Can a GPU be purchased w/o a cooling method?

[benjaminlongview]

Name is David, first time here.

A little background, I recently purchased a gaming rig from one of those "build your own pc" sites and was extremely disappointed with the finished product. I won't bore you with the details but I'm RMAin it and I've convinced myself that I can build one bigger and badder (hopefully cheaper too).

I've been looking into it and I'm either going with a hulking air cooling unit and a closed case (those things are no beauty queens) or a closed loop liquid cooling unit and an open case. Anyways, I came across this bad boy and I got all excited.

So my question is, are there GPU's available without stock cooling (it's all about that paper) or do I have to purchase one and swap out the stock cooler?

Thanks in advance!

 

[JUICEhunter]

You would probably need a reference GPU to ensure the GPU cooler part fits, also make sure whatever GPU you purchase is supported by this cooler.

You can also buy a GPU with an AIO cooler such as EVGA Hybrid/Gigabyte WaterForce/MSI Sea Hawk. at that point you can choose to get a good air cooler for CPU which can still yield impressive results so you don't have too many tubes/things to mount in the case.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Most of those closed loop liquid coolers are more gimmicky and just to tell your friends you have watercooling more than anything. You can often just air cool for cheaper and have it be quieter, too. I'd recommend air cooling, and I would only recommend watercooling if you have a very high budget and do extreme overclocking.

I don't understand what you mean by an open case. All cases are closed, they are not open for anybody to touch the contents inside unless you physically open it up yourself. If a GPU works perfectly fine with the fans that are on it, there is no need to buy a waterblock or water cooler for it, it will not improve your performance at all if the GPU was having no troubles with the air cooling. It may help you overclock a bit higher if it really helps temps that much, but often you'll find that the money put into a better overclock could just be put into a better GPU in the first place.

 

[benjaminlongview]

Most of those closed loop liquid coolers are more gimmicky and just to tell your friends you have watercooling more than anything. You can often just air cool for cheaper and have it be quieter, too. I'd recommend air cooling, and I would only recommend watercooling if you have a very high budget and do extreme overclocking.

I don't understand what you mean by an open case. All cases are closed, they are not open for anybody to touch the contents inside unless you physically open it up yourself. If a GPU works perfectly fine with the fans that are on it, there is no need to buy a waterblock or water cooler for it, it will not improve your performance at all if the GPU was having no troubles with the air cooling. It may help you overclock a bit higher if it really helps temps that much, but often you'll find that the money put into a better overclock could just be put into a better GPU in the first place.

What I meant by an open case was a viewing window. I am going Skylake and planning on OC (cross that bridge when I get to it) but probably nothing too crazy. I'm sure the stock cooling for the GPU would be sufficient but the builds I have seen with liquid cooling look a lot cleaner.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

It comes down to a choice between a build that performs better for the money or looks better for the money. Or you can have a little of both, but some people go too excessive on the looks I think.

 

[benjaminlongview]

It comes down to a choice between a build that performs better for the money or looks better for the money. Or you can have a little of both, but some people go too excessive on the looks I think.

Oh, I know I'm missing the point but if I can have both I'm gonna!

 

[CountMike]

No beauty queens ??? Look at this sucker : http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-air-cooler/v8-gts/
You put this one in and tell them it's bloody Noctua: http://noctua.at/en/nh-d15/video and see them sit down.
http://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00001809

 

[JUICEhunter]

If budget allows, ek has a nice but sorta expensive cpu/gpu aio combo cooler:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/ek-predator-360-aio-cpu-gpu-liquid-cooling-review,1.html