In a nutshell EVGA's 9600 GT SSC offers about 6% more performance for a 6% price increase over the reference design 9600 GT. This ensures that the cards shares the number one performance/dollar spot with the reference card. Since the performance is higher, but the power consumption is only slightly increased, EVGA's card can also claim the number one performance per Watt efficiency spot. Overall this shows that EVGA knows exactly what their product can deliver and how the competition is positioned. Combined with the EVGA limited lifetime warranty this should be a card that you can easily use for a year or two.
A negative thing I noticed was that the fan speed ramps up quickly when the card is under load for a longer period of time. Given the low load temperatures I'd have happily traded 5° or 10°C temperature for a quieter fan. If you plan to use this card with a media PC system, please be advised that neither an HDMI adapter nor an SPDIF cable for HDMI+Audio is included. The HDMI+HDCP functionality is present in the card however, all you need is the proper cabling.