My water cooled GTX 280 story.

[Talonman]

Check this out...
It's a review of some various air cooling options for the 280.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,6...=670040&page=4
They ran 3DMark03 at 1600 x 1200, 4xAA/16:1AF, and recorded max temp for 5 loops of the Mother Nature test.

The lowest GPU temp recorded out of all the air options was 63C, and the highest was 90C.

For VRM the lowest was 82C, and the highest was an alarming 134C.


I don't have Riva Tuner installed, so I can't speak to how my VRM temp's are. My guess is i'm golden.
As far as GPU temp goes, I ran the test and maxed out at a cool 46C.
That's with my 280 still set to Core=756, Shaders=1512, and Memory=1296.
I have played quite a few games now at that speed, none have rebooted my system due to GPU being clocked too high.
Things are still looking good with my OC.

Note the the conclusion of the review...
"Neither the Thermalright HR-03 nor the Silenx Noiseless GPU Cooler is able to keep the overclcoked GTX 280 at stable temperatures in an open test setup - without additional ventilation. Distortions because of overheated voltage converters are common. Furthermore the assembly of both coolers and especially the fans can be quite fiddly and they require a lot of space in the case. But if you can life with those restrictions nothing speaks against replacing the stock cooler - especially your ears will be grateful".

With water cooling, it's nice to know your not flirting with the temps that could cause your 280 to become unstable. The 'no fan noise' is a big bonus too.