Watercooled GeForce GTX 280 Showdown

Judging the value of the these cards is something that’s generated a fair amount of discussion here in the office, not least because for just a tenner more than the MSI GeForce GTX 280 HydroGen and a good £40 less than the BFG GeForce GTX 280 H₂OC you can pick up ATI’s dual GPU monster, the 4870 X2 – unquestionably a better performing card in the majority of circumstances.

However, if all you’re after is pure performance out of the box, then these cards were never going to be for you in the first place. Watercooling is all about combining high performance with whisper quiet, much improved cooling and furious overclocking, and this is where both these cards have excelled. Even when heavily overclocked, both were extremely cool even with our basic watercooling setup, and the noise difference between a pair of decent 120mm fans and the GTX 280’s stock cooler when things get cooking is staggering – if you’re looking for real high performance graphics without the wind tunnel background noise then either of these cards are a great choice.

Read more at Bit Tech.