Gigabyte joins the exclusive club of manufacturers by offering GeForce GTX 1080 graphics cards with pre-installed water block.
GIGABYTE GTX 1080 XTREME Gaming Waterforce WB (GV-N1080XTREME WB-8GD)
It looks like WaterForce WB is based on the same PCB as Xtreme Gaming and Xtreme Gaming WaterForce (non-WB), and those are equipped with additional HDMI ports for Virtual Reality headgear.
New card is featuring a full cover water block with a copper base over GPU, VRAM and power section.
According to Gigabyte this model is equipped with ‘Titan-X’ grade chokes and capacitors, which are part of 12+2 power phase design.
The software bundled with XTREME series allows you to take control over the color and animation of the LEDs installed on the water block. It will also allow you to choose between OC and GAMING mode which have following preconfigured clock speeds:
- Boost: 1936 MHz / Base: 1784 MHz in OC mode
- Boost: 1898 MHz / Base: 1759 MHz in Gaming mode
At the time of writing this card was not yet on sale, but judging from the pricing of GTX 1080 Waterforce (GV-N1080XTREME W-8GD), I wouldn’t expect it to be lower than 770 USD. Also, don’t forget you are paying for fully-custom design with preinstalled waterblock. You would probably end up with a similar cost if you were to do it on your own.
It’s also worth mentioning current prices of Gigabyte GTX 1080 XG WaterForce WB’s direct competitors (based on Newegg listings):
- ZOTAC GTX 1080 ArcticStorm — 730 USD
- MSI GTX 1080 SeaHawk X — 780 USD
