Pros: This thing is FAST. Even though this is a reference clocked card, users will find this card overclocks much higher; mine is stable at 1400 MHz BASE clock and boosts to 1592 at full load with temperatures at 61 C and fan load at a meager 50%, which is not loud at all. I run a 4k monitor with two of these and can get 60 FPS in most games set at High- Very High settings which at this resolutions outweighs the extra post-processing and aliasing you would otherwise be able to enjoy. SLI temps at 50% fan load are 61 C for top card and 55 C for bottom card (ON AIR!) The ACX 2.0 is really an efficient design. Having the fans spin the other way then usual (bringing hot air off the card and not cold air toward) results in great air cooled SLI setups as one card isn't breathing the hot air from thee next card. Also this way the fans don't create as much turbulence in the case, making air cooling feasible and the rest of the case stays relatively cool as hot air is exhausted the correct way and not stuffed into the VRMs or RAM.

Cons: Price. Even though these are still cheaper than last years big boys, $550 is a lot to shovel out, and the 970 offers a an amazingly good bargain at that price/ performance ratio. However, I like the absolute best so that did not bias my decision for these cards, as they are indeed better performers than the 970 at an absolute.

Pros: The cards are fast. I game at 1440p, and even oneof these cards is able to output Watch Dogs at the Ultra preset with TXAA 2X at an average of 40 fps. The 6 GB frame buffer really does help, especially if you give the memory a slight push with the overclocking features of this card. For those of you interested, I was able to overclock this to about 1210 Mhz on the core before things got unstable. Even then, temps stayed right around 71C, so not too shabby especially for air cooling. I own TWO of these cards and really only enable SLIw hen Ineed the extra push like in some of the more modern games (or for when I will need it with newer games).In SLI, though, these cards can run pretty hot (top 82C and bottom 67C at max loads), but not bad overall.

Cons: This ismarked as theOC version on Newegg and even on the case, but when Irecieved mine the cores were only clocked to 901 mhz, so beware of faulty advertising! to get the 954 core clock without OC, you must enable OC Mode in the MSI Gaming App. -Runs hot in SLI air cooling setup

Overall Review: I wanted something with a little more oomph without spending as much to get a 780 Ti. I actually consider this an upgrade from a Ti counterpart due to the larger frame buffer and the near identical FPS numbers. Overclocked, I get better than 780 TI stock performance which is a definite plus. These are mini-Titan Blacks; BUY THEM! Plus, these are more future proof.