November 26, 201312 yr I'm guessing neither is short for For the Win or Dallas-Ft. Worth What is FTW and why do I care?
November 27, 201312 yr Author I will answer my own question as doubtless someone else will eventually wonder the same. After combing the Interwebs, I discovered that the Dual FTW branding has about as much significance as plain FTW which has as much significance as the label "3x Whiter With Ultrashine!" has on my toothpaste. FTW, is indeed "For the Win" with Dual FTW promising to deliver twice the awesomeness normally associated with being a winner. Apparently, eVGA uses "Classified" ©, "SuperClocked" (SC), and FTW as branding conventions to convey relative degrees of a** kickage. An FTW product represents their best performance/best thermal offering in their product line (they apply the same convention to their motherboards). It looks like I'm set. Some reviewers are claiming the 780 GTX Dual FTW, with twice the helping of uber-epic awesomeness inside, comes very close to the Titan in performance for $150 less with its clock jacked up to 1033Mhz.
November 27, 201312 yr The "Dual" means there are two flashable BIOS EEPROMs on the board. For those that like to experiment with 3rd party modded BIOSes, this leaves the ability to get back to a good working BIOS if the flash or the modded BIOS itself is bad--otherwise when this happens the card is bricked and has to go back to the manufacturer for an out-of-warranty repair. Regards Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V Sys1 (MSFS20+24/XPlane12+11): AMD 9800X3D, water 2x240mm, MSI MPG X670E Carbon, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, nVidia RTX4090FE Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, 2x4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2x2TB Samsung 990 SSD, EVGA 1000P2 PSU, 12.9" iPad Pro Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, Twin TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case Sys2 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090 Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@60Hz, 3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box Sys3 (DCS/P3Dv4/ATS/ETS): AMD 7800X3D, MSI MPG X870E Carbon, Noctua NH-D15S, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, EVGA RTX3090 Alienware AW3420DW 34" 21:9 GSync, Corsair HX1000i PSU, 4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2TB Samsung 970Evo Plus, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog, TM RS300 FF wheel/pedals, Coolermaster HAF XB case
November 27, 201312 yr Author Thanks for added info. I saw the 2 EEPROMs cited in the specs but did not understand the significance of shipping with more than 1 (but good to know if the card ever goes south on me). Is there typically a jumper or a firmware utility that allows you to specify which BIOS is active?
November 27, 201312 yr The few I've seen had a jumper to select the active BIOS. Cheers Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V Sys1 (MSFS20+24/XPlane12+11): AMD 9800X3D, water 2x240mm, MSI MPG X670E Carbon, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, nVidia RTX4090FE Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, 2x4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2x2TB Samsung 990 SSD, EVGA 1000P2 PSU, 12.9" iPad Pro Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, Twin TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case Sys2 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090 Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@60Hz, 3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box Sys3 (DCS/P3Dv4/ATS/ETS): AMD 7800X3D, MSI MPG X870E Carbon, Noctua NH-D15S, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, EVGA RTX3090 Alienware AW3420DW 34" 21:9 GSync, Corsair HX1000i PSU, 4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2TB Samsung 970Evo Plus, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog, TM RS300 FF wheel/pedals, Coolermaster HAF XB case
November 27, 201312 yr Thanks for added info. I saw the 2 EEPROMs cited in the specs but did not understand the significance of shipping with more than 1 (but good to know if the card ever goes south on me). Is there typically a jumper or a firmware utility that allows you to specify which BIOS is active? On my duel bios EVGA 770 there's a switch on the PCB
November 27, 201312 yr Author On my duel bios EVGA 770 there's a switch on the PCB Have you ever had occasion to use it? What are these custom BIOS mods exposing that the drivers do not that allow for better oc'ing? Seems like a risky proposition - that, or I'm just getting old
November 30, 201312 yr Have you ever had occasion to use it? What are these custom BIOS mods exposing that the drivers do not that allow for better oc'ing? Seems like a risky proposition - that, or I'm just getting old I've not used it yet Jason, no. I have recently updated the BIOS, after purchase there was a new version available. But no, not had occasion to use the second BIOS. Most use them for their overclocking. Overclocking on one BIOS, and stock on the other. It's a good feature in my view, an issue with a corrupt BIOS, and no problem, just switch to the other. I've not looked at the custom BIOS mods, the card's very powerful, very pleased, so no need to. :smile:
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