Cooler Master Hydra 8800 Hybrid GPU Cooler Review

Price: $70-80USD Estimated MSRP
Availability: ~2 Weeks
Warranty: 1 year
Manufacturer Product Page: Cooler Master



It hasn't been long since we last looked at a Cooler Master product with their excellent Real Power Pro power supply. While power supplies are only one of their many products, the bread and butter of their business is still in the area of cooling products. From fans to CPU heatsinks; their cooling products run the gamut of pretty much everything a DIYer may need for his or her build. One thing that they were missing in their lineup was an 8800-series GPU cooler and with the product we will be reviewing here today, they have filled the gap...though with a hybrid air/water cooler.

Cooler Master needs no introduction to air cooling enthusiasts, but their forays into water cooling have received a lukewarm reception at best from the enthusiast community. In the past, Cooler Master has focused on low end kits rather than discrete components. Yet more recetly they have been narrowing their focus by offering some products that promise to cater to the exact people who shunned them in the past. Today we have the opportunity to review a very unique product from Cooler Master: the Hydra 8800GTX cooler.

With the Hydra, Cooler Master looks to be offering the best of both worlds: it has a fan for air cooling while there are a pair of nozzels for water cooling. According to Cooler Master you can use either air OR water cooling or both at the same time to lower your temperatures even more. This is quite unique but at about $70-$80USD, this cooler does represent a significant investment considering it is very close in price to a number of popular GPU water blocks. It will be very interesting to see how this performs.