Gigabyte jumps into water cooling

Taipei - Gigabyte, mainly known for its motherboards and graphic cards, continues to expand its reach into the enthusiast market. The company announced its first water cooling system designed to prevent gaming processors from overheating with features such as water level monitoring.

Just in time for the most power-hungry Intel and AMD processors and power-supply crunching graphic cards with up to 1 GByte of memory: Gigabyte announced it will be offering its first water cooling system for "enthusiasts and extreme gamers". The 3D Galaxy integrates a 4.7" fan and is able to move about 104 gallons of water per hour through a 0.5" tube. To decrease the noise of the system, the fan's speed can be adjusted, down to 1200 rpm.

The kit includes an additional fan that can extend the lifespan of capacitors in the vicinity of the CPU, according to the manufacturer. The water pump of the 3D Galaxy offers a ceramic shaft to improve reliability and push the life expectancy level to 20,000 hours. Among the unique features of the system is a low-water level monitor that powers the system down if the water level falls below the standard mark or the temperature gets too high.

Gigabyte will begin selling the 3D Galaxy in July. Pricing has not been announced.

In a separate announcement, the company said it will also offer PC cases. The 3D Aurora series integrates an Aluminum structure with up to five 5.25" and seven 3.25" drive bays. Of course the case also comes with lighting effects: The device uses a light beam that can be customized by the user to project any image on the surface in the front of the case. Availability is scheduled for July.