Finally, a high-end green graphics card

For EcoGeeks who want their computers to be both personal productivity tools and high-end gaming rigs, there haven't been very many green options. It's true that having one machine do the job of two (if you can manage not to buy the XBox) is, in itself, a green choice. But gaming PCs (and XBox 360s) are very power-hungry devices.

But now MSI has created a high-end graphics card with EcoGeeks in mind. The N9600 GT "Hybrid Freezer" boasts a 65nm G94 GPU and includes 64 stream processors and DDR memory on 256-bit memory interface. It has no problem providing the user with a pure HD experience while churning through real-time 3D renders.

The card gets green mostly because it has two modes in which it functions. During normal use, while you're online or word processing, the card enters low-energy mode. Instead of having its own fan that cools the card, the small amount of heat that is generated is removed from the chip via "heat pipes" which basically act like a tiny radiator. The card monitors its own temperature and only moves into active cooling mode when it's being used for gaming applications.

So, instead of having an efficient computer for word processing and a gaming rig that churns through power, you can have both in the same machine.

MSI hasn't provided numbers on how much power a user can expect to save, which is a bit frustrating. But it is nice to finally see graphics cards that consider the environment.

Via GoodCleanTech