The world's first watercooled GeForce GTX 295
Sadly, despite the improved cooling, we're looking at completely stock frequencies all round. That's 576MHz per GPU, 480 shaders clocked at 1,242MHz and a total 1,792MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at an effective 1,998MHz.
Why not make this one pre-overclocked? Simple, it leaves room for the overclocked H2O edition that's expected to arrive a few weeks later.
Over to the backplate and nothing has changed here - as with NVIDIA's reference design, BFG's GeForce GTX 295 H2O features dual-DVI and a single HDMI port.
Ensure that it's well-secured to the motherboard and chassis, as the card weighs a touch over 2kg on its own and around 2.3kg when the waterblock is laden with agua - there's many a laptop that's lighter than that.
Expensive it may be, but this one isn't adorned in gold - no, sir, it comes in a good ol' cardboard box and that hefty investment is backed by a useful (limited) lifetime warranty.
Inside are the usual array of manuals, warranty information, a couple of stickers and a 10 per cent voucher for CUDA-accelerated gamers or applications purchased from NVIDIA's nZone.
Despite the omission of a bundled game, BFG provides all the required essentials. There's a 6ft HDMI cable, a DVI-to-VGA adaptor, an S/PDIF audio cable, and both six and eight-pin PCI to dual-Molex connectors.
Rounding that off, of course, are a selection of fittings that'll get most water-cooling kits connected to the card.
BFG includes a choice of barbs, there are two for 3/8in tubing and two for 1/2in. Those working with SLI (for some of that four-way goodness) will find two micro barbs that should help create a little extra room in tight spaces. There's a 2in piece of tubing for use with the micro barbs, and a selection of tubing clamps.
Here's the card strapped to a Corsair Nautilus 500 watercooling system on one of the test-benches. The svelte profile of the card is apparent in this shot.
Summary
The card's only notable feature then - other than the inherent GeForce GTX 295 performance - is the all-new watercooling solution that should keep temperatures well in check. Priced at $729, which equates to some £599 once we factor in the wonderful VAT, it ain't cheap at all, but it is unique.......for now.
