PowerColor Intros Overclocked Radeon HD 7970 With A Built-In Waterblock

Posted 02/22/2012 at 11:21am | by Brad Chacos

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If your AMD-based build keeps getting all hot and bothered, your rampant "incognito mode" Chrome browsing isn't to blame -- you've probably got a problem with thermals. Pouring a bucket of ice cold water over your PC isn't recommended, but that's not to say that a little aqua can't help cool things down. PowerColor just announced what it claims is the first Radeon HD 7970 with a liquid cooling waterblock built right onto the card.

PowerColor joined forces with EK WaterBlocks to produce the PowerColor LCS HD7970, which has an acetal waterblock with a nickel-plated copper base covering all of its most critical -- and heat generating -- components. Additionally, the LCS HD7970 includes "high-flow 3/8" and 1/2" fittings (barbs) to maximize water flow with captured o-rings to prevent leakage." PowerColor claims the setup can keep GPU temps under 50 degrees Celsius even when the card is firing on all cylinders.

The actual GPU got a bit of a boost over reference 7970s, too, with overclocked core and memory speeds of 1050MHz and 1425MHz, respectively.

No word on official pricing or availability, but one thing's for certain: it won't be cheap. PowerColor's standard 7970 runs about $560 at Newegg, and British e-tailer Overclockers.co.uk has the LCS HD7970 up for preorder with a £599.99 price tag. According to Google, that's about $785 in U.S. money.