MSI has unveiled a new feature that can prevent dust bunnies from taking refuge in your graphics card. Demonstrated on an Nvidia GTX 580, the insipidly-named "Dust Removal" technology ejects undesired particulates from your GPU cooler's fan and heatsink by running in reverse at full speed for 30 seconds during your system's startup. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean you'll save cash on compressed air.
Dust, pet hair and other debris isn't expelled from your machine entirely, just from the graphics card. In other words, it'll probably cling to other components in your case, such as your CPU's heatsink and fan assembly along with your exhaust blowers. You'll likely have to clean your other components just as frequently – if not more so. On the bright side, your GPU should lead a happier, healthier life.
Although it's common sense that dusty components are thermally inefficient, during its testing MSI found that a grime-laden graphics card ran up to 15C (59F) hotter than its unsoiled counterpart. That discrepancy could put your graphics chip in danger of overheating, it might shave time off its lifespan and at the very least, it'll cause higher noise levels because your fan will have to work overtime.
MSI's new N580GTX Lighting Xtreme Edition also carries a new fan design that indicates the card's temperature by changing its fan's color. Leveraging MSI's smart temperature sensor technology, the fans gradually shift from a royal blue hue to stark white when your chassis' ambient air temperature exceeds 45C (113F). The fan also offers 20% better airflow than MSI's previous implementations.
The new N580GTX features an 832MHz core clock speed, 3GB of GDDR5 VRAM operating at an effective 4200MHz on a 384-bit interface. It has 16-phase PWM (an industry first for the GTX 580, says MSI), copper MOS with 2x high current capacity, triple overvoltage protection, dual DVI outputs alongside a single HDMI port and a DisplayPort connector. Online pricing appears to be set around $600.