EVGA Exposed: Water-Cooled GeForce 9800 X2

The video industry is currently buzzing around the dual-GPU version of the GeForce 9800 graphics cards from Nvidia. Just as they get wider and wider implementation, EVGA has decided to claim that regular versions of the GeForce 9800 GX2s are "so last week" and introduced their own version of the GX2, cooled down with an Innovatek water-block.

Apart from the obvious gains in temperature, EVGA's offering has an aesthetic advantage over the competitors': it reveals the graphics card's internals. The water-cooling block is made of CNC milled aluminum and will come not stock offering, but rather than a professional add-on, carrying a little premium.

Innovatek's cooling block will accompany the standard GeForce 9800 GX2 and will be part of a brand-new entirely water-cooled, Black Pearl motherboard, built around Nvidia's nForce 790i Ultra SLI design. However, the chipset is limited to ultra-high-end markets, which means that it will come with a pretty high price tag, and Innovatek's addition will allow them push the limits even farther than before.

The device fits perfectly between the PCB sandwich with all the card's internals placed where you'd expect to find the mayonnaise. The inner fan has been removed in order to make room for the aluminum block, which exposes the 8- and 6-pin connectors.

The water-cooled version of the graphics card is adding some extra bucks to the final price, but given the fact that you have already purchased a pair of GeForce 9800 GX2s and an nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard, the additional cost may be piece of cake.

There is no word about whether the watercooling kit is compatible with Nvidia's latest release, the Enthusiast System Architecture (ESA), but given the fact that EVGA is closely working with Nvidia, the answer might be 90 percent "yes". The ESA is waiting for wide implementation in the next specifications set for the USB Human Interface Device, as it was ratified by the USB Implementers Forum.

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