Danylu

Hi.

I am writing this as I am not sure about the state of super top graphics cards cooling-wise as I want to buy a card from that part of the ladder. My question is that is there basically any 3rd party (air/water, preferably air)cooling solutions for the following graphics cards, or solutions that you know are coming out. I'd love links as well if you have them.

This is because the reference coolers are good enough already but I love 3rd party coolers because they are usually quieter (a MUST!) and cooler (at least same performance as stock). I have a Gainward 8800GT 1GB GS for that reason.

Read this review for TriSli performance:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforc...e-review-test/

The cards are:


Water Cooling:
9800GTX: ?
9800Gx2:
e-GeForce 9800 GX2 Hydro Copper 18 1024MB -
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInf...eries%20Family
GTX280:
Coolit Dual Drive Bay NV GTX280 WC SYSTEM!-
http://www.coolitsystems.com/index.p...hk=1&Itemid=85
EVGA GeForce GTX 280 HC -
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInf...eries%20Family
BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 H2OC™ with ThermoIntelligence™ Water Cooling Solution - http://www.bfgtech.com/bfgrgtx2801024h2ocwe.aspx
Aqua Computers Thing
http://www.tcmagazine.com/comments.p...=20024&catid=2
GTX260: WAY too early

3rd party Air Cooling
9800GTX:
Thermalright T-Rad²
http://www.overclock.net/hardware-ne...pu-cooler.html
9800Gx2:?
GTX 280:?
GTX 260: TOO early

Thanks in advance.

__________________

10acjed

Most after market coolers used on the 8800 will work on the 9800GTX the GX2 is a bit tougher considering its 2 cards pressed together.

Def too early to know for sure about the 280GTX, but im sure with some mods the 88/98 coolers will work as most of the heatsinks are made too big to begin with...

the new gpu on those cards is bigger than the G92 so we will really have to wait..

IMO, you should just grab another gainward if your looking for performance..

the only game it wont max out is crysis..

the newest game ive played is GRID and i pull easily 60FPS with 1600x1200 everything maxed..

and crysis i get 30-45FPS with same res settings H/VH no AA

__________________

bowman

GTX280 and 260 look very similar to our good old G80s. However, the heat spreader is slightly bigger, so maybe the hole placement is different.

If the hole placement is in fact the same, old coolers like my Thermalright should slot right on. The only problem would be that there are too few ramsinks included. Either way, even overclocked RAM runs fine without the sinks.

If the hole placement is different, Thermalright should be good enough to simply bring out a new adapter. Maybe they'll just cash in and make a slightly bigger cooler for it..

__________________

Fold on your:

Danylu

Yea thanks for the help!

I could get another Gainward but it would not play current games (Crysis especially) and upcoming games at the 1920x1200 resolution which I plan to get sometime end of this year.

Racing Games generally don't work the system as hard as say RTS or FPS.

I don't plan to do too many mods as I have a project , 2 actually, planned for the end of this year which I might post on OCN depending if the projects make it past the planning board.

So there aren't any Watercooling things for any of the above mentioned cards? Dam.

__________________

dasparx

there are bfg gtx 280/260 cards that come with danger den gpu blocks.

__________________

Quote:

If You Ain't Dutch, You Ain't Much

Danylu

Thats good news, are there any air coolers though? I'm not running WC right now.

__________________

10acjed

also saw an evga 280gtx card with waterblock on it.... like $800 tho :-O

PS: look around... 2 gainwards will hold theyre own against a single 280

Litlratt posted his 3dmark / vantage scores from a single 280 yesterday and its about equal to my 2 88's. He says gameplay is much smoother than his GX2 were so there are benefites to it tho...

HYDRO Copper from the evga gtx 280 HC

__________________

Danylu

I know, but the problem is that 2 more GTX280s can be added on. 8800GT SLI is the max we 8800GT users can go.

__________________

10acjed

Not to mention that gtx 280's in SLI will kill anything out there at high res

__________________

Danylu

Agreed, do you know if CoolIT is good or not?
http://www.coolitsystems.com/index.p...hk=1&Itemid=85

That's a first for me. But I'm not sure if their products are good or not, I know DangerDen are good.

__________________