EVGA Announces the GeForce GTX 970 SSC Graphics Card

[btarunr]

The new generation of EVGA GeForce GTX 970 has arrived with the SSC. This enhanced model offers improved cooling, double BIOS support, new display output configuration, and 6 power phases for robust overclocking support.

These new cards also feature EVGA ACX 2.0 cooling that features optimized swept fan blades, double ball bearings, and an extreme low power motor. The EVGA ACX 2.0 cooler offers more air flow, with less power, unlocking additional power for the GPU.



New Features:

• dBi - dB Noise Inverter turns fans off below 60C, generating 0dB of noise during idle!
• QSD BIOS - Quick Switch Dual BIOS allows you to switch to a secondary BIOS with the flick of a switch.
• MMCP - Memory MOSFET Cooling Plate reduces MOSFET temps by 47% and Memory by 14%
• OPT - Optimized Power Target offers 33% more power over reference
• SHP - Straight Heat Pipes reduce GPU temperature by almost 5C!

Learn more about the new EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC, here.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[THE_EGG]

And yet it still does not have a backplate (from the looks of it at least). I would have thought that with all the improvements they would add a backplate considering this was criticised in some reviews.

Still though, the extra overclocking ability should be good And it will be interesting to see how the revised cooler performs now against the competition.

 

[ZoneDymo]

fantastic yo....now I guess its time to wait for the FTW edition for even MOAR EXTREME PERFORMANCE!

 

[mstenholm]

47 % reduction in temperature . Let's say it was 80 C = 353,12 K (yes we use SI units which is the only unit hat you can use for percentage calculation). Minus 47 % is around 165,97 degree K reduction. 353,12 - 165,97 = 187,15 degree K = minus 86 C. Stop making stupid claims. Never owned a EVGA product and never will in the future.

I had a look at my old Giga GTX 680 box a few days ago and they at least used one understandable claim - - 14 dB (ok, no reference to if it was 1 m and A adjusted, but still borderline OK). And then they have the second which is in the EVGA league - 20 % cooler. Not good either and yes that was my last Giga GPU as well.

 

[natr0n]

super super clocked

 

[dj-electric]

EVGA, BFG sends its regards from the grave. Same cooler, slightly higher clocks.
OC
OC2
OCX
OCXtreme420

 

[64K]

fantastic yo....now I guess its time to wait for the FTW edition for even MOAR EXTREME PERFORMANCE!

The FTW edition is already available.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...077&cm_re=evga_gtx_970-_-14-487-077-_-Product

 

[MxPhenom 216]

fantastic yo....now I guess its time to wait for the FTW edition for even MOAR EXTREME PERFORMANCE!

Or KingPin, but its a 980.

http://wccftech.com/gtx-980-classified-kingpin-edition/

 

[Blue-Knight]

generating 0dB of noise during idle!

OK, that's an unwanted behavior for me. I like to hear noise.

Stop making stupid claims.

It is business, to lie is the minimum they will do to convince you to buy their products.

Never owned a EVGA product and never will in the future.

Me too. Unless they conquer a monopoly.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

This the same old ACX 2.0? Thought they'd go 3.0 by now to catch up with Asus/MSI.

 

[zzzaac]

This the same old ACX 2.0? Thought they'd go 3.0 by now to catch up with Asus/MSI.

It's ACX 2, but it's completely different, the PCB is also different. It seems they fixed the cooler issue

 

[timta2]

47 % reduction in temperature . Let's say it was 80 C = 353,12 K (yes we use SI units which is the only unit hat you can use for percentage calculation). Minus 47 % is around 165,97 degree K reduction. 353,12 - 165,97 = 187,15 degree K = minus 86 C. Stop making stupid claims. Never owned a EVGA product and never will in the future.

I had a look at my old Giga GTX 680 box a few days ago and they at least used one understandable claim - - 14 dB (ok, no reference to if it was 1 m and A adjusted, but still borderline OK). And then they have the second which is in the EVGA league - 20 % cooler. Not good either and yes that was my last Giga GPU as well.

I'm no math or science expert, but my common sense tells me that's wrong.

 

[Batou1986]

I cant help but think EVGA is grasping at straws for marketing when I see things like "250% less fan power", when in the history of VGA cards has anyone cared about how much power the on card fans are drawing.
The 700% stronger 25% lighter fan blades crack me up as well.

