Hi, I'm a PC enthusiast that reads all the latest reviews and technical analysis on the latest Graphics Cards, CPU's, Motherboards and various PC pieces parts. I have multiple systems that I use for Video Editing, General Business, Competitive Gaming and Streaming. When it came time to upgrade from my dual NVIDIA GTX-760's setup in SLI on my gaming system, I decided to buy a Reference NVIDIA GTX-980 from Best Buy. I understand that all the non-reference designs generally have better air cooling, but I went with the Reference Card because it can be upgraded to a water block and it looks cools with the programaable flashing green "GEFORCE GTX" logo. According to multiple reviews and videos, the NVIDIA Reference GTX-980 is supposed to be stable at 1500Mhz on the GPU Boost Clock and 8000Mhz on the Memory Clock with the Voltage set to standard default. It is also recommended that you use a custom fan curve set on Auto to keep the GPU Temp at no higher than 70C-72C. The GTX-980's were all brand new and factory sealed from Best Buy. I had to drive around to different Best Buy locations and exchange 2 times until I found a GTX-980 that was stable at 1500Mhz GPU and 8000Mhz Memory. The Third card that I tested was perfect and is performing a little above what the reviews and tests outline in their Benchmarking tests. The good news is that the people working at Best Buy Customer service were all very nice and prompt. In each instance, my exchange took less than 5 minutes and I was out the door. 18 months same as cash on the Best Buy card is also a great deal. The Bad News is that NVIDIA needs to get their act together and extensively test their GTX-980's to make sure they can hit their Max performance levels before they get released to retail outlets. In a couple of months, I'm planning on buying a 2nd Reference GTX-980 from Best Buy to run dual cards in SLI. I hope that I get a good one the first time. I hope I don't have to drive all over the place again. Crossing my fingers. :)