EVGA GTX 980 Ti Classified ACX 2.0+ Review

The EVGA GTX 980 Ti Classified ACX 2.0+ is a well-designed graphics card that uses its enhanced power delivery system and twin-fan cooler to operate at almost 1400MHz out-of-the-box.

EVGA ships the card with a core clock of 1190MHz and a rated boost speed of 1291MHz, making this the company's second-fastest GTX 980 Ti solution. While a 190MHz increase over the reference core clock is impressive, some competitors (notably Asus, Zotac, and KFA2) do indeed ship their cards with higher rated core frequencies. Nevertheless, EVGA's card stabilised at 1392MHz on the core while gaming.

Overclocking performance from EVGA's solution was strong. We netted an additional 100MHz on the core without even increasing the voltage level. Simply adding 100MHz to the core clock and increasing the power limit by 15% resulted in a maximum recorded frequency of 1492MHz during games. Memory hit an impressive 2103MHz for an effective bandwidth of 8.4Gbps.

EVGA's ACX 2.0+ cooler is an effective solution. The company has proven that a combination of flattened heatpipes, dense fin arrays, and dual 100mm fans are perfectly capable of taming an overclocked GM200 GPU. Beneath the heatsink is EVGA's MMCP (memory MOSFET cooling plate) which helps to remove heat from the important memory chips and power delivery components.

The chosen fans operated quietly and cooling effectiveness of the backplate was superb. Other than no clear control for the subtle LEDs, I do not see much to dislike about the card's design, although its physical dimensions may create clearance headaches. With that said, this card (and its supplementary LN2-orientated BIOS and EVBot connection) is designed for overclockers who are unlikely to cram it inside a SFF chassis.

At a penny shy of £600 at OverclockersUK, the EVGA GTX 980 Ti Classified ACX 2.0+ is one of the most expensive air-cooled GTX 980 Ti solutions on the market. But geared as an overclocking product thanks to its selectable BIOS chips and EVBot support, and backed by a heavily tweaked PCB with a 14+3 phase power delivery system, it is hard to argue that the price premium is unjustified.

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Pros:

• Strong factory overclock and out-of-the-box operating frequency.
• Well-designed cooling solution.
• Quiet operation, with silent fans up to 60°C.
• Dual BIOS chips with switch and EVBot support.
• 14+3 phase power delivery system, with no coil whine.
• Superb after-sales and warranty services from EVGA.

Cons:

• Not the highest factory-overclocked GTX 980 Ti solution.
• Memory is barely overclocked out-of-the-box.

KitGuru says: EVGA's GTX 980 Ti Classified ACX 2.0+ is a well-designed solution that has serious potential to push much further than its factory clocks, and has the overclocker features to assist in doing so.

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