MSI has today launched its latest derivative of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 285 in the form of the waterblock-equipped N285GTX Hydrogen OC.
The card, pictured below, slots in alongside MSI's custom-cooled N285GTX SuperPipe OC and targets the enthusiast crowd seeking quiter, cooler and faster performance.
Armed with a lathe-processed sub-millimeter-sized copper waterblock, the card promises to lower temperatures by over 40 per cent when compared to stock air-cooled alternatives. Hoping to ensure the card slots easily into existing water-cooled systems, MSI has made use of the G ¼ Inch (DIN ISO 228-1) standard for its water tank pipe thread.
In addition to the promise of cooler operation, the N285GTX Hydrogen OC is pre-overclocked at 702MHz for the GPU and 2,600MHz for the 1GB of DDR3 memory. That's up from stock frequencies of 648MHz and 2,484MHz, respectively. Based on a single-slot design, it could also prove to be easier to work with in three-way SLI setups - if you've got the cash for three of them, that is.
How much exactly will one set you back? Well, we're being told a suggested retail price of around £390 - putting it in the region of the far quicker GeForce GTX 295. It's pricey, and perhaps misplaced in the current economic climate. Then again, if you want the world's fastest single GPU, and you want it pre-overclocked and ready for liquid cooling... here it is.
