The GeForce GTX 980 and GTX 970 is just a few hours from now and recently we see yet another GeForce GTX 980 featuring a custom cooler, this time it’s from Inno3D. Guys, behold the Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 980 HerculeZ X4 AirBoss! Quite a long name for a graphics card huh? Actually the HerculeZ X4 is the name of the graphics card’s custom cooler, like Asus’ DirectCU II or MSI’s TwinFrozr V. Inno3D’s latest HerculeZ X4 features AirBoss cooling technology, where the cooler itself has, not 2, not 3 but 4 cooling fans built on it. Just check out the iChill GeForce GTX 980 below.
Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 980 HerculeZ X4 Features
According to the iChill GeForce GTX 980 HerculeZ X4’s official page:
“The GeForce® GTX™ 980 is the world’s most advanced graphics card, powered by the new incredibly fast, power-efficient NVIDIA® Maxwell™ architecture. With twice the performance of prior-generation cards* and exciting new gaming technologies, this innovative GPU provides an elite experience on virtual reality, HD, and ultra-resolution 4K displays.
Enjoy hyper-realistic real-time lighting with advanced NVIDIA Cone-Traced Global Illumination, as well as NVIDIA G-SYNC™ display technology for smooth, tear-free gaming. Plus, you get Super Resolution technology that delivers a 4K experience on a 1080p display.
The GTX 980 even delivers great gaming to go with NVIDIA GameStream™ technology that lets you stream PC games to NVIDIA SHIELD™ devices.”
GeForce GTX 980 Features
- Microsoft DirectX 11 Support 11.1 API (feature level 11_0)
- SMX
- NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0 Technology
- NVIDIA 3D Vision Ready
- NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround Ready
- NVIDIA FXAA Technology
- NVIDIA TXAA Technology
- NVIDIA 3-way SLI Technology
- NVIDIA PhysX Technology
- NVIDIA Adaptive Vertical Sync
- NVIDIA CUDA Technology
- NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology
- PCI Express 3.0
- Dual-link DVI
- DisplayPort
- HDMI
Inno3D’s latest iChill GeForce GTX 980 HerculeZ X4 is built with lots of features and gaming performance. It comes with factory overclock settings and you can still overclock it with the help of Inno3D’s propriety software for tuning or tweaking the graphics card.
But I guess the main highlight of this product is its HerculeZ X4 cooler featuring AirBoss fan technology. The new cooler features what the company calls A.P.C.S. or Active Power Cooling System. It features 8mm high heat flux heatpipe; two way heat spreader with 50mm silent fan, an embedded graphics card holder, 12mm metal casing, full PCB shielding and protection called HerculeZ Backplate II, 118pcs of aluminum fins, detachable turbine fan, detachable frame and cover, and LED lighting effects.
That’s really a lot of stuff in a GPU cooler; normally it’s just the fans, the metal shroud and aluminum fins and the backplate. Anyway check out the rest of the specification of the iChill GTX 980 below.
Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 980 HerculeZ X4 Specifications
GPU Engine Specifications:
- CUDA Cores: 2048
- Graphics Clock-Base Clock: 1228 MHz
- Boost Clock: 1329 MHz
- Texture Fill Rate: 157 billion/sec
Memory Specifications:
- Memory Clock: 7.2GHz
- Standard Memory Configuration: 4096 MB
- Memory Interface: GDDR5
- Memory Interface Width: 256-bit
- Memory Bandwidth: 230.4 GB/sec
Feature Support:
- OpenGL: 4.4
- Bus Support: PCI-E3.0 X16
- Certified for Windows 8: Yes
- Supported Technologies (3D Vision, 3D Vision Surround, CUDA, DirectX 11, PhysX, SLI): Yes
- SLI Options: 2-way (must use soft SLI bridge)
Display Support:
- Multi Monitor: Yes, 3 active monitors in 3D mode + 1 monitor in 2D mode
- Maximum Digital Resolution (per output): 4096×2160
- Maximum VGA Resolution (per output): 2048×1536
- HDCP: Yes
- HDMI: Yes
- Standard Display Connectors: HDMI, 3x DP, Dual Link DVI
- Internal Audio Input for HDMI: Internal
- HDMI Version: 2.0
Standard Graphics Card Dimensions:
- Length: 300mm
- Height: 115mm
- Width: 3-slot
Thermal and Power Specifications
- Maximum GPU Temperature (in C with ambient temperature 55c) : 97 C
- Maximum Graphics Card Power: 165W
- Minimum System Power Requirement: 500W
- Supplementary Power Connectors: Two 6-pin
Accessories:
- Driver CD Kit: Yes
- DVI Dongle: Yes
- Mouse Pad: Yes
- 6-pin PCI-E Power Cable: Yes
Price and Availability
There’s no word yet regarding the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the Inno3D iChill GeForce GTX 980 HerculeZ X4. But according to reports, the reference GeForce GTX 980 is said to retail for around $549 USD. If the $549 is correct, expect that the iChill GeForce GTX 980 will be priced higher than that. My guess is it would be around $599, hopefully the price will not go beyond $600 USD for custom GTX 980s.