Inno3D announces GTX 470 Hawk

Graphics card specialist Inno3D has updated the Fermi reference design with a new unit featuring a custom cooler capable, the company claims, of dropping the temperature of the unit by a whopping 22°C.

Previewed over on Thinq, the Inno3D GTX 470 Hawk uses a massive custom cooler which takes up a ridiculous three slot spaces and uses two 80mm fans along with a centre 90mm fan to reduce GPU temperatures by over 20 percent.

Despite the plethora of air shifters, Inno3D claims that the noise-to-cooling ratio is unmatched by any Fermi card currently on the market, with the variable speed fans - which adjust between 900 and 2,000 RPM according to temperature - measured at between 18dB(A) to 30dB(A), compared to the Nvidia reference cooler which topped out at 38dB(A) in Inno3D's tests.

It's these tests that showed the performance advantage of the custom cooler, with Inno3D's custom unit running at 70°C under full load compared to the reference design's 92°C - with the company claiming both results were achieved under identical conditions.

The remainder of the Inno3D GTX 470 Hawk's specifications are unknown, but thought to match the company's reference-design GTX 470 cards and feature a pair of DVI ports and a single HDMI port as outputs.

So far pricing and availability information have not been announced.

Does the idea of a less toasty Fermi give you cause for celebration, or are you struggling to imagine how you'll fit such a large cooler in your case? Share your thoughts over in the forums.