Wet and Wild: EVGA Releases GeForce GTX 480/470 Hydro Copper FTW

How do you improve what's already the fastest GPU on the planet? By slapping the "world's best waterblock" on it and tossing the whole thing into your water cooling loop, of course! That's exactly what EVGA has done with their GTX 480 & 470 Hydro Copper FTW videocards.



Swiftech gets an assist for designing the waterblock, which sports a 0.6x0.6mm thin pin matrix. The base plate is made of chrome plated electrolytic C110 copper and includes high flow fittings in both 1/2" and 3/8" sizes. To ensure the whole package stays cool, a heatpipe runs along the bottom and connects to a power mosfet heatsink.



According to Nvidia, you can expect temps as low as 50C on the GTX 480 and just over 30C on the GTX 470, though obviously your results will depend on your setup.

Not letting that extra cooling go to waste, EVGA bumped up the core and memory clockspeeds on the GTX 480 variant to 750MHz and 3800MHz (effective), respectively, while the GTX 470 part cruises along at 650MHz (core) and 3402MHz (effective memory).

Look for the GTX 470 and 480 Hydro Copper FTW cards to sell for for $500 and $650, respectively.