14 DAY TRIAL // NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 470 and GTX 480 DirectX 11-capable graphics adapters may not be hot enough to cause an explosion or start a fire, but they still come quite close to 100 Degrees Celsius during heavy workloads, at least according to some reviewers. According to their maker, this heat isn't a problem for the Fermi, since the GF100 was designed to operate at high temperatures. There is, however, one factor that may prove problematic.
Summer is coming. This means that room temperatures across the world will rise, at least in areas of temperate climate. In this situation, the reference cooler may not be able to keep heat as low as it should, especially in multi-GPU setups. This may not necessarily mean that the adapters themselves will die, but the rest of the computer might go though unfortunate experiences (the cables in particular, if not routed well enough).Fortunately, there is a cure for everything (even if it hasn't been found yet). In the case of overheating hardware, the answer is simple: water cooling.
There have already been a few companies that have introduced waterblocks for the GTX 400 Series and the latest of them is Aqua Computer GmbH, which has just introduced the aquagraFX full-cover waterblock. Compatible with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480, the cooling module weighs 850 grams and is constructed out of copper with a stainless-steel cover. It also boasts G1/4 threads, thermally conductive pads and a backplate that cools the VRM area.
Seeing how summer is almost here and given the fact that cards themselves are shipping (though in a very limited number because of short supply), Aqua will try to make the aquagraFX widely available by next week. As for the price itself, enthusiasts will have to part with 89.9 Euro, which is the equivalent of about $120.