Galax is very well known for their Hall of Fame series graphics cards. These cards represent the top of the line graphics from Galax are some of the fastest cards available. For the GTX 980 HOF WC Galax has teamed with Diamond Cooling to come up with a truly impressive card. You have the typical white PCB from Galax and Diamond Cooling has come up with an ice white block for the card.
Diamond Cooling has said that, “We have changed the design internally slightly after initial testing. But this block has good cooling performance. We expect to be taking pre-orders very soon. We do this to get a certain idea of how big the demand is so we can create a first batch”
The full-cover water block will cool all of the components on the card and will allow for a very impressive factory overclock and even more overclocking headroom after that. These are the first prototypes and they will come in both a full copper base version and a nickel-plated copper base version.
Diamond Cooling has also given these details on the design on the water block:
– Full copper base
– Nickel plated base
– Microfin cooling solution
– ACTIVE cooling of ALL components
– White POM top
– Water channels designed to have a similar flow no matter which port is used as the in- or outlet of the block.
There are also plans for a similar water block for the Galax GTX 970 HOF edition. The new GALAX GTX 980 HOF WC is expected to go on sale in January or possibly February.
Source: Diamond Cooling via eTeknix | News Archive
I’d like to know why more manufacturers don’t produce GPU’s that already have a waterblock attached; would save money for the consumer (not having to buy both the GPU and waterblock separately), and, we wouldn’t always be voiding our warranties.
most of the time they want an extra $200+ when ever EK sells blocks for ~$100-150. And we always want to save a buck.
I think the market is not as big as we think it is. That is why you only see these super high-end cards come with waterblocks. I’m sure the graphics card companies have to have a minimum order from the waterblock manufacturer, say 50-100? Would be kind of hard to sell 50-100 mid-range cards with waterblocks attached.
I’m pretty sure that folks that are into custom loops (such as myself) would fork over a few more $ to have say, an AMD R9 290 or NVidia GTX 970 with a waterblock already attached.
I just don’t have a need for a top of the line GPU.