 

[alwayssts]

fantastic yo....now I guess its time to wait for the FTW edition for even MOAR EXTREME PERFORMANCE!

Had mine since October (first batch). The cooler has a full contact aluminum plate (similar to this) but more pipes. It works fine, although the ram doesn't overclock great (perhaps due to no secondary/back plate, vrm setup, or simply not binning early cards...some peoples' clock just as well as other 970s). The bios it shipped with also had a weird quirk that would cause it to throttle at the high-end (1500mhz+), but that was quickly remedied by the community (to allow for 250w). I, perhaps like many, modded my bios closer to 300w, and tbh it never gets near that (with any of my testing that accounted for overvolting to 1.23-1.24v and testing load until the fan was annoying). The 250w bios out there should be just fine if someone ends up buying that model. I imagine the new 'ftw+' fixed that and did similar to the SSC ('33% more power').

And yet it still does not have a backplate (from the looks of it at least). I would have thought that with all the improvements they would add a backplate considering this was criticised in some reviews.

It was offered for free a good chunk of last year through their website...I got one. It looks like the one in that guy's next vid.

Still haven't put it on, but they did remedy the situation. As he mentions, it now ships with it.

I ain't gonna lie...It bugs me how their original cards shipped; across the product line from board design, some original acx coolers on some cards, to bios. I would like that secondary plate (memory/mosfet contact plate; mine is a partial plate) and what looks like a better vrm setup. That said, true custom designs take time (and patience) and award those that wait for them, and the new cards are longer (10.1), and may have been a PITA (if even possible) to fit in my case. I'm glad they launched a decent-ish 9.5'' version when nobody else did, and in reality the improvements don't add so much that I really care. What they've done simply elevates them from a normal 970 (that clocks to around 1519 max boost) to top tier that can tap out the capabilities of the chip...which really is only a minimal amount higher.

 

[HumanSmoke]

I cant help but think EVGA is grasping at straws for marketing when I see things like "250% less fan power", when in the history of VGA cards has anyone cared about how much power the on card fans are drawing.

It's called PR, and pretty much every company does it. At least it's more a change from graphics card vendors touting Windows 7 compatibility as a "feature".
On a related note, I don't think I've ever actually taken any notice of marketing claims when buying a graphics board. Call me unconventional, but I'd sooner rely on common sense, site and user reviews, and some basic research. As a company, I still prefer to buy from EVGA because of the serial number-based warranty implementation which helps in reselling the boards. Their support - at least for me has been first rate (as have Sapphire and PNY FWIW)....so no jumping through hoops (Asus and Gigabyte support), no warranty voiding on buying a card sourced in another geographic distribution area (MSI), and no having the same defective parts shipped back to me untested (XFX).

I think I'd trade the tangible benefits over some PR fluff on the site all things considered.

 

[alwayssts]

It's called PR, and pretty much every company does it. At least it's more a change from graphics card vendors touting Windows 7 compatibility as a "feature".
On a related note, I don't think I've ever actually taken any notice of marketing claims when buying a graphics board. Call me unconventional, but I'd sooner rely on common sense, site and user reviews, and some basic research. As a company, I still prefer to buy from EVGA because of the serial number-based warranty implementation which helps in reselling the boards. Their support - at least for me has been first rate (as have Sapphire and PNY FWIW)....so no jumping through hoops (Asus and Gigabyte support), no warranty voiding on buying a card sourced in another geographic distribution area (MSI), and no having the same defective parts shipped back to me untested (XFX).

I think I'd trade the tangible benefits over some PR fluff on the site all things considered.

I'm with ya, although I do also find some of the claims humorous, if not deceiving in this case. The fan is one such bullet point: in a world where all boards/max tdp are the same it would be a (small) benefit, but when their original board designs lacked a sufficient vrm/mosfet design or max tdp (compared to other vendors) in bios to tap out the board and/or chip, it simply makes it ironic. When you factor in either that people can bios mod the cards, or that these new designs have done that for users already, it becomes what most people with common sense originally saw it as: meaningless.

I think if one were to say they were trying to 'cover-up' their initial cost-saving design decisions (and hold-over non full-contact hsf) with marketing...they wouldn't be wrong. In fact, I think when vendors start pushing obscure/inconsequential benefits that's usually a good sign something is amiss. The more they tell you about one aspect, the less they probably want you to know about something else. Look at my right hand, while my left picks your pocket...as it were. That is, of course, how marketing (and the world) generally works.

