X-bit labs

CeBIT 2007 Coverage: Part 4 (page 3)

Category: Editorial

by Anton Shilov

[ 03/22/2007 | 02:44 PM ]

Let It Rain: Liquid-Cooling for Everything from EVGA and Innovatek

Back in the days liquid-cooling was used only by hardcore computer enthusiasts and overclockers to get maximum out of their systems. Unfortunately, those liquid-coolers were not really reliable: at some point, due to corrosion or holes in liquid pipes, water got inside a PC and damaged either a mainboard, or a graphics card, or both. Unreliability was, and to some extent still is, the reason why PC manufacturers do not widely use liquid-cooling method.

EVGA Nvidia nForce 680i SLI mainboard with water-cooling.
Click to enlarge

But technologies do improve in many ways: on the one hand CPUs and GPUs became so powerful that they may consume hundreds of watts of power, on the other hand manufacturers learnt how to make reliable liquid-cooling systems. For over a year now EVGA and Sapphire Technology have been offering their liquid-cooled Black Pearl- and Toxic-series graphics cards, however, no company ships mainboards with liquid cooling for CPU and chipset. EVGA wants to be the first one and at CeBIT 2007 it showcased an appropriate product.

Innovatek's water-blocks on EVGA nForce 680i SLI mainboard.
Click to enlarge

EVGA, in collaboration with Innovatek, a German maker of water-coolers, installed water-blocks on the microprocessor as well as on north and south bridges of the chipset, which should guarantee stability amid improved overclockability. When combine with the Black Pearl graphics cards, the system turns into a fully liquid-cooled one.

  
Systems using all-liquid cooling concept from EVGA and Innovatek. Click to enlarge

Currently EVGA is investigating whether there is demand for such mainboard products on the market and the final decision will be made shortly. Obviously, the biggest concern is the price: it is not going to be low and users will still have to acquire a water-pump which is not cheap too. It is indisputable fact that enthusiasts today are eager to spend terrific amount of money on personal computers, but it is questionable whether it makes sense to create a batch of bundles with EVGA’s nForce 680i SLI mainboard with water-blocks, as there are not many of such enthusiasts.

Hard disk drives cooled with liquid-cooling system.
Click to enlarge