When comparing EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC Gaming ACX 3.0 vs Asus GeForce GTX 1070 ROG Strix OC, the Slant community recommends Asus GeForce GTX 1070 ROG Strix OC for most people. In the question“What are the best GTX 1070 cards?” Asus GeForce GTX 1070 ROG Strix OC is ranked 2nd while EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC Gaming ACX 3.0 is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose Asus GeForce GTX 1070 ROG Strix OC is:
The GTX 1070 Asus ROG Strix, like its powerful sibling (GTX 1080 ROG Strix) has a full-size metallic backplate which provides extra rigidity. Around the backplate Asus has included Aura RGB lighting with a wide array of different effects available, making the ROG Strix a good choice for building a rig into a windowed chassis. The effects and color can be customized by installing an additional free utility which is also pretty lightweight.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Great noise levels, stays quiet during operation
EVGA has used the ACX 3.0 cooler on a number of their graphics cards and it is widely known for its low noise production. The GTX 1070 SC Gaming is no exception. In idle situations, the fans aren't active and thus the graphics card is silent. The ACX 3.0 cooler user passive cooling (without spinning of the fans) for temperatures up to 60 degrees Celsius.
When using the card in a more intensive full load situation, maximum sound production measured was 38 decibels (A), which is a great result. The reference cooler of the GTX 1070 is also fairly quiet at 40 dBA - the difference here is less noticeable. There was also no noticeable coil whine (an undesirable high-pitched sound).
Pro Overclocks really well
The EVGA GTX 1070 SC allows for further generous overclocking of the card, even though the card has already been somewhat overclocked in-factory. In this case, an extra increase of 120 MHz was achieved without any major issues, for a total of 1715 MHz compared to the reference 1506 MHz. This resulted in an even higher performance, with 18224 3DMark Firestrike points compared to the non-overclocked SC version with 16680 points, a 9.25% increase.
Pro 3 Year Warranty
Pro Slightly higher performance than the Founders Edition
The GTX 1070 SC Gaming ACX 3.0 features a slightly higher clock speed of 1594 MHz, which is a 6% increase compared to the Founders Edition. This results in a slightly better performance, although the difference isn't really noticeable in most situations. In Rise of the Tomb Raider for example, the GTX 1070 SC achieves an average FPS of 111 in 1080p resolution with maximum settings, compared to the FE's 108 frames per second.
The results are more impressive in DOOM, where the overclocked EVGA card manages to achieve an average of 156 FPS (1080p), which is a 10% improvement over the Founders Edition's 142 frames per second.
Testing Hitman at 1080p shows a subtle difference: 88 FPS for the EVGA GTX 1070 SC while the reference FE card achieves 86 frames per second. When gaming in 1440p or 4K, the difference is slightly higher with 69 vs 65 FPS and 40 vs 37 FPS respectively.
Pro Low operating temperatures prevent throttling
The ACX 3.0 cooler used on the GTX 1070 SC Gaming offers slightly better temperatures compared to the reference cooler used on the Founders Edition. In idle, the GPU heats up to a maximum of 37 degrees Celsius. This is actually an increase of seven degrees compared to the Founders Edition, but the fans of the SC version don't spin up at all under 60 degrees and are thus passive. If preferred, you can adjust this with the included software.
Under load, the EVGA SC reaches a maximum of 72 degrees Celsius, which is a minor improvement over the 76 degrees of the reference GTX 1070. Throttling never occurs with the EVGA GTX 1070 SC ACX 3.0. Throttling occurs when temperatures of around 80° C are reached, in which case the graphics card will clock itself down in order to remain cool, effectively sacrificing performance.
Pro Good build quality
The GTX 1070 Asus ROG Strix, like its powerful sibling (GTX 1080 ROG Strix) has a full-size metallic backplate which provides extra rigidity. Around the backplate Asus has included Aura RGB lighting with a wide array of different effects available, making the ROG Strix a good choice for building a rig into a windowed chassis.
The effects and color can be customized by installing an additional free utility which is also pretty lightweight.
Pro Above-average cooling
The triple-fan cooling system and the optional fans you can add push ROG Strix' cooling performance to above-average levels for a GTX 1070 card. Without any additional fans and under heavy load it will rarely surpass the 61 degree C limit with only the Zotac GTX 1070 AMP! Extreme having better cooling.
Pro Additional fans can be attached for even better cooling
There are two four-pin headers at the end of the PCB used to attach additional fans. These headers can be used to improve even more the excellent cooling that the ROG Strix provides.
Pro Has a second HDMI port for added Virtual Reality compatibility
Instead of having three DisplayPorts like most GTX 1070 cards, Asus have opted to exchange one of them in favor of an additional HDMI port. According to them, this change has been implemented to make it possible to attach both a VR device and a display at the same time. This increases VR compatibility since there have been problems with DisplayPort as a conduit for VR headsets.
Cons
Con VRM area is a hotspot on the card
While a backplate will make your graphics card more durable, it can trap heat in some areas. On this EVGA GTX 1070, the backplate traps heat around the VRM area - which can warm up to 96 degrees Celsius when at 100% (as seen here).
Con Expensive
The price tag of the EVGA SC Gaming ACX 3.0 is higher than most other (significantly) overclocked GTX 1070 cards with a custom cooling solution.
Con Very expensive
Con The Aura (RGB lights) software can be better
The software that controls the backlights can be better and has some missing features which feel like it would have been pretty easy to bake them in, especially for this price and for the fact that Asus went through the hassle of adding them in the first place.
Things like being able to set the temperature for which the lights change or making the lights a certain color when playing a certain game would certainly have been a nice addition.
Con Large
As is the case with many high-end cards, the size of this card means it takes up two backplate slots but covers roughly 3 slots (including the one it's fitted to). This might limit your options for some motherboards, especially configurations smaller than ATX.