Gigabyte equips GeForce GTX 980 Waterforce with water cooling
Gigabyte introduces a GeForce GTX 980 GPU, equipped with a pre-installed closed loop water cooling, with a radiator equipped with a 120mm fan. The card will have the appropriate Waterforce designation in its name.
Gigabyte announces the release of the GeForce GTX 980 Waterforce in a press release. According to the Taiwanese manufacturer, the water cooling keeps the GPU 38.8 percent cooler than a comparable card with reference cooler, thanks to the large fan and a quiet pump. The water cooling not only covers the gpu, but also the vram and the mosfet’s. In addition, Gigabyte promises that the video cards are equipped with the best performing GPU cores, which can achieve high overclocking results. Gigabyte calls it GPU Gauntlet Sorting and seems to indicate that the GPUs are specially selected on the basis of their performance.
In Gaming Mode, the GPU runs at boost and base speeds of 1329/1228MHz, in OC Mode that is 1354/1253MHz. The gddr5 memory, of which 4GB is present, runs at the reference speed of 7GHz. The OC Guru II software allows users to adjust clock speeds and fan speed, or set a power or temperature target.
In addition to two DVI connections, there are three DisplayPorts and one HDMI connection. The Gigabyte logo is equipped with LED lighting and the manufacturer supplies a mouse pad. The video card is in the pricewatch for about 600 euros. It’s not the first GTX 980 with water cooling; Previously, Inno3D and EVGA already released similar video cards.