Challenging EVGA's $750 GTX 980 Ti Hybrid is a tough fight right now. The card, in our eyes, is one of the best graphics solutions on the market, and it's largely because of the liquid cooling integration. We've recently seen a surge of liquid in GPU products, like the Fury X, and the thermal envelope is mitigated massively as a result. MSI seeks to join that fight with Corsair's assistance.
The new Hydro GFX 980 Ti is a hybrid-cooled video card that mixes liquid cooling (to the die) with a blower fan for VRM and memory cooling. The liquid solution is Corsair's existing, low-end H55 CLC, an Asetek-supplied product primarily marketed for CPU cooling. A 120mm radiator and fan are joined with the GTX 980 Ti via an 11.5” tube. We're told to expect thermals “30% cooler than standard cards while running at higher clock speeds.” Those speeds, by the specs, are rated as 1190MHz base and 1291MHz boost. The reference GTX 980 Ti operates at 1000MHz base. The EVGA GTX 980 Ti Hybrid ships at 1140MHz base and 1228MHz boost. This, then, should make for an exciting head-to-head benchmark.
In the Hydro GFX 980 Ti rests the usual GM200 Maxwell GPU, mounted atop (what appears to be) a reference design PCB. For perspective, we found that the reference GTX 980 Ti operated at (dT over ambient) 61.39C; the 980 Ti Hybrid was at an impressive 22.91C (stock). If Corsair / MSI come anywhere close to this while offering slightly boosted clockrates and a slightly lower price – and it is lower, priced at $740 – then there's potential for an exciting graphics card market.
We're looking forward to a full review and benchmark of the Hydro GFX GTX 980 Ti.
- Steve “Lelldorianx” Burke.