I get what you're saying, but as someone who's had blower cards since back in the 9800gt days where the notion of a graphics cooler that exhausted heat was radical and new...
Even the well-made ones aren't as well made as you'd want them to be.
I'm sure someone will test the XC3 soon, and it may end up being the best bet. (Unfortunately, it may also be hard to get. I was considering using EVGA's step up program, but the reps said they've been told only the FTW3 will be eligible for the foreseen future.)
In the meantime, I've gotten in contact with the engineering departments at 5/7 of the big GPU players in the US, requesting specific measurements of the most promising looking cards without the shroud and fans. I'll aggregate this data and throw it together in its own post once I've got it all.
In the Sentry specifically, well... This is going to be silly, but the Noctua NF-A4x10 PWM fits so well at the top of the GPU compartment it almost feels intentional. If I can swing a few things my way, I'm going to stuff the largest heatsink I can in there, using the noctua fans and a custom shroud to pull air through the heatsink and out the top.
Will it be more expensive than the xc3? Totally. But my hope is that it will be quieter and direct airflow better, by virtue of actually exhausting out the case. (Plus those miniature noctua fans are... oddly cute?)
