Slower Than A K|NGP|N, Faster Than Everything Else: EVGA Reveals GTX 980 Ti FTW

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EVGA has launched its latest iteration of the ever popular GeForce GTX 980 Ti. The GTX 980 Ti FTW ACX 2.0+ is the company's fastest clocked card short of the limited edition K|NGP|N card released earlier this year. EVGA's "For The Win" edition 980 Ti isn't ready for LN2 cooling, but it offers a number of overclocking specific features nonetheless.

Out of the box, the GTX 980 Ti FTW comes clocked at 1190 MHz with a boost clock of 1291 MHz. This puts the clock speeds trailing only the K|NGP|N edition (by only 13 MHz) and on par with EVGA's Classified 980 Ti, though EVGA has prepared this card to be pushed further still.

The power is delivered through dual 8-pin PCI-e connectors, and the card includes an 8+2 power phase, which the company said can handle 275 W maximum power draw (25 W more than reference). EVGA has also included two separate BIOSes that you can toggle with the flick of a switch found on the PCB in case something goes wrong. 

EVGA has equipped the GTX 980 Ti FTW with an ACX 2.0+ cooler featuring two dual ball-bearing fans with swept blades, which the company said are lighter and stronger than previous designs. The fans are powered by 3-phase low power motors that draw far less power than traditional fan motors. They are also so-called 0 dB fans, which won't start spinning until the GPU reaches 60 degrees.

The heatsink that the fans are cooling is made of aluminum and features vertically-oriented fins, and three 8mm-thick straight copper heat pipes running the length of the card. The "For The Win" edition card also includes EVGAs MMCP (Memory/MOSFET cooling plate), which aids in making direct contact to the components on the card.

EVGA's GeForce GTX 980 Ti FTW ACX 2.0+ is available now for a suggested price of $689.99.

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Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

34 Comments Comment from the forums
  • TechyInAZ
    So will the FTW edition give the Classified model a run for its money?
    Reply
  • junkeymonkey
    so far it a classy with the vrm's cut back to 8+2 from 14+3 ? time will tell when a good look under the hood to see what other board changes may of occurred between them ?
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    so far it a classy with the vrm's cut back to 8+2 from 14+3 ? time will tell when a good look under the hood to see what other board changes may of occurred between them ?

    I'd imagine the same kind of changes between any Classified and FTW.
    Reply
  • junkeymonkey
    well for what evga stated its just the vrm ?? but I don't know seems evga is not looking so good with there 900 cards to me

    like they could hardly keep cards in stock but yet keep releasing another new line there first gtx 980 classy got phased out and revised do to a vrm issue ??
    http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2786425/difference-gtx-980-evga.html

    kinda reminds me of how BFG got before there end .. just feel evga has too many irons in there fire , and it shows .. what do they got now just under the 980ti line up now 8-10 cards just for that line ??

    Reply
  • maban
    I don't see the point of this card. It's only $10 less than the Classified and has less VRM and power target.
    Reply
  • kcarbotte
    16607896 said:
    So will the FTW edition give the Classified model a run for its money?

    The classified edition has 16+4 power phase, and an upper limit of 300w.
    theoretically the classified should handle a better overclock, but they will be very very close either way.
    Reply
  • hasten
    Misleading title. Should specify they are only talking about EVGA cards since there are faster ti's on the market... Kingpin isn't even that fast, AMP Extreme smokes it at stock.
    Reply
  • wtfxxxgp
    Misleading title. Should specify they are only talking about EVGA cards since there are faster ti's on the market... Kingpin isn't even that fast, AMP Extreme smokes it at stock.

    Misleading title...yeah, I agree, it could be. It hasn't even been reviewed and benchmarked so I'll give you that one. Saying that Kingpin isn't that fast... are you forgetting the point of that card? It wasn't meant to stay stock. It's an ultra-enthusiast card for folks who won't shy away from O/C'ing to the extreme. So your comment is misleading too.
    Reply
  • JackNaylorPE
    The KIngpIn, like anything else, is over clocked as far as EVGA or whichever vendor is willing to put it in the box. This is how far they are willing to risk as anything that isn't stable at these speeds will be returned. I have "been there, done that" with EVGA (5 RMAs for that reason alone).

    The MSI Lightning also comes out of the box with same stats. The KIngpIn has the same stats except you have to use EVGA's OC mode to match the memory settings.:

    Core - 1203
    Memory - 7096 (7010 - OC mode brings to 7096))
    Boost - 1304
    Peak Power - 1375

    Another thing.... no reference card is meant to "stay stock". Th Lightning and HOF are no different than the KIngpIn in this respect.
    Reply
  • gmuser
    Looks like intentionally misleading ;p
    I have ASUS 980Ti STRIX, and I have no idea if that is "Faster Than Everything Else", but its lowest quoted speed is same as this EVGA (1291/1190), while its OC preset mode (basically, guaranteed OC speed at 1317/1216) is much faster.
    OC Mode - GPU Boost Clock : 1317 MHZ , GPU Base Clock : 1216 MHz
    Gaming Mode (Default) - GPU Boost Clock : 1291 MHZ , GPU Base Clock : 1190 MHz

    In fact, it was also mentioned on Toms: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asus-strix-gtx-980-ti,29505.html
    Reply