As for vendors, while size typically dictates my potential options, from there I'm with you on user/trusted reviewer opinions/customer service-warranty. Both Sapphire (which have always been great in every aspect) and eVGA seem to me to be the ones to beat in their respective areas. Evga seemed to have had a great reputation up to the 970 release, and have since issued a huge (as much as they could without admitting 'fault') mea culpa with a ton of community interaction. They not only rectified a lot of issues on current boards with new bioses (such as adding a zero-fan option for those that don't know how to do it themselves) and free backplates...when many companies would have just deafly marched forward or swept it under the rug...They also released these revisions which appear top-notch compared to even the best alternatives. I truly believe this 'situation' taught them something, and what they learned will only strengthen their future efforts...especially out of the gate with early revisions using new chips.

BTW, while we're on aib experiences, I will go even further and contribute by throwing Powercolor under the bus (whom did exactly what xfx did to you...what kind of BS is that?).

 

[THE_EGG]

As for vendors, while size typically dictates my potential options, from there I'm with you on user/trusted reviewer opinions/customer service-warranty. Both Sapphire (which have always been great in every aspect) and eVGA seem to me to be the ones to beat in their respective areas. Evga seemed to have had a great reputation up to the 970 release, and have since issued a huge (as much as they could without admitting 'fault') mea culpa with a ton of community interaction. They not only rectified a lot of issues on current boards with new bioses (such as adding a zero-fan option for those that don't know how to do it themselves) and free backplates...when many companies would have just deafly marched forward or swept it under the rug...They also released these revisions which appear top-notch compared to even the best alternatives. I truly believe this 'situation' taught them something, and what they learned will only strengthen their future efforts...especially out of the gate with early revisions using new chips.

It should teach many other companies the same lesson hopefully. I will always have a bad taste in my mouth with Volkswagen because of a poor ( I mean life-threatening at times) experience with them. They did not rectify any issues for those that had the problem and still continue to say there is nothing wrong with their gearboxes and sometimes even pass the blame onto customers.

Anyways, I think too that it is great the EVGA has approached the problems/issues with their 900 series cards really constructively and tried their hardest to bring back their reputation (although without ever really admitting their was any design floors which is clever really). Also for those consumers that were negatively affected by any issues with the new 900 series cards, they seemed to do a great job at fixing those issues. Kudos to EVGA.

 

[Air]

I'm no math or science expert, but my common sense tells me that's wrong.

He is correct, you have to use the full scale to use a decrease % number.

EVGA probably considerated 0 °C as the minimum absolute temperature, instead of 0 K. Which ofc is blatantly wrong. But... Marketing math, thats how it is. If they did it correctly it would not sound so impressive.

 

[HumanSmoke]

He is correct, you have to use the full scale to use a decrease % number.
EVGA probably considerated 0 °C as the minimum absolute temperature, instead of 0 K. Which ofc is blatantly wrong. But...

I would have thought it was pretty obvious that the percentage decrease was in comparison with board that relied upon air movement over the VRM and GDDR5 IC's rather than the cooling plate/heatsink employed on the SSC (and FTW and Classy for that matter). Not that I believe the cooling plates claimed effectiveness

Marketing math, thats how it is. If they did it correctly it would not sound so impressive.

It isn't just restricted to number claims. Marketing manipulation of data extends much further. For example, when you start a graph at 80% to visually accentuate a performance disparity...

 

[Air]

EVGA probably considerated 0 °C as the minimum absolute temperature, instead of 0 K. Which ofc is blatantly wrong. But...
I would have thought it was pretty obvious that the percentage decrease was in comparison with board that relied upon air movement over the VRM and GDDR5 IC's rather than the cooling plate/heatsink employed on the SSC (and FTW and Classy for that matter). Not that I believe the cooling plates claimed effectiveness

Maybe what they mean is reduction of temperature considering "rise over ambient" temperatures, instead of absolute temperatures. Which kinda makes sense, but they should say so.

It isn't just restricted to number claims. Marketing manipulation of data extends much further. For example, when you start a graph at 80% to visually accentuate a performance disparity...

Thats pretty low...