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BFG Announces Self-Contained, Liquid-Cooled GeForce GTX 285 and GTX 295 Graphics Cards
Posted 08/04/09 at 02:45:03 PM by Paul Lilly
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Setting up and maintaining a liquid-cooling setup isn't for everyone, and it's this crowd BFG is targeting with a pair of maintenance-free, self-contained liquid-cooled GeForce graphics cards, the GTX 285 H2O+ and the GTX 295 H2OC.
Both new cards sport BFG's new ThermoIntelligence Advanced Cooling Solution, which when you take away the fancy title means you can enjoy the benefits of water cooling your videocard(s) without all the fuss. According to BFG, the cards are easy to install right out of the box and never need refilling or additional components. The benefit, says BFG, is up to 30C cooler temps under load when pitted against standard air cooled models.
"We're very excited to be the first company to bring this type of professional grade advanced cooling solution to PC enthusiasts," said John Malley, senior director of marketing for BFG.
BFG's GTX 295 H2OC will sport a 675MHz core clockspeed, 2214MHz memory data rate, and 1458MHz shader clockspeed. The GTX 285 H2O+ will run at 691MHz, 2592MHz, and 1566MHz core, memory, and shader clockspeeds, respectively.
The GTX 295 H2OC will be available in limited quantities starting August 5th, while the GTX 285 H2O+ will also be available in limited quantities, starting August 12th. No word on price.
Image Credit: BFG
The LAN party that I'm
Submitted by Caboose on Sat, 08/08/2009 - 5:21pm
The LAN party that I'm currently at, we have BFG doing a presentation, and this video card came up... I asked how we are supposed to SLI the cards, and BFG's solution, is to buy a bigger case! Which, in my opinion, is a really shitty solution.
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Interesting but...
Submitted by craigbooth on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 7:40am
still waiting for reasonably-priced alternative to ASUS MARS GTX295.
How would this work in SLI?
Submitted by dag1992 on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 1:53pm
How would this work in SLI?
Submitted by NakedFable on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 8:20am
SLI or if you've already installed a self-contained CPU cooler like the Astek/Corsair system.
Submitted by Caboose on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 3:03pm
Exactly, with that kind of a fan setup, it would make it difficult to run more tha one in your case. Now, if you could tie in a 2nd card to that fan, that'd be different... but it doesn't look likely...
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Submitted by dag1992 on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 5:05pm
Ironically enough, most people sporting this setup would probably want SLI. Seems like a bonehead design error, but maybe there's a way.
Submitted by savior on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 1:51pm
this should be interesting, ive heard mixed reviews on the selfcontained water cooling cpu coolers, i wonder how this will stand up to users...no room for error
no room for error?
Submitted by LVmonkey on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 2:22pm
i'm guessing you've never *actually* worked with water, liquid or oil cooled electronics before? maybe you should read up on the high voltage transformers in your area... that are oil cooled...
You should also note that water cooling a pc is not new (or extreme) by any stretch any more. And maybe note that there's enough acrylic on pvc circuit boards that as long as the contacts are protected you can paint circuit boards without issue... seen it done ...granted to a NIC card... still.
Why is watercooling still so taboo on this site? I thought this site/magazine catered to pc enthusiats... did i find the wrong site?
Submitted by Shalbatana on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 8:55pm
MaxPC has been all over water cooling for years, and has both praised its effectiveness and noted its flaws/limitations.
The posting (and article) you've commented on is talking about SELF_CONTAINED water cooling systems. ie ones that never have to be flushed, cleaned, come prebuilt, etc.
The posting merely points out that he heard a rumor that these weren't as effective as standard water cooling kits. He also points out that if something does go wrong through user error, like pinching a hose upon installation, the card could fry.
No need for any anger man, it's all good.
_______________________________
"There's no time like the future."
Submitted by LVmonkey on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 1:34pm
no anger at all but i did not see those points addressed where as the seeming fear of water cooling has been mirrored on this site time and time again (almost every water cooling device post, pretty much). My response might have seemed heated but really it wasn't... just seemed like something kinda dumb. Really...didn't mean it in a angery way.
Self contained... how does that change anything? like from a waterpipe cooler? (come from the factory fully sealed - liquid in metal tubing i guess...) And i've heard none of the s'elf contained being more of an issue' arguments before... at all, just the kinda of arguement that is dropped into a convo whenever water cooling is introduced is usually about the liquid nature.
I guess the only diff i can see is weather or not you can top of the system should it need it, but you should be able to see the temp rise as the system looses fluid... so not much more scarey than an air cooler loosing a fan. A failed install of any cooler is bad... pinched tube or heatsink bumber hard enough to crush parts or break the fan... even not plug the fan in, say.
Is there an article i missed?
Really. no anger. i just fail to see the difference other than its water... the usual 'omgbbq water = systemdeath' arguement. maybe too many rads pointed in different directions is bad? maybe too many pumps? is it any diiferent from multiple water pipe coolers in the same system?
Not sure why there is any issue other than the usual 'water is bad' arguement. Multiple indepentant systems seems like decentralising the system... which would only seem to be more of a arguement of the redundancy of the system should things start to fail... (like a fan, say) ...can't fathom what other issues there would be.
Submitted by mesiah on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 9:19pm
First, pointing out the use of oil cooling in transformers has nothing to do with water cooling. The two are different in nature.
Second, although water cooling is not that dangerous for the average PC enthusiast, it is by no means what so ever an easy undertaking for the average person. This isn't anywhere near the tech level of just slapping on a heat sink and plugging in a fan. Although pure water does not conduct electricity very well, once you add contaminants a careless person spilling some water could easily fry their system, especially when you consider that most new cases are moving the power supply units to the bottom of the case. Someone who doesn't know what they are doing can easily get a kink in the tubing, swap the inlet with the outlet on their pump, or a number of other small oversights that can end in catastrophic failure of their system. Just because water cooling technology is more main stream these days does not make it an easy safe alternative for the average person who has never built a system and will most likely not perform maintenance on the cooling hardware over the life of the system.
I do agree that there shouldn't be too much fear in the self contained system, but to label all water cooling as consumer friendly is a bit of an overstatement.
It also looks good
Submitted by Baer on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 1:39pm
I like the look. I really do not like the cartoon WOW like characters on my GPU's. They are OK for a 14 Y O but look hookey in a high end rig that youi want to look tecky not cartoony.
The BFG site has a buy button but it takes you to a non available page for now.
Submitted by erolsipar on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 1:31pm
Of course it's %100 typo if there was I would of been in Tigerdirect now.
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