Asetek are no stranger to GPU cooling, but so far no offering has really been a runaway success, with their CPU cooling products (Corsair H50/H70, Antec KÜHLER H2O 620/920) proving much more popular. Many prototypes never made it to market or were limited to specific OEM usage. Could this be about to change?
Cooling a GTX 580 is no small feat - the stock cooling is good, but temperatures can still shoot up into the 80's under load, which will result in a louder noise output from the cooling fan as it attempts to dissipate heat fast enough. What if there was a better solution?
Asetek have created a prototype liquid cooler for the GTX 580 using a stock PNY XLR8. Check out the video below:
From the outside, the card looks pretty normal, ff you ignore the pipes and radiator of course. The liquid cooler is modded into the stock air cooling unit, and although the details are under wraps, we could perhaps expect part of the heatsink inside to be cut away to make room for a GPU block and pump, whilst the rest remains to take care of VRM and memory cooling. This sort of design has been seen back in 2007/2008 with Asetek's 8800 GTX cooling solution that never made direct retail market.
As for performance, the video shows us the vital stats. A 31 degree drop in temperature and 12 dBa drop in noise at stock clocks certainly proves that the cooler can walk the walk. This prototype shows that Asetek are on the ball when it comes to alternative cooling solutions, but perhaps more importantly that as a proof of concept, a dedicated closed-loop liquid cooling solution for a high end GPU doesn't look all that unreasonable any more. I'm not sure if the product, as is, has the legs to ever get to market, but don't be surprised if we see some GPU OEMs starting to produce select cards with these kind of solutions.
As a relevant side note - ever thought about modding that closed loop CPU cooler you might have into a GPU cooling monster? Well Jake Crimmins from Corsair decided that the air cooling on his GTX 480 wasn't up to the job, and that only a Corsair H70 would do. Read more here if you're interested!
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