MSI Seahawk
Supercharging Nvidia’s best new product.
We knew it was bound to happen, but not this quickly; somebody, sooner or later, was going to get Nvidia’s new GeForce GTX 1080 and strap a water cooler to it. Which is exactly what the Sea Hawk EK X is. This stunner of a card promises to take what is already the world’s fastest consumer GPU and then give it some water love.
As you can see from the product shots, this a truly stunning representation of the GeForce GTX 1080. It shouldn’t be confused with the MSI GeForce GTX Sea Hawk X though, which comes with an All-in-One water cooler, and will be sold by both MSI and Corsair. The EK version is a partnership with EKWB, maker of premium custom water cooling kits used by elite modders and water cooler enthusiasts.
Even if you’re a water cooling pro, the beauty of buying this version of the card means that the manufacturer’s warranty is still intact. However, if you were to rip off the cooler of a standard GeForce GTX 1080 and then install the cooler yourself, you’d lose your warranty.
The cooler used on this card appears to be based on the EK-FC1080 GTX – Nickle. However, it’s been given a special MSI inlay on one end, showing off MSI’s dragon design. Usually selling for around AU$130, as well as a custom backplate, when added to the standard price of a GeForce GTX 1080, we can see that MSI isn’t making that much more profit on this product.
The cover is a full block cover, which means it covers the entirety of the PCB. The base is made from Nickel-plated electrolytic copper (hence the name Nickel) while the front is made from acrylic plastic. It’s clear, showing off the various capacitors and power phase system of the card, with the exception of the central area that makes contact with the GPU. To our amazement there aren’t any RGB lights under the acrylic plastic. The Sea Hawk X is thinner and cooler than standard GeForce GTX 1080s, and would in fact be a single slot design if it wasn’t for the extension for the Dual Link DVI-I outlet. A matte black backplace is included, which is also adorned with MSI’s dragon logo.
Thanks to the central inlet and outlet pumps, it’s possible to mount this is any direction, whereas some water coolers must have a designated in and out connection. EK also claim it can handle low power pumps, helping to keep the noise of your system nice and low. The cooler covers the GPU, AMD and Voltage Regulation Module, allowing MSI to
Promises to take what is already the world’s fastest consumer GPU and then give it some water love
crank up these areas of the card.
The default GeForce GTX 1080 has a 5+1 power phase configuration with a single 8-pin connector, but this card’s power is delivered via one 8-pin and one 6-pin power connectors, yet the TDP is identical to that of the standard GeForce GTX 1080, at 180W. A ten phase power configuration ensures a very smooth clean, power supply. This fact alone shows that MSI is aiming this product at overclockers. (The more power phases, the less the power supply sine waves oscillate.)
The standard GeForce GTX 1080 outputs are in place; one HDMI 2.0b, triple DisplayPort 1.4 and Dual Link DVI. This means it’s ready for the influx of HDR displays due by the end of the year, or can power up to four displays. It’s also compatible with the latest version HDCP, 2.2, which will make copying or encoding copies of original movies even harder.
MSI’s Gaming App provides one touch control to clock speeds, and they’re rather impressive, though not as much some competitors. It does have one unique touch – the memory clock speed is overclocked in OC mode, something most other GeForce GTX 1080’s don’t do. In OC mode, the memory hits 10108MHz, up from the default of 10GHz, while the base clock hits 1708MHz and boost clock defaults to 1847MHz (the default for a GeForce GTX 1080 is 1733MHz). In gaming mode, base clock reaches 1683MHz while Boost is 1822MHz, while Silent mode sees the base 1607MHz with Boost hitting 1733MHz. We doubt many users will resort to Silent mode though, as the water cooler will be so quiet already.
If there is one issue with this cooler, it’s that it’s not compatible with Nvidia’s new SLI bridge, so users will be forced to use the old flexi-style cooler. Unfortunately it’s also impossible to test consistently as the volume and temperature will vary greatly on the rest of the water equipment, such as the number of radiators, fan types, etc.
However, if you have a custom water loop in your PC already and are looking for an easy card to install into that system, the MSI GeForce GTX Sea Hawk EK X is your best bet. It’s basically guaranteed to run much cooler and quieter than a standard blower design, and there’s no risk your warranty in the process. And at this price, it’s likely to be more affordable than doing it yourself.
• Water cooling without
breaking the warranty • Great price • Looks stunning
• Doesn’t work with new SLI bridge