Items tagged with water-cooling
There isn't much to fault about AMD's Radeon HD 7970 graphics card. Prior to Kepler, it was the fastest single-GPU graphics card on the market, and post-Kepler it's still a high performing part. It can also run a bit loud, particularly if you roll with a Crossfire configuration. What's an enthusiast to do? Cool it with water, of course! Swiftech just launched a new waterblock specifically for Radeon HD 7970 graphics cards. It's called the "Komodo HD7970" and it covers the full length of the card to protect not just the GPU, but the memory, power MOSFETs, and other digital bits. The Komodo is a single-slot cooler with an illuminated bridge, and according to Swiftech, it's the "most sophisticated...
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With the Erebus GT, iBUYPOWER set out to make a slightly smaller and less expensive line of systems to complement its Erebus custom gaming series, which is now renamed the Erebus XL series. There are actually three Erebus GTs in the new line, with configurations based on the AMD FX platform starting as low as $899, but the one iBUYPOWER sent us to test is an overclocked Intel Sandy Bridge-based version, Radeon HD 7970 graphics that costs $2499 (as configured). Yes, that’s a lot of moola, but as you’ll see, you get a lot of bang for those bucks... iBUYPOWER Erebus GT Gaming System Review...
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So you’re in the market for a smoking fast system, and you have your heart set on a custom build. You can easily drop upwards of three (or four or five) grand on a completely tricked-out enthusiast-class rig that will leave your gamer friends standing in puddles of drool. If you’re on a stricter budget, you can also opt for something in the mainstream range that’s still pretty nice, yet costs closer to $1000-$1500; or, you can look for a sweet spot between the two, where shaking a little more out of the piggy bank gets you a system with all the performance you could ask for in a package that’s still guaranteed to elicit wolf whistles from your friends. iBUYPOWER has...
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Remember the Erebus GT that iBUYPOWER was teasing at CES? Well, it’s available now. The Erebus GT (aka, the God of Darkness) starts at $899, which gets you a Koolance water cooling setup that purports to deliver to circulate 4.5 gallons of coolant per minute via 13mm tubing and a trio of radiators. The Erebus GT is designed as a smaller and lower-cost alternative to the previous generation of Erebus, which is now the Erebus XL. The steel and aluminum frame houses 140mm radiators and features unidirectional airflow, which is built to dissipate up to 2500W of heat. A purchase of the Erebus GT also gets you iBUYPOWER’s PowerDrive Overclocking Service, which consists of professional overclocking...
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Options, folks. That’s what NZXT is shooting for with its new full-tower Switch 810 case, which can be configured in a number of different ways to optimize airflow or sound reduction and is equally friendly for air- or water-cooling setups. Available in black or white, the NZXT Switch 810 takes a while to get to know intimately. NZXT built buckets of details into this chassis, and the more you work with it, the more little surprises you find, from fans that rotate and slide, to well-placed LEDs, and the “hybrid fins” you can use to regulate noise or enhance airflow... NZXT Switch 810 Case Review...
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Options, folks. That’s what NZXT is shooting for with its new full-tower Switch 810 case, which can be configured in a number of different ways to optimize airflow or sound reduction and is equally friendly for air- or water-cooling setups. Available in black or white, the NZXT Switch 810 takes a while to get to know intimately. NZXT built buckets of details into this chassis, and the more you work with it, the more little surprises you find, from fans that rotate and slide, to well-placed LEDs, and the “hybrid fins” you can use to regulate noise or enhance airflow. NZXT Switch 810 Specifications & Features Case Type: Hybrid Full Tower Materials: Steel, Plastic...
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Once you've been bit by the enthusiast bug, a funny thing happens. Graphics cards are never fast enough. Processors will never be too powerful. And motherboards will never have too many features. Manufacturers continue to push the envelope and make enthusiast level products because of demand. Along with the goal of being the best in their respective markets, many hardware companies continue to improve their product line up to stay competitive, while also offering consumers options at different price points and performance levels. Located in Brea, California, EVGA has a solid reputation in the industry. Their customer service support is top notch with an exclusive Step-up Program and...
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The EVGA Hydro Copper FTW GTX 480 looks to eliminate two of the biggest concerns regarding NVIDIA's GF100, heat and noise. Once the custom waterblock from Swiftech affixed to the EVGA Hydro Copper FTW GTX 480 is added to an existing liquid cooling loop, this videocard runs dead silent and operates at much lower temperatures than its air cooled counterparts. As an added bonus, it comes overclocked right out of the box too, and with further tweaking we expect it to hit even higher levels of performance. Read on as we add this baby to our watercooling loop to see how well it performs in stock form and how far we can push it past its rated speeds... EVGA GTX 480 Hydro Copper FTW Review...
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When it comes to high end graphics cards, too much is never enough. As gamers, our insatiable thirst for more pixel pushing power leads to a never ending cycle of exotic, enthusiast level videocards, including dual GPU models that take up two or three expansion slots on our motherboard. Add In Board (AIB) partner companies like EVGA regularly take supplementary measures to accommodate consumers who desire products that perform faster, run cooler, and operate with less noise than reference design models. For the most part, these steps may consist of more aggressively binning GPUs in order to provide factory overclocked options, redesigning the PCB and heatsink to support more voltage for...
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By now, you know NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 480 is the fastest single GPU videocard money can currently buy. But you may also know of the heat and noise complaints that many journalists have levied on NVIDIA's new flagship product. As expected, it didn't take long for one of NVIDIA's largest AIB partners, EVGA, to offer a solution to those problems and provide water-cooling enthusiasts an enticing option that's sure to shake things up. We just got our hands on one of EVGA's GTX 480 Hydro Copper FTW cards and will soon post a must read, comprehensive review. Until then, here's a taste of what's to come. The GTX 480 Hydro Copper FTW replaces the reference design heatsink fan...
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In a market where dual-GPU, single-PCB graphics cards are readily available from most major OEMs, product manufacturers are increasingly turning to water cooling as a way to differentiate their products and out-maneuver their competitors. The superior thermal characteristics of liquid cooling allows companies like BFG to hit higher core / memory clocks than they might using air alone. However, H2O-reliant high-end video cards cater to an even smaller slice of the market—specifically, those enthusiasts with big money to spend and who are comfortable using water in their own PC. BFG's GTX 295 H2OC CLE (aka the GTX 295 H2OC with ThermoIntelligence Advanced Cooling Solution) changes that. This particular...
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In a market where dual-GPU, single-PCB graphics cards are readily available from most major OEMs, product manufacturers are increasingly turning to water cooling as a way to differentiate their products and out-maneuver their competitors. The superior thermal characteristics of liquid cooling allows companies like BFG to hit higher core / memory clocks than they might using air alone. However, H2O-reliant high-end video cards cater to an even smaller slice of the market—specifically, those enthusiasts with big money to spend and who are comfortable using water in their own PC. BFG's GTX 295 H2OC CLE (aka the GTX 295 H2OC with ThermoIntelligence Advanced Cooling Solution) changes that. This...
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Today's hardware headlines have arrived. I still have a few things I need to take care of, so without further ado, the news... Computer Memory Basics @ Big Bruin "Memory is an essential component in any computer system, and as with most things, bigger and faster are always a good thing. But, if your budget doesn't allow for a few GBs of the highest performance modules out there, having the appropriate amount of good quality memory can make a tremendous impact on system performance, reliability, and user happiness." Corsair COOL Water-Cooling Kit @ SystemCooling "When you hear the name Corsair, you probably think of their top quality RAM. With water cooling becoming more popular...
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