Gigabyte is readying its Geforce GTX 980 WaterForce Tri-SLI System

Gigabyte has revealed its ultimate gaming solution, the Geforce GTX 980 WaterForce Tri-SLI system, which will be launching by the end of this year. The high-end WaterForce system is part of Gigabyte’s latest AIO liquid cooled system bundle which was announced six months back. The first one featured a 3-way SLI setup of three Geforce GTX 780Ti GPUs, and this time around Gigabyte decided to up the ante with three GTX 980 G1 Gaming cards in a similar setup, implementing a custom H2O cooling system. Focusing on the system itself, the design is pretty straightforward, encompassing three GTX 980 G1 Gaming cards featuring a non-reference design, custom PCB and cooling solution situated among the best on the market. Gigabyte is looking to hit a home run here, combining the power of three in-house tuned GM204 GPUs with a custom cooling system to deliver unparalleled gaming performance.

Technical specs wise, the three GTX 980 G1 Gaming cards are packing 2048 CUDA Cores, 128 TMUs, 64 ROPs and a 4 GB GDDR5 memory running across a 256-bit interface. Each card is clocked at 1228 MHz core, 1329 MHz boost and 7010 MHz in memory frequency. The cards feature Dual-link DVI-I, DVI-D, 3 DisplayPorts and HDMI display ports. The WaterForce external unit is very practical and can be placed anywhere, but Gigabyte has advised to be placed on the top of the PC chassis for easier access to configuration controls. Gigabyte has employed a separate 120x120mm radiator for each graphics card, three of them located within the system. Three 120mm fans located on the top mesh panel are blowing air towards the radiators at full operational speed. A total of six heatpipes leading through the front of the chassis to the graphics cards ensure optimum gaming temperatures. The GTX 980 WaterForce introduces a contact base for the 120mm radiator and a series of copper heatpipes running through the metallic base plate to provide superior cooling in SLI operation. 

Among the WaterForce system accessories, we find a customly designed 3-way SLI bridge, reinforcement beam for the three graphics cards and several tube management knobs. Gigabyte claims that its WaterForce cooling solution is 42.9% cooler than traditional air cooled systems fitted on other graphics cards. This will naturally enable an increased performance and overclocking capability. Gigabyte has not yet given an official release date for the GTX 980 WaterForce Tri-SLI system, but has hinted that they will unleash this gaming beast by the end of the year.