[EDIT]hmmm.....whats going on at AMD? (and history of 3Dfx Rampage)

[RolloTheGreat]

I don't know much about the step up program.  Seems like a strange restriction though.

How much would they actually give you for your old card? Is it a lot more than what one might get if they just sold their card used?

Anyhow, I bet evga might work with you if you contact them. Just tell them you were unaware when you bought your card and how much it messes up your plan and bla bla bla

A lot of times companies will try to accommodate and some make exceptions just to please....well, most good companies do

It's actually a pretty good deal, and they spell it all out very clearly on their website.

Basically you have to register your card within 14 days (free) or buy extended warranty and register in 90 days.

Then you declare desire to step up in 90 days from purchase date. Once you're in line for stock at MSRP, they notify you when available and you pay the difference in their website price and what you paid, ship them your card, they send you the new one within three days of receipt. You pay shipping both ways, so that is the only money you "lose".

If they have no stock in the 90 days, your request carries forward until they do.

They maintain a list of the cards eligible to step up to, the 1080s are currently FE, AC3 at stock speed, and a stock clock non FE/non AC3 blower card.

I suppose the AC3 one would be a legit update for me, may do that. Better than FE.

Will likely wait the 90 days in hopes 1080Ti launches.

The 980 Ti Classified is 10-15% below a stock speed 1080, KitGuru review said theirs stabilized at 1392 MHz boost clock while gaming.

I'm no hobo, but it's tough to see spending $200 to get another 15% when at sometime this year I might be able to spend another $600 and get 40% or more. The 1080 looked a lot more tempting over my reference 980 Ti than the one coming on Monday. Classified looks like a beast of a 980 Ti, I could probably OC it and get pretty close to 1080 performance for the $400.. (especially as a have a Coolermaster HAF 932 case in a 70F constant environment)