Inno3D's Two-Faced GeForce RTX iChill X3 Jekyll Cards Sport Swappable Fans, Monitoring Display
Inno3D is bringing some serious chill to NVIDIA's recently launched GeForce RTX graphics cards with Turing underneath the hood. Following up the release of its iChill Frostbite variants that come with a pre-installed waterblock for integrating into custom liquid cooling loops, Inno3D is rolling out new iChill X3 Jekyll models with split air cooling personalities.
So for only the GeForce RTX 2080 and GeForce RTX 2070 have been given the iChill X3 Jekyll treatment—there's no mention of a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti variant. Named after the famous novella "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," the iChill X3 Jekyll models feature a switchable cooling system, allowing users to choose between three 90mm Sythe blade fans or two larger 100mm Turbine fans with additional fan blades.
Why would you want to bother alternating the fan arrangement? Inno3D says the three-fan solution provides cooler performance, while the dual-fan option allows for quieter operation. It sounds good in theory, which is probably why Inno3D went that route, but we suspect most people won't have an interest in regularly swapping out the fans. It seems like more of a hassle when fan speed profiles should be able to accomplish the same thing. The feature could come in handy if a fan fails, though.
"We believe the switching cooling system design is the one of the most crazy and innovative designs in gaming graphics card history," says Ken Wong, senior product manager at Inno3D. "The gamer doesn’t need to select a two-fan or three-fan graphic card because they can have both with one purchase and change the cooling solution based on their needs."
In any event, it's an option for those who want it. To help with cooling, Inno3D says its latest RTX cards feature a new AI temperature control system. Sensors on the memory and GPU allow the middle and side fans to run at different speeds, as needed.
Inno3D isn't exactly breaking new ground here, though what's nifty about the iChill X3 Jekyll cards is they have an OLED display on the top. At a glance, users can monitor the GPU, memory, power component, and fan speed in real-time.
There's no mention of when the new cards will be available or how much they will cost.
