EK Waterblocks Help

DGTreats · March 26, 2023

Hey LTT Forums, I could use some Suggestions for WaterBlocks with an emphasis on Function over form. ryzen 7950x asus x670e Gene, RTX 3090 FTW3

Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask.

I currently have a running system using ryzen 7950x on an asus x670e gene paired with an rtx 3090 ftw3. The Graphics card is currently air cooled and while the cpu is currently cooled with an EK AIO 280, I am currently not happy that It is still not enough of a cooling solution to make full use of the CPU and the GPU full power.

I'm thinking that Since my system is basically still pretty recent and works great, I would like to do a custom loop to improve things. I have been browsing on the EK website and the choices that they offer for waterblocks confuse me as I do not understand which one would perform best. The Main reason why I look at EK is because they have AM5 Specific block that Linus just showcased recently in his recent videos. But their website shows even more options for the AM5 platform which got me all confused! I would also like to Waterblock my GPU although I am less confused about that but still open to suggestions on better solutions for the FTW3 3090.

I am currently in the United States and just finished University and decided to go home in June to Indonesia but want to bring my PC back with me. Thinking that it wouldn't make sense logistically to bring a whole pc, I decided to take it apart, sell most of it keeping only the CPU, GPU, Motherboard, NVMe and RAM. The idea here is that when the time comes I will only be bringing two boxes, one box of the motherboard with RAM, Waterblocked CPU and NVMe Attached to it and another box of the Waterblocked GPU.

I Could really use some help deciding which blocks are best for my CPU and GPU. The Plan is to use soft tubings and 360 Rads paired with NF A12x25 with one d5 pump.

RONOTHAN## · March 26, 2023

Realistically, to get much more performance than your EK AIO you'd pretty much have to go for liquid metal and probably a delid (liquid metal itself will help a fair bit on a 7950X, but the delid helps more). The issue with cooling those chips is you just can't get the heat out of them, so until you start trying to take the cooling solution subzero you won't be able to get it below 95C in all core workloads with any water block.

AM5 specific water blocks aren't really a thing, so going for something like a Heatkiller IV Pro or a Optimus Foundation block would be just as good even though they're just AM4. They only need to use the stock AM4/AM5 backplate and not replace it like some of EK's water blocks did, hence why they made AM5 specific versions that use the stock backplate. The dies are in the same spot, so a AM4 optimized channeling would work just fine for AM5. Honestly, I'd prefer to get one of those other AM4 compatible water blocks instead, as they're a lot easier to make mounting hardware for if you decide to delid your CPU and go direct die.

Most AM4/AM5 blocks perform within about 2C of each other, so trying to go for one over another really doesn't matter all that much. Realistically as long as the block was designed in the past ~5 years it would be within margin of error of the other available water blocks. Just go for what you think looks the best. I'd just try to get one of the more classic style water blocks like the aforementioned Optimus and Heatkiller blocks, the EK Velocity (not the Velocity²), the EK Magnitude block, and TechN block are some good options more commonly available in the US. All of those will perform about the same as each other, so no real reason to go for one over the other.