bit-tech has obtained some exclusive photos of the final designs of MSI's new HydroGen waterblock that will be offered as a limited edition on some of its next generation Intel X48 boards.
The block is made in Germany as an all copper design where the water travels all the way from one end the other. This is completely unlike any previous design that we've seen before which has just featured simply a single in-out from a single block on a single chipset or power regulation components by the CPU. This means that you can run a system completely passively as there's no need for some airflow over the heatpipes like with other boards and the amount of flow reducing 90 degree turns is kept to an absolute minimum.
What's more, there are no barbs included, just simple threaded sockets. This means watercooling enthusiasts can for once use exactly the same barb size as the rest of their system, keeping a more optimal water flow.
It looks like finally a motherboard company has listened to enthusiasts' actual needs, however there's no word on the warranty situation, or how it performs without being plugged into a water supply - the pipes are empty after all.
MSI claims up to 20 percent more power efficiency and up to six times longer life because of the continually reduced component temperature. We expect this also means there should be some better potential overclocking too - providing the BIOS (and new X48 chipset) is up to it.
A tentative and early price of €379 may put a lot of people off, but if you're serious about it consider how much it costs for an entire watercooling kit in addition to finding a non-heatpiped board to fit it. From the pictures below, the awesome professional CNC milled piece might say enough to watercoolers to spend the money. Even if you're not a watercooler, we've discovered that MSI is working on its own kit to work in conjunction with it, but is remaining extremely tight lipped as to how this is progressing.
It's essentially no different than the BFG Tech 8800 GTX waterblock we looked at last year, or the Asus Maximus boards, so are you sold or do you think companies should leave watercooling to the niche high end? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Click for Larger Images
The block is made in Germany as an all copper design where the water travels all the way from one end the other. This is completely unlike any previous design that we've seen before which has just featured simply a single in-out from a single block on a single chipset or power regulation components by the CPU. This means that you can run a system completely passively as there's no need for some airflow over the heatpipes like with other boards and the amount of flow reducing 90 degree turns is kept to an absolute minimum.
What's more, there are no barbs included, just simple threaded sockets. This means watercooling enthusiasts can for once use exactly the same barb size as the rest of their system, keeping a more optimal water flow.
It looks like finally a motherboard company has listened to enthusiasts' actual needs, however there's no word on the warranty situation, or how it performs without being plugged into a water supply - the pipes are empty after all.
MSI claims up to 20 percent more power efficiency and up to six times longer life because of the continually reduced component temperature. We expect this also means there should be some better potential overclocking too - providing the BIOS (and new X48 chipset) is up to it.
A tentative and early price of €379 may put a lot of people off, but if you're serious about it consider how much it costs for an entire watercooling kit in addition to finding a non-heatpiped board to fit it. From the pictures below, the awesome professional CNC milled piece might say enough to watercoolers to spend the money. Even if you're not a watercooler, we've discovered that MSI is working on its own kit to work in conjunction with it, but is remaining extremely tight lipped as to how this is progressing.
It's essentially no different than the BFG Tech 8800 GTX waterblock we looked at last year, or the Asus Maximus boards, so are you sold or do you think companies should leave watercooling to the niche high end? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Click for Larger Images
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