Around this time a month ago MSI rolled out a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Sea Hawk graphics card with an all-in-one liquid cooler from Corsair. MSI is again giving the GTX 1080 Ti the liquid cooling treatment, though this time it's teamed up with EK to offer a full-coverage waterblock that's been fitted at the factory.
The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Sea Hawk EK X is not an all-in-one solution like the previous card. Instead, it integrates into your existing liquid cooling loop.
Coolant is plumbed through a central inlet split flow cooling design that distributes liquid through a wide area on and around the GPU, including memory, PWM, and other components. A nickel-plated copper base makes contact with the critical parts. There is a also a solid metal backplate attached to the card.
The PCB on this card is different from the other Sea Hawk variant. According to TechPowerUp, whereas the other card used the same PCB as found on the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Plus, this one is shorter and is based on Nvidia's reference board, the same as used on MSI's Aero series.
The Sea Hawk EK X runs in three different modes. They include:
- OC mode: 1,708MHz base, 1874MHz boost, 10,108MHz memory
- Gaming mode: 1,683MHz base, 1,822MHz boost, 10,010MHz memory
- Silent mode: 1,607MHz base, 1,733MHz boost, 10,010MHz memory
All three modes are faster than reference, which calls for a 1,480MHz base clock and 1,582MHz boost clock.
MSI did not say when this card will be available or for how much, though with the highest priced GTX 1080 Ti models going for around $760, we suspect this one will top the $800 mark.
