reputation, as well as stellar cooling and factory overclocks, and backplate. Not much else to brands really.I love this card. It obviously outperforms the 960 I previously used, but it kicks ass more than I imagined. This card is fairly capable of maxing out the settings (at 1080p) on about 90-95% of games and running at a solid 60 FPS. In my system, my CPU bottlenecks this card occasionally, depending on the demands of the game I'm (Fallout 4 for example). It runs pretty cool most of the time. Mine idles around 40 C, which is a tad hot, but not horrible. The fans can get really loud if you crank them to 100%, but they have never gotten there even based on my aggressive fan curve.Its the typical EVGA GPU finish. Matte black, some silver highlights, complete with a white LED brand/model label that faces towards the side of the case. It has plenty of ports (1 HDMI, 1 DVI, 3 DP). It comes with a DVI to VGA adapter as well. All port come with dust blockers.It fit perfectly fine in my (albeit overly-large) Corsair 750D Airflow Edition case on my ASUS Z97-A motherboard.Due to a lack of actual performance information present in most people's reviews, I decided to have a section for in-game benchmark information, as touch on comparisons between it and the 960.=========================================================================================================Firstly, I'll list the parts in the rig I did these benchmarks in:Intel i5-4690K overclocked to 4.4 GHz @ 1.2 VEVGA GTX SC 980TiASUS Z97-A24 GB of DDR3 @ 1600 MHzEVGA 750 G2 Power SupplyWindows 10 ProWhen I did the 960 benchmarks, my CPU was not overclocked, but I have compared the performance difference in-game from before and after the overclock with the 980Ti. In the best-case scenario, the overclocking only changed the FPS ~5 from stock CPU clock speed in nearly everything, so my results - 5 FPS, would be a fair comparison to the 980Ti with my CPU at a stock clock speed.In general, the 980Ti gets 15+ FPS more than the 960, in some games getting 30+ FPS more. I will note the performance difference for each benchmark that I have information on both.On to benchmarks!:BioShock Infinite: Ultra/Max settingsAVERAGE: 139MINIMUM: 37MAXIMUM: 252Average FPS was 67 FPS higher than the SSC 960Hitman: Absolution: Ultra settings w/ MSAA offAVERAGE: 85MINIMUM: 70MAXIMUM: 102Average FPS was 15 FPS higher than the SSC 960Thief: High presetAVERAGE: 101MINIMUM: 71MAXIMUM: 143Average FPS was 41 FPS higher than the SSC 960Metro 2033 Redux: Max setting w/ Tesselation on High, SSAA off & Advanced PhysX offAVERAGE: 87MINIMUM: 26MAXIMUM: 268Average FPS was 18 FPS higher than the SSC 960Just Cause 2: Max settingsThe Dark Tower AVERAGE: 130Desert Sunrise AVERAGE: 146Concrete Jungle AVERAGE: 97Average FPS' were 33 - 69 FPS higher than the SSC 960Benchmarks with no comparison:Hitman: Absolution: Ultra presetAVERAGE: 53MINIMUM: 44MAXIMUM: 144Thief: Very High preset w/ 16xAVERAGE: 97MINIMUM: 71MAXIMUM: 124Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor: Ultra settings without HD texture pack installedAVERAGE: 116MINIMUM: 79MAXIMUM: 164Metro 2033 Redux: Max settingsAVERAGE: 51MINIMUM: 16MAXIMUM: 162Metro: Last Light Redux: Max settingsAVERAGE: 69MINIMUM: 19MAXIMUM: 147Grand Theft Auto V: Max settings with all Advanced Graphics options offAVERAGE: 49MINIMUM: 29MAXIMUM: 119The Talos Principle: Ultra presetAVERAGE: 143

Let me start by saying, I build my own systems and have built my own systems since 1992, so I am not a novice at this. I work in the computer industry, so I am not an amateur by any stretch. I purchased this card because I wanted to build a portable gaming system, one that I could easily transport between rooms (not necessarily other locations). I put everything together, I overclocked everything EXCEPT for the card only because this was my first time working with this sort of card so I wanted to test it out at spec before I dove in and played with the settings. It worked great for the first 37 days. No complaints, except for the fact that about 3 days ago I started to hear a faint amount of burbling coming from it when I was running some fairly memory-intensive games. But nothing that would be considered loud by any stretch, so it didn't concern me at the time. My entire system, running maxxed-out on various games, is usually running around 30°C (maybe as high as 35). Last night, my computer started up and the card was running at 47°C. I loaded up World of Warcraft for my daughter to play and 20 minutes into the game it was up at 90°C and shut down the computer. No overclocking. No other problems from my system. And World of Warcraft? Not exactly a high-end hit on the graphics side of things...but the card was HOT! I unplugged it from the motherboard and checked for any obvious holes or whatnot and found nothing (and my board is dry obviously), so I let it cool down and thought maybe air bubbles were causing some issues. I plugged it back in and tried again. This time, it made it almost 25 minutes before doing the same thing. Yeah, I will be contacting EVGA to find out what they intend to do about this because - SURPRISE! SURPRISE! - I am just past the 30-day return policy for Amazon. Go figure. I've had a GTX 970 card running in a Minecraft server that never shuts down for over 3 years now without fail, so I know they make good products. But this one was a dud. Let's hope the next one lets me revise this review and say how great the company was about this and how great the product turned out to be. I don't do many reviews, but when I feel they are necessary (like this) I let people know my experiences just in case. I'm not saying don't buy this card. I'm saying I hope you get one that is not like mine; because the 37 days it was running it was an amazing card. Surpassed anything I've had (although a co-worker talked me down from dual 1080 cards - that would have been something I think).Revised - OK, the RMA process was very simple. People assured me that EVGA is a great company to work with, and they were not wrong. One simple phone call from me, one simple email from them, and the card is on it's way back to them for a replacement. I had the option of sending my card back first or having them ship me a card first (paying for it, then having them refund me when the old one was received). I chose to ship the card back first because I have a spare 970 to use in the interim, so I'm not down; otherwise, I would have gone with the second option. After I get the new card and let it run for at least 37 days, I'll revise again and let people know my thoughts.Re-Revised...OK, it's been re-installed back into the machine and running virtually nonstop since then. I have been powering down my computer at odd intervals due to other reasons that have nothing to do with performance or heat. The new card came back to me without a hitch and has been working just as I expected an EVGA card to do. My system runs cool, and so too does my graphics card again. I'm running at about 18°C when idling, and I have been maybe as high as 41°C when running certain games at ultra settings, but usually around about 36°C. I know that seems like only a little bit of a difference, but it's not to me. So, the new card seems to run slightly hotter than the last one at idle, but lower at gaming with ultra settings. I think this is something I can live with, especially since the new placement of the computer puts the fans within reach and I still feel cool-to-warmish (but not hot) air being expelled. Oh yeah, and still not overclocking the card at this point although I feel like I could do so without issues or live without it and be just fine. So, changing my title and my opinion to match the latest.