ASUS’ Poseidon GTX 980 Merges Air & Liquid Cooling To Achieve 27ºC Drop Over Reference Design

When you’re looking to eke as much performance out of a piece of hardware as possible, especially while trying to keep temperatures modest, nothing beats liquid cooling. But as attractive as liquid cooling is, it often introduces a number of harsh caveats. One example is with the fact that most GPU waterblocks are not effective without liquid cooling, so if you happen to want to go back to air, or are forced to due a dead pump, you’ll be in a tough spot.

It’s easy to understand why many take that risk, though; liquid cooling just offers so many benefits. But what if you could enjoy those benefits without the possibilities I just mentioned? If that seems too good to be true, look no further than ASUS’ just-announced Poseidon GTX 980.

At quick glance, the Poseidon GTX 980 looks like any other high-end graphics card we’ve come to expect out of ASUS. But as the following exploded view shows, its secret hides in the middle of the cooler:

With its Poesidon, ASUS has split the heatsink into two; one half is now the base and liquid intake, while the other part is the heatpipes and fins. This design allows you to use the card without water if you want to (probably at a degree or two hotter than a traditional DirectCU design), or connect water for superior cooling. According to ASUS, when using liquid with its Poseidon, you can expect to see temperatures drop about 27°C compared to the reference design. That means two things: You should see better performance simply due to the fact that the temperature threshold isn’t being pegged, and you’ll also be able to achieve some tasty overclocks.

Other key features of the Poseidon GTX 980 include a 10-phase power design, complete with ‘Super Alloy’ chokes and ‘hardened’ MOSFETs. With ASUS’ Digi+VRM design, you can be rest-assured that your GTX 980 is always receiving clean, smooth power.

Available soon, the Poseidon GTX 980 will run you about $639 USD. That’s about $160 less than EVGA’s single-slot Hydro Copper option, and about $90 over reference. If you’re worried about not being able to manage multi-GPU with the Poseidon, don’t fret: The card still retains a dual-slot design.

Tempting, isn’t